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What are the best/worst things you've experienced at a wedding?

313 replies

Turniptracker · 30/01/2020 21:32

Just started planning a wedding and it got me thinking about the best and worst things about weddings I've attended in the past. The worst was a wedding where we kept getting moved from room to room for each stage of the wedding, we were kicked off the dining tables after our last mouthful of dessert and had to stand up in a cold stable with no chairs to juggle coffee and chocs (hello indigestion). Best by far, but for all the wrong reasons, was watching a groomsman rip his trousers through vigorous dancing and he was so drunk he proceeded to just rip all his clothes off and dance in his pants Grin
Any "best things" for good reasons also welcome!

OP posts:
Pippapotomus · 01/02/2020 11:47

Best and worst was the same wedding really.
The wedding was on a private boat in Cyprus middle of August. DDs were bridesmaids and dressed in heavy polyester and frilly dresses in 36+ temps. They were sweaty and miserable.

Luckily mil somehow smuggled thin cotton summer dresses into her clutch bag for them both and got them changed the moment the photos were finished. She told the bride she had spilt her drinks on them when the boat moved.

The reception was beautiful. It was immediate family only and we had dinner on the top deck as the sun was setting in the middle of the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful.

BikeRunSki · 01/02/2020 12:47

The best was a ceiledh - everyone up and dancing all night!

I would agree; my very introvert DH wouldn’t.

mamaduckbone · 01/02/2020 14:55

Best - a marquee in a beautiful setting, champagne flowing, fire pits and deckchairs outside, good unfussy food and a cracking disco. (Would've been rubbish without the good weather though)

Worst - a Sunday wedding in term time - saved the bride and groom money on the venue, but couldn't really enjoy it as we had work and school the next day.
Also one where the whole day was so timetabled that there was no time to actually enjoy it.

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longearedbat · 01/02/2020 16:09

@Dylanpickle you all helped clean the hall? I wouldn't be impressed if I had to return to a wedding venue, the day after I had been a guest, and get busy with a mop and bucket!
Best weddings are where everything flows and there are no long gaps.
I will no longer go as an afterthought/evening guest after our last experience. No welcome drink, so had to queue for ages at a small expensive bar. No food and an extremely hot and airless room on a hot summers evening. No bloody seats left either! We left because I began to feel faint.
A close relative's wedding, at lunch time, where they only served canapés. I was starving and was expecting to be ushered in to a buffet, but no, just 6 or 7 canapés each and off you fuck. Mind you there was plenty of booze, but as the wedding was in London and most of us were day visitors from the west country, so we had to drive home. Obviously our fist stop was something to eat.

VirtualHamster · 01/02/2020 17:10

I've not actually been to any terrible weddings. My only minor gripe is that whilst most places accommodate me for the meal as a coeliac (even if it's often done badly) all other food items that can be sometimes provided, e.g. canapes, bacon baps in the evening and the cake are off limits. I don't really care that I'm not provided for, but a schedule would be nice so i know how many snacks to pack!

Actually, speeches before eating is another thing i hate, although i'm not sure how much of that is due to the above as I'm starving by the time the meal is served having not snacked on canapes all afternoon!

lastqueenofscotland · 01/02/2020 17:17

The only thing I really hate at weddings is leaving people standing around for ages (on one occasion 2.5 hours) while people have 72887738289200 photos taken outside of the venue with every possible combination of friends and family. Bar wasn’t open, no food, not even somewhere nearby to pop and buy a coffee. Very tedious.

iklboo · 01/02/2020 17:20

Best - live band that could play pretty much anything and made the atmosphere brilliant.

Worst - bride & groom disappeared for three hours, no food or canapés, in the middle of nowhere so we couldn't go anywhere, expensive drinks

Worst - massive brawl

Blondie1092 · 01/02/2020 17:21

Worst - it was a Thursday wedding. Nothing wrong only bride and groom mustn't have considered that most of the men in the family were tradesmen and had to go home early as they had work they next day.

fairgroundsnack · 01/02/2020 18:34

Best:
Cupcakes and champagne in the churchyard straight after the ceremony

Worst:
Father of the bride getting drunk and over excited and saying “if I was 20 years younger, I’d shag her” in his speech...
“First song” by the happy couple instead of a first dance
Wedding on a really hot day, we were all bussed from church to reception venue but when we got there the couple and their parents were inside having a drink on their own and no one else was allowed in, there were no drinks outside and no shade or any where to sit...

lisaorris99 · 01/02/2020 18:38

My partner is polish and I went to my first polish wedding last year - amazing! Endless food and free drinks all day and night (mainly vodka) Ended at 4.30am! Then there was day two the next day which started at lunch time.

Cakeweek · 01/02/2020 18:45

Best - my cousin had her reception in a local café - fresh bread sarnies, tarts salads. Lovely.

A ceilidh - love any wedding with one

Worst - one between Christmas and New year when the milk for teas was off and the mulled wine was cold.

billycorn · 01/02/2020 18:48

Instead of pouring champagne into the guests glasses in preparation for the toast, the server decided to swig it from the bottle himself. An utter turn off!

Wearywithteens · 01/02/2020 19:14

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn at the poster's request.

PatellarTendonitis · 01/02/2020 19:20

I attended one where the bride and groom sang 'Endless Love' to each other during the ceremony, badly. It was cringe.

fadingfast · 01/02/2020 19:35

Worst was as an evening guest when we arrived (on time) to find speeches were still ongoing. All the evening guests were squashed in the (expensive) bar to wait for an hour and a half until we were even allowed in to the main room. Not even a free drink while we waited. I'm not against having evening guests but at least make them feel welcome.

Also (at the same wedding) there was a pork pie cake. Very disappointing (I like cake Grin)

strawberry2017 · 01/02/2020 19:45

I hate buffet weddings, never enough food, nobody wants to spend ages queuing or waiting until it's your tables turn.
Or where they transport you to a venue miles from where your staying and then you are stuck till the only transport comes back to take you back again and you have no choice but to stay till the end.
X

handbagsatdawn33 · 01/02/2020 19:47

Best - a "death-bed" marriage.
Just a few friends in the couple's home, a bottle of champagne, & a lovely ceremony by the Registrar.
A joyous occasion, even though everyone knew the groom would die soon.

Insaneinthemembury · 01/02/2020 19:49

Best- free bar, plenty of food, including loads of canapes, hilarious best man speech

Worst- uptight bride, bride and groom disappearing for an hour + for the staged photos

Insaneinthemembury · 01/02/2020 19:51

@fairgroundsnack as in he'd shag his daughter?!

ShinyGiratina · 01/02/2020 20:04

I can't really pick a best, I've been to lots of lovely, personal, well planned weddings, very different be it fancy hotels, community halls, barns, restaurants, ski stations. One particularly cosy, small wedding had board games in the bar of the small hotel.

Sometimes things are beyond the bride and grooms control (remembers the hotel that seemed to have no heating during a sharp, early winter frost) but the two big wedding killers of excessive hanging around and inadequate food/drink are pretty easy to avoid.

The worst one I went to was the year before I got married. We went over to Ireland for an extended family wedding. 12pm ceremony, full Catholic mass (long, cold). An hours trek up the arse end of nowhere to a pricey, pretentious hotel/ golf course. We decided to stay with relatives 45min from the ceremony and an hour from the reception rather than pay an extra £££ for the hotel, and there was nothing else convenient in the area. So we leave at 11am, ceremony at 12, get to the reception at 2-3ish. A reception drink, some biscuits, extortionate bar, and we wait. And wait. And wait. After a few hours, the happy couple come in from their photoshoot and trip to a pub. Then there's some fucking sports match on TV. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Nothing to do but hang around (not enough chairs). Nowhere to go. Nowhere to get food (Need to be careful about drinking on an empty stomach infront of straightlaced, teatotal relatives...) 8 fucking pm before we're called into the wedding breakfast and served with a barely mediocre bog standard meal. We held on until the first dance at 10:30pm then had to trek back "home" as the "evening" entertainment started. The only positive thing about it was getting chance to meet some lesser spotted extended family. There clearly had been money spent on a huge wedding, chair covers, photos etc, but zero consideration to the comfort of guests. Just knowing that there was a spare 6-7 hours to kill with no propsect of food would have meant we could have gone elsewhere comfortable to pass the time.

I had a split venue church/ hotel wedding. I sent a rough itinery out so guests could plan food and time-out. 2pm ceremony so guests could travel over, let them know where they could get lunch locally first if they wanted and roughly when the wedding breakfast was. Paid for extra canapés. Paid for extra drink, with alcohol and soft drinks. Hotel was a sensible price with other options avaliable (including camping in walking distance which some of our friends were up for!) We did over cater, but better to have people well filled than miserable and hungry, not having a clue when they'll be fed.

I've been to other weddings with gaps and that's fine if you know. A few times I've been into pubs mid-way knowing that the couple were going off for photos and there was no rush.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 01/02/2020 20:11

Personal dislikes I have experienced.

Wedding receptions in gazebos in mid December. I feel the cold easily so didn't enjoy this one. They had a hog roast, so limited food.

One where the food ran out mid buffet and the hotel stropped about having put enough on (they hadn't).

One where DH's mate got married. The hotel had the fire alarm go off so everyone was evacuated to stand int he car park for ages, then later a fight ensued in the reception when the best man licked someone else's girlfriend on the face! (Why?)

I do still wind out other mutual friends up. They have been married 20 years + and at their reception, the bar music was blaring out 'Love don't live here anymore'. :) Mind you, we gave her a 'with sympathy' card when they announced their engagement!

Best - the shorter the better. I like seeing people happy but hate all the standing around.

ChubbyMummy12 · 01/02/2020 20:12

We had quite a Relaxed wedding, a lot of our guests said it's one of the best they've been too, all under one roof, we had the ceremony at 3pm, and then in a separate room for the meal & evening reception, we had processco or orange juice after the ceremony and nibbles on the bar while photos were being done, £250 behind the bar, a help your self bbq (steak, chicken skewers, burgers, sausages etc) with all the trimmings- new potatoes, salads, corn on the cob, rolls, etc followed by pudding, two bottles of wine & a bottle of Prosecco on every table. We didn't have speeches. Then an evening buffet with just typical buffet food, 2 chocolate fountains, and a sweet cart, and a disco. There was so much food left over, people were taking it with them.

Worst wedding- evening reception buffet had only 5 items, one of which looked like shit on a pillow. We left and went to McDonald's as we were starving and bumped into 5 other wedding guests there too

Missushb · 01/02/2020 20:16

Worst - guests weren't told where the reception was being held . So couldn't arrange accommodation or anything. Just hearded on a bus for 2 hours. Anxious person so I found it hard!!

draughtycatflap · 01/02/2020 20:16

Best: sponge cake.

Worst: fruitcake.

blondiebrowneyes · 01/02/2020 20:42

Worst was a wedding in a teepee with no heating. It was July but the temp dropped to about 10 degrees on the night and everyone was freezing. At that same wedding they called up the tables to collect food from a hot buffet, and had run out of most things by the time our table got called.

I don't know why everyone moans about having a bit of a gap between proceedings in the afternoons, I always enjoy sitting around having a drink and a chat for a couple of hours!