What's the best wedding you went to?

[NoEffingWaytoSurvive]

Getting married in a few years, and there are so many options to make it a fun evening. From singing waiters (who knew?!) to having magicians (not my thing but can see the appeal) the world is my lobster.

What did you have (or have the pleasure at someone else's) that made the day more fun? And what was a complete waste of money?

My first wedding, I spent hours putting jellly beans in small bags which no one even noticed. Wish I had put more into the food which was a bit shite.

As a child, wedding of family friend; the adults were proccupied so scampered all over the venue causing trouble

DH and I give this a lot of thought. We have a running list of our favourite weddings and I have to say our top one was fairly high budget. Beautiful venue, top notch food, plentiful good quality drinks, live band. All very classy. Nothing twee-don’t think there were any favours, can’t especially remember the speeches so assume they were quick.
But nothing pretentious about it-plenty of kids around, everyone dancing happily.

Worst ones are where there’s lots of waiting and more effort put into the details (seating plans etc.) than the core aspects.

I do like free drinks. Perhaps not all night but a reasonable offering.

Also like a bit of outdoor space to get some fresh air

Short speeches. They are invariably cringeworthy unless the speaker is especially skilful.

Good music, nice food, relaxed bridal party= all good

Agree that asking guests to bring a bottle is a bit naff

People, maybe just being polite, still mention our wedding when weddings come up because it was so relaxed. I hate standing around for hours to then have a meal of over cooked chicken that you have to pretend was amazing because your mate paid £££ for it.

We got married at 4.30. We bussed everyone who wanted it along the road to the reception, but it was an unexpectedly nice day for winter so loads of people, inc me, walked.

We had a student photographer doing our pics and three of her mates did pics of others while doing that. Folks knew in advance so loads took the chance to have a family shot.

Our reception was in a pub so folks could have what they liked to drink on us while that was going on and the canapés were going round. We struck a deal with the pub to charge £2.50 a drink. So FIL put money behind the bar that lasted until around 9pm I think.

Our meal was a hot buffet. I wanted steak pie, DH wanted lasagne and MIL often reminisced about a wedding she went to where the meal was a lovely chilli. There was a fourth option of a vegetable frittata.
Then we had mash, rice and wedges, plus salads and breads. The staff were great at serving so people weren’t hanging around in a buffet queue or anything.
At night we had a delivery from a local takeaway who delivered huge pizzas all sliced up, and the pub put on some of the usual buffet bits plus potato wedges and hot little mini chicken pies.

Then folks were either dancing or chatting. It was supposed to finish at midnight, but the pub eventually kicked us all out at 2ish.

I think the key to a good wedding:

• don’t leave your guests hanging around for hours
• provide plentiful good food, often
• access to alcohol, at least some paid for by wedding

I couldn’t tell you what the chairs looked like at any of the weddings I’ve been to, what the bridesmaids wore, or what the favours were, but I can tell you who had dressed crab, or overcooked chicken and who’d really put some thought into the veggie option.

An Indian wedding! Absolutely beautiful and the food was amazing!!

Best wedding was where it was really relaxed, we were on a brilliant table with people just like us (young kids at home, letting their hair down) and with a brilliant cover band and LOTS of dancing.

Other one was more formal but was DH best friend from nursery so he's part of the family so we knew nearly everyone! Food was incredible (huge roast dinner with seconds of roasties - Irish wedding ) and again a great party band afterwards.

Worst was alllllllll about looks / brides dress / beautiful room but terrible 'agenda' so we were alll hanging around for hours with no food and shit warm wine then more shit food and terrible speeches (as everyone was horrifically drunk due to lack of food)

@iminthegarden

Sorry don't like the idea of guests bringing a bottle. V naff

I completely disagree with you. I think it is a brilliant idea. I also disagree with @ChikkaChikkaChikkaCha. You need to take your guests into consideration as well as pleasing yourself.

IMO the best weddings are not miles from anywhere requiring expensive accommodation, in the afternoon, not child free, and informal. The bride and groom are basically hosting a party and their guests are guests not photogenic accessories to an expensive backdrop.

Couples who place the importance of a photogenic venue over the comfort or affordability of their guests to be able to attend are rather selfish, unless they are prepared to foot the bill.

Good food, plenty to drink, lots of seating, somewhere for guests to chat to each other if there is loud music and the right temperature are far far more important than a pretty castle in Scotland and matchy matchy accessories and wedding favours.

I got married abroad. Hired a small and quirky hotel for the wedding to take place and for my guests to stay the weekend.
Hotel was opposite a large lake and the weather was gorgeous so while I was having hair/make up done, my guests went for a swim and hired pedalos!
Also as there were less than 20 guests from the UK, and they were all on the same flight (late arrival flight) we hired a minibus to collect (and return) them from the airport and bought them traditional local kebabs to eat on the journey to the hotel!

Like a couple of posters here, the best wedding I went to was an Indian wedding. Amazing food with good service and a DJ who played a mix of uk and Indian music. So much dancing. Another great one was a very traditional English church wedding with the reception in the village hall. Felt very personal, not waiting around or travelling, no fuss or gimmicks, lots of seating to talk to everyone.S

mThings to avoid. Lots of waiting between food or travel between venues. I went o one wedding where the service was at noon and there wasn't any catering until there we late afternoon, very minimal canapés. Another bad one was limited but un labeled seating. We didn't realised everyone had nabbed a seat and no one would let us sit at their Ttable!

@DublinDoris2000

Like a couple of posters here, the best wedding I went to was an Indian wedding. Amazing food with good service and a DJ who played a mix of uk and Indian music. So much dancing. Another great one was a very traditional English church wedding with the reception in the village hall. Felt very personal, not waiting around or travelling, no fuss or gimmicks, lots of seating to talk to everyone.S

mThings to avoid. Lots of waiting between food or travel between venues. I went o one wedding where the service was at noon and there wasn't any catering until there we late afternoon, very minimal canapés. Another bad one was limited but un labeled seating. We didn't realised everyone had nabbed a seat and no one would let us sit at their Ttable!

I agree with this, the "worst" one we went to was one that involved a lot of hanging around. There was a huge gap between the ceremony and food and the B&G were having a million pics taken.

It wasn't too bad for us as we were staying at the hotel so we went up for an hour or so, but lots of guests weren't staying so no where to go

Maybe I'm just greedy but for me it was a wedding with amazing food and lots of it. They had these amazing, substantial canapes before the main meal and more food available afterwards. (There was a table with bread, meat, cheese, chutneys and picky bits).

Small intimate wedding where the focus is on the vows and lifetime commitment being made.

Late afternoon ceremony, quick photo, good food and plenty of it. No frills, no waiting around for hours, no second tier guests and no requests for an entry fee aka cash gifts requested.

Best one I’ve been to was on a farm, everything laid on, served food and drinks by local six formers during the day. Really good attention to detail, not particularly big budget. In the evening dancers came and showed all the guests how to do old fashioned dancing. Everything flowed and it was all rustic and very well done. There wA a lovely craft area for the DC snd a cheese wedding cake. It seemed like the whole of the bride and groom’s village was invited, adults, kids, dogs, everyone.

Best wedding was at a zoo, short ceremony in a lovely mansion house, pimms at various locations in the zoo after it had closed to public and then lovely dance and free booze. Worst are morning wedding, crap nibbles and waiting around all day for the evening thing and proper food in early evening. You have to try not to get to drunk and make chit chat with loads of people for hours and are exhausted by the evening.

Four stand out for me. One because my brother and I love him dearly so the emotion and happiness was the focus.
The second, a work colleague but she’d put so much thought in to matching people’s personalities and there was so much free flowing champagne it was a delight.
The third hired a chateau in France for the weekend and had champagne on tap )see the theme).
The fourth (and best) was a dear friend, lunchtime wedding and we had drinks whilst she had photos, then all on a bus to a local swanky restaurant for a long boozy lunch (hired the whole restaurant out and spent ages thinking about food and wine) and then on to the local pub before she fucked off to Claridges for her wedding night. It was so relaxed and totally epitomised her and her DH.
So the stand out is make sure you have good food and drink and enough places to sit and it will be fantastic!
Congratulations and enjoy!