What was your wedding like if you got married pre the year 2000?

[Chocolateandcoffeee]

I'm engaged and am currently planning my wedding (will be a small one as we don't have a huge budget) and it got me thinking about weddings in the past. My parents never got married and the only people I really know who are married got married within the last 10-15 years so I've only really heard about recent weddings. Was just wondering if you got married in the 90s, 80s, 70s or 60s- what was your wedding like? Was it a lot simpler than today's weddings and what did you wear, what was your cake like and how did you celebrate? Before getting engaged I never really had an interest or thought about weddings but I'm actually finding learning about it all really interesting and enjoyable. Would love to hear others experiences

2000
Planned it without really knowing much- no instagram/ Pinterest to look at! Just other weddings that you'd been too and some magazines.
Church, pub, hotel in evening.
Made own dress and did own make up from mums makeup bag.

Married mid-80s. The only choice was church or register office, which in our case was a portacabin in the council car park.
Finding a church to marry us was tricky, as I'd been married before. And when we found a sympathetic vicar I wasn't allowed to wear a traditional wedding dress, so it was a short cream one.
To be honest, I really didn't care - I'd have married him in an old sack in that portacabin
and been happy. Having the right man/woman is what makes a marriage not the frills.

Married 1987. My parents paid for the reception, which was common then, and some of their friends were on the guest list. About 80 guests and 20 or 30 more for evening only. Husband's parents paid for the evening food. Church wedding, as only other option was registery office with last spot at 11.30am on a Saturday. We hired a vintage car. We had a fabulous disco in the evening. The reception was at a local hotel, with champagne or orange juice on arrival, there was a 3 course meal, wine and champagne again for toasts. So not so different from today, except probably much better value for money than today and no option to marry at reception venue. There were quite a few children, which added to the joy of the day, and I think it would have been unusual to exclude them then.

Wedding #1.

1987
Registry office
Both in full punk gear
City Pub for drinks
No honeymoon- skint

Wedding # 2
1991
Registry office
Laura Ashley frock
Pub in village for reception
No honeymoon- he was a jr doctor and wasn't able to get the time off

Wedding #3
2000
City town hall
Big dress
Sit down meal
Disco
Two weeks honeymoon camping
Best day of my life

Married in 1981 in a civil ceremony in a British Embassy in the Middle East, where my parents and husband were working, then a sit-down meal in a hotel for around 20 with a home-made two-tier cake. We only had very small amounts of champagne for toasts, just lots of fruit juices, because there was a terrible drinking culture among the ex-pats there, and I didn’t want any booze-fuelled drama. I wore a navy blue day dress and bolero. I had a university chum for a bridesmaid, and we only had my immediate family, an aunt and uncle, and friends who lived locally - ‘destination weddings’ weren’t a thing in those days. The honeymoon was four nights in a neighbouring country in a five-star hotel.

Since his family missed the wedding, we had a church blessing at my university church in the UK and a do in a function room attached when we went on leave a few months later, by which time I was pregnant, but still slim enough to wear the same frock. That one was finger foods and nibbles. Mum-in-law produced an OTT three-tier cake, but we managed to drop one tier when we took it out of the car at the venue. Compared to UK weddings today, both wedding and blessing were very modest and low-key affairs.

1982
Church wedding and Mum, a tailoress, made my dress, a white lace ball gown style with lilac flower trim as well as the two lilac lace teenage bridesmaids dresses and her own outfit (and hat).
Sit down lunch (I think it was a roast chicken dinner) at a local social club for about 40 close family (including aunts/great aunts and uncles and Mum's lifelong friend who was an honorary aunt. I also invited my two closest work friends with their partners).
Traditional 3 tier iced cake decorated with lilac flowers to match those on my dress and made by a local bakery. Everyone went home after lunch. My pissed up great uncle drove me and DH home and we had sex until it was time to go back again.
Amateur photographer who did some really nice photos.
Evening 'do' was a disco with buffet at the same social club for around 100 wider family including children.
No honeymoon. Contrary to popular opinion that it was handed to us all on a plate, we (boomers?) had practically bankrupted ourselves to buy a tiny two bed terraced house so there was no money for things like holidays for a long, long time.
Typical northern working class wedding and all weddings in my family were like this for many years. Mum and Dad paid for most of it with a small contribution from PIL's. It cost about £400.
Still together.

Married in 1990. My dress cost £250 and I loved it ( still have it)
2 adult bridesmaids in pink
Church wedding and then a sit down meal
at a hotel for approx 80 - followed by and evening do. We don’t have extra guests for the evening - my Mum was adamant guests come for the whole day.
Cake was made by a relative - beautiful three tiers topped with a silver vase that had been on my grandparents wedding cake in 1937. They were both there to see it as well which was lovely.
Husband was very nervous and didn’t / couldn’t make a speech so I did

No favours, no taking the garter off with teeth, no chairs being covered with massive bows - I do think these days venues look to make money out of the wedding. Simplicity and family connections is what it about

2004 and I was early 20's. Reg office, 26 people and the only thing I would change now would be the groom.

A friend made my dress, my mum made my cake and did the catering, with my help. Cousins went to France to buy wine. Dh and I bought flowers from covent garden wholesale market the day before and I arranged them. But they didn't have the ones I wanted for my bouquet, so I bought those on the day from the local greengrocer and tied the bouquet myself. We had 120 guests snd a ceilidh. Cost about 4k. Mid 90s.

The same but in '93 . we needed to be married to have a married quarter , it was a fun time .Some tough times too though.

We got married in the same Little White Chapel as Jon BonJovi did in Las Vegas, this was 2008. We’ve been together since I was 16 and he was 19, it’s now 40 years, jeez where does time go. Had a fab time, flew over the Grand Canyon the following day, then we hired a car and had another week in San Diego, beautiful place. Thoroughly enjoyed it, it always puts a smile on my face when I think about it. The cost of the whole trip for the 3 of us (our daughter came to) was approximately 5k.

1987 got married in a church the reception was at the social club of the company my late father used to work for.His friend very kindly asked the company if we could hire it. Meant it was club prices to the bar.had about 70 people at the day with another 30 for the evening. My aunt made the dress and the bridesmaids dresses and my mother in law embroidered my dress. We paid for it ourselves although my mother said she would pay for the bridesmaids dresses but she never did. Will be 37 years this year but still remember how much we all enjoyed it

1981, church wedding, reception at local hotel where we had our first date, 47 guests. Found my dress on the sale rail outside Grace Elliots shop in Worcester, £20, no bridesmaids, single tier cake with fresh flowers on top to match my bouquet. One hired car to take me and dad to church. The meal was prawn cocktail, hot gammon and buttered new potatoes with a salad, peach melba for dessert. Just as well because it was hot as hell that day. Finished at 5pm, went home and changed and husband and I went for a posh meal in the evening. The only extravagance was the best photographer in town and the most amazing pair of shoes that just happened to be the exact colour of my dress

1994, church wedding, afternoon sit down reception for 60 people which my parents paid for. 2 bridesmaids and a flower girl. My MIL made their dresses and another relative did the flowers. I think my cake had two tiers but I would need to check with the pictures. I wore a meringue and DH wore a normal suit which he hired.

My hen night involved a meal out which included all my work colleagues. Me and a few friends went on to a club afterwards.

1995 church wedding. 2 adult bridesmaids and 2 small cousins. Open top vintage car to the church. My dress was pale cream with a sweetheart neckline and full skirt.

Afternoon reception was at a country pub with a large conservatory/function room. The evening was very relaxed. Mum’s family went back to hers for tea and a buffet. Our friends and some of DH family all met us at a pub in the “old town” with a courtyard. They were having a BBQ. We all had a very good time. DH and I stayed at a hotel that night and all our friends staggered back to stay at our place.

Married in 1995, roughly 70 guests. Cake made by a lady I worked with, bridesmaids dresses made by local seamstress. Flower girl dress bought in BhS. Honeymoon in Cornwall. We drove ourselves in our 13 year old Datsun sunny.

Still together. Currently in Florida having a ball. It’s one day :) my advise is don’t over spend and over complicate. The wedding is definitely not the marriage :)

Got married in 1996. In Denmark
White dress with tartan wrap. My friends aunt made it for me. She had made his wife's dress too. I as a joke asked if she would make mine too as hers was so pretty. She said yes then a month after their wedding i got a message via our friends that she was serious woild love to do it. Didn't take any payment either. So dress cost £200 for silk and tartan.
Dh and best man ushers in suits
Church wedding dhs suit cost more than my dress
Then sit down meal and dancing until midnight
Then food before you go home.

Lots of mixed Danish and British traditions.

Dd1 is getting married next year.. a lot has changed.

Forgot we had 75 guests. Some from Canada England and Denmark and 1 Australian bit at the time she lived in the UK

I think this is a good example of the difference: back then the bride and groom were still eager to get away alone, and departed early.

Now there's no novelty and they want to wring every moment of what they are paying for; hence those interminable evening dos.

So much better when the couple leaves early amid suitable fanfare, and then guests are free to depart.

We got married in 1982. I was 22, my husband was 25. We had a church wedding, 125 people. Sit down prime rib dinner with an open bar. A wedding band for dancing. Big 3 tiered wedding cake. We wrapped and saved the full-sized top tier and brought it out for our anniversary, it was as good as it was on the day of our wedding.

We took a 3 week honeymoon, spent the weekend in a nice hotel and then headed west (we live in the U.S.) We ended up about 2000 miles from home for about a week, then drove back, enjoying the ride and the scenery in the different states we drove through.

We had our 42nd anniversary in March.

Got married in 1981 - I was 22. Got married in church, I wore a traditional long white dress made by my sister. Had 80 guests and we all went back to my parent's place for the reception. My parents paid , and we had it catered . No "evening do", I don't think that was a thing back then. You just invited people to the wedding and they all came to the church and the party afterwards.

Married in 1985 I was 23 and DH 22.

Married in my local church. Lots of family including all my cousins. There was even a 6 month old baby who cried during the ceremony and was breast fed in church. No one minded in the least.

My dress was a white meringue and I adored it. It cost £165. The flowers were done by my cousins next door neighbour. She also made headdresses for me and my bridesmaid/flower girl. Their dresses were bought in a sale.

Reception was in a function suite. There was scampi and chips on the menu. Cheap bar. My DM and her neighbour did all the flowers for the tables and all the cakes for the evening buffet. Our wedding cake was made by a retired forces baker for £50.

We had a ceilidh for the dancing part of the reception. Many of my family played accordion/fiddle/drums and brought their instruments with them to play with our band. It was brilliant.

It was a fantastic wedding and cost only £1000 all in apart from my dress. We are still married almost 40 years on.

My only regret was not having a professional photographer. The snaps are a lovely reminder of the day but are just snaps, not professional photos.

Still happily married nearly 43 years later.

A lot of guests had to travel, but that was because the families were scattered. I got married in my home town in the South East. DH's family travelled down from Northumberland, and my dad's side of the family travelled up from Devon and Cornwall.

Sadly, most of the guests are no longer with us.

1980, had a dress made by Annabelinda in Oxford, registry office with about 20 relatives and friends, reception sit down lunch at a smart hotel in Richmond and a couple of days honeymoon in a Castle Cary hotel with a four poster (DH hired a brand new Porche to drive us there). A week later we went to Paris for a week. Cost less than £ 1,000 all in.

Big party a few weeks later for work friends.

Mid 70s, reg office. My folks had quite a big garden, so we had a marquee* and a buffet by caterers. My DF supplied loads of fizz, which he got at cost from wine merchants he knew via work. Just 60 guests, no hen or stag do.

I wore a long fitted dress, in cream, with a delicate floral pattern. One of my GMs, bless her, said, ‘You couldn’t have had a prettier dress!’ Didn’t have my hair or make up done - did them myself.

My DM, who was married v early in WW2 in a suit (not enough clothing coupons) told me I’d always regret it if I didn’t have a ‘proper’ wedding, in church, with a white dress, but I never once have. It was a lovely sunny day, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
*I remember there was an option to have it lined in silk for an extra £30 - I said no thanks!