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

Married in in 1996. Church wedding, sit down reception for about 80 in our local carvery that had a great separate function room and bar. Another 50 in the evening with evening buffet and disco. Photographer and video. 2 adult bridesmaids. My dad gave us £1000 which I used to buy my dress, veil and shoes and my bridesmaids outfits. Mums friend made the cake.

We paid for nearly all of it apart from my mum and dad’s contributions - I think we worked it out to be around £6-£8,000 in the end including honeymoon in Turkey.

What we didn’t have was any weekend long hen/stag dos overseas. I went out for a meal with my friends and DH did the same. I just didn’t want anything too much as I don’t like being the centre of attention to be honest. We had a lovely wedding day and still married nearly 28 years later.

Married 1996

White dress, tails, church service, friends had a fancy car so the Husband offered to be chauffeur.

It was the church my parents had been married at 40 years before and my brother 10 years before.

About 80 to the church then a buffet at the place my MIL worked at which had a large hall and bar.

Evening guests added about another 40 people with more buffet food.

Mum asked some people she knew to help with the setting up of the food whilst we were at church and then with the washing up.

We hired all the China and glasses.

We bought most of the food at waitrose, makro and sainsburys- my Mum wanted to sort it out and she was cooking chicken drumsticks and sausage rolls for days before.

My brother went to France often so bought the champagne back with him.

We got a local florist for the flowers and buttonholes.

Children were invited and we had a table set up with some drawing stuff on it if they wanted but we were quite easy going and we loved them being there.

We had a live band and disco in the evening.

Three tier cake, my parents just happened to know the head baker in the best bakery in our town so he made the cake for cost.

In all we spent about £5,000 but parents insisted on paying for some things but we did not expect them to.

I was a guest at a wedding in 1992, bride wore a big dress typical of the time but it was pale pink., she had 2 bridesmaids both in cream. Flower crown on her head. About 100 guests, reception was at a big city centre hotel then more guests for the evening disco with band. They kept the top layer of their cake for their first child’s christening.

We got married in 1999 in a very pretty registry office had 100 people and a buffet in the village hall. It had a side of salmon and a whole ham that was carved by caterers, so a decent buffet. In the evening we had a disco and sandwiches with nibbles. DH went to France and bought reasonably priced wine and champagne duty free so we had free wine throughout the day and a pay bar in the evening. We had about six small children so had a craft table for them. My friend was a professional photographer so took the photos. I bought cakes from a caterer and iced them myself. We made the invitations.

My dress was from a little bridal shop that the woman had designed and made herself. It was in a sale reduced from 700 to 150. She changed the sleeves and did all alternations for free. It’s raw silk in a colour called champagne blush, it looks cream till you stand next to cream as has a slight pinkish hue, it had lace appliqués down the front. I wore an antique tiara from the 1940’s, not real diamonds but tiny crystals and borrowed a lovely antique necklace. My work colleagues bought my wedding shoes as a leaving gift.

In the previous year we researched our family tree and laid out a huge scroll that covered two trestle tables and joined the family trees up and got everyone who was there to sign by their names, people really loved looking at that and signing. I had made wedding flowers for friends but didn’t want the stress so bought the bouquets and buttonholes and posies for the tables. In a time of quite formal bouquets I had wild posies of just white flowers and lots of greenery.

We moved cities and both started new jobs in the same week just 12 weeks before marrying. We then had a week in London with my brother who was over from America and his family and then went to Africa on honeymoon for two weeks.

It cost 3k.

I have been to over 30 weddings and the best are always quite simple and not too formal.

Pre internet and the only information was people you knew or Bride magazine!
Mine was church. Village hall. Cheesy disco. Buffet. Cost £2k back in 1994.
My dress was a bridesmaid dress from Debenhams. Three bridesmaids and my SIL made the dresses.
My sister had a church wedding then a self catered barn dance. Hers was even cheaper.
Wouldn’t reach the standards of today! Was still just as married though.

1999 wedding. 120 people, church service at 4pm then marquee in parents garden. No evening guests. We did all the food ourselves with help from my mums friends- the huge homemade pork pies were amazing! Cold salmon, salads etc. grandma made the cake, mum made my dress and bridesmaids dresses. Mum and her friends did all the flowers. We decorated the marquee ourselves. We bought wine and beer from Tesco on sale or return and rented glasses from them too. We served pimms out of buckets! Had a live band and disco. A friend did the photos. We had our friends, family, children and friends of my parents. We saved money on dresses etc and put more money into food and drink. We had a lovely day, it was so special as our community all came together to make it so.

90s: Church then village hall, no evening party (headed straight on honeymoon).

Best friend made cake, family / church friends did all the flowers, we catered first two courses and had "bring and share" puddings (excellent because loads of things to sample!).

Weddings are generally quite traditional so they haven't changed for years. At a good friends wedding in 2011 her mum made the dress (unpicked and renewed an heirloom wedding dress, her family made the cake, she got married in a barn (conversion) in a nearby village, everyone who came to watch her get married came to the wedding. We had tea and scones followed by a hog roast and all drink laid on. A fairly traditional wedding that could have happened in any era.

There were fairy lights, and the bride did a speech so those were the less traditional elements.

Married in the seventies. 50 guests for a three course lunch in a hotel. Dad paid for it. My sister in law bought the cake which was £15. My cousin made my bridesmaids dresses. My dress was traditional with a floor length veil. The men wore hired suits. There was no evening do as that wasn't a thing then. We caught a flight to London to start our honeymoon. It was a mad rush to catch the flight. In retrospect I wish we had more time to enjoy the day.

Married 1996. Wedding and reception at a local historical venue. We had 40 guests, both DH and myself had the outfits of our choice (ie I had a wedding dress), no bridesmaids, cake was simple and just flowers for me, cake and a few men had flowers for button holes. Someone I know drove me to the venue.

We had to pay for ourselves, so that limited how many we asked - I think we'd have had another 10-15 if money permitted. I never wanted any bridesmaids, so didn't and had a thing about wanting someone I knew to drive me to the venue - this was a lovely part of my wedding - he turned up while I was getting ready, we just chatted and chatted until we arrived.

1993...
Everyone we knew had a church ceremony followed by a day reception and an evening reception where extra people would arrive (don't think it's as common to do this now)

We hadn't got much money to throw at it compared to a lot of people so tried to cut corners where we could, so I hired a dress and we bought the bridesmaid dress from Laura Ashley (I had friends that spent hundreds on a dress that has since resided in the loft!) I made my own invitations, we got a family friend to do the wedding video, hired the cars from someone we knew with a discount. The three tier fruit cake was done by a friend's mum at mates rates.

We had a 1pm church ceremony with 40 odd family and very close friends, then a reception at a country house with a three course meal. The afternoon was spent having photos/chatting to everyone, then the evening guests arrived and we had a disco and buffet.

My parents paid for the main part of the day, and in laws paid for the evening do. At that time it was traditional for parents to pay for weddings, I don't recall us paying for anything ourselves (not that we could have afforded to, if it had been down to us to pay for it we would have had to have a very basic affair)

We got married in 1998. Ceremony in the local register office with close friends and family. Then a hog roast in my parents garden. Lots of food and drink, very informal.

Married in 1992, church, white meringue dress, reception with disco, lots of guests.

Divorced and married again in 1998. Register Office, scarlet dress, meal at a castle, only ten of us. That was the best out of the two!

Divorced again and have no intention of a third wedding!

1998, 150 people in a marquee in the middle of a field. We spent all our money on endless champagne, incredible food and great music. Everyone danced until the early hours and people still talk about it today.

We just had basic flowers and no fancy touches such as bows on chairs etc. It was a great party.

Hired wedding dress and borrowed bridesmaids, made my own veil, embroidered satin ballet pumps instead of buying shoes. Did my own flower decorations and asked friend who was florist to make bridal party flowers up. used church I worshipped at for wedding and hired local church hall, friend who was florist moved flowers from church to church hall for me. Friend who was photographer took photos, blagged friend who did catering as a business to do the catering for wedding, hired a bar that people had to pay for. Hired two cars. left the cake and underwear till last and I could check the money could cover this. We were on a small budget and tbh buying our first home on a mortgage had been a stretch. I would best describe it as a larger old style village wedding of 150+ guests who helped out by sharing skills and with whom we wanted to share the joy of the day. Still married well over 30 years on. I used the rule of thumb it was about the commitment to the marriage itself rather than the wedding day that really mattered.

1990, lovely venue (which didn’t do catering though) so elsewhere for dinner.

i had about 30 people there during the day, didn’t wear a flouncy dress but it was still a wedding dress.

bridesmaids wore pink satin.

I got married in 96 as did alot of my friends. It seemed like there was a wedding every few weeks that year.

Ours was very simple.

Marrried at the church where DH's father was the vicar so he performed the service.

Car and driver was loaned to us cheaply by the local funeral director who was a good friend of DH father.

All flowers ( silk) including my bouquet , bridesmaids and button holes etc were made by the ladies of the church supervised by my mother in law. They also made the sugar almond favours too. I just paid for the materials and they did everything!

Reception was in our local community centre that had a bar - we put £500 behind the bar and that kept people going with free drinks all night! We had bought the wine for the meal and champagne for the toasts on a day trip to France.

I had a lady decorate the community centre with balloons and candles and it looked fantastic considering it was a rather shabby and run down place. That was the best £100 I ever spent.

We had a three course roast beef dinner that our amazing caterer produced out of two mobile catering vans when she discovered on the morning of the wedding that the ovens in the community centre didn't work. I remember it was around £10 per head for the wedding breakfast and around £2.50 per person for the evening reception buffet.

We had 100 guests for the day and an extra 50 for the evening.

Husband of a work colleague did the disco.

Our friends still talk about our wedding being a very drunken affair and lots of fun.

I think the wedding came so around £3k or £4k for everything ( we paid most of that ourselves but my mum bought my dress and dad paid for the drinks)

We stayed in a local hotel for the wedding night and then went to California for three weeks for our honeymoon.

The fanciest wedding we went to that year cost the bride and groom £15k - that was a church wedding and a very posh reception at a golf club.

Got married in 86, big do. Very traditional, we didn’t live together first and got married from our parents homes.

service at Dunstable priory, so big very old church where my parents were married and I was christened, with reception at the cloisters in whipsnade zoo. My dress and bridesmaids were designed and made and were very traditional silk taffeta with layers of net underneath 😂 and a 6ft train. My father took me to church in a chauffeur rolls Royce, when I got to the church and saw all the people I didn’t know waiting to see the bride I refused to get out the car 😂😂, we have a lovely photo of my dad looking at me through the window he was actually pleading with me to get out 😂😂.

we had 350 guests to the wedding and a very formal sit down meal, then another 150 to the evening, we had a band and a buffet meal. We left at 10.30 to go to the hotel before driving down to the iow for 2 weeks.

Married in 1989. We were 24 and 25 p, which now seems ridiculously young! Married in the church where my husband was organist. Flowers were donated to us by one of the lovely congregation. I didn't have bridesmaids (neither of my sisters have had kids and I didn't want some random sprogs of the next door neighbours). We had one of the best organists in the country playing so husband had a mini recital to himself before I arrived and something really complicated by Vierne to walk out to!

Reception was at parent's house and my mother did all the catering. Marque in the garden. Three tier trad fruit cake made by a neighbour whose business was wedding cakes - hope she gave mates rates!

My father insisted on hiring two ladies to help with drinks and buffet as he knew my mother would do it all and not be seen. Lovely sunny day - we took the marque sides off, I think. We opened presents in front of people. No evening do. Stayed in a relatively local hotel before driving to France. Was lovely and loads of people said it was the nicest wedding they'd been to.

Because we have seen a lot of weddings and brides we knew what we didn't want. I typed out the order of service and hand bound them (wish I'd had them printed now). I spent a lot on my dress - just over a £1000 but had a fab day dress shopping with Mum in London. Got it in Covent Garden. It had a fabulous lace train at the back as that, to quote mother, 'is what people spend their time looking at'.

Was informal and very lovely. No stag or hen do.

Married in early 90s

Church wedding for about 60 guests ( then loads of local people we knew filled in the back of the church )

Dress ( and DH niece dress , who was bridesmaid age 10 ) made by friend of friend who was a dressmaker

Church flowers and bouquets were from local florist , ( then picked up and taken to reception ! ) the women of the village always decorate the church gates with flowers from their own gardens , so that’s a lovely tradition still going on

The reception was at local pub , which had a function room

An elderly chap in the village had a Rolls Royce , he dressed in a chauffeur uniform and just asked for his petrol to be paid , so took me and dad to church , and DH , me and my 2 nephews who were desperate to be in the Rolls Royce to the reception

Best day of my life

Married since the 70s.

Dress from a non wedding shop in London
No bridesmaids
Local register office and reception for 60 at the in laws house.
Four day honeymoon in East Sussex.
50 years last month. We were so young.

Re:hen and stag night. None of these afternoon tea, bottomless brunches, weekends away etc back in the day - I went for a couple of drinks with a small group of family for my hen as did dh the same night for his stag, just to a different pub.
The other difference these days is elaborate first dances. At my wedding we danced together for a few minutes then everyone just joined in but I have been to a recent wedding since where the couple had learnt a contemporary dance routine and wafted about in bare feet dancing to a piece of music nobody knew. We all had to gather round to watching as the bride leapt into the grooms arms. It felt quite awkward and is obviously the couple wanting to sort of show off/ impress.

Hi 1999 so just make your deadline.
Married in a country pub- it was fairly new then that other venues could be used! 40 people approximately. I bought a dress from monsoon but my bridesmaid (10years old) cried and said it was not a proper wedding dress so I made one (never going to make a boned satin bodice again!).
Lovely wedding car. Shockingly awful (but funny ) band got from Yellow pages - who were read the riot act that they were not allowed to play line dancing music for MIL.
Mum made my cake
BIL went off for a kip in a nearby field halfway through
I had a blood clot the week before the wedding so could not drink the champagne.

25th anniversary this year

Married in 1977. We were both 21. Certainly no hen do, but there may have been a boys' night out. Dress in the Laura Ashley style, but cream, from a local shop. Did my own hair and make up. No bridesmaids or pages. No girls in the family and the boys were too old.We had just graduated so DH wore his interview suit. Ceremony in my village church at 11.00am and then across the road to the tea rooms for a served buffet lunch. We left about 4pm to get on the road. We had dinner and a hotel booked halfway to our honeymoon destination, which was DH's parents' holiday cottage.

Unfortunately the car broke down, we missed dinner and had fish and chips in the end. The first of many disasters that contributed to it being a very short marriage!

My wedding followed pretty much the same format as my cousin's in 1960 at which I was bridesmaid, although they left in the late afternoon by taxi to catch a train to Mablethorpe!