What makes a good wedding ? as for me it will be the marriage when I say I do but

[flowersinbloom]

Both of us agree the Marriage is foremost the most important then a meal for close family and friends,its the evening im not so sure about and fretting about,we also are saving for a house and have two children so money is an important factor,just dont know about the rest,thats why im asking Mnetters.

Alcohol.

Whatever you want, if you don't want an evening do don't have one, or maybe have a summer wedding with an evening party/bbq in someone's back garden?

Abgirl we have seriously thought about your idea with close friends and family at my best friends im just worried how I can make it special?.

Enormasnob there will defiantly be Alcohol there will be plenty.

If you're going for an evening garden party, I would use lots of fairy lights and candles in jars for some sparkle. Some music, with a dance area of some sort where you can still have a first dance. A fire pit/chiminea so there's somewhere warm to gather as the night draws in. Let some people do speeches. But what will make it special is you two being married and your friends/family will enjoy celebrating with you

Don't fret about the details and don't even think about reading bridal magazines and discovering all sorts of naff wedding stuff that you never knew you needed (and most certainly don't need). Have your family & friends involved. In our case, we asked family and friends to help us out in different ways as their wedding gift. An ex-florist friend did our flowers, my sister played her cello during the service, another friend organised the buffet, and we had the reception at my friend's parents' (rather large) house, so they decorated it with fairy lights etc for us. Saved money and made it more personal because we knew everyone who was involved in organising it. Honestly the whole thing probably only cost about £1000 and it was perfect IMO.

Ok would you have a wedding dress or skip that and have something different as I love your idea?

Twolittlemonkeys I love your idea for your wedding it sounds so intimate and personal that means alot what did you wear if you dont mind me askind a wedding dress or something else?.

We had a wedding on a budget and partly being PG, partly money and partly the timing (we arranged it and planned it in less than 3 weeks) I opted for a pink trouser suit. One thing I really wished I had was a wedding dress. Dont know why, but I do. Just wanted to say that bit. However, lots of people dont have wedding dresses and like it that way. Depends on who you are.

If I have tbh I have waited along time to get married so I would love a wedding dress its just feels daft picturing me dancing in a garden in it ha ha.

For a garden wedding probably not, because I think I'd want something a bit more informal. Monsoon do some lovely bridal dresses that aren't meringues, but would say 'hey I'm the bride' like this - have managed to pick most expensive dress they have And I'd find a lovely beaded lacey cream shawl to snuggle in later on in the evening.(Abgirl now contemplates new career as wedding planner...)

Also one other thing. Its your day. You decide what YOU want to do, not what everyone else wants to do. My dad was very much like "what do you want, everyone will work round it" My mum was like "we have to have the reception as close to the registry office as possible so people dont have to worry how they are going to get to x y or z" or "You cant have a big time gap between the wedding and reception what are people going to do?"

We had a registry office wedding, no professional photographer (not that I like having my photo taken anyway), no cake (I dont like wedding cake) and no dress. We went onto a nice bar near the registry office and had a buffet meal. If we had taken longer to plan it I dont think we would have done much different, just maybe a dress and me not being PG so I could drink along with the rest of them.

I am not really a weddingy person and find colour coordinated chairs etc really boring.

For me a perfect wedding celebration would be quite informal, perhaps a bbq or similar, just good, simple grub. A small amount of guests that are close to the b&g, children to be invited (I probably wouldn't take mine anyway but at least the option is there), great music, free flowing alcohol and a local venue so getting home isn't a faff.

No poems about presence not presents in the invite.

No dress code or ridiculous demands on guests.

Ceremony
Happy people
alcohol
food (not posh just nice and plenty!)
Good music so people dance and have fun

ood food

Thank you for your input Im not worried about a professional photographer I will have cupcakes the rest I dont care about .

My friend and I will sort food as for entertainment we could sort that no problem my friend was a DJ.

If you want a dress then have a dress, they sell for roughly about half the price afterwards if you get it dry cleaned straight away then sell it, then it's a lovely way of wearing a lovely dress for half the cost.

There are also plenty of second hand dresses around so there are ways to get something nice for not a lot of money

I think the most important part of a wedding is to see all the people being lovely and happy about you tying the knot.

If I were to marry again, I would do what some friends did, they got married in the local register in the morning telling nobody, and invited all the people they cared about for a big garden party in the afternoon where they proudly announced they had got married earlier on the day... so... happy people and not having to deal with high expectations... heaven!

2nd hand wedding dress followed by a meal at a restaurant booked using toptable 50% off deal

I had a very simple intimate and inexpensive wedding (unfortunately the marriage didn't last). The one thing I regret, apart from the groom obviously , was that I didn't get myself a proper white dress. I don't mean a merangue, just a nice wedding dress, simple but elegant... I had a nice green flowy dress instead, but with hindsight I would prefer it if it had been proper ivory.

We had a civil registry marriage, in a lovely park in the outskirts of the Spanish city where we were living. We only invited my immediate family and close friends. XH's family live in Africa so they couldn't come.

It was lovely, I think we only paid about 500 euros for the whole thing, dress and suit included. We went for a nice meal in a nearby restaurant, my best mate/bridesmaid/photographer came dresssed in white for some reason which we all still joke about. In the evening we went to the bar on our street, and the neighbours all congratulated us in their own inimitable way, lots of "vivan! los novios!", rioja and beers all round.

Actually, thinking about it, I don't regret marrying, after all. Even if it didn't last.

Just have fun. With people you love. That will make it special. And get a wedding dress, even if it's second hand.

for the evening could you hire a local pub hall, do your own buffet and get a dj. (for me this is costing £250)
people then can pay for there own drinks ect.

if you fancy the back garden bbq idea, then perhaps get some sky laterns ( approx £4 for 5) get some garden candles get your xmas light down for some lighting.... then get a pasting table covering it will a table cloth for salad sauces ect

The best wedding I have been to is my friends where they had the reception at a local cricket ground - they asked every one to bring a dish instead of a wedding present. Every-one bought salad/bread/cheese/ham/salmon/puddings etc (she did instruct us what to bring)
Parents bought some kegs of beer, flowers from friends and neighbours gardens. We all bought a bottle or two. A local cheesy disco for $50. Lots of fun games were played.

It was proper darling buds of may type affair - brilliant, because everyone made the effort, everyone was involved, everyone wanted it to be a good event and it was.

I think the most important things for a great wedding are:

• good food (at regular intervals)
• plenty of free drinks (alcoholic & soft)
• music that all your guests recognise & can/want to dance to

I had a very relaxed wedding with LOADS of help from family & friends & our guests loved the little things that meant everyone mixed & the ice was instantly broken.
For example, my uncles organised a quiz & we mixed people up into teams by asking them to pull sweets from a bag (then we had a curly wurly team, a kit kat team etc). We also had giant jenga, croquet & make-your own cocktails, which all went down well.

Agree with others though that the most important thing is to make it YOUR day & enjoy it!

I think the most important things for a great wedding are:

• good food (at regular intervals)
• plenty of free drinks (alcoholic & soft)
• music that all your guests recognise & can/want to dance to

I had a very relaxed wedding with LOADS of help from family & friends & our guests loved the little things that meant everyone mixed & the ice was instantly broken.
For example, my uncles organised a quiz & we mixed people up into teams by asking them to pull sweets from a bag (then we had a curly wurly team, a kit kat team etc). We also had giant jenga, croquet & make-your own cocktails, which all went down well.

Agree with others though that the most important thing is to make it YOUR day & enjoy it!

Oops, sorry for unintentional double post!