Am I the only one who loves a proper formal wedding?

[StealthPolarBear]

Dress up, watch the ceremony, drink and dance and chat. Maybe even have your photo taken?
It seems fashionable now to call them stuffy and hate them.

We are having a very informal wedding in September this year, we expressly didn't want a stuffy formal wedding as we want people to be comfortable. I've always seen occasions like a wedding and even a funeral as stuffy things and I hate that, I don't want to spend the day wearing an outfit I will hardly ever wear again with a vast majority of people I only see at weddings and funerals. That's not to say I don't like the traditions of a wedding I will be doing the first dance, photos, old/borrowed/new/blue, but not having a wedding breakfast having a hog roast instead.

I don't enjoy them, but then the ones we seem to be invited to are all day events. One last year was a midweek wedding starting at 11am, but, being midweek, work commitments meant that we could only manage to stay over one night so we drove for almost 3 hours on the morning of the wedding and stayed over afterwards so it was one hell of a long, dull day.

We're going to another next month, again an all day affair although this time just two hours away (as long as the traffic is in our favour). I met the groom very, very briefly, as in to just say hello to in passing, at a concert five years ago, but I've never met the bride. My husband hasn't seen the groom for years, hasn't met the bride and no one else that we know is going. My husband feels obliged to go though as he doesn't want to upset the couple (and yes, I've explained that it's an invitation and not a summons!).

I tend to be quite comfy at formal weddings too.

IfNotNow - Gloria Estefan? To entice the non-dancers with "rhythm is gonna get you"?
Yes.

I guessed well.

I hate to be the one to ask, but what do hog roast weddings usually offer for those who don't eat hog?

Goldfish they will have burgers and other buffet food for people plus veggie options. Our venue is putting on a wider selection as this is all the food we are having.

Oh I love a good traditional wedding! Mine was traditional, church ceremony followed by hotel reception.

I love the whole coming together of friends and family, we had so many people we care about all in the same venue and that will never happen again, so special.

I'm comfy at a formal do too.

We are getting married on a budget, but wanted to be able to have all our friends and family there. We thought if they are important enough to invite we want them for the whole thing. So ours won't be a traditional wedding as such as theres no formal sit down meal. We are having 2 different buffets, one in the afternoon and one later on in the evening. There will also be a lot of children and we found our guests have responded well to this idea as there are a fair few fussy eaters. We are however getting married in the church i attend and have booked a fantastic photographer, so i guess you could say the majority of the day is 'proper'.

Does comfy mean "not bored"?
I take my fascinator off to those who aren't bored in two hour receiving lines.

I find them terribly dull and too predictable. I've been to loads of weddings and it's the same old thing every time.

I never like the evening do though, a disco is dull!
But the ceremony in a church and meal after is lovely!

We managed to have a semi-formal, semi-relaxed wedding. Best of both worlds

And Christmas dinner for wedding breakfast. Priorities

I like to think our wedding was a happy mixture of formal and relaxed.

We did get married in church and we did have a sit down meal but there was lots about our day that wasn't strictly traditional. We wanted to make it very personal to us and I think we did that really well.

I just love weddings and think myself lucky to be invited to them, traditional or otherwise.

They're too long. The whole having to get up early to go to church and then wait forever for dull food. Speeches are fucking awful. And evening dos, still think it's crass to have two-tiers of guests, especially when the excuse for it is to give some guests yet another dull meal that is not a 'breakfast' - the days of people fasting before they see some couple who's lived together for 10 years with their 3 kids in tow finally get married are long gone.

I like the ones that start at 4 or 5pm and then the party starts right after.

I don't like the whole "breakfast" for the inner circle, then evening do thing either. It's well tacky, as well as too long.
I don't think that set up is actually very trad though. Weddings used to be in the late morning I think, then the "breakfast" and a knees up, all wrapped up by teatime

I love weddings! Good job as I'm getting married in September

We said that we wouldn't go too "stuffy", we wanted it quite laid back and fun. We did not want the cookie cutter "colour theme" / chair covers / strapless dress type wedding that's been so popular over the past 10-15 years (no offense to those that have!). We just stripped back that stuff.

However, we are still having a photographer (who has been told she has absolutely MAX 1 hour inbetween ceremony and dinner!), sit-down meal, speeches, first dance etc. I suppose we have quite a few traditional elements.

I've never been to a wedding that I haven't enjoyed, formal or not!

I love weddings too, Im always the sap sat there is tears lol

in tears I mean lol

I love a trad wedding. Married in church, photos, sit down meal, speeches, buffet and disco where kids slide across the dance floor on their knees. Fed up with mini sandwiches, hog roasts, sickly "original" vows, no kids, themes and bridezillas.

Maybe ours wasn't that traditional then.we got married at three, do straight after with no specific evening do. People invited to the lot. Photographer after ceremony only, kicked out before food. And we had a buffet! I did have a white gown.

I like to attend them. but it would kill me to organise such a thing (we eloped to avoid it )

I love attending weddings. Saying that, this June I will be attending a wedding with a 2 year old and a 2 month old. Not sure how much fun that'll be!

I think the shift has come because young people are concentrating on buying a house so there's little money left over for a big traditional wedding.

When you're trying to save £100,000 cash for a 20% deposit for a 2 bed flat in London, money on a wedding isn't do-able so it's a hog roast and cash bar all-round!

Are they cheaper?