best stuff at your wedding?

[Boardiegirl]

Our DD is getting married in March 2013 and we are at the 'what's available out there' stage. We have booked the venue, church, catering and still have to do cars, flowers etc. Theres so much choice out there on the web and its all changed so much since we got married, (in 1981!) that I was wondering, in terms of material things, what would you really recommend having, (eg entertainment, videographer, breakfast the next day...etc etc etc, ANYTHING), what was simply the BEST thing at your wedding or what was a waste of time/money?
You have helped me before so thanks in anticipation!

An efficient friendly photographer.

We avoided the local very bossy one who took forever and bored us stupid at a friends wedding.

The friend of a friend DMIL found was a bit wet he took lovey ones of DH and me and the immediate wedding party, but dint round up friends and more distant relatives very efficiently. I guess we should have written a list, but a better one would have asked.

Not getting at my DMIL, we got married in the back of beyond, the choice was very limited.

thanx for that. my dd and her h2b r mtng their photographer b4hand so hopefully thatl b ok!

DH really enjoyed the car we hired for him to get to the church, the cars were cool!

photographer, its worth spending on that , don't do too many "formals" though!

videographer - we considered this, but many told us they can be so invasive that it takes from the actual day

I LOVE rehersal dinners (just a dinner the night before with wedding party and family) but as it's "AMERICAN" most of MN will prob disagree!

FOOD FOOD FOOD, keep people fed, canopes, evening buffets etc

the cake is never a big deal for me

OH and DH chose all of his own stuff, no input from me on his and best man's suit, he choose his car, and shared a lot of the other decisions - it made it more enjoyable because there was lots of his personality in it too

We had an ice cream van come up as guests arrived for the reception. The guests loved it and could have whatever they wanted!! It was kept as a surprise so no one knew the van would arrive. It was brilliant

The best thing was our wedding video. It was a fab package tgat included 2 cameras so it meant you got really good shots tgat wouldn't have been possible with 1 camera. In the 6 shirt years there are so many people who are no longer here so it really is priceless (one is my dad). They also let me pick my own soundtrack, do a montage thingy and a open video box for guests to do messages at the reception. Love it as it all goes by so quickly and you do miss things.

Make up and hair coming to the house rather than me going to them saved time.

Good old cameras on the tables and a photo guest book.

Good luck!

Oh and my hog roast

thanks so much for all your tips! I would love a videographer but my DD's not keen cos she thinks similar to what Silkysmith does plus its about £1000 and thats a lot out of the budget!. I've still been researchin tho and have actually put a 'request' on my local MN site for any enthusiastic amateur to give me a quote! Cant imagine DD's H2B organisin ANYTHIN tbh and def not stuff as important as the wedding lol, hes fab but wasnt in the queue when organisational skills were given out! I luuuuurve the ice cream van idea! Bet it cost a lot tho, for the van n driver to come and then for everyone's icecreams! Hard to budget for too cos u dno wot everyone will choose or whether al the guests will want anything. Dyu think itd be too cold in March for it to go down well? Lovin the idea tho, and all your others, keep em comin!
I read that cameras on tables have been superceded by puttin blank CDs for ppl to send u their own pics after the wedding...what do u all think?

We had an ice cream van - £150 for an hour (as much ice cream as your guests can stuff in in that time). Was fab!

Having a photographer you like is hugely important too.

Garden games at the venue to keep people entertained was great. Lots of canapés keeps guests happy too.

One of the things that made mine special was that I handmade a lot of stuff- although don't make the mistake that that will be cheap/easy/quick or stress free!

lol, yea we r findin that tryin to make the invites! £150 for the icecream van was a bargain! I live in Wales, was it from Wales? iM A HUUUUGE TWIRLY ICE CREAM FAN N SO IS MY SON-IN-LAW-TO-BE! i MAY NOT EVEN TELL MY dd LOL! They chose the photographer online because they liked her work. They r meetin her soon too. I do hope they get great pics from a purely selfish point of view, as i took loads at the engagement party and then my sd card got corrupted and we had NONE at all, v sad, specially since i only hav 1 not v gd pic of them both due to him bein v camera shy!
The venue do th caterin and their quote for canapes was ridiculous tbh so they are havin a 'candy table' between the ceremony and reception...im enjoyin sourcing glass candy dishes at car booty's etc!
thanks for your post Sarcalogos :)

Oh and the thing that is still missing (just got back from a weeding),

Complimentary SOFT DRINKS, there was non alcoholic "Pims", but nothing for the DDs or my non drinking Dad for lunch. Plenty of red and White wine and bubbles, but nothing, but tap water for non drinkers.

Apart from having to pay, getting up and going to the bar from a very packed room is very antisocial.

Surely a jug of orange juice and a bottle of lemonade wouldn't break the bank???

A Magician for the kids - perfect entertainment for h adults too ;)

ffs. the adults ....

Agree on the photographer, you need to be happy with them, my first was a horror, my second was a dream.

Make sure that the guests have something to do whilst the photos are being taken (canapes etc) or even games (stops people getting too drunk)

Re the photographs - what we did, after hearing so many people say they wished they'd had x or y when they got their photos back, or they noticed that Aunty so and so wasn't on a photo - was look at several relatives and friends albums and made it clear what we did/didn't want. We then made a list of the photos we wanted, with who we wanted on them (Mum, Dad, names of bro, sis, Aunty, cousin, whatever or list of colleagues from work or friends from college, or whatever). Photographer had one list and my brother - who was an usher, had the other. It saved SO much time on the day (my brother was rounding up people for the photograph 2 ahead, and the photographer only had to concentrate on the lighting etc), and it meant no-one was missing, and you didn't have all those big pauses when people think "I won't be first" when they call for 'friends' or whatever, and the photos were over in about 1/4 of the time of some weddings.

Not in Wales, in the south east so sure you can get cheaper ice cream in Wales

Soft drinks, we had fruit juice on arrival for non-drinkers which then went behind the bar for children. Although most non-drinking adults probably bought coke etc.. .during the meal, tbh I don't think this is an issue.

We also had quiz questions and bubble bottles on the tables to keep people entertained during the meal.

thank you all so much, id never have thought of the soft drinks option, i will def get that sorted! Still havin trouble sourcing an ice cream van in Wales but will keep tryin. Have had no luck with any amateur wanting to video the day unfortunately. Hope the photographer is good but my dd and her h2b sourced that. Like the idea of having a list of photos they want and wil suggest they do that :)