Best wedding you have been too

[ilovethecold]

Looking for some wedding inspiration.

Tell me about some of the best weddings you have been too

Ones where the bride and groom were relaxed and happy (especially the bride, grooms seem to take mishaps more in their stride). If the bride is stressed it shows.

Plenty of food (curry) and wine, couple of local musicians playing in the background. No bride's favours, decorated chairs in coloured ribbons or any of that palava.
Finished early- ish so nobody got bored!

Village church then back to the garden with a big open marquee, buffet to eat when you wanted, lots of alcohol (with BYO encouraged), different types of seating with no plan, free to enjoy the afternoon/evening as you wished with no fixed plan beyond the speeches.

Church service with lots of well known hymns. Things to do or eat whilst photos are happening. Outside space to sit and chat in the evening if you don't want to disco.

The one with bacon baps...

Don’t leave people hungry or thirsty. Or bored-so no hours of photos! Keep them entertained.

The nicest one I've ever been to was a bit of a shoestring affair as they married young (in their early 20s). Local church service then reception at the unglamorous working men's club up the road. A relative of the bride had made all the dresses and they were lovely, and various family and friends contributed food for the buffet which was very nice. The couple were both good musicians and played in various jazz and big bands who were roped in to provide the entertainment - fantastic. Drinks were cheap too.
What made it so special was that the couple were clearly besotted, the whole day was totally relaxed and unstuffy, so much love and care had gone into it from so many people to make sure they had the best day and it was such a joyful occasion.

A farm with alpacas and other cute animals in the field next to the outside seating area. But most importantly it had plenty of accommodation and most the rooms were only £40 a night.

My pet peeve at weddings is either really expensive accommodation, not enough rooms for everyone who wants one, or no accommodation at all. I moved 200 miles away from where I grew up, so for family and friends’ weddings I always have to stay somewhere. Rather than have to drive (and not drink) or more likely sort out a taxi, it is easiest to stay at the venue. If a lot of people stay, it is really nice to all then have breakfast together the next day.

I loved my own wedding. We live abroad so there was just a handful of ya and it was super relaxed. I have yet to find a wedding that wasn’t boring to be honest. Too long, too indulgent, too much hanging around making small talk.

The one with a really good band.

The food was nice, there were plenty of nibbles/canapés while they had photos done (and didn't take too long doing them). Plenty of wine supplied during the meal so no faffing to go to the bar (in a different room) Pleasant venue but cheap, and almost the whole budget other than the food was spent on the band. A local one, but well known, very talented and did lots of rock covers that everyone knew the words to.

Weirdest wedding was the one where I think the couple were constrained by a small budget and didn't have the do they would have wanted to. The reception was in a Methodist Hall which was no alcohol allowed (absolutely fine) but we (brides family) were almost shoved out of the door to 'go to the pub' by the bride after the meal like we were all raging alcoholics! I think she was maybe a bit embarrassed? I don't know. No idea what the groom's family got up to while we were banished. Then we met at the evening reception (different venue) where the groom's family proceeded to get smashed. It all just felt a bit uncomfortable and I worried the couple weren't enjoying their day

Honestly, my own. So many told us it was the best wedding they’ve been to, and three couples used ours as a “template” for theirs.

It was abroad which I know many here hate, but on a long weekend in a very accessible place & we paid for accommodation. Welcome dinner the first night so people caught up or got to know each other.

4pm ceremony that lasted 20 mins. Champagne and food straight away for 2.5 hours while we did photos etc. Sit down meal at 8, DJ till 4am.

We all ended up partying in the swimming pool, eating cake.

I love weddings and have been to a few outstanding ones!

One had amazing food and drink with a beautiful venue, however, I reckon it cost in excess of 60K as everything was luxury, its was great, but I enjoyed it as much as the low budget affair that was a registry office, then an excellent pub with cocktails, a BBQ and evening karaoke!!

Other stand out ones were the one where I knew about half the guestlist, I had so much fun at that one catching up with friends and just having a fab time, I as sober at that one as 12 weeks pregnant with DS.

And the one that we copied loads from, that was in a tepee style tent pitched at an outdoor centre, had pie and mash for dinner, loads of dancing and good fun!

The common point of all were plenty of food and drinks on offer. I don't even think it needs to be free alcohol, just as long as there access to a bar that isnt extortionatly priced.

And someplace to sit down. One wedding we were evening guests and realised we didn't have anywhere to sit down that wasn't the reception area of the venue. That was a little bit of a letdown, we felt like we werent welcome!

The best wedding I have been to was
Probably the shortest. Church wedding and then champagne and canapés at the bride's parents house over the road from the church. Probably three to four hours in total.

More recently I have noticed that anything at a 'venue' looks like a fairy tale but the food is poor. I believe that the bride and groom attend an open day or similar at the venue and then fall in love with the flowers/candles/table settings
Etc and their minds are made
Up before even looking at a menu or having a tasting.

Our friends married in a country hotel.
It was lovely only about 60 people and most stayed over in the hotel for two nights. It was brilliant so chilled and relaxed and happy.

Wedding in Italy, fewer guests so intimate and a lot more relaxed/ fun. The food was incredible and it was much, much cheaper than getting married in the U.K. Travelled there by train which was fun (overnight sleeper from Paris to Rome!).

Wedding of a friend in an Oxford college chapel, photos in the quad, lunch in the dining hall sat at long tables and cake in the library. At the time only graduates and staff could marry there ( not sure if that's still the case as it was some time ago)

@Wombat64

The one with bacon baps...

The one with bacon baps where the baps were dry (no butter, no sauce available), the bacon to bread ratio was all wrong (way too much bread) and the bacon was just barely cooked was the worst wedding we’ve ever been to!

If you’re doing bacon baps, do ‘em right!

The weddings I’ve liked - easy to find, cheap to stay overnight, drinks are reasonably priced, they have a good selection of drinks at the bar, they have enough food, they have a decent cake, the couple enjoy the day. Everything else is just fluff.

One with plenty of food and drinks (soft and alcoholic) available. Canapés, sit down meal, dessert table and evening hog roast/bacon & sausage baps with chips. Bar doesn't have to be a free bar, just plenty of choice & availability.

Also one with a disco in 1 room, but lovely comfy sofas for relaxing and chatting right next door so you weren't shouting over the music to be heard by someone standing next to you.

The best are local, on a Saturday and have a buffet!

Venues where some of guests can stay over if they want to (at their own expense). I found it much more relaxing and enjoyable knowing I just had to walk a few metres to bed at the end of the night.

Forgot to say it was a free bar - my highlight was my dad and father in law deciding to make cocktails for everyone at 2am that just descended into them pouring tequila into my friend’ mouths

Weddings that had some food/nibbles between the ceremony and the main sit down meal. The worst wedding I went to, the ceremony was at 11 and the main dinner at 4 with nothing available, so ended up buying a pack of crisps from the bar.

Weddings that seat people with people they know and don’t split up families/friendship groups are the best!

We went to a quirky one in a railway museum. Great street food vans, great cocktail bar and great live jazz band playing modern song covers. Only downside was I got locked in the toilets.

I have been to loads of weddings of different sorts and throughly enjoyed almost all. Not as big a fan of the standard hotel venue with ceremony rooms expensive bar and meal/disco but I have still enjoyed them. Some of the best:

Church followed by village hall BBQ, free wine/beer and good band.

Formal marquee in the garden with free flowing champagne, yummy canapés and delicious food and wine followed by swing band.

Abroad in Sweden (where bride is from) with only 30 guests, would only go for really good friends/family but we had a super weekend both at the wedding and other activities seeing the family farm among other things.

Ceilidh in the garden, buffet and BYO booze.

Also a lot of the really fun ones have been my uni friends when we were all child free in our 20s/early 30s, knew loads of people and everyone up for a great time!