When you got married....

**pammy** · 12-17-2005, 10:18 AM

... what was your wedding like? Was it a justice of the peace thing? Was it silk, satin and 6 bridesmaids? Did you finance it yourselves or did your parents go into hoc to pay for it? Did a honeymoon trip follow? Is there anything you would change, knowing what you know now?

I'll start. My dh and I married in 2001. His first, my second. We decided on a small, somewhat cheesy, ceremony on our one week long vacation. My dd was 12 at the time and had never really had a good vacation up until then. So dh, dd and I packed up my little Chevy Cavalier and drove from Oklahoma to Laughlin Nevada (little Vegas) for the wedding. A few of dh's friends met us there and a friend of mine and her dh coordinated their trip to be there as well. We sent ahead for the license, paid ahead the $120 for the ceremony in Bullhead City, Arizona (across the river from Laughlin). Dd was my maid of honor and only attendant. Dh had his best friend stand with him. The ceremony took exactly 15 minutes, pictures and all. We followed this with a dutch Mexican Food lunch (I guess you can call this a reception? but everyone paid for their own). For our 'honeymoon' we had dd with us, as this was our wedding/honeymoon/family vacation, so not really a honeymoon but wouldn't have traded having her there for nothing.
We then took off towards California and went to Disneyland,

. First time for me and dd. We didn't finance a thing. We paid for the ceremony, license, and 2 days worth of the room in Laughlin ahead of time. We rolled all of dh's coins he'd been saving for years that was well over $400 and went on that and what we both had managed to save before the trip. We didn't eat out in fancy restaurants, mostly McDonalds, kept an ice chest for drinks and snacks. We only got to go to one day at Disneyland, but lemme tell ya, one day is better than no day, anyday. My little car was cheap on gas, to boot. My dress cost me $80, I bought it ahead. It was pretty, perfect since I needed something that would pack well and was flat. Dh already had a nice suit he wore. And all of our stuff actually fit in the trunk of my little car. We saw the Grand Canyon, stayed in the hotel that was a casino on the Colorado River, the actual London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, went to Disneyland, touched the Pacific Ocean at Newport, California, hiked up to view the Bandera Volcano and hiked down to see the ice cave, explored the Cabazon Dinosaurs that Pee Wee did, saw the painted desert and many, many suguaro cactus.

Total cost= around $1,000 total.
Amount financed= $0
Type of wedding= Vegas-style ceremony with friends in attendance, by a minister. Cheesy but fun!
Length of ceremony= 15 minutes
Honeymoon= wedding/honeymoon/famly vacation all rolled into one in one week.
Would I have changed a thing?= Nope, not one bit.

**daddys3chicks** · 12-17-2005, 11:19 AM

Well, when I got married the first time at 18 - I had the big wedding (well not so big) bridesmaids and all. We had a reception at church with just cake and nuts and punch.

We went to FL for our honeymoon.

When DH and I got married we got married at a little chapel. My Mom made my dress and DH rented a tux. His best man wore a suit and my Matron of Honor wore a cocktail dress I had. A friend made the bouquet. We paid for all of it ourselves.

We went on a cruise which we paid for, as our honeymoon. Since this was a second marriage for both of us, when we got back we had a cook out at a friend's house instead of a reception. We paid for the food drinks etc.

**QuilterMom** · 12-17-2005, 11:44 AM

I knew it would be a hard day for me without my mom so we kept everything very inexpensive and low key. I think everything total (including my dress, which I fortunately got a discount on because dh's mom worked at the bridal shop, dh's tux rental, cake, punch, food, guest book, gifts, announcements, etc.) was around $1200. A friend's mom surprised us by making some really nice cutout sandwiches and a carved watermelon basket. She also made my bouqet and my friend's (I supplied the materials). I borrowed my friend's headpiece (which her mom had made for her wedding) because it matched my dress perfectly. I had a matron of honor and dh had a best man. I told my friend what color dress to get, but the dress was totally up to her. I wanted it to be something she could wear again and again since she was paying for it. We sent out about 16 invitations (kept it very small - I handwrote them rather than have them printed - and then we sent out a large # of announcements which we had printed). Dh's cousin is a pastor and married us in his church.

We splurged on the honeymoon (but got a great deal!) and went to Maui for 2 weeks. The funny thing is dh got a job offer while we were there (he had lived on Oahu previously) and we ended up moving there 3 months later.

**Katybird** · 12-17-2005, 11:57 AM

My first marriage was a big deal, maid of honor, bridesmaids, candlelighter, rign bearer and flower girls and the whole nine yards. I was 18 and clueless, I did not even pick out any of it except for my flowers. My exMIL and my mother were much more into the planning than I was. Well, the marriage only lasted 4 years and I did not keep anything from the wedding and even the memories of it have faded to almost nothing over the years.

My "real" wedding, the one to my DH now is the one that will always be a treasured memory. I was older and knew that DH was the man that I was going to spend the rest of my life with. We had a small ceremony with a district judge presiding in a wonderful old courthouse with just a few treasured friends and family there. I wore a denim dress and DH wore jeans and a nice western shirt and boots and a hat. We had a nice meal at a local restaurant afterwards and then spent a weekend in the Dallas area. The cost of the entire ceremony and weekend was less than $200 and the memories will last a lifetime.

**baronmom** · 12-17-2005, 01:55 PM

We had a nice big wedding. About 150 people. I had 5 bridesmaids and groomsmen. We paid for most of the wedding ourselves. Our reception was a sit down dinner of stuffed Chicken breast. We stayed one night in a hotel the night of the wedding, and then left for our honeymoon on that following Monday for a 5 day Bahama vacation.

**dwallyfam** · 12-17-2005, 01:56 PM

My wedding cost $2000. That was for everything including my dress. We had a small wedding, but a big reception.

**pkellyc** · 12-17-2005, 02:39 PM

Huge church wedding and reception the first time around. Second time around we were married by my minister in my mothers home with about 30 people in attendance. My parents paid for both weddings. Both weddings were just beautiful thanks to my mom.

**Pepper** · 12-17-2005, 02:42 PM

My wedding was very frugal!!

There is a wedding chapel over in Miami, OK, and that is where we went. It cost a total of $95!

Both our parents were there and several family members, about 30! My mother bought my dress, on a sale rack at Dillard's, $18. Dh, a true cowboy, wore his best wranglers, sport jacket and cowboy hat!

After the ceremony we all went to a buffet style restaurant. Then dh and I went to his parents house for the reception! We then drove to the neighboring town, Bartlesville, stayed in a hotel for one night, $35, and then came home!

I wouldn't change a thing!

Oh yeah, the wedding chapel was called Laverne's!!

**sarathom** · 12-17-2005, 03:12 PM

DH and I had a blast at our wedding. We had 250 people and the whole wedding cost us $1200 - $1500 which we paid for...this included everything.

We both wore shorts & T-shirts, our dog had our rings clipped on her handkerchief that she wore around her neck. We had a slo-pitch game first and then got married in the field. Everyone just sat in the grass. We got married by a JP. Then we had a big bbq and beer gardens and a dance (with homemade taped music).

There were no frills of any kind...and everyone still talks about our wedding. And that was over 10 years ago!

I wouldn't change anything....it was tonnes of fun. We had so many people because we have moved alot in our lives (we love the adventure!).

**midwestgal** · 12-17-2005, 03:34 PM

Ours was a simple wedding. I was 18, made my dress, and had a ring of daisies in my hair. (It was the 70s!) My husband was 20. I had one attendant. Mom hand wrote the invitations in gold ink in her beautiful handwriting.The guests were my many relatives on both sides including lots of children and close friends. The reception was at my parents' home. We borrowed a lot of serving dishes from the relatives! We had cake, punch and sandwiches. We exchanged gold bands that were inscribed with our initials.. I still don't have a diamond, but that's OK. I'm really not a diamond girl. The whole event probably cost us about $200, including the rings. We didn't really have a honeymoon, but shortly thereafter, I joined my husband in Germany for a year while he served in the army. We consider that our honeymoon year. It was wonderful and fun. That was 35 years ago, and we're still going strong!

**AmyMCGS** · 12-17-2005, 04:38 PM

Originally posted by pammyboat
... what was your wedding like? Was it a justice of the peace thing? Was it silk, satin and 6 bridesmaids? Did you finance it yourselves or did your parents go into hoc to pay for it? Did a honeymoon trip follow? Is there anything you would change, knowing what you know now? Total cost= around $1,000 total.

I'd be in the church, silk, satin, and exactly six bridesmaids category.

We had 180 or so guests.... mostly family, believe it or not. I come from a huge family. Three of those bridesmaids were my sisters.

We financed it mostly ourselves. We borrowed $5,000 from a friend, which we paid back about three years later. We hadn't planned to borrow anything, but, we were on a tight budget, and he insisted on helping us have the wedding we (I) wanted-- he's an awesome friend that we've both known since junior high school. My parents paid for my gown, three bridesmaids dresses (my sisters), some of the decorations, and gave us some cash towards the wedding expenses. His dad also contributed some cash. Between the parents, they contributed about $4,000.

Honeymoon: we went to one of those totally cheesy honeymoon resorts in the Pocono mountains... and loved it! We had a huge suite with our own swimming pool and sauna, a champaigne glass hot tub, the works. It was so much fun. We figured we'd never do something like that again in our lives, so we saved up for it. I'm so glad we did it.

Total wedding cost: $13,000. Post-wedding debt: just that $5,000 we borrowed.

I wouldn't change a thing about my wedding-- it was just what I'd always wanted. We (ok, make that I) planned every detail, and everything went smoothly. It was wonderful!

**Jasmine** · 12-17-2005, 05:56 PM

We had a small wedding in a Gatlinburg chapel. It was just our parents in attendance. We drove down on Sunday and stayed at the cabin my FIL had rented. Monday we hung out with our families and got our license. Tuesday was our wedding and we all went out to dinner and cake. We were going to pay for dinner but our parents treated themselves and us. Told us to put the money towards other things we needed. We had a nice hotel with a jacuzzi and fireplace in our room for 3 nights. Drove home Friday The wedding cost us $350 and our honeymoon was another $750 for a total of $1100. We paid cash for the whole thing.

**PrairieRose** · 12-17-2005, 06:21 PM

We had our wedding at a beautiful hotel, poolside, with a Church of Christ minister officiating. We had 5 attendants each, ring bearer and flower girl, 2 candle lighters and ushers. Afterward we had a nice reception with cake, punch and nuts. Some of my best friends were the singers (they were awesome) and we had about 150 there total. It was a really beautiful wedding. My dress was quite a bargain at $150 (it was a $500 gown in 1978) and I felt like a princess in it. After the reception we honeymooned in New Mexico for 4 days. It was just what we both we wanted then and even though now I might do a few things different we didn't spend huge amounts of money but got a lot of bang for my parents' buck

**Mom23boys** · 12-17-2005, 06:47 PM

Our wedding was very frugal too. We had a church wedding with 3 attendants each. We purchased the bridesmaids dresses at a retail store in the mall. DH rented his tux and the best man's tux. The church was a family church so we didn't have any rental fees. My mom made all the flowers and my veil. My aunt made our wedding cake. We just purchased the supplies she needed. DH's step-dad worked at a print shop and he got our invitations at a discount which he paid for as a gift. DH's dad was a professional photographer and he did our wedding pictures for free!

We went to San Antonio for our honeymoon. We didn't have the best of time because we really didn't have any money. I would love to do it all over again....the honeymoon.

**mom2matty** · 12-17-2005, 11:07 PM

We had a church wedding with about 250 guests. Dh and I had 3 attendants each......my 2 sisters and SIL and he had 3 friends. We also had a flower girl. The bridesmaid dresses were red and I don't remember details but I do know they were not terribly expensive. My dress was $800....that was 20 years ago. I went dress shopping with my MIL, SIL and my Mom. It was the very first dress I tried on and I tried on way too many dresses after it but ended up going back to it! I had a wreath and vail for a headpiece. I paid for 1/2 the dress and my parents paid the other 1/2. Dh and I paid for the pictures and cake, my parents paid for the reception and my inlaws paid for the rehersal dinner and honeymoon. So we all kind of worked together!

We were going to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon and I don't remember why that changed but thankfully it did.......we ended up driving up the California Coast and when we got to Carmel/Monterey dh ended up passing a kidney stone and I had to rush him to the emergency room in Monterey! He also had an uncle pass away aroung the same time so we had to come home early!