What Is the Most Memorable Thing You Have Ever Experienced at a Wedding??

this has nothing to do with money, but the dj had all married couples go to the dance floor and throughout a song he would ask that all couples married less than five years leave the floor, then ten years, then fifteen years, then 20 years and so on. The couple that had been married the longest got a little gift and then the top three couples gave words of wisdom as to how they stayed married so long. I thought that was really nice in this day and time when 1 out of every 2 marriages is ending in divorce.

The Wedding Party stood up in front and looked at the congregation and the Pastor had his back to them. When he gave his talk, he walked up and down the aile connecting with the people in the pews as the group looked at us and watched.

I believe you'd need a co operative pastor/priest on this one. But it was quite memorable

Hi Kim,
I saw this at a wedding I attended a few years back and then I started doing it for my own clients, and everyone loves it. I take engagement photos of the couple and then put them in a coffee table book with lots of white space around the photos. Then the bride sets it out as her guest book, and friends can leave messages to the couple with a Sharpie right on the pages. It's a great keepsake for the couple, and wedding guests LOVE to look at and sign the book.
Best of luck to you!
A. Denney

Congrats Kim!

Ok, here are a few things that my husband and I did to make our wedding unique. (Both are free.)

1. We wrote our own wedding vows. Yes, a lot of work, but SO worth it. To me, short and meaningful is much better than long and redundant. We recommend it to everyone because it really personalized our ceremony and gave everyone and insight into our relationship and commitment. I tell you how much our guests LOVED this. So many people commented on it.

2. Now, this is something you will either love or hate. We saw one another before the ceremony. (We had to in order to take photos due to the arrangement of the ceremony and reception.....no 3 hour break in between....yippee.)Our photographers called it a first look and the photos we have from this session are priceless. It allowed my husband, well actually both of us, to tear up and cry and have a full range of emotions without feeling in any way inhibited by being in front of a room full of people. I can't tell you how RELAXED and be excited this made me as I walked down the aisle.

I hope this helps.

All the best to you,
A.

One thing we did at our wedding was rather than having a guest album, we provided small blank notecards and envelopes. People were to write their advice or best wishes on the card. Many people got creative and we read them on the plane to our honeymoon. Some were a bit sappy, others funny, and even a raunchy one or two. I saved them in an album, and they are worth re-reading.

Another wedding I went to gave each person a balloon and when the couple left the church all people let their balloons go into the sky.

A. E

I gave an engraved mantle clock to my dad (my foster dad walked me down the aisle, not my real dad) to recognize him.

We also gave memberships to the Arboreteum to our attendants, they loved that.

My best friend had a bubble machine at her reception that was fun. She also had disposable camaras on the tables and that really gave her some cute pictures. But now a days there are digital camaras, so not sure you would need this as much.

Also a GREAT wedding song is True Companion by Marc Cohn. Talks about "a girl in white" and the wedding day.

Hi Kim-- the best part for us was the music and dancing. However, here's something I WISH I could have done: put disposible cameras on the tables. I thought it was cheesy at the time so I refused to do it. Afterwards, when we saw what our photographer had shot, I realized that candids from each table would have been better. There's always someone at each table willing to "help" the bride and groom with their wedding album-- you can even make an announcement to that effect: "Hey everyone-- Kim and xxx really want to remember this evening. Help them out by taking some pictures of the group at your table and of the party in general. Have fun! Be creative! Consider it another precious gift for the new couple to enjoy-- the beginning of many happy memories!" Something like that!
My second favorite memories was giving the guest bubbles to blow as we walked out of the church-- it made for amazing photos!

Love the music! 20 years ago...it's funny the things you remember about your wedding. My husband and I got married in our Catholic Church, and there were two weddings booked back-to-back (ours being first)... when the second wedding musicians began to "warm up", it stopped us in our tracks! The Flutist, harpist, violinist... they were incredible! Our music was lovely but... this was incredible! Turns out, they were from a local college and all really reasonably priced. A pianist playing during dinner would have been lovely too. However.... we had an AWESOME band!!!! I've been to weddings where they have had awesome DJ's. Any source of music that keeps you dancing all night is a great value!

The MOST remarkable thing that you can do for your wedding is to remember that the bride and groom set the pace. If your attitude and energy level is happy and enthusiastic, your guests will feel that vibe. The opposite is true too. So many couples miss that mark because they take on their own little problems on the day of the wedding. Those concerns (which WILL HAPPEN) should be deferred to a trusted mom, aunt or close friend to resolve. Decide who will be the go-to person, in advance.

I see you are an excited bride and I hope you and your future husband have an awesome, perfect day!

Have a friend take a picture of each guest/family as they enter the reception. (that way you don't miss anybody) A friend had a poloroid instant camera and we took a foto of each guest/family and hung them with fancy clips like a clothes line between two flowering shrubs as decoration durriing the reception and afterward the bride put them in a scrap book.
Have pretty note cards for the guests to fill out with a favorite memory of you, or a wedding wish, or good advice for a long happy marrige. They can also be placed into a scrap book later.
Video as much as you can even if it is just a friend with a camera, it is so much fun to see everything many years later...and laugh at all the silly comments from family.
We took a foto and made it into a label, and wrapped it around a Hershey bar for each guest, and they LOVED IT! So much better than the party favors your guests will never use! The ladies were asking for extras!!! Even the ones that were dieting...LOL!
Best wishes!!!! Have Fun!!! Relax and enjoy the day, don'tlet it stress you! God Bless you both!

Have you decided on your wedding cake and/or dessert yet? In lieu of an expensive cake, you could do a dessert bar, full of petit fours, mini cheesecakes, chocolate dipped strawberries, etc. Or I've also seen a sundae bar at a wedding where there were lots of kids, a bit hit for everyone. Sometimes venues will allow outside food as long as it is dessert - you could even have close family/friends make the desserts to save lots of money.

Depending on how long your reception will run, you could divide your food budget to have a small portion for a late night snack - I've seen people do a hot dog bar or nachos which may sound strange, but after all the drinks and dancing, people are hungry late at night! A nice send off and quite memorable.

An idea that costs nothing, at my brother's wedding they announced the bridal party by announcing each member by saying something funny and game-show like (the DJ helped a lot here) "John's favorite pastime is eating Taco Bell after a long night of computer gaming" etc. Also, they played a snippet of either their favorite song or a song they danced to at their wedding. Very memorable for the wedding party and a good chance to be witty for the general audience.

If your reception is really casual, you could place small games at each table that guests can play. We did this for an adult graduation party and people loved it! Also guests can take the games home. We purchased peg games for $12/dozen - these can be used as favors as well. Go to www.orientaltrading.com and type in "peg game assortment" in the search area if you're interested.

Best wishes on your exciting day!!

Your DJ will make or break your reception! You already have him so make sure you get what you want. Make sure the DJ knows what to play and when to play it. We spent the most money on that and people are still talking about it almost 6 years later. Now he charges double what he did then he is so good. Things he did to make it so special were:

Intro: We used special music (Dave Remix) to come in when the wedding party was announced.

Kissing couples: Asked us for a list of couples (names and how long they had been married) and then during the dinner he would ask them to stand up and kiss. However they kissed, the bride and groom had to kiss...one of my husbands friends had his wife bend over and he kissed her behind. So my husband had to do that. It was so funny!

Put for a kiss: my husband is a golf pro so there was a putting green on the dance floor during dinner and people came up and attempted the put. When they made it we kissed. Little kids could even get into this very all ages!

Group dances. The DJ got Mike and I together and out on the floor with us for group "line dances" but NOT country they were things nobody had heard but told you what to do and everyone could enjoy.

Oldest couples. To get everyone involved before the old timers headed out he did a dance for how long people had been married. We started and sat and watched as it got down to my grandparents married for 64 years.

Everyone was dancing all night and we went an hour over and still didn't want the party to end and took it back to our hotel lobby. People still tell me they have never been to a wedding like it.

But BIGGEST suggestion. YOU and your husband enjoy the party, have fun, enjoy every moment because it goes by way too fast and if you are having fun everyone will see it and join you!! Oh, so we made sure we saw and thanked everyone, we released them from their seats at the ceremony. We hugged and thanked everyone for coming personally so we didn't have to worry about "missing" someone at the reception.

Have a GREAT TIME and congrats!

I always hated the clinking of the glasses thing, so I went along with the sing-a-song thing. Cheesy, yes. But I loved seeing my friends & family get a little crazy & creative. You have the DJ or band leader announce that if they want the bride & groom to kiss, instead of clinking their glasses they have to stand up and sing a song with the word "love" in it. They can do it solo, as a duet or as a table. It makes for alot of laughs. I think my sisters' table stood up & sang 7-8 songs. My stomache hurt 'cuz I was laughing so hard.

BTW--I agree that the music is important, but nowadays you can do it for soo little money. Check if the place that you're having it has a good sound system or check into the cost of renting a good pair of speakers and what you would need to do to hook up an ipod. Then you & your fiance can handpick all of the music & download it to the ipod and just let the music play throughout the night. Much less than a DJ or band. Google it to make sure it's what you want and be aware of the potential problems. Go on Youtube & do a search on "DJ or Ipod" so you know what problems you should avoid-basically put someone in charge to test the system ahead of time and make the announcements.

Good luck!

Congratulations! We didn't do the bouquet/garter thing for single women and men. (Depending on your guests, there may not be very many single people. Also, for the past few weddings we've been to, kids have always ended up catching them.) Instead, we had a dance for all of the married couples, then the DJ "eliminates" couples from the dance floor by how long they've been married. For the couple who was married the longest (43yrs at our wedding), I gave them my smaller bouquet. You can give any gift. We had a fair number of out-of-town guests, so we gave small tasting bags of Garrett's as our favors as people left the wedding. (This isn't exactly cheap, though, at $2-3/bag.) Have fun!!

The thing I've remembered most by far is seeing a slide show of pics of the bride and groom. They usually start out with pics of them both as children and then follow them through their lives as they grow up, start dating and the best one even had a couple pics taken just a couple hours earlier at the wedding. I bet you have someone in your family who can pull it off and it truly is priceless!

I've been to many weddings, from very large fancy & expensive to small, sweet and intimate. One thing I have noticed that people enjoy the most is the music. You can have the fanciest wedding ever, but if the music is not great, well people will not want to stick around (unless it's the family or closest friends). Music can really bring out the fun at a wedding.

Wish you the best on your wedding day! Congratulations!
Barbara

I think Angela's idea of a photo booth is wonderful. However, if you would like to do it for cheaper, you can do what my friend did. She collected silly hats, wigs, boas, ect and set them out at a table with a coupe of disosable cameras. When people had a chance, they went over to the area and took silly pictures of themselves. They were so much fun to look at later and really added to the fun spirit of the whole day.
I hope you have a wonderful wedding and please remember that everything will not be perfect, but as long as you and your wonderful man end up married in the end, its a fantastic day. Have fun!

I went to a wedding recently. The bride and groom did a great thing. They ditched the wedding favors! Thanks to them, I don't have another stupid tiny frame, crystal piece of junk or potpourri sache to pretend to care about only to throw away a week later, or worse discover it a year later then throw it away! They put up small signs on the cocktail tables and seating table that stated they made a donation to a charity in lieu of the favors. Money well spent in my opinion and probably not as much as the cost of favors.

People still talk about two things at our wedding -

We had a "surprise" Elvis impersonator sing at our reception using the DJ's equipment. He was great, passed out silk scarves while singing and really got everyone up and dancing. Only $300 - Bob West Elvis.

Also, on pretty cardstock paper, I printed up special menus and placed them on each place setting before the guests arrived. Rather than simply saying "tortellini", it said things about us and played up the food. For example:
"Mountain Biking Fuel Tortellini Salad" - Four Cheese Tortellini Tossed with Basil Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes and Toasted Pine Nut.

Congrats and Good Luck!

We attended a small church ceremony a few years ago....right before the bride entered the church an usher distributed about 35 single stem flowers to the people sitting along the aisle. Then, as the bride walked in and down the aisle, she gathered the flowers from us. It created a beautiful bouquet of flowers. It was very cool! Sorry though...I do not recall what she did with the flowers during the ceremony. I know she held on to them for part of it, then perhaps placed them in a vase??? Congrats to you! Relax and enjoy the day :)

Congratulations!!! What a fun time. Of course I'm 100% biased, but my wedding was a blast. People kept coming up to me during the reception, then for months afterwards too, and talking about how much fun it was. Our whole goal was to make it a great party. I focused my planning efforts mostly on the food, drinks, and music, and planned it from the perspective of the guest.

For instance, when I first walk into a reception, I want a drink and and appetizer right away. By that time, people are ready for a cocktail and a snack. So I had waiters at my reception hall greeting guests with their choice of a glass of wine or beer right when they walked in, and then waiters walking around with trays of appetizers that I chose during our planning. That sets a tone right away. Make sure it won't be crowded when people arrive (talk to the planner at your venue about this) so that people get there, have space to roam about and mingle, and don't have to fight for a drink or bite to eat. Sometimes adults are like toddlers - give them their sippy cup and snack and they are happy campers! :)

We did a pasta bar in addition to our buffet table, which was a huge hit. The chef at the pasta bar cooked up made-to-order dishes, and guests got to choose type of pasta, type of sauce, and veggies/meat, then the chef would prepare it in the saute pan right there. Obviously not every place has the space/equipment to do something like this, but you can check to see what options of you have in terms of giving people reasonable choices for food and keeping it within your budget.

Finally, we kicked off the dancing with sort of a surprise. I wanted to do all of the traditional wedding things like the cake cutting and throwing the bouquet, so of course we did the father-daughter dance after my husband and I did our first dance. My dad really wanted to dance to Butterfly Kisses, so we did, and then right at the end of that, the DJ broke into Brickhouse and we got down, just me and my dad on the dance floor. People were totally revved up by it, and the dance floor was PACKED all night long. The party even moved to my parents' house afterwards because no one was ready to go home after 4 hours!

Wow...I need to get married again to incorporate all of the cool ideas I just read. For my wedding, my husband was okay with having my dad give the first toast. He LOVED that he was able to do that. In addition, I have a father, a step-father and now a father in law. I danced with all three of them for the father-daughter dance. You have to be sure that Dad is up for this, but it was the most memorable time for me. We danced to Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely." Good luck and have fun!

Hi Kim. Congratulations on your upcoming big day!

We got married 6 1/2 years ago, and we did have a great DJ, good food, good cake, etc. But the thing that I remember most were some songs that people sang. Our DJ suggested to us that we choose something different for people to do if they wanted us to kiss, rather than clinking their glasses with their knives, which can get rather annoying. So he announced for us at the beginning of the reception that if they wanted us to kiss, they would have to go up to him & get the microphone & sing us a song with the word LOVE in it. My very most memorable was someone who sang us the Oscar Mayer Weiner song! (My bologna has a 1st name, it's OSCAR, my bologna has a 2nd name it's MAYER. Oh I LOVE to eat it every day...) It was hysterical & I'll never forget it. (My husband's friends & family also speak another language, so many of the songs were folk songs from the other language with their word for LOVE in them.) Anyway, this turned out to be great fun.

I also have a friend who had hula hoops & people had to do the hula on the dance floor if they wanted the couple to kiss.

Good luck!

Kim-Congrats!!!! I am getting married in sept of this year...anyway-I TOTALLY agree with Barbara-the music is it. I have put a big portion of money for our music-we are having a band and dj..I kinda feel like no one will remember what the centerpiece was at their table or what their place card was, but everyone remembers the music and dancing. One other thing that we are doing that is less expensive than a band is a photo booth-you can rent one for about $400-500...this is fun and different-your guests get to take a strip of pics home and a second one prints out for you-we are having a scrapbook there so our guests can put their pics in and write something as well. I am not sure where you live, but if you would like I can get you the name of the photobooth company that we are using-you have to be careful with the different companies...enjoy your day!!!

At our wedding we had someone take a poloroid picture of us as we walked up the aisle seconds after we were married. (We had already bought a frame for it). We had the photographer put the photo in between identical pictures of each of our parents walking up the aisle seconds after they were married. All three pictures were on the table where we had the guest book. We really enjoyed seeing it, and so did our guests.

We also had our wedding favors (little silver picture frames) double as placecards and we found an inexpensive calligrapher to personalize each of the placecards with a little drawing that represented something about the person whose name was on the card. For example, my father-in-law loves golf, so his placecard had a golf club; my husband's aunt enjoys gardening, so her placecard had a little drawing of a flower. Twelve years later, people still talk about how much they enjoyed and appreciated this, and -- they still have the wedding favor!

Have a wonderful "big day"!

I don't know if this will help but for my wedding the flowers is where I saved a lot of money. I picked the flowers for their meanings and not for the colors. Then at each table at the reception I had a bouquet of one type of flower with its meaning printed on the same cards we used for the invitation return cards. Not only did it personalize the flowers it also encouraged guests to go to other tables to see the other flowers and their meanings.

I had a friend marry my husband and I, we had guests let butterflies go at the end, disposable cameras on the tables and small pieces of paper for guests to tell us whatever as we knew we wouldn't be able to spend the small amount of time available (as they have you doing all kinds of things)talk with everyone.

My brother asked me to perform his wedding ceremony for him. I got ordained online. As his bride was walking down the aisle I got very emotional and had to wait a few minutes to compose myself before continuing!! It was very special -- who else has their officiant cry during their wedding?? LOL If you have a loved one that doesn't mind speaking in front of a crowd you should consider it! If you'd like the site to get ordained, let me know :)

Hi Kim,
I think it is all about the food (including the taste of the cake)! Provide great tasting food and everyone will leave talking about how great it was. Music is important but everyone's taste is different. Soft dinner music fills in the gap of people eating and is also a great time for the "picture dances" (First dance, father/daughter, etc.) Also, cutting the cake first so when everyone is done eating they can have their cake while you are dancing. Dessert bars are great to keep the kids happy or you could find a "kid space" for balloons, coloring (photo copy different color books for just plain paper, etc. so the parents can enjoy themselves and see the kids from their table (remember some people just can't/wont leave their kids at home and if their attendance is important to you happy kids make happy adults!)
Also, instead of using a "guest book" you could have colored squares in a nice bowl for people to sign and then put it in your scrapbook or photo album next to their picture.
Best Wishes!

Hi Kim Conratulations. I would have to agree with your other responses. The music in the most important. My neice got married last year and she to had to keep cost down. She wanted something small and quait. Her friends and family only, no long lost relatives. Anyway, she had a friend who was a photograper take pictures and she ut them up on snapfish (so did her firend who got married last week) it was so nice. She sent the file to everyone and they could all look at her picutres at their convience abd order whatever they wanted dirt cheap. I think I bought her whole album for under $50.00. It is really the way to go. She also put littlew cards on the table asking people to jot down a memorable moment or experience with the couple. She then made an album oput of them. Very nice. Lastly she ordered 3 cakes from Sam's ( they did an awesome job) and they can decorate for weddings. She put them on a dessert table , all three different with three different size tiers, then she put indiviual pictures of her and her husband to be all around them. It was three years of them together. It was very nice. In the center she put a picture of her parents wedding photo. We made all the centerpices ourselves with just mixed flowers. It was wonderful. I will tell you my opinion the one thng everyone seems to notice is the music and booze, all else will be forgotton. Except the bride and groom of course. Good Luck and have fun

Some of the most memorable things I remember were low-cost because they were things friends and relatives of the bride and groom did.

For example, our wedding had amazing music - the best I've ever heard at a wedding - because my husband's cousins, all musicians and singers, organized and performed it as a gift. We also had a pretty low-budget wedding, but it was so much fun! People still tell us what a good time they had at our reception. Nothing exciting, just people having a fun time.

At one memorable reception, the bride and her family were into folk-dancing music. The reception was in a VFW hall without air conditioning out in the country and they served only beer and wine, but it was so fun because the musicians and friends of the family organized folk-dancing all night long. So much fun, and just spontaneous, not really planned out.

But even if you don't have talented friends or family to provide free entertainment :-), don't worry too much about it. The best weddings are the ones where the bride and groom are relaxed and having fun and not being stressed-out about it. Just be your happy, fun-loving selves and everyone else will have a great time too!

Do a mashed potato bar! It was such a hit that people are still talking about ours, 3 years later. Mashed potatoes are inexpensive.... you serve them in martini glasses and offer a variety of toppings so people can create their potatoes to their liking. People had so much fun, they are delicious, and it gives people a good base for the alcohol they drink later. We did it during cocktail hour.... it was a topic of conversation and helped "break the ice" for people who didn't know each other!

We used sparklers for our wedding instead of rice, balloons, etc. It was a hit and looked cool in the pictures. I also think it's a nice touch when the couple has a ballroom type dance for the first dance as husband and wife. It's memorable and lessons or private lessons aren't too pricey.

Don't know if you have intentions on giving a gift to your guests but if you do this would be a very classy and inexpensive. You can purchase a cheap bottle of wine for about $3.00 at Aldi or Trader Joe's pull the labels off and make your own label (purchased at Office Max or office supply store) with a picture of you and your finance, names and date. You can place the bottles out by and behind the place cards for your guests. (One bottle per family.)

Also not that you intend on doing this but please don't get drunk at your wedding. There is nothing trashy then seeing a drunk bride (or groom).

Best of luck and congratulations!!!

our video, have a friend video or spend the extra money to have it done professionally, nothing fancy but it really helps all the things you forgot or you might remember something in your head and then the photso and video show other things and people can say a toast or wishes on it and that was sweet.
we handed out tiny wine bottles with the lable of our names and date etc and if was fun to go to our friends how years later like 8yrs at least and still see these bottle or we had friends go to the hot tub the and derink the wine bottles people left and they had fun. it was an added extra but nice.
have fun and congrats! J.

Congratulations! One way a friend of mine saved was by using candles instead of flowers for centerpieces and at the church. The bridesmaids carried tall clear vases with floating candles. It was beautiful! My sister added rose petals to the water in her floating candle centerpieces - also gorgeous, and she spent no more than $3.00 for each table. If you were considering disposable cameras that is money you can save on too - just ask friends to email the pics from their digital cameras (most will anyway). At the last wedding I was at they had preaddressed and paid envelopes with blank discs for digital pictures at each table. I think they ended up with at least 40 left at the end of the night, so if you go that route just make up enough for the people who will really take advantage.

The most memorable things about weddings? The bride and groom enjoying themselves. Don't sweat the details and just have fun.

Hi and congrats on your upcoming wedding! Instead of giving away favors at the wedding, try renting a photo booth - you know, like the ones in malls or at carnivals. You can rent them relatively cheaply (like $250 or something) and then people can go in them all night and take silly pics of themselves! It will print out the pictures with your names and wedding date in the border, so people have a nice remembrance of your special day.

From what I have heard, the cost of the pics is included in the rental fee. Check it out! It is a pretty inexpensive way to give a memorable momento of your day to your guests, and one that they will actually cherish and use because the photos will remind them of you and your beautiful day.

Hope this helps! Good luck and congrats again!