My first wedding (!) was held at a local estate/B&B that we rented for the weekend. Family and friends spent the weekend and the wedding was Saturday night for about 65 people. Lovely and low-key and I think we spent under $5k. The marriage, not so much.

I remarried about 10 years ago and my now husband and I flew to Harbour Island (in the Bahamas) and had a beautiful beach wedding and celebrated with dinner and cake in the small dining room of our charming beachfront inn. We spent about $5k including the photographer who took amazing photos that I cherish to this day. My brother and sister-in-law surprised us the night before the wedding and we loved having them with us. An all-around wonderful experience. Happily, I can say the same about the marriage :).

Love hearing about everyone's special day/s!

ETA: inspired by Robo & Spanish...

Ours was probably the cheapest of the ones posted so far. We got married in the chambers of the county judge by the county judge. My dress I made myself out of white wool (and bought a lacy white vest so it would look "bridal). I had no flowers. Our best friends stood up with us and then they treated us to lunch before we left on our 4 day $40 honeymoon. We'll celebrate 50 this year and I'm finally going to have a wedding cake! Which, I think, will cost far more than our honeymoon!

Thirty years ago, we were two poor grad students crazy for each other, whose families were not yet ready to bless the union. So it was all up to us to get married, if only we could find a couple of hours on a week day to go to the court house. One day, one of us had a class or a meeting or something canceled, and we had a full hour before the court house closed. We made an appointment with the justice of the peace, but almost missed the big event. We barely made it there when they were about to give up, but we were not prepared for all the questions. Did we have witnesses? How about rings? No vows either? So, we got married without all these very important things. The whole thing set us back by a whopping $35 in witness fees. Oh, the bus fare and the pizza we ordered that night.

Martha, looks like Nutsabout just topped you :)

My first wedding(1987) was a fairly big affair. I think 300 invited. Rehearsal at an exclusive club, big church wedding, reception at another exclusive club. Used groom’s family memberships to access these clubs, also used groom’s family limo(yes, they have their own limo and driver). Groom’s family private plane pilot spilled his wine on my wedding dress at the reception and I apparently laughed it off as he liked to remind me. It was a surreal experience and surreal life, for that matter. Marriage lasted 9 years.

Second wedding, we stopped at the local Justice of the Peace on the way to the airport to pick up a dog trainer friend coming in from Germany. Witness at the wedding was JPs wife and my 5yo son. Cost was the JPs fee which I think was $60. Still married 23 years later.

My parents paid for my wedding 23 years ago. I don’t recall the cost but I’d say it was typical of the times but not extravagant. Our wedding was at the Naval Academy chapel (Dh is a grad) and our reception was at a waterfront inn nearby. I had hoped for a fall wedding but Dh was teaching at the Academy at the time, and since we wanted to go on a honeymoon, it meant getting married in the hot and humid Maryland summer. Dh is from the west coast and I’ll never forget when one of his h.s. friends arrived a few days early when it was 90 and humid, he remarked to Dh “why the heck would anyone want to live here?” Somehow, some way though, just three days later, I woke up to an absolutely perfect day - sunny, low 70s, slight breeze and miraculously, no humidity. That was important for this gal with thick, coarse hair which becomes a frizzy mess in humidity. It was a glorious day and picture perfect.

Dh was the first of five kids to get married in his family so it was a big to do for his family. Despite being from the opposite coast, his friends and his parents’ friends all came. His parents hosted the rehearsal dinner for not only the wedding party but also all OOT guests, so it was nearly as big as the reception itself! Then on top of that, dh’s aunts hosted a brunch the morning after our wedding for all of the OOT guests. I could have done without all the pomp and circumstance but it was lovely and not at all extravagant. It was quite amazing though that out of the 150 people there, the majority of them were from OOT. Even though I grew up locally, only my parents and brother’s family live here. My sister and my extended family all live all over, so only my friends and parents’ friends were local. Reception place could only hold 150 and we thought we’d be under that with so many OOT invitees - we never expected as many would come. All in all, it wasn’t cheap but wasn’t over the top.

My husband and I paid for our own wedding 32 years ago. We had gotten beautiful paper in Italy on one of our visits there, and wrote the invitations by hand. Our biggest splurges were the flowers, a string quartet, an orange-almond cake (and a chocolate groom's cake) from the Prolific Oven in our neighborhood, and the brunch with champagne (the champagne was provided by my SIL). We had a morning wedding in a lovely local manor and had the reception on the enormous wrap-around porch. I had grown flowers in clay pots to use as centerpieces for the tables. It was all quite inexpensive. I scoured the trunk shows in the warehouse district of San Fransisco and found a pretty dress for next to nothing. I got a great deal of satisfaction out of sticking to our budget, while pulling off (if I do say so myself) a charming event. And two days later my husband started his PhD program!

In 2 days we'll celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary.

We were living in Philly where DH had just finished his first year of med school and I was a new librarian at Free Library of Philly and not entitled to vacation time. We married on 6/16 because Thursday, June 14th was Flag Day and the libraries were closed due to the legal holiday. I took Friday as a day without pay and Monday was my day off since I would work the following Sat.

We left the city Thursday to drive back to our homes in the Pittsburgh area. Friday was the rehearsal and dinner for the bridal party. Saturday morning at 11:00 we married at my Church followed by a sit down dinner at a local restaurant for about 125 guests. My parents paid for all of it and it was modest compared to the today's extravaganzas but typical to what our friends did. We we left after that to drive back towards Philly.

We joke that our honeymoon was 2 days on the PA Turnpike. That's true but we stayed at a historic hotel built in 1806 for people to partake of the 8 mineral springs. DH had arranged for a bottle of Mumm's Cordon Rouge to be waiting for us and our room had double white wooden rocking chairs on the veranda. Since then it's been completely re-done as the Omni Bedford Springs Resort.

It was a lovely weekend. We had our 2 day honeymoon and then drove back to the city on Monday and we both went back to work Tuesday morning.

I am one of nine "kids" in my family, but probably the fourth to marry. And so by that time, having gone through the planning stages and then the actual weddings of my siblings (and several friends) I knew what I wanted . . . and didn't want. After the honeymoons and back home again, every couple I knew told me they they had been exhausted at their wedding; never got to enjoy their own wedding reception dinners; and felt terribly guilty that they didn't get to even talk briefly with everyone who came. Each of my sibs, and my girlfriends, had one of the standard weddings thrown back then, with between 250 to 300 in attendance. A church wedding, at least 3 attendants each (but usually 5-7), and a dinner with dancing in a venue nearby. Of course, not every bride and groom feels that way, but the exhaustion and guilt parts really had a big impact on me!

And so when DH and I were planning our own wedding (now 36 years ago), we did it differently.

We were married in a lovely church in Grosse Pointe, with DH's brother, a minister, marrying us. It was an early afternoon wedding. We each had one attendant, my sis and DH's father. Wonderful! We invited only about 90 people, but with my big family and DH's very small family, this was basically a small wedding for back then where I lived. I told my sis, my matron of honor, to choose whatever dress she liked, as long as the color worked with the very basic color scheme of our mid-January wedding (burgandy, cream & green). I wanted her to like it and to be able to wear it again. She did, and it was a lovely tea length dress.

Directly after our wedding we had what was then called an Afternoon Tea Reception, at a favorite golf country club. It overlooked a snowy, tree-filled part of the course and was such a beautiful view! Instead of a band, we had one pianist who quietly played Cole Porter-type music throughout. We had a table of many delicious hot and cold appetizers, an open bar, a pretty wedding cake that actually was delicious and, of course, champagne. The only tea served, though, was iced tea (LOL). DH and I had such a wonderful and memorable time! We enjoyed really talking with every single guest there, enjoyed our food and music, and were thankfully not exhausted, as well. The reception lasted 3 hours, I think. That early evening, after we'd all had time to go back to our homes or hotels, to change and rest up a bit, my parents hosted an intimate sit down dinner in a private room at a lovely restaurant on the river for us, DH's parents, his brother & his family, my grandparents, and my siblings.

All these many years later, we still get cards on our anniversaries telling us how much everyone enjoyed our wedding and very unique reception. We did, too! For us, it was the perfect, low key choice.

I forgot to mention, our honeymoon was 2 nights in the hotel on the river there where we had our dinner, and then 3 days driving from Michigan to our new home in New Mexico where DH had just recently joined a family practice group.

We just celebrated 36 years last month. We got married 5 days after I graduated from college. We always say we had a K Mart wedding (this was pre-Walmart days)! My mom made the bridesmaids dresses (3 of them) and her dress, and my DMIL made my dress and hers. We were married in our Methodist church and had the very simple reception in the Fellowship Hall. We were married on Mother's Day weekend, so had a mixture of fresh and artificial flowers. We couldn't find a bakery that would do a wedding on MD weekend, so we ordered a cake from Albertson's (grocery store) and a friend of DMIL picked it up and set it up at the reception for us.

Our wedding album is a collection of 4 X 6 photos, about 2 dozen in all. It was all we could afford. :)

Donna

I love all your wedding stories - so interesting aren't they?

My husband and I will celebrate our 47th anniversary this Monday. I had just graduated college and he the year before. My parents paid for our wedding reception, band, and my dress as was custom with our family and locale. We covered the flowers, church donation, the invitations, and the photographer. After the rehearsal, the bridal party had a pizza party at my in-laws. My bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower at my parent's home. My MIL hosted a champagne toast after the ceremony at her home. I learned about it after my honeymoon.

I had a beautiful wedding with cocktail hour teeming with food in a lovely garden setting, and sit down dinner and dessert. One of my best memories of that day is my father paying the band to play after the contracted time.

Here is a side story but still connected to the topic of wedding expenses. After my engagement, my parents invited my in-laws to their home. My MIL is very direct and sometimes infuriating woman. (still is though mellowed some at almost 102; not an easy MIL but was there when I needed her; my turn now to be there for her). She was not seated more than 5 minutes when out of the blue, she announced that she was old fashioned and that her family would not be financing any part of the wedding. My father who was somewhat of a proud tough guy with class held his tongue though he was highly insulted. My mother and I were so grateful that he did not tell her what he really thought.

Fifty-one years ago in September, we were married in my childhood church with reception for 300 in large tent on my parents' side lawn. The back field was for parking, friends of my younger brother directed operations. Food was heavy hors d'oeuvres and wedding cake -- I couldn't tell you what the food was as I didn't get any(!) due to lengthy receiving line, lol. I did get a bite of the cake when we cut it, tho.

My dress was the one my great-great grandmother wore in 1886 -- lovely two-piece ribbed silk with top and skirt both having a short train. Little covered buttons up front of top, 3/4 sleeves with wide lace falls -- it was gorgeous and I felt like a queen. GGmother was even tinier that I was (I weighed 102# then and just under 5 ft tall) and the top of the gown had to be pieced with a bit of the underskirt fabric to allow me to get the front halves to meet and button! Veil was custom using antique rose-point lace which had been found in our attic along with the gown. Hard to believe that the fabrics were as fresh as the day GGmother wore them after lying in the hot/freezing attic for decades!

DH was a second lieutenant in the Air Force stationed in San Antonio, so we honeymooned in Mexico City and Acapulco for a week before he had to return to duty.

No extravagance about the wedding -- parents couldn't afford it, so no sit-down dinner or new gown, did my own hair, bridesmaids dresses were very simple long cap-sleeved sheath style (had to suit ages 9 - 23) in apricot, no photographer or music, just a lovely sunny day after the downpours of the previous night (I sat at my bedroom window that night watching the men erect the tent in the rain, worrying).

I still have the gown. Somewhere around here. And the same husband, ditto. Lol.

After being together twenty years, my husband and I got married while on vacation. We’ve been married eight years.

We were on a wine tasting vacation and at a nice boutique hotel. We had an officiant come to our hotel and got married in the library in front of the fireplace. No dress, flowers or cake. We went to the hotel bar after and the bartender and guests we met the night before had champagne and appetizers for us. So, we celebrated with people we had just met on our vacation.

It was perfect!

We had a more conventional wedding seven years ago. It was in March - originally we had planned it for the previous summer but my mom didn't want us to get married before my younger sister who got engaged before us. UGH - drama. I don't think my sister cared.

Anyway, time was of the essence as we really wanted my husband's grandfather there so we planned it as soon as possible after snow season, after my sister's late fall wedding. That minor drama started planning off on a negative note and the whole thing was pretty stressful, moreso than I imagined. Also I turned into a detail person so I obsessed about finding lanterns on clearance and bulk candles and invitations off Etsy that we could print ourselves to save money. So much work.

We both have large families and it was hard to imagine inviting friends without aunts and uncles, so the guest list was 150, mostly family. We had a lot of people flying in so we thought we should provide a meal. We wanted to do open bar. By the time you feed and dine 150 people, it's not cheap. We cut corners where we thought possible (no flowers, no wedding dress, no fancy bachelor/bachelorette) but looking back we could have cut more. I told my husband next time we can elope - he told me I better find another husband for next time!

Cake Pops (same lady who did my adorable shower cake from you ladies)

Turquoise silk dress from overstock and feather bouquets (cheaper than flowers). Silk shawl was a gift (it was March)

Loved our venue, the maritime museum. They let us bring our own food and wine. We had an excellent caterer who did a buffet.

I panicked and asked my FIL to pick up costco flowers last minute for the tables. Do not do this.

Probably spent five hours making up and printing this seating chart...another example of ridiculousness! But it was cute.

Robo - thanks for sharing your photos. That is a beautiful dress - one of my favorite colors. My DH would have LOVED a reception in that maritime museum (big fan of sailing). I can see how many people would obsess about some details (like that seating chart) and down the road realize they were probably over the top.

Robo, has it been 7 years? IIRC you shared your wedding plans here. I do remember your dress, so I think I am remembering this right.

Roxanna, I would so love to see your gown.

Fifty-one years ago our wedding was simple and lovely. Afternoon luncheon reception for about 150 in the church hall, evening family affair (only about 100!) at my parents house. My father cooked all the Italian beef, ground the pork and made the sausages, fried a mountain of peppers, my mom made potato salad. I don't know how they did it.

My gown was beautiful. I was a runway model at the time so knew exactly what I wanted and what looked best on me. The amazing thing is my mother hand beaded the lace on the entire bodice and train with seed pearls, silver baguettes, crystals and sequins. I tell you I felt like a queen.

We had the dress preserved. When we opened it for our twentieth anny, all he silver baguettes had turned black. Oh, my heart! Black spots all over my beautiful dress. My daughter tried to soothe me: "It's ok, Mom. It's vintage."

I still have the dress :-) And the husband. Isn't it wonderful to have such a long, happy, intimate relationship with someone? I'm still head over heels.

What lovely wedding stories. I am so enjoying reading them.

kkay_md, I love the Prolific Oven :-)

We got married ten years ago last month. We covered the cost with a couple of gifts from my folks. I lost count, but we probably spend around $22k for 85 people. Our venue was the alumni house at the local university - which my mother was an alumnus, so we signed her up for the alumni association and got a discount.

We hired a wedding planner for $3k and she got us a discount of about that much for a fantastic caterer. I forget, but think we spend about $16k of our budget on catering and drinks. My dress, a $3,400 Reem Acra for $450 and my best friend's dress, a $250-ish Melissa Sweet for $100, my shoes, evening bag, her brooch, her shoes -- all found on eBay. My purse is my favorite - vintage rhinestone bag.

My art director husband did our invitations and all other printed materials - we didn't go crazy. We paid the photographer to give us the images - to this day we've only printed a few. We didn't want a formal wedding cake, but my mom insisted. I'm glad we did and it tasted fantastic. I ordered flowers from 50flowers.com and did my own.

Ten years later, our guests still talk about the food. That's exactly what we wanted!

Originally we were planning a week honeymoon in Turks & Caicos, but decided against it to save some money. We ended up driving to Santa Barbara (where I went to college) for a few days and were so happy we did that instead. We were tired!

We paid for our own wedding 32 years ago. I think overall, not counting the honeymoon we paid around $3,000 for around 100 guests. I had a $100+ wedding dress from a outlet store, we had light hors d'oeuvre type reception with no alcohol, no band, no DJ. My in-laws put on the rehearsal dinner, which was a barbecue in their back yard. The church was my husband's family church at the time, and the reception was at a local community center. We did hire a photographer, but we didn't buy very many of the final pictures. We also had a professional cake and professional flowers .

We had no bridesmaids luncheon, no after-party, no after after Sunday brunch or any other party . Apparently it all worked out because we're still married. :)

Roxanna, I would love to see your gown, too!

We paid for ours, too, 29 years ago. The ceremony was at a historic nondemoninational church that was the oldest continually operating church in the US. Very quaint and scenic if only it hadn’t been 45 degrees and freezing rain (in May!). Reception was at a less quaint Sons of Italy hall but we had little money and our priority was a fun band (which we had) and a good caterer. We had around 100 guests. We flew to Bermuda the next day and I think we slept for 24 hours once we got there. We were exhausted! We came home with pretty much zero money in the bank, but it all worked out...

ETA I wore a lace ivory dress off the rack in the regular dress dept at Lord & Taylor for $350. Bridesmaids wore cotton floral Laura Ashley dresses and big 1990 hair. ;-)

I love reading these stories!

We celebrated our 39th anniversary last month.

My parents paid for the reception which was held in a catering hall. We had just over 100 guests. I'm remembering the cost was about $25. a person. My dh and I paid for the band, flowers, photographer and any other incidentals. I bought my wedding dress off the rack at a bridal salon closing sale. It was $75. My sister was maid of honor and bought her floor length dress at Macy's for about $50. Dh's 2 little nieces were flower girls, my MIL made their dresses. We went to Jamaica for a 5 day honeymoon.

The building where the reception was held is now an assisted living home. Although we don't live close by, we joke often about that!

Gosh there's so much love here---I'm going all soft and teary reading these stories...

Well, aren't we mostly a bunch of long marriages! Love hearing the stories. DH and I started dating in June, he met my parents in July before we got engaged, and we married in December. They were about to move to Carlisle Barracks, Harrisburg PA for Dad to attend the Army War College. They lived there 11 months, so our choices to marry were the day after Christmas or the next summer. The minister from my church was going out of town for the holidays, so DH's next door neighbor married us. He was a minister at a small church, but he also was a mechanic. We used to tease the kids that Mr Goodwrench married us, so it might not be legal.

Neither of us wanted a big wedding, so my parents said whatever we spent vs what my older sister had spent 6 years prior, we would get the money. We got married at my parent's house, an old English Tudor, in front of about 30 to 40 (I honestly don't remember!) friends and family. We did not have anyone stand up with us. Cake, punch and some finger food. We did have a photographer. No music. I bought my dress at a mall store, for $99 on the clearance rack. It was perfect. We were able to get away for 2 nights before DH had to go back to work. My parents flew back the day after we married. We used some of the wedding (cost difference) money to buy a Blue Point Siamese. We will have our 38th Wedding Anniversary this year.

Robo and Spanish - thanks for the photos, they're beautiful!

Roxanna your dress sounds beautiful - what a story to go with it too.

3katz, I usually read some responses before I comment. I’ve just got to jump right in and say your description sounds so beautiful and meaningful. I smiled as I read it. 41 years. That’s sweet.

Tomorrow is our 33rd anniversary. We met during our dental residency program; I was just starting the program, and DH had already completed his residency, but had stayed around to do research before practicing. We started dating in October, got engaged in December, and married the next June. In retrospect, I cannot believe that neither set of parents objected to the speed of our relationship! I guess they recognized that we were serious and in love. When you know, you know! We had a traditional Jewish wedding, with a small wedding party. We each had two attendents (the matron of honor ordered the wrong color dress, that was a minor crisis that did get corrected). There were only 75 guests, but we did have a small band with dancing, and a dinner reception at the hotel where we also had the ceremony. There is nothing that I would do differently, except that I picked a wedding dress that I didn't really love, because I didn't have much time to spend shopping with my mom. It was at a discounted bridal salon, and it was only the second one I tried on. But, that is minor, in the scheme of things. Because I was not home, my mom did all the planning, even picking out the invitations and flowers. I don't know how it all came together so well, because not two years later, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and went downhill fast.

The pictures are fun! My wedding photo album and dress are in the attic at our lake cabin where I am this weekend (cake top also in the garage fridge freezer here). Weather isn’t supposed to be too good. Maybe I’ll go up there and try to get a picture of a picture.

Will celebrate 37 years next week...it’s not the wedding, but the love and commitment...and there will be a lot of relying on that commitment during the challenges. We were married at 21. I was still in college and my husband had two enlisted stripes on in the USAF. We made everything...Mom made my dress and the cake. Cousin took the photos...$200 ring...It was all good. Never really think about the wedding ...just the life we have lived, two wonderful sons and grandsons...

We met when I was 20 and he was 25. We’ve been together since then. We lived together after a couple of years. Two different people said to me then that we seemed more “married” than married people they knew. When I was pregnant with my older daughter we got married. I had just turned 29. We hurried it more because his father was very sick and we wanted him to be able to attend. My sister in law helped plan it. It was in his family’s church then on to a private space in a restaurant. The food was good. My husband put together the music on two cassettes! Remember those things? No dancing though.
Most of my extended family is in Brittany so most of the guests were on his side. My brother walked with me down the aisle as my dear dad was already gone.
Touching moment was when the priest finally spoke in English to perform the actual wedding ceremony. My husband was actually so moved his eyes got a little teary. At that moment I stopped being a nervous wreck and started being in the moment too.
We just had our 28th wedding anniversary on June 8th. We also have another daughter who is 24 and an 18 year old son.

My oldest daughter and son in law have married civilly. He is now back from deployment and they are planning a wedding. Every wedding she has attended apparently have had unlimited budgets. Her best friend is now planning her wedding and her fiancé comes from a very wealthy family.
Hopefully my daughter and son in law will see the value in modest and meaningful!

Thanks to those of you who expressed interest in seeing my gown! I have no idea how to insert a photo here, but will have DH copy my formal photo (as soon as I can find it) and try to post it. (Are there instructions somewhere on Houzz for how to do this??)

Love seeing everyone's wedding photos and reading the stories. What a fun thread!

Oh, yay, Roxanna!! I am so glad you are going to try to post a pic of your dress! The easiest is just to take a picture of your formal picture with your phone. It will then be on your phone’s camera roll. Then just click on the little button below that says “photo.” Choose the photo library option and you will be taken to your camera roll. Then just click on your dress pic and it will be inserted in your post!

I have LOVED reading these sweet stories!!! Weddings are just the best. :) I already gave most of the details of mine in the other thread. I’m traveling at a lax tournament with dd this weekend so can’t post a pic of my dress (which was actually fairly understated for 1993, lol) and dh’s attire (it was such a formal wedding and at night...he wore white tie! Tails!) I have to say, our attendants (14 total) looked utterly gorgeous. Men in white tie attire, especially since it is so different than their usual clothes, just look amazing! And my bridesmaids were so lovely. Their dresses were simple, cream colored off the shoulder tops with matching cream colored straight long skirt. Since the dresses were so simple, my floral designer (florist just doesn’t do justice to this woman’s creativity!) did enormous bouquets for them just dripping with all of my favorite flowers. Seriously, while my bouquet was also amazing...it was all shades of white, I actually liked the bridesmaids bouquets better. When I get home, I’ll take a pic of the bouquets and crop the girls heads since I won’t post pics of other people. :) And I’ll post dh & I.

Keep the stories coming! I am enjoying these between games! I love love stories. :)

Ours was pretty much the norm for 1970. Nuptial Mass and reception in the church’s social hall. I had 3 attendants. Other friends took duty at the guest book, punch bowl, passing trays of appetizer type foods and cake serving. Formal receiving line. (I am happy to see receiving lines, friends having to spend time ‘working’ at the party not happening anymore.)

I was given 3 showers, the rehearsal dinner was at my husband’s parents house.

We drove across the state spending our wedding night in a little hotel in Vero Beach. The next day we drove down to Lauderdale and flew to The Bahamas for a week.

I think my dress was under 100.00. The guys wore morning suits. I caused some ‘talk’ because I insisted my best friend continue as a bridesmaid even after she found out she was pregnant. Back then a 7 month pregnant woman wasn’t expected to be a part of the wedding party, according to my MIL.

50 anniversary this coming March, we still love each other and like each other, most of the time.

I love these stories, too! And the photos are lovely. My own wedding was not a happy event, so I won't rain on this parade with memories of mine.

But my sister's wedding... the BEST wedding I've ever attended. It was outdoors at my parents' home. Both sides of the family came together to help prepare in the days preceding, so we got to know one another. Lots of laughing and support and working side by side beforehand, and the ceremony itself was perfect. The reception was relaxed and romantic and fun for everyone. People still talk about it. The budget was modest, but the memories will last forever. My sister and her husband are lovely, thoughtful people. My own kids were old enough to remember, and I hope they take the important elements of this type of event with them as they plan their own.

Nini - thanks for the info on posting photos here. I will try!

Daisy S.......my dress was almost identical to yours but off-white. It was $100 by Gunne Sack....anyone remember that brand? I also wore a similar hat. It was 1981. We lived in a planned community which had several unique centers. We had about 90 people so used the center which would accommodate everyone for the reception....a rustic looking "house" with a large deck and pond in the back. I think they charged us $50 for the entire day. Decorations were minimal. I think we did bud vases on the tables with silk flowers (80's!) and a few things strung up around the room. We just did appetizers and cake, open bar, DJ. Weddings back then just weren't the elaborate affairs they have become.

We were gifted a room at a hotel in DC for our wedding night. The next day we met family and friends (all from out of town) on the Mall and went to the Smithsonian. On Monday we flew to Canada for our honeymoon in Montreal and Quebec.

We recently met a couple who sold their home a few years ago in the same planned community where we had lived and gotten married (we moved in 1984) and they lived a stone's throw from where we had our reception. Small world!

4kids----my niece got married about 10 years ago in Annapolis in August as her DH is a teacher. We all dreaded the steamy weather but, like you, she got miraculous and unusually perfect weather....low 70's, no humidity, sunny.

Y'all were my virtual wedding planners and bridesmaids. It's all a blur to me now. Attached some photos, don't really want to post a lot of faces. My dearly loved cousin died unexpectedly right after my second wedding and a month after my first, which she helped me plan. Did not realize then how special it would be to have those last times together as a family. I mean sort-of, yes, we are older with old, old family and friends, but not quite that soon, not one quite that young, and not quite so dramatic. She was fine one day, canning, we spoke on the phone, and gone the next from a massive stroke.

Tea-themed reception in honor of my late mother and her family who all loved afternoon tea. My cousin's daughter did the centerpieces, combo of thrift store and family pieces. Document is our marriage license.

Afternoon tea reception in church community room. Mostly paperware, but i got some nice floral stuff, biodegradable plastic cutlery. My cousin's daughter did the cake! Teapot a gift from one of my best friends who died a few years before. Picture in right corner which you can't see, is print of "Song of Solomon" which my mother gave my father as a wedding gift. We read quotes from that section of Bible for both our weddings. Edited to add that I just noticed that is my Mom's favorite tea mug under the cake on the left.

My best friend since we were five years old!

Barbecue dinner at beach park after wedding tea at church. Weather was kind of grey. Park was a mile up the road from the church. I had been going there since I was a wee girl.

Cake from second wedding. Cardinal topper a gift from my "best woman."
A dear long-time friend who is a minister officiated. The weather was our friend that day for our second wedding which was in an outdoor pavilion.
Breaking the glass from the Jewish tradition, with my infamous last minute purchase PINK shoes! Both wedding dresses well under $100.00 from J.C. Penny. Shoes cost the most of any of the attire. The something-olds were some of my Mom's jewelry.

Our home mezuzah with the shards from the glass. The verses inside, from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21, are:
"You shall love the L‑rd your G‑d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates."

Our dance to "Just In Time" which shows the camp dining hall reception area. Used camp dishware which could be washed. Splurged on tablecloths and plastic champagne glasses which we donated to the camp for future events. Hubs made the wedding mix for the music and we used the camp stereo system. No seating chart but one detail that bugged me is we had eight no-shows and I should have taken down one of the tables, because that left one rather sparse table of guests. Dinner and dessert was buffet style.

Beautiful photos, Pinkmountain! I love the idea of getting others involved in the preparations. Not in a stressful way, but in smaller, meaningful ways so they have a stake in the event, if you will. My sister's wedding was a collaboration of friends and family, and we all felt so special to be part of it.

I'm so glad you shared this with your cousin, and I'm so sorry for her passing.

First marriage was very simple because we'd decided to get married and set a date for 5 weeks later. No engagement parties, no plans, we just wanted to leave the place we were living and move to L.A. but my parents wouldn't support that idea if we weren't married, so we did it. Many people thought it was a shot gun marriage-it wasn't-we just wanted out of the tiny, rural place that the Reagan Era economy had killed so we could get jobs and move from that tiny town back to my hometown in L.A. I was just 20-he was 22, and our parents lived on adjoining properties in rural Oregon.

Got married in a darling little church in a rural setting in the woods. Mom made my dress and the 2 bridesmaid dresses. Reception was at my parent's house-mom made turkey tettrazinni to try to stretch to feed the 50 or so guests. SIL made the cake and I used the preserved frosting cake topper my mom had had at her bridal shower as the cake topper.

We made it six years (and 3 kids) before I left him.

Next marriage was again hasitly arranged. We went to the courthouse at lunch time. I wore a beautiful pale green silk dress loaned from a friend. Our kids from our previous marriages were our attendants. The boys wanted to wear boutonnieres and ties, so we made them and the girls each had tiny nosegay bouquets we made from flowers bought at a nearby flower shop.

About a dozen friends and family came and we had a lovely ceremony in the judges chambers. We brought a boombox and played "The First Time Ever I saw Your Face" during the ceremony. The judge remarked that he'd done hundreds of weddings but that was the first time he'd ever performed one to music, Afterward we all went to have pizza. The next day-Labor Day-we took the kids to the State Fair for a family honeymoon. We'd been living together for 9 years and the kids really wanted us to get married. I needed to get DH on my health insurance so we finally decided to pull the trigger.

It's so heartwarming to read about all the long-term marriages that began as rather humble, sweet celebrations. DH and I celebrated thirty years this past March, and like many of you, we paid for it and made all the arrangements ourselves. My family was 3,000 miles away, his was 5,000 miles away, and we had been out earning our own way for at least seven years by then, so it just seemed somewhat automatic to handle it that way. I bought my dress off the rack at Nordstrom -I'm sure it was not much more than $100. We were married in a small church in Sausalito and then held our reception at the Alta Mira Hotel just up the hill, with a magical view of San Francisco across the sparkling bay. We hired a talented young woman to play the piano throughout, and also hired a young man just getting his start as a photographer. Both were wonderful. My younger sister was my bridesmaid, hubby's best friend was his bestman, and we had about eighty guests in total, including both of my grandmothers and parents who came from the other coast. It was a fun day!

I met DH while attending grad school. He waited until all grades were in before asking me out. Yes, I married my professor ;). My sister (6 months pregnant with her second son) and his brother were matron of honor and best man, respectively. My brother’s kids were ushers and bridesmaid. My mom made my dress and I made my attendant’s dresses. We had a lovely reception and will celebrate 23 years in August.

I’ve enjoyed reading all of these shares!

Same here! So much variety.

Joaniepoanie...lol...it was a Gunne Sax pattern! Made the hat because it was to expensive to purchase...1982...

Oh yes, Gunne Sax was very big for prom, too.

Daisy....too funny! Yes, Gunne Sax, not Sack. I bought the hat "frame" and then covered it myself in a sheer embroidered fabric and some flowers.

I called my parents up at 7 pm on Labor Day to tell them I was going to be married in six weeks. They could do what they wanted, and groom and I would show up. DH and I wanted a small wedding, about 10 people, and we had heard all the stories about having to plan a year in advance, so we figured that with six weeks' notice, how big a wedding could it be? My mother called back at 9 pm to tell me that it was all arranged. We had 120 people at the wedding. I'd forgotten that my mother had been in charge of her college birthday luncheons, so after making all the arrangements for a 3,000 person event, a small thing like planning a wedding could be accomplished in two hours. We celebrated our golden anniversary a few years ago.