Favorite things at weddings you've been to

[wander_woman]

I love it when the bride & groom incorporate their personalities, traditions & history into the ceremony & reception. What unique things have you seen at weddings that you especially liked?

My favorites:
- The groom played piano and sang as the bride walked in to the ceremony (groom is a lawyer so many people didn't know that he's a jazz hobbyist).
- The guests were led from the ceremony to the reception (a few blocks away) by a jazz band. Parading down the streets was so much fun (this was in New Orleans, so it was particularly fitting)!
- I always like personalized vows.

[Asha]

i will be more materialistic with my posts

-not far distance and time between ceremony site and reception

-buffet style dinner

-wide range of music for dancing, and i love the random goofy dancers

-more than just cake for dessert

[KKay]

- when the couple writes their own vows
- when the couple introduces the wedding party to guests at the reception
- reception immediately following the wedding

[IrisHope]

We saw something at a wedding that we loved and did it at our wedding. I am not crazy about the bouquet toss so instead we had all couples come up and dance. The MC says "Whoever is married less than 2 hours please sit down" everyone laughed and we sat down. Then they said "whoever is married less than 5 years sit down" and you end up at the end of all the different years with the oldest married couple. Then DH and I present them with the bouquet. It was such a beautiful moment :)

[Jersl8y]

There is one thing I haven't seen but I am going to do it is vows to our parents, such as my parents would come up and my FH would say to them: As we stand here together this is the day I've waited for. A women of quality with whom to share my life, and who can I thank for this rare gift? First I give thanks to my heavenly father, but then I give thanks to you the mother of this beauty, for giving her life, charm and helping her to become the woman of character that she is.I commit to you that i will always cherish, love and protect her and never give you any concern for her safety and well-being. As she honors and respects you I will do the same. To you, the father I thank you for being a loving father. You will always have a special place in her heart, and she will always be her daddy's girl. I pledge to you that I will watch over her and honor her and lover her forever.

Bride to Groom's parents: To you my husband, I thank God for you. I promise to love you today tomorrow and forever. I promise to respect the two most special people in your life. Thank you for helping to mold him into a strong insightful determined man. My desire is to become as strong and stable for him as you have been. Thank you for teaching him to communicate, share his feelings, laugh and look for the best in others. I believe he learned this from you. You are not losing a son but gaining a daughter.
That is exactly what we are going to say to them. I don't want to forget to thank them for everything they have done.
Also something else I am going to do is I am half german and half mexican so for the father daughter dance I am going to teach my dad salsa and thats what were going to do. It will surprise people and really get the guests going.

[Atlanta_eBride]

I always love it when I see something new different and fun.

* One friend of mine is REALLY into music and recorded her singing a song for her husband to be and had it played while they lit the unity candle. She said she would have rather done it in person but didn't think she'd get through it all and start crying. She also hired a children's choir that was up in the balcony that sang before the wedding.

* Let's just start by saying that college football in the South rules the world in the fall. A friend of mine, who graduated from the University of Georgia, had creatively written/painted on the bottom of his shoes "GO DAWGS" so that you could read them when he was kneeling and placed his feet together.

[Sazoo]

Bride sang a song to groom at end of ceremony (she was on the verge of tears the whole time, but she made it through the song & it was so sweet!)

Bride & groom arranged with each of their fathers to do a surprise vow-renewal with their wives at the beginning of their children's wedding ceremony.

Groomsmen (who were all HUGE football fans) each wore a different vest under their tux jacket with the logo of their favorite NFL football team.

Personalized vows written by the bride & groom (either written separately or together) - we did this.

Readings during ceremony done by family/friends - things they wrote themselves. At our wedding, my FIL read a poem he'd written for me & DH.

An ice cream sundae bar instead of wedding cake (the happy couple didn't like cake, so this was a great alternative for them).

[ejs]

Our officiant had us stand so that we faced the guests instead of him doing so.

[Chimichanga]

I'll be more materialistic.

*open bars. I love them. Not that I'm a huge boozer, but I'm not a beer drinker and if I want a mixed drink i don't want to have to pay $6+ for it.

*Personalized programs. My best friend wrote a cute little paragraph about all of her BMs (and her DH about the GMs). it was so cute.

*When the bride and groom dance and have fun. may sound like a no-brainer. But my SIL and BIL hardly danced at their wedding and things just seemed a bit off.

[sublime311]

I love when the music choices are personal to the bride and groom. It could be friends singing/playing during the ceremony, but it could also just be special music played during the reception (versus a DJ spinning random "wedding" music). If it's personal and special to the bride and groom, it's bound to have meaning for the guests, too!

[harness2be]

we had both parents light our individual candle for the candle lighting instead of just the mothers and it looked great. we also had the kids say vows and my DH said vows to them.

[lawyergirl25]

Materialistic/shallow stuff:
*Short ceremonies (30 minutes or less)
*Little or no time between the ceremony and reception
*Open bar
*Sit down dinners

"Good" stuff:
*Anniversary dance (like IrisHope mentioned)
*DJs who actually take requests - I was actually in a wedding in June where the bride and groom just had a "DJ in a box" and we played what we wanted all night
*Picture slide shows if they're not too long - anything over 5-7 minutes loses me

[Atlanta_eBride]

We're doing two things that I hope are unique for my guests:

* At the rehersal dinner, we are asking our guests to write "wedding wishes" on white paper bags. These bags will be used as luminaries along the path to the reception.

* We will have a video wall (9 large TVs that make up one big screen that's already installed) that will be behind our dance floor. The entire night it will loop photos of FH and I both growing up and together. It won't be played to music and will be more in the background just continuously running.

[Rosebud]

Probably my favorite wedding that I've been to was for a friend of mine who is a costume designer in New York. She and her husband got married on the stage of the theatre where they met. The programs were made to look like Playbills, the bride designed and sewed her dress and all the bridesmaids dresses, afterwards there was passed sushi & a martini bar... it was SO COOL, unique and a very personal expression of who these people are. Loved it. And it was all done on a fairly small budget.

Other things I love at weddings:

- Programs. I want to know who's in the wedding, the family, etc...

- Open bar. No way am I paying for a glass of wine with my dinner at a wedding!

- When everything starts on time. I once had to sit in a church and wait nearly an hour past the stated start time. Almost packed it in and went home-- it sucked!!

- When everyone really seems to be having a good time and is relaxed. Part of this is due to the bride & groom really enjoying themselves and part is due to the ability of the event staff to make the day flow smoothly and graciously.

[IrisHope]

Wow, a lot of you are saying open bar. I have never heard of a wedding any other way.

[Asha]

ahhh, don't get started on the open bar. ;) this will become a very heated thread if it goes there. :D :D

[greenbunny]

I did the anniversary thing for the bouquet and it was a total wash-out. I regret it. The couple who was married the longest were almost totally deaf and barely coherent. We had to explain what was going on about sixteen times, practically screaming at them, and they were too feeble to stand and dance. By the time we got them to understand what was going on, everyone was already talking and ignoring the whole thing. We finally took a picture of the two of us with them and the woman was falling asleep and drooling down her shirt. Not a terribly heart-warming moment. :rolleyes:

We did the personalized vows but that also didn't go quite as planned. Typical DH ad-libbed, stumbling and saying "Uh..." a lot, while I, the professional writer, whipped out a three-paragraph ode I'd written to him. It was a little unbalanced and since mine was so much longer, I think I looked a little crazy and possessive.

The song we ended the reception with was the last song we'd danced to at my prom, and we had the DJ announce that. People seemed to like hearing how it was special to us.

Something I loved that we copied from other people was, instead of a guest book, we had everyone sign a big mat and we framed our wedding portrait with it.

[IrisHope]

rebjc, okay :) I didn't want to start antyhing I just never heard of it. Mums the word!!

[sdianems]

My dear friend's wedding years ago had tables set up in an old converted barn, with the back doors open overlooking a field with horses grazing in the distance!

Plus, each table had a list of conversation starters, to help the guests along since so many of us didn't know anyone else! I appreciated that as it became a real ice breaker.

AtlantaBride I love the idea of yours using the wall of tv's to play that loop......it sounds fantastic!!

[MidwesternGal]

I'll add one "materialistic" thing that haven't been said all ready:

--When the bride and groom do all of the "fun stuff" at the beginning of the merge from dinner to dancing. . . . and they announce it. As in, either them or the DJ announces that they're cutting the cake, that it's the first dance, BP dance, etc. I've been to so many receptions where the guests didn't know something was happening until it was over or half over, and people were upset they didn't get pictures or just plain see it happen!

[Sonicstef]

I dont think there is any one thing that stands out but two things in general:

a) When a bride and groom are so clearly in love and happy on their wedding day - and out there dancing and having fun.
b) When its clear the bride and groom have thought about the comfort and enjoyment of their guests.

And I love anything creative and different.

[Ohana]

I always appreciate it when the wedding and reception are at the same place, or at least close together. I went to one wedding where the reception was 10 miles away, there was no parking at or near the reception venue (believe me, we drove around for 30 minutes looking for a spot), so we bagged on the reception.

Showing a little creativity is also cool. Nothings worse than a cookie cutter wedding with the same old chicken or fish to eat.

[emmjay]

I just like it when the bride and groom are enjoying themselves and having fun instead of being frantic and upset if something goes wrong. Something always goes wrong anyway - no sense in ruining your day over it!

[kris97]

As others have said, I love any detail that makes the wedding unique to the bride and groom - family photos displayed by the wedding cake, special traditions explained in the program, etc.

On a more selfish note, I love weddings that don't play the same 10 songs that are played at every wedding. My husband felt the same way, which is why we forbade our DJ from playing the worn-out regulars and gave him a list of our favorite dance songs, from the 40s to the 90s. I think our family members were a little skeptical when they heard about it, but the crowd on the dance floor, literally all night long, showed them otherwise. :)

[Asha]

I always appreciate it when the wedding and reception are at the same place, or at least close together. I went to one wedding where the reception was 10 miles away, there was no parking at or near the reception venue (believe me, we drove around for 30 minutes looking for a spot), so we bagged on the reception.

ha ha ha - ohana - this reminds me of our wedding and numerous others we have gone to. it's somewhat common in this area. :p

Showing a little creativity is also cool. Nothings worse than a cookie cutter wedding with the same old chicken or fish to eat.

though, we may have saved face with our choice of dinner bc we served an indian buffet. definitely not the typical cookie cutter wedding!!!

[nicole]

First of all, I agree with all the practical things everyone has mentioned!

Also, a good mix of fast and slow songs. The last wedding I went to there seemed to be large lumps of each, so if you're into one type, you're sitting out awhile.

[MidwesternGal]

I posted all ready, but I just went to a wedding this past weekend that had something unique.

In the program, the bride had a section that listed her "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." She then wrote a few sentences about how each one was special to her. Things like the banner at the front of the church as borrowed as it has been in every family wedding since great-grandma made it, that the bible she carried was one her mom carried at her own wedding, her veil was handmade with grandma's pearls, etc.

I thought it added such a nice touch of sentimentality and deifnitely personalized the wedding.