all right - let's hear about your wedding!

Hi!
I'm new here, and love the idea of a us/uk wedding forum.  I know so many people to whom a wedding means a bunch of people from the same hometown going to the local church..that'd be nice, but it's sure not what my wedding will be like!  I'd love to hear about what everyone is doing for their wedding, where it'll be, if you're having anyone come over from the states (or from the uk, if you're doing it in the states) etc.

As for us, doing it in either the UK or US would cause a lot of issues...so we decided to make everyone travel and have it on neutral ground.  We're having it in Connemara, in Ireland, next July.  I think much of my family will come over, plus a few friends.  Should be a good time!

Congratulations and Happy planning.  There have been several couples who married in the past several months that are members here and it's so nice to see it evolve and hear stories of each.

My husband and I just recently married this past September 5 and I know there are two other couples that just got married w/in the last two to three weeks.  As for our wedding it was pretty much a done deal to get married in NY since my family is so much bigger than his and I wanted to get married at the church where I was baptised, received my communion and confirmation as well as the church where my parents were married too.  We had about 40 people fly over from Europe so it was a significant amount considering the time, preparation and organizing of the prewedding festivities (for a week's worth), playing tour guide in NYC, organizing the hotel block, transportation, babysitting, etc..  It was a blast and everything went flawless.  I think my main concern was the language barrier his mom had with my parents and visa versa.  The other thing I highly recommend is that if you plan on having your wedding in a different location other than where you live invest in a bridal coordinator (if they are available in that location)!!  There are several coordinators I found here in London so they are available.  Saves a lot of headaches, agruments, time, etc.

All-in-all no matter where you have it, how you do it, small or big, formal or informal, who comes or doesn't come - it doesn't matter.  All that matters that day is you and your husband!!  Take time to enjoy the day because it does fly by.  And make sure YOU DANCE at your own wedding.  I hear so many brides who wished they would have danced more instead of playing host..  I'm just thankful we did what we wanted to do the most - ENJOY OUR DAY TOGETHER and DANCED THE ENTIRE TIME!!

As for us, doing it in either the UK or US would cause a lot of issues...so we decided to make everyone travel and have it on neutral ground.  We're having it in Connemara, in Ireland, next July.  I think much of my family will come over, plus a few friends.  Should be a good time!

Ohh Connemara...it's gorgeous there. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and I hope your big day will be perfect.

My wife and I got married at Newstead Abbey in Ravenshead near Mansfield north of Nottingham.



The ceremony was at 11am on the 1st September 2003. It was a lovely day, not too hot, not too cold, a few clouds in the sky but they were nice white ones... and gave the sky a sort of dramatic feel.

Apart from an initial panic (there were no ushers when we got there!) the day went really well...

I wore a full on formal dress kilt outfit (i have scottish roots), and my wife wore an elizabethan style dress that a friend of my parents made for her - she did a wonderful job and didn't ask for anything in return.

It was the happiest day of my life

It was the happiest day of my life

Congratulations to you both! The pic is great!
Melissa  

Jon and I were married in Vegas. We chose that venue for several reasons:

1. Half my family were going to be there already to celebrate my great grandparents 50th wedding anniversary.
2. It was my great grandparents 50th wedding anniversary and thought it'd be good luck to share the day.
3. He wanted Vegas, I wanted Paris, so we improvised (married in the Paris Hotel.)
4. It was a freaking blast!

We had the usual jitters, I just wanted to get it over with, Jon wanted to know how quickly he could get to the airport before I noticed he was gone! But it all ended really nicely. My family was there, we had a lovely meal and everyone went clubbing afterwards (me in my wedding dress).

Also, it was the best walking down the strip in our wedding gear and having everyone we passed yelling 'congrats' or 'don't do it!'.

It was all good fun.

Chris what a gorgeous place!  Congratulations on your perfect day.  

Tom and I had a beautiful ceremony at my step-sisters home in Maryland...  He wore a yummy tux with a 3/4 length coat and I had on a long renniasance style gown...  All my family and friends were there...  and it was a gorgeous fall day after weeks of a warming trend.  But that is not the end of it...  you see our ceremony in the states was a wedding with God...but not the legal part...  So we will be doing it all over again here in England by next spring...  I plan to wear my wedding dress again... (as long as I do not gain any weight) and I am sure Tom will be handsome again in a tux...  but we have not set a date or a definite place yet...  All I know is that we wish it to be in a church this time...up here in Nothumberland...  once we know, I will be sure to inform everyone here...  allowing any of you adventure seekers a chance to have a road trip north for the occassion.

Shel

wooo hoo hooo road trip.  I can't wait.  I've seen a picture or two from the area you live in Shel.  It's absolutely beautiful.  Have fun planning it Shel.  

Hi, there!

Well, I just found out that the weekend we've booked for our wedding near Edinburgh (in a gorgeous little medieval church - http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/pathhead/crichtonchurch/ ) is the weekend of the Scotland v. England rugby match at Murrayfield. Which means there's nary a hotel room to be found for my wedding guests coming in from overseas!

Luckily, I think the in-laws have enough room to accomodate most of them so we should be ok. And I do have to admit that my single American girlfriends are very excited indeed about sharing the city with 80,000 British men!

-kate

Mindy....that place looks great, right on the water.....nice

P.S....Chris......that place does'nt look too shabby either

We were married September 27, 2003 in my NC hometown.  We had about 50 guests and were married in the same church as my parents.  The day was perfect and meant so much to us--we were finally official!!!  We spent a few days in my hometown and then flew to NYC for the honeymoon/consular visit (how romantic!). Unfortunately, we didn't have any UK guests, but we are planning a UK vow renewal for 2004.  

Chris and I got married on July 1, 2003 in Bromley, Kent - which is a borough of London


After our engagement on March 27th, we'd been discussing having a small wedding with close friends and immediate family at a location in the English Countryside. Neither of us had ever dreamed of a big event and we were concious that it was going to be costly for everyone back home to come over. I think folks would have made an effort to be here, but I was feeling a bit selfish, too because I would have wanted to spend time to with them! We were planning on leaving for our honeymoon the same day, so that wasn't going to be possible!

I had one week of holiday to take before the fiscal year was over, and Chris said one night as I was stressing over the costs and complexity of things...."Why don't we get married next month, then?"- it was like a huge wave of relief came over us! We decided to each have a witness each(his Mum and my close friend)- and explain to everyone  that we would celebrate with them in both countries but that we wanted them to save their money for a proper visit! Our families were initially sad that they couldn't be there, but they did understand what we were trying to do!

The result was a stress-free and beautiful Registry Office Ceremony that surprised even the assistant Registrar! The whole room was crying! It was such a gorgeous ceremony.   I wore a red sleeveless linen dress and had made my own bouquet of flowers the night before (good planning, huh?) and Chris was gorgeous in his black suit and blue tie- it was just perfect! We then went and took photos in the gardens of the office- complete with a pond and swans   , had a pub lunch with our witnesses, and then were off for a week to stay at a thatched cottage in South Dorset. It was just the most positive, happy experience- we had such a wonderful, memorable time !

I think it is great that we all have the choice as to how we're going to spend one of the most important days of our lives! Thanks for sharing your stories- they are a such pleasure to read!

Jen    

What kind of weddings did you all have and where?  Did you have two or one?  Those of you who simply eloped...do you regret it?  Steven and I are trying to decide on what we should do for a wedding and are simply at a loss.  Family, financial, and time stresses are starting to take their tolls.  Any ideas on how to make it a memorable and stress-free day?

Oh also, those of you who chose to have one and most of your family couldn't/didn't attend, how did you deal with that?  Was your family really upset?  Did you regret not having them there?