Planning a wedding to a Brit?

Just wondering who has done it and how it went.
Did you get married in the US or the UK or did you have two ceremonies/receptions?
What were the differences?

I'm a fan of weddings, haha, so anything about yours, I'd love to hear!

We got married in the states - it was a small wedding in the garden of a bed and breakfast with a cute little gazebo. We were apart for 2 months while I applied for my spousal visa, then I moved over here and the rest is history! 

I was already living in the UK as a student (then worker) when we got engaged, so we had two weddings- a registry office elopement so that we could get my spouse visa ASAP (important for financial reasons) and then had a family wedding in the states with a poofy white dress. We did have two ceremonies, although if I had to do it over I would have made the US wedding just a reception (we changed plans midstream so we went ahead with the full ceremony as well.)

Even though our choice caused a lot of drama, everything turned out well in the end and the family wedding was a lot of fun!

Similar to springhaze we eloped in the US in September to speed along my husbands spousal visa. Our full wedding has been booked in the UK for a while now so are having a wedding blessing in a church followed by a full reception on Feb 27th this year - i am so excited!! (we changed plans mid way too!)

I had one wedding, in the UK. My immediate family and closest US friends came over for it, but most of my friends are in the UK now so it made sense to have it here.

Don't tell my MIL but we got married in the States (just us, mostly for the Visa--in March) and then had a "wedding" in the States as well  the next October(He only has about 8 family members... I have over 100 even if you stop at the cousins!). We didn't tell anyone outside of a small circle that we were already married--there were family complications (as there always are...) It was AMAZING how many of our friends flew from the UK to be with us (over 30). And then we all went on a "mega-trip" to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Vegas.  So much fun!
We haven't done anything over here...most of his family came over, and nearly all of our friends. 

Well we decided to get married in Oct 2009 and got married Nov 28th 2009 and I wanted 10 people with a simple ceremony here in the US and then go to dinner.
Is that what happened?
No

I ended up having a full blown tent, DJ, fifty people, Beer & Wine Bar, and a full range of appetizers.  I loved EVERY minute of it.

I am super OCD and a planner and I made all that happen in a short 6 weeks.  DH's family was not here but his 2 best mates flew over to be in the wedding.  We plan on having a Sunday lunch at a pub when I get over there - something SIMPLE so his kids can feel involved and his other family members can meet me.  Well of course his friend want a party as well.
Its more cost effective to get married in the states since then you only file for a spousal visa.  We thought about fiance visa but if I was there I could not work and that just wouldn't fly then we would have to pay for that and a spousal visa - no bueno.

I would not trade our wedding for ANYTHING. It was 730 at night (central) it was dark we had tons of white lights and I streamed it live via ustream for anyone that could not make it.

Do it the way you guys want and trust me don't get wrapped up in the what everyone else wants - I did that once and god never again.  I am glad we didn't spend a fortune either as all the traveling, moving and visa stuff is where the money needs to go ;-)

Good Luck!

We were married in Vegas with no one but my best friend attending, but our chapel put the ceremony on the Internet so all our friends and family could watch.  This worked well for us since our people are scattered all over the world, not just US&UK.  We did have a reception about eight months later so that our families could meet.  We had a champagne tea at a country house hotel, which was fantastic and fulfilled all my family's romantic ideas about England

The original plan was to elope in May and not include anyone since we weren't able to include both families at the same time.  However, after booking (and paying for) everything in Hawaii, we decided to do a legal ceremony in November in order to update my visa right away rather than wait for more new rules (and price increases) to be put in place. We invited his family and just a few friends for the day, but my parents weren't able to make it over.  It was a very simple registry office ceremony and dinner at our favorite neighborhood restaurant afterwards.  We didn't tell anyone else aside from my parents and don't really plan to...since it's already booked, we are still going to Hawaii and doing a private ceremony there (which will feel more like our 'real' one since we aren't exchanging rings until then)  and it's just too complicated to try to explain to the rest of my family why we included his family for a ceremony in November and then still chose to 'elope' by ourselves in May.  I still feel pretty bad about how everything played out with my parents, and I think I may officially hate everything wedding-related from here on out. 

I came over on fiancee visa and we got married here in the UK with most of my closer family and friends attending.

I found hitched.co.uk a good source for potential vendors, found my custom jewelry on there.

We got married by a Unitarian minister in the woods at a cabin retreat in the Hocking Hills of Ohio.  It was mostly my immediate family (it was too far for my grandparents and aunts & uncles in WA and surrounding states to travel to) and DH's immediate family (his Mum, Dad and sister) and a few close friends.

It was very intimate, secluded and perfect for us as we're both of 2 different faiths and neither of us really wanted a massive church wedding.  We never did anything special when I arrived in the UK, but neither of us was really bothered.

Originally we wanted to get married in the little church in the village DH is from, but my family put their feet down and said they weren't coming if that was the case...    It all worked out in the end.

ETA: You may find more helpful info in the Hitching Post section of the forum.   

Thank you teletabby! I'll check it out.

For those who got married in Vegas, how long were you there for? I'm thinking a week will be long enough...and possibly too long. Haha!

We arrived on Tuesday, got the license on Wednesday, had the ceremony on Thursday, and left for the honeymoon on Friday.  And you can actually do the license and ceremony on the same day as there's no waiting period. 

Thanks, that's good to know. I don't think I could really do Vegas for more than 4 days...maybe 5 max.

Did you stop at the first chapel or actually take the time to find one you liked?

The original plan was to elope in May and not include anyone since we weren't able to include both families at the same time.  However, after booking (and paying for) everything in Hawaii, we decided to do a legal ceremony in November in order to update my visa right away rather than wait for more new rules (and price increases) to be put in place. We invited his family and just a few friends for the day, but my parents weren't able to make it over.  It was a very simple registry office ceremony and dinner at our favorite neighborhood restaurant afterwards.  We didn't tell anyone else aside from my parents and don't really plan to...since it's already booked, we are still going to Hawaii and doing a private ceremony there (which will feel more like our 'real' one since we aren't exchanging rings until then)  and it's just too complicated to try to explain to the rest of my family why we included his family for a ceremony in November and then still chose to 'elope' by ourselves in May.  I still feel pretty bad about how everything played out with my parents, and I think I may officially hate everything wedding-related from here on out.  

My head is dizzy trying to follow all that!

I love reading all your stories! Hopefully I'll have my own one day soon...