What a nice question to be able to answer, after dealing with a few of "problems" others have on this site! It's great reading everyone's answers so far; hopefully you will add your own information, girl!
First of all, we've been married over 17 years and still going strong - sure, hard times like everyone goes through (and maybe some worse), but our love continues to grow and deepen, and we still have lots of fun!
I'm in Saskatchewan, Canada, by the way. We had a traditional Ukrainian wedding! I'm first generation Canadian; my dad was from Ukraine. My husband is from the former Yugoslavia, but is Ukrainian. We got married in my home city parish church, and had three priests doing the wedding ceremony. The main celebrant was my husband's brother, and the other two were friends of ours who are priests. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, in the Ukrainian language; people could follow the English parts in a booklet. We had some special Ukrainian traditions in the ceremony - the Crowning of the Bride and Groom, for which we had wreaths of real myrtle plant placed on our heads, then there is a special blessing and singing done; and the other special thing was an old-style tradition of a blessing for the Bride at the end of the ceremony - I had to go kneel at the main altar, had a white scarf placed right over my head, while the priest gave that blessing. At the very end, when we were introduced as Mr. and Mrs., the whole congregation sang a special Ukrainian blessing song to us.
Our wedding colours were light teal, lilac, yellow and pink. The colours were chosen because of the dresses the attendants wore - they had tiny sprigs of flowers in those colours on white dresses - it was a July wedding, and the dresses were tea length, very summery and so pretty! The girls each had an accessory colour out of the forementioned ones, and wore a wreath of flowers in her hair in that particular colour, e.g. pink, then her flowers had pink trailing ribbons. Her corresponding groomsman then had a pink tie, cummerbund, and flower. Got it? It was really cool to coordinate, and the colours were great for decorating.
The guys wore medium gray tuxedos - my husband wore a regular length tux coat, whereas the groomsmen had waist-length ones ('twas a VERY cool style back in 1989!). My maid of honour was a great friend of mine from university, the bridesmaids were a friend, a cousin, and a niece. The best man was a cousin of mine, and the groomsmen were my younger brother, and two nephews. Didn't want a ring bearer/flower girl.
My dad had died two years before I got married. I asked my mom to walk me down the aisle, but she didn't want to. I didn't want my older brother, or anyone else, but didn't want to walk alone. So, my man and I walked in together, and it was wonderful! Before us, the attendants walked in as couples, too, so it was great.
I was kind of nervy at the ceremony, not in a bad way, and I think part of it was that it was so blasted HOT; I was sweating and tried to daintily dab it off my face as my makeup was sliding off! Ah, the dress! My gown was of heavy bridal satin, scoop neck, long sleeves. It had a basque (dropped) waist, and chapel train. Totally beautiful - bodice and sleeves full of crystals, sequins, beads and appliques. Lace inserts at the hem, along the train, big bow at the back waist. I'm a plus size, so it was some sort of magic that I actually found such a gorgeous dress in my size!
Oh, as for the something that had gone wrong - it wasn't at the ceremony, but my glasses broke that morning, and there was no where to get them fixed, and I had no backup. I'm not blind, but don't see well at far distances.
We had a reception for just under 200 people at a ballroom. A beautiful meal, and lots of great music. We had a dj, but provided him with a LOT of Ukrainian music which he interspersed throughout the night. Didn't want a wedding cake, but had traditional Ukrainian wedding breads (korovai), three-tier, they are braided rounds, decorated with birds and flowers in our colours. The little dough birds were also one of our wedding favours, along with mint bundles, printed napkins and matches. We did give out traditional fruit cake, wrapped and ribboned, at donations, for the guests to put under their pillows, to dream on.
For our wedding, my husband's dad (a priest) and his youngest sister came from Europe to be with us. It was wonderful (no English, though, and my Ukrainian isn't great) to meet them. I did finally meet my mother in law about eight years ago when she came to Canada for a visit. We have not been back there, though.
The next day, Sunday, we got up early to go to church (pretty much had to, since his dad was there), then to my mom's house; she hosted close family and friends for food and the gift opening. We didn't have a honeymoon, but went driving around the nearby countryside for a few days.
Prior to the wedding, I was fortunate enough to have two bridal showers. I was teaching in a town almost five hours away from where the wedding was, and the teachers and students of my Grades 2 and 3 class hosted a wonderful shower for me. In my home city, my sisters and mom put on a shower at our church for me.
Wow - am sure this must be LOOOOng, but thanks for reading. I know how it is sometimes, that people get little ideas from reading other's info, and that's what this site is all about.
2007-03-06 03:28:29
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answer #1
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answered by Lydia 7
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Hi,
We followed some traditions, like getting married in a church (I wanted a beach wedding; my husband wanted to get married in his childhood church) and having a reception, but I tried to be as unique as possible in every aspect. We got married in our early 30s and I felt like six bridesmaids and a garter toss and all that stuff was a little silly for people our age.
My matron of honor was my sister and the bridesmaid was my husband's sister. The groomsmen were my husband's best friend and my brother-in-law. He also had two friends serve as ushers and I had a friend keep the guest book. The flower girl and ringbearer (last minute additions) were a close friend's children. My dad walked me down the aisle.
My bachelorette party was just my sister and best friend (male). We went to a place that has jacuzzis on the hillside and we sat in our jacuzzi and drank champagne and b.s.'ed. It was fun! My husband went to a mountain cabin for a night with his friends and got drunk. Stupid, and he paid for it the next day! LOL.
We honeymooned in Las Vegas because we were planning a move to Hawaii 35 days after the wedding and we figured: what's more different than Hawaii but Vegas? We had a blast.
Because of the upcoming move to Hawaii, our wedding reception had a Hawaii-ish theme. We had purple orchids on the cake, lei for the mothers (instead of corsages), and all of the guests wore Aloha print clothing rather than traditional uncomfortable suits and dresses. We had a shave ice cart at the reception for anyone who wanted some (the kids loved it and many of the adults had it too) and a Hawaiian band for entertainment. The food was luau style.
I didn't think I would be nervous, but I was a wreck the day of the wedding! 4:00 was too late in the day to have the ceremony because it gave me the whole day to freak out. :) I cried a little during the vows and the wedding coordinator caught it all on audiotape. Nothing really went wrong except that I had a very full skirt and our reception was outdoors. We had plastic chairs at the tables and when I went to sit down, my skirt pushed the chair out of the way and I fell smack on my butt in front of all 175 wedding guests! Fortunately everyone was so stunned they forgot to snap a picture!
My husband and I got married in June 2000 and are currently in the process of a divorce. We get along pretty well -- have learned to over the past two years since we separated -- because we have a child together and don't want him to suffer because we had problems in our marriage. We live 3000 miles apart but he visits us every six weeks or so for a long weekend. It's a much better arrangement than the marriage ever was.
If I ever get married again I will do it the way I want it. I won't bend to the wishes of my in-laws (who turned out to be total nightmares the first time) because it's my day (and my husband's of course). I learned a lot of things the first time around and next time it's all for ME.
Aloha :)
2007-03-05 20:06:00
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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I was married in a beautiful white chapel in Gatlinburg, TN. We are still married and love one another more now than the day we married. We didn't have any brides maids or grooms men. We decided to just have our families there. I don't have a relationship with my dad so I decided to walk myself down the aisle... after talking to my soon to be husband about it. (He loved it because he said all he had to look at was me... no one else to mess up his view!) The chapel was beautifully decorated and we didn't have to do anything but show up and get dressed. I carried a bouquet of yellow and red roses and he had a yellow rose boutonniere. We didn't cry... but we were very close to it. We didn't do the hen's night or anything like that. It was not scary at all, the most emotional day of my life, but not scary. Ha ha, and my rings would not slide on for him because he was so nervous. I had to help him out a little. We honeymooned in Gatlinburg... in a beautiful fully furnished cabin. We spent most of our time hiking to see the natural beauty in the mountains.... many waterfalls and incredible views from cliffs. We also spent a lot of time in our hot tub too just laughing and being silly. It was the greatest time of my life. Oh yeah, it also snowed the day we were married... the picutures are beautiful. We do have some pictures on-line... email me and I'll send you the link.
But, here is the website to the chapel we married at!
www.chapelatthepark.com
2007-03-06 22:13:13
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answer #3
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answered by mrslang1976 4
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Ok. That's a pretty long question! Here's my version of the story. I was married in 1995, in september, start of summer in Mauritius. We wanted a very simple wedding with no fuss and no rigid traditions. We chose to do it by day, a saturday, a lunch. The ceremony was traditional, my father walked me down the aisle (I cried when I saw tears in his eyes), and his mother did him, we had 2 flower girls of 6 years old, my cousin and his god daughter, his man of honour was his best friend and mine too. My dress was off white and I wore my hair (long, black and curly) down with flowers in them. I was very scared before entering the church, but then I was ok, cause I saw how relax he was. The lunch was great, no loud music so everyone could chat and have a good time. Our honeymoon was all around the island, we booked 4 hotels for 3 or 4 days each and had a great time.
I think what made it one of the best days of our lives was that we did not worry or care about all you are 'supposed to do' on your wedding day. We acted like we wanted to it was an extra special day for us as well as for our guests.
Yes we are still happily married and have a son of 10 and a daughter of 7.
Thanks for taking me back to that day!
2007-03-05 20:11:14
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answer #4
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answered by pegs 3
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Well, we got married in 2004. We met in 2000. My maid of honor was my cousin and best friend, Sharon. Bridesmaids: Jodi, Virginia, Tamara (my sister) and Leigh (Jack's sister). Groomsmen were Ric, James, Ty, James, and Jamers. And "Best Man" was Steve.
Both my parents walked me down the aisle and gave me away. That was cool.
Hell ya, it was scary, but we're still married. I cried.
What went wrong is that I trusted people (not professionals) to take pictures and do the video. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! Hire professionals for this type of thing!
We then honeymooned in San Diego, CA.
2007-03-05 20:08:57
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answer #5
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answered by MoMoney23 5
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1st Wedding:
No theme, I wore white, my husband wore a kilt, I did the whole "something old something new something borrowed something blue" I had 5 of my friends as bridesmaids, they wore cornflower blue, I had no maid/matron of honour and no flower girl/ring bearer. I married in my church, my father gave me away, I went to Spain for honeymoon. My husband had a stag do in Edinburgh where he and his mates camped out and went clubbing. he was also unfaithful which I did not find out til after I married him, and he also ended up sleeping with one of my bridesmaids (3 years after we married) so that marriage ended.
2nd wedding: small, registry office, no bridesmaids, no flower girls, I wore burgundy, my husband wore a kilt. Only about 10 people attended, none of my family came, I walked alone down the aisle. We had no honeymoon, I went back to work the Monday after the wedding. No stag or hen night. That marriage also ended.
2007-03-05 23:09:16
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answer #6
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answered by sparkleythings_4you 7
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I we got married last year in a Cathedral. It was amazing having all your friends & family there.
I had 2 bridesmaids in amazing ice blue evening dresses and a my daughter was a flower girl in an ice blue & white dress that was made to the same design as my white Mori Lee Tulle skirted wedding dress. My two page boys wore 3 piece suits with ice blue waist coats & cravats.
My husband is in the Royal Navy so he wore full uniform & his best man & usher wore dark navy suits (so that he would stand out against them). I had white freeshia & calla lilys in my wedding bouquet my bridesmaid had white calla lily wrist corsarges. My daughter carried minnie mouse in a white wedding dress, the page boy carried micky mouse in top hat & tails (that my mother in law bought me in florida) and the other page boy carried the rings.
We had the wedding breakfast and reception in Lancashire in a hotel that used to be a mansion house. My husband & i went to Paris straight after the wedding but took our daughter to Florida for a family holiday afterwards.
It was 7 months ago & i'd do it all again this year if i could.
2007-03-05 21:33:43
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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I had a garden wedding at a recpetion place.
My colour theme was Bronze, my bridesmaids and jnr bridemaid wore bronze dresses (strapless bridesmaids and thin straps for jnr).
The boys wear suits with groomsmen wearing bronze ties and hankerchiefs.
My maid of honour was my sister, bridesmaid my long life friend (known since birth and our mums have known each other since birth) and jnr bridesmaid was my husbands cousin.
Best Man was husbands best mate and Groomsman was his other close friend.
We had one of my cousins and husbands sister as our ushers.
My dad walked me down the isle my mum was walked down by my uncle just before the jnr bridesmaid entered.
We went on a cruise for our honeymoon - was relaxing and exciting.
I had my hens nite at a comedy restaurant and he had his bacholor out on the town.
He cried at the ceremony before I did which made me cry, and we were damn sick of photos by the end of the day.
It was more fun and amazing than I imagined.
2007-03-05 20:00:48
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answer #8
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answered by Anonymous
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Well mine was good and it was 15 years ago . Had the wedding in church after which had reception at a local hotel. In the evening, had the traditional wedding celebrations dinner with guests and relatives and yeah, felt dead tired that night and we were off to our honeymoon in Brisbane Australia for two weeks.
2007-03-05 19:55:34
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answer #9
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answered by Ashley 4
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I was terrified walking up the aisle! My fiance thought that he'd really upset me, but I was just nervous and scared! My wedding was great and we didn't spend a fortune either. It was perfect from start to finish - after I got over my shock!
You can read all about my cheap wedding at http://www.cheap-wedding-success.co.uk
2007-03-08 09:03:50
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answer #10
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answered by sticky_orchid 1
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