What do you wish you had done between engaged and married?

When DP and I get married we have decided to have a very small affair (no, not that kind) with immediate and close family and friends in a small church with a BBQ or similar afterwards.

I don't get spending an absolute fortune on anything to do with one day. I was reading a bridal magazine with all of the real life weddings and some were spending high 5 and 6 figures for ONE day. I just don't get it. I would rather have something very small and intimate and use the money for something far more worthy.

N2L your wedding sounds fab. I had a silver satin maternity dress, I was 37 weeks pregnant and really not wanting to dress up. My only regret was not wearing an underwire bra for just that one day :rofl: We got married at the registry. Originally we had a whole lot of guests and a big dinner planned, but it was all getting too political, and ended up being just my mum and our photographer (who is also a friend). Other family were meant to show but didn't. It worked out great that way, we went to a little wine bar after and everybody had wine, beer and yummy cheeses (me minus the booze). Then that night we had a small family dinner at our favourite restaurant. Was lovely, and cost as much as our meals, the dress, and the registry :)

She's going for a beach wedding, she may not actually go for a white dress, and I highly doubt it'll be a meringue, but that doesn't mean she should miss out on the whole experience. TBH, I don't really care about the reasoning behind the white dress, if she wants one, she should have it, and if she doesn't, she won't! :)

ETA - Took far too long to post, and now there's another page :rofl: She's got her head screwed on too tight to spend a heap of money on one day, and they don't have it anyway. I just don't want her to miss out on the fun part of planning a huge wedding like I did.

Sounds perfect to me PZ. And I bet your day was no less special to you than someone who spent thousands.

I think weddings are a very personal thing. I wanted to elope - I hate being the centre of attention, hate having my photo taken etc so the thought of the whole big wedding day left me cold. We ended up doing the more traditional thing due to my feelings of obligation towards older family but still kept it fairly small and I'm so glad that we did. It was one of the best days of my life. I didn't feel like a princess (and wasn't trying to look like one in my non-white dress) but I did feel the most beautiful I have ever felt before or since, which was far more to do with the fact that I was so incredibly thrilled to be marrying my man that to do with the dress I was wearing.

But no, still not high 5 figures. That is just ludicrous. I was bridesmaid for a girl whose wedding cost a smidge over $120K. And I didn't even like her dress ;-)

the best thing about my wedding dress was the sound it made when it went up in flames :rofl:

I swear I'm going to elope this time around, go overseas with a few close friends & family and have a black tie event somewhere exotic.

First time I got married I married in a black dress just from department store. We only had a small affair and was trying to do everything on the cheap (didn't have much money at the time...). Marriage ended badly 2 years later (his fault, not mine...).

This time I want to do it "right"... My parents and sister are flying over and even though we initially wanted to do a simple wedding in my brother in law's backyard, now having changed to a gorgeous location for ceremony and a nice hotel for the reception, we're feeling very happy about it! I was really worried about all the extra work and that for having a quite big affair in a backyard, and am happy now that we can relax and have other people do all the hard work for us.

Buying the dress definitely was a highlight! We didn't have any appointments, but I was quite lucky to be able to be fitted in between customers to fit on a dress (and they added some more!). I went to 3 different stores, then back again to nr. 2, then tried 1 dress on again at store nr 3 and bought that one! I definitely felt like a model in those beautiful dresses and even though we weren't after the most expensive ones, I ended up buying one off the rack, that besides the length fitted perfectly. One thing was that every time we mentioned I am going to get married in 4 months, they kinda laughed at me and said most dresses take at least 6 months to make!!! Bear that in mind. I definitely did not buy what I imagined I would, as the style fitted beautifully on me! And that style was the only one I tried after that.

We have less than 6 months from the time we got engaged to the wedding and I think maybe I should have left myself some more time. Especially since we're off on holidays for a month in a week's time and when we get back there are only 2 months left!!! STRESSSSSSS

My wedding was amazing, yet still done on a budget. We married in a 14th century Scottish castle and I wore a medieval style ivory satin gown which I have worn since for a fancy dress party and would happily wear again for the same reason. Basically none of my or DH's friends supported the marriage (ha to them 11 years later!) so we got married at the other end of the country with only 17 guests. I still love the memories, it was a beautiful and very intimate wedding.

We let the outlaws pressure us into having a wedding. I would have preferred to have a quickly at the registry office or elope to Las Vegas. I bought a red dress off the rack the day before. I could wear it but I always seem to decide on a different outfit.
I'm with N2L, I don't get the big wedding and bridal dress. I would much rather spend the money on a holiday.

Its been almost a year since DH and I were married. Destination wedding in Fiji with 35 of our closest family and friends. The best holiday ever, most romantic low key wedding but it was still the most magical day! We spent a total of 20K but that was including everything- dress, wedding, accommodation, flights, honeymoon, rings, the lot! Was perfect!!!

As for what to do in between engagement and weddding- pamper days, trying on dresses, bbqs with mates (so they all got to know each other before the weddding if they didnt already), wedding photo poses (just for fun). Looking at flowers together, cant think what else at the moment.