Wedding Stories & Ideas Galore!

[Shannon ♥ Nick 0]

From those romantic proposals to the last minute wedding details... share it all!!!

Nick and I are K1 petitioners and are eagerly awaiting his interview... so we are still in the planning stages of our wedding. I thought it would be fun for everyone to share plans/details of their weddings.. get new ideas.. share a few photos.. brag about our rings and dresses (of course!) and just generally have a great wedding thread we can all come to and chat!

A bit to get started....

Nick and I met online and honestly it was love at first sight. Our personalities clicked and we just completed each other in every way from the second we began talking. Knowing we were going to be together forever didn't dawn on us one day... we didn't 'decide it was time'... it just always was. Soul mates don't find each other... they're in each other all along. A great quote that sums up our relationship perfectly.

We decided (and are still actively hoping for!!!!) a March 17th wedding, this will be the anniversary of the first day we met face to face. I've got our invitations all ready to be printed and mailed... my gorgeous dress hanging in my closet... an exquisite ring on my finger - I'm just waiting for my groom to appear!!!

We have kids, so we are going to incorporate a 'sand ceremony' into our wedding... for those unfamiliar, we'll each have a bit of colored sand and Nick and I will pour a bit of ours one at a time into a vase ** we're still deciding what we're going to put it in** then each of the kids will put theirs in, each in their own color and then Nick and I will pour the rest of ours in... I think it will be an amazing way to visualize us coming together as a complete family.. each with our own color, yet blending perfectly! It is really important for us to make the kids feel special and included. And it's something that we can put up in the house and always look at and remember the day we all became an 'official' family!

So please share ladies (and gents)... are you writing your own vows? What does your dress look like? Are you incorporating anything different/special/uniquely you into your ceremony? Getting married on a 'special' date? Special place? Have you found any good wedding internet sites you wanna share?

**I did look around for a thread like this, I apologize if there is already one started**

[Terri and Seb 0]

I can't believe no one has responded yet!

Sebastian and I met on an online forum. I posted a thread asking for advice on different universities I was considering studying abroad at, and he responded. Not only is he an Oxford grad, but he graduated from the same Oxford college my U.S. university has an affiliation with! We talked for months and fell in love before even meeting. I was accepted into the programme, he met me at the airport 8 months after we'd started taking, and we spent a blissful year together in the UK. Still long distance, though, as he lived in London and I was in Ox.

He proposed by putting the ring in a slice of homemade strawberry cheesecake! Yum! I knew it was coming but it was somehow still a total surprise.

We're eloping to a mansion that's an hour or so from where I live and then throwing a party in the U.S and a party in the U.K. sometime in the next few years. My vision of a dress is purchased, as is his, and we're just waiting on the NVC now! We're really, really keeping our fingers crossed for him to somehow arrive by the first week of March so we can marry/honeymoon during my spring break but we know that's pushing it. We may decide to wait until after I've finished my semester for him to come here due to money issues plus my academic schedule.

As for unique ideas, we're doing a wine ceremony. Basically the JP or officiant asks the couple getting married to find a strong wooden box that will hold two bottles of wine and two wine glasses. The bride's side of the family is asked to purchase one bottle of wine and the groom's is asked to purchase another. The couple is then asked to each write a letter to one another, expressing their thoughts about the good qualities that they found in their future partner and their reasons for falling in love with each other. Under no condition can they read each other’s letter. Family members are also asked to write little notes about love, marriage, or their own blessings on the union. They are to seal them and put them in the box with the wine and glasses. Upon finalizing the wedding ceremony, the officiant will announce to the guests that he / she had asked the couple to write letters to each other and put them in the box with the wine and glasses. The officiant will explain that should the couple ever find their marriage in serious trouble, before making any irrational decisions, they must open the box, drink wine together, and read the letter that they wrote to one another to reflect on why they fell in love with each other in the first place. The hope is that there will never be a reason to have to open the box, unless it is for their 10 year anniversary!

We also have our readings picked out and we've started talking about vows.

I absolutely LOVE the websitesite Offbeatbride.

I hope more people start using this thread! If not, you and I can just gush over our wedding plans .

Edited December 18, 2008 by Terri and Seb

[Terri and Seb 0]

Edit: His RING is purchased. He is not wearing a dress . And websitesite...geeez at my typos!

Edited December 18, 2008 by Terri and Seb

[Karri 0]

oOooh. I like this thread. =) I'm going wedding dress shopping myself on Saturday. There are a few dresses I like that I'm going to draw my inspiration from. If I can't find anything similar than I'll order one. It'll be expensive but worth it. Other than that there isn't much else I can do until I can finalize the wedding date. But my goal is to plan as much as I can before then.

[kaffy 2]

We had a destination wedding on Kauai. Just the two of us and our immediate family... 8 in total on the beach at sunrise It was PERFECT. We headed back to the house after the ceremony, enjoyed a cake brunch with the family.. then the two of us headed off on our own for lunch & a nap (I had to get up at 3am that morning). Later that evening we met up with the family for dinner/reception. Our reception was a sit down dinner at a restaurant which is renowned for their sunset dining. We booked WAY in advance and were able to secure a private dining area overlooking the water (we got married in a pretty popular date on 7-7-7 which was a pretty popular date so I made sure to book everything in advance)

If you're considering Kauai let me know and I'm happy to share my vendors - they all did an amazing job.

oh and my dress was an off the rack Camilla & Marc. I had the best luck with dress shopping. I saw it in a lookbook my friend had emailed to me. I contacted the designer who put me in touch with an online stockist. They emailed me detailed pics and answered my questions. I pre-ordered it and a month later I had my dress. It fit perfectly and didn't require any alterations. I didn't step foot inside a single wedding dress store! you can see it in my avatar

Edited December 18, 2008 by kaffy

[Shannon ♥ Nick 0]

Terri, that wine ceremony sounds awesome. Nick and I talked about it tonight - I bet he'd be cracking open the box first That is such a cool idea... I'd never heard of it before! And the cheesecake... mmm delicious way to get proposed to!! (thx, now I'm craving strawberry cheesecake... as if I need another craving the bowl of fruit I just had will have to suffice!)

Speaking of cakes - have you started thinking about yours... we've emailed a place near us (me) that does wedding cheesecakes! They look amazing, she does them up to look just like 'normal' wedding cakes with the tiers and everything. Funny tho, no prices on the website LOL hmmm

Karri, what are some of the styles you're looking at? I am dying to know that Nick will be here for the date we've got picked. I just want soooo much to not worry anymore! But watching ppl get stuck in AP or have their ppwk lost or at the interview get told you need to submit something else and go back for another interview.... gosh, there is still so much up in the air!

Plus the fact that we just made the move to Florida from Minnesota... so really ALL of our guests will be making flight plans... I'd just hate to have to get ahold of them and say that the wedding was postponed.

So is everyone making no absolute plans until their SO has made it through POE? Or are some going ahead and taking a risk?

Kaffy, your wedding sounds just beautiful!! So romantic! I just love the intimate feeling of a small wedding/reception - and the idea of a sunrise/sunset event just sounds so SO romantic!

Ours will be small as well, we're going to do it in our backyard which backs up against woods and a creek... it's very beautiful . We were going to do it on the beach since we only live 8 miles away - but it just got too much logistically, and for the money we know we could do so much more having it here.

So what do your dresses look like?! Or what styles are you looking?

Here's mine! I just love it! I wanted a halter style and I think this is just beautiful!

[kaffy 2]

Aww your dress is really pretty! The train is just gorgeous! Have you decided on shoes / jewelry / hair?

My dress was halter neck also.. but quite different to yours

[kaffy 2]

Kaffy, your wedding sounds just beautiful!! So romantic! I just love the intimate feeling of a small wedding/reception - and the idea of a sunrise/sunset event just sounds so SO romantic!

we only stretched it out over an entire day because it was our immediate family only and we were close enough to them that we didn't feel bad about forcing them to wake up so early but ah well, it was all good fun. We all spent the week before the wedding at the beach, eating good food and enjoying good quality family time

[Amby 490]

I have a wedding suggestion...don't do it

[Shannon ♥ Nick 0]

oooh, Terri - I went to that websitesite you suggested

I'd never heard of The Invitation, by Oriah Mountain Dreamer ... and I LOVE IT! There is some really great stuff on there! Thx!

[Shannon ♥ Nick 0]

Aww your dress is really pretty! The train is just gorgeous! Have you decided on shoes / jewelry / hair?

My dress was halter neck also.. but quite different to yours

oooh, your dress is gorgeous!! I love the halter style, accents the shoulders and looks so sexy I think!

No clue on jewelry, hair I'm going back and forth on (up vs. down) My hair is about shoulder length these days - and very dark... just can't decide what would look best... As for the shoes, I'd kinda like to just go barefoot - is that too tacky? LOL

Maybe a cute shoe for the walk down the isle.. but with heels I'd be sticking into the lawn (which is pretty sandy in our area).

[KAT&Allie 0]

Well ladies, would you believe it if I tell you that I'm not planning anything... I've left it all up to him! Can't decide whether that's brae or stupid but there you go.

It'll be close family and very close friends only but even that is too many for me as it comes to about 40 people. There are some aspects of his planning that worry me, like music and food. He wants a BBQ and a something (preferably lamb) on a spit, which is fine with me since I won't be eating it anyway but he wants to be involved with turning the spit!! I've put my foot down on him participating in cooking... he has a choice there - he can either cook or get married but not both at the same time! B) And his choice of music is truly scary but I've resigned myself to have a pair of ear defenders at hand since I no doubt will hate his choices. He's into grunge and rock and I can't stand it. Should make for interesting wedding photos!

I have never dreamed of a white wedding and have no idea what I'd want/like to have. Only when he makes a suggestion I can tell whether I'd hate the idea, love it or be indifferent. I know I don't want a white dress and I don't want a cake. Flip-flops for shoes (thank goodness for Florida ) ... who's going to see them anyway and I'll be all comfy .

It's really the date that is driving me nuts, since everybody's asking when is the wedding and I can't tell them... we'd like to have it in March but that would be a difficult to achieve since I haven't got my NOA2 yet. So if we are lucky, 5th April, if unlucky, 12th May! And here I am still hoping for March

[faryan 4]

I love this thread! Good idea!

My husband and I met online also, back in 2004. I was working abroad in a peacegroup, and when Im not on the ground I was online alllllll the time on YM coz thats where my family and friends and even boss and colleagues in the same building(!!?!) congregate (until now in fact, altho we also have active presence in FB now)

So one day (at work!), we started talking, he was very witty, self deprecating, and we were talking ####### about politics and culture stuff, feeling how very intelligent we were We chatted everyday since meeting, as friends, sounding board, support. He's younger by 4 years, and it was a big deal for me then (coz i had 3 younger brothers and was in "looking for older men" phase). Over time, I knew he have feelings for me (which I forced out of him a few times, and also read in the only blog entry he ever written in his life (I save that by the way). I care about him deeply, but I also just lost a male best friend just a year before from cancer at just 23 (which made me move country in the first place coz I figured that we should take risk in this short life) and do not want to lose that deep bond with him if we become more than friends.

Fast forward 2005, 2006, 2007... He saw me through my ups and downs and personal dramas (which was nothing i guess, just regular breakups compared to some pretty interesting threads we can find in VJ), I encouraged him to go back to school to earn his degree (which he got dean's list for, but that wasnt me, he's just really is a nerd *affectionately*). I guess at some point I gave him an ultimatum. I think I shock the socks off him But it was something like, this is the chance for him to sweep me off my feet, and whatever happens we'll still be best friends. He was/is very persistent. So here we are now....

Anyways, we had our wedding in April, in my home country, Malaysia. I wanted a very traditional (malay) wedding but small..

Marriage in our culture usually comes in 4 parts:

1) Merisik (where family of the groom-to-be visits the bride to-be's family home and enquire whether the girl is single and interested to marry the guy. if yes, the guy's family will leave her a promise ring). then is the

2) Pertunangan (that is engagement ceremony, where the groom and bride will exchange gifts, and parents/family discuss mariage dates and mahr (like money gifts from the guy to the wife to be), then is the

3) Nikah day (which is the religious portion that solemnise the wedding, pretty much like exchanges of vows, plus we also have exchanges of trays of gifts, and mahr, and some will recite takliq, which is marriage contract). Nikah is usually done at the bride's family home or at the mosque. And then we have

4) Persandingan (which is the reception, feeding a lot of people (kenduri/feast), with the bride and groom sitting on a dais like king and queen.. after all, bride and groom is called "Raja Sehari" which translated to king for a day.)

I told my parents re our plans to marry about 3-4 months before the time we plan to do so (after we secure funds for it, make sure that hubby have enough holidays, I have the engagement ring in my hand, etc).. so by culture standard we fast forwarded and only did the #3 and #4 stage which is basically the wedding part of course (altho people still do huge engagement ceremonies here)...

The paperwork preparation was tough, but the shopping for wedding was fun! hahaha.. I had 3 outfits (one for nikah) and 2 for the reception (we changed outfit to cut our cake). Decorated my room, and also all the things for exchanging of gifts part (hantaran). In my culture, number of trays to be given is in odd numbers, 5,7, 9, etc.. so, my husband give 9 trays and i give him back 9+2 (11) trays.

There's no such thing as a small wedding in our culture though and we had like almost 800-1000 guests at our reception. But then again, our concept of reception is a time for parents to announce that their offspring is now married, and share the happy news with extended family and friends.. So we get to meet some people that I havent seen since i was a baby, and some of my old friends from school, work, from abroad, etc. I initially was pissed while doing the preparation coz i dont want to be paraded in front of sooo many people, but quickly got over it coz my parents and extended family been very supportive and i was the eldest and only girl. My hubby was quite overwhelmed with all the flurry of things, but he quite enjoyed it..

My family always joke that theres 4 rings in our culture: promise ring, engagement ring, wedding ring..... and suffering!!!! hehehe... i got my 3 rings but now i know re the last ring... this longggggggggggg visa process... but we did get to do 2 honeymoons, one right after the nikah, and another one in New Zealand a couple of months ago for a a few weeks so that we can be together... here's hoping that this "suffeRING" will be over soon!

Will try post pics later (coz i think ive written a book here..)

[faryan 4]

We had a destination wedding on Kauai. Just the two of us and our immediate family... 8 in total on the beach at sunrise It was PERFECT. We headed back to the house after the ceremony, enjoyed a cake brunch with the family.. then the two of us headed off on our own for lunch & a nap (I had to get up at 3am that morning). Later that evening

Ahhhh i love the idea of a beach wedding!! Your pic on your avatar looks lovely..

Speaking of cakes - have you started thinking about yours... we've emailed a place near us (me) that does wedding cheesecakes! They look amazing, she does them up to look just like 'normal' wedding cakes with the tiers and everything. Funny tho, no prices on the website LOL hmmm

....

So what do your dresses look like?! Or what styles are you looking?

Here's mine! I just love it! I wanted a halter style and I think this is just beautiful!

The dresses look amazing! Re cake, we had a simple choc cake covered with fondant, and then with fresh flowers (same like my hand bouquet) decorating it. I think we hardly eat it coz there was soooooooooo much food at the reception, by the time we cut the cake we were so full...

It'll be close family and very close friends only but even that is too many for me as it comes to about 40 people. There are some aspects of his planning that worry me, like music and food. He wants a BBQ and a something (preferably lamb) on a spit, which is fine with me since I won't be eating it anyway but he wants to be involved with turning the spit!! I've put my foot down on him participating in cooking... he has a choice there - he can either cook or get married but not both at the same time! B) And his choice of music is truly scary but I've resigned myself to have a pair of ear defenders at hand since I no doubt will hate his choices. He's into grunge and rock and I can't stand it. Should make for interesting wedding photos!

BBQ wedding?? Tha sounds fun! A good idea for a wedding party on hubby's side. Maybe we'll do a mini BBQ party on our 1st anniversary.. I just saw David Tutera the party planner on Discovery&travel channel doing just that. he had some great ideas. If you are not into white for wedding, what colour are you going to do? I didnt want white also (eventho in our culture nikah is usually in white). I wore buttery colour for nikah (solemnisation), and light green for the reception. Maybe I'll wear white on my first anniversary party in US..

Edited December 18, 2008 by faryan

[faryan 4]

oOooh. I like this thread. =) I'm going wedding dress shopping myself on Saturday. There are a few dresses I like that I'm going to draw my inspiration from. If I can't find anything similar than I'll order one. It'll be expensive but worth it. Other than that there isn't much else I can do until I can finalize the wedding date. But my goal is to plan as much as I can before then.

Karri, I love your henna! I had mine done a couple of days before the wedding, but all the hours of dousing it with lemon/sugar water and sooo sticky went out the window when i went to the spa the day before nikah (got a scrub! ).. hehehe.. But its just one of the must-do rituals... how long did yours last?