Wedding Stories & Ideas Galore!

[KAT&Allie 0]

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..

I'm thinking (when I bother to think about it at all ) of light champagne or very light grey/silvery colour. I'd show you the photo but my baby logs on occasionally and I have no intention of letting him know what it will look like . I found a dress on the web... $220 so I'm going to have it shipped directly to Florida once I get myself organised and make a decision on which colour I like better. If it was completely up to me, I would wear a burgundy coloured one but since we will be having a religious wedding, I just can't do it. Oh, well...

I'm thinking of having a henna done but after the wedding though since we are thinking about having a wedding 10 days after I get my visa from London. So everybody's on the standby...

How long does it take for henna to wash out?

[Laura+Tom 2]

Tom and I met in May 2007 on an online dating site. I had only been a member for a day when he contacted me. We chatted for about a month and decided to meet up in Cambridge for a meal. It was ideal as it was somewhere I knew very well (I went to university there) and it was the same distance for both of us to travel to. At the time he lived 25min one side of Cambridge and I live 25min the other side.

I knew Tom wouldn't have long left in the UK as he was due to return back to the States after his stint in Bahrain, so he asked me if I would go with him. Tom has never actually proposed to me but he doesn't really need to as we thought that asking me to give up everything here to be with him was a much bigger deal than putting a ring on my finger. We both knew that once that petition was sent off then we would be getting married within the year. I do wear a ring now (but nothing fancy) as it makes the engagement seem a bit more official.

We are having a small affair at a military chapel but we can't get the chapel we'll have a court wedding. It will be Tom's second marriage and we both don't want anything too fancy so it'll just be my parent's, his parent's, and hopefully a couple of friends from the UK. We aren't having a reception as such, maybe just a meal or BBQ. My dress is going to be homemade, just a strapless, knee length ivory dress. I bought my shoes and my silk flowers and Tom has had my ring made up in Bahrain. My invites are all handmade, and any decorations will be handmade too. You can see photos of most of the stuff on my blog in my sig. At the moment it's really stressing me out as I really want to plan things around a date.

We are going to Las Vegas for a long weekend for our honeymoon. Some have said why don't we just forgo the planning and get married there. My mum would kill me if I did though lol.

My favourite website for ideas is www.oncewed.com they have some pretty cool DIY things on there.

Edited December 18, 2008 by Laura+Tom

[Dr. Obvious 49]

So please share ladies (and gents)... are you writing your own vows?

Vows are overrated. My husband and I never took any.

[faryan 4]

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..

I'm thinking (when I bother to think about it at all ) of light champagne or very light grey/silvery colour. I'd show you the photo but my baby logs on occasionally and I have no intention of letting him know what it will look like . I found a dress on the web... $220 so I'm going to have it shipped directly to Florida once I get myself organised and make a decision on which colour I like better. If it was completely up to me, I would wear a burgundy coloured one but since we will be having a religious wedding, I just can't do it. Oh, well...

I'm thinking of having a henna done but after the wedding though since we are thinking about having a wedding 10 days after I get my visa from London. So everybody's on the standby...

How long does it take for henna to wash out?

You can always get a burgundy dress for your reception party/dinner do.. hehehe.. We (malays) usually have 2 sets of reception, one on the bride's side after nikah, and another one (like a week or so after bride's reception) on the groom's side.. So, plenty of dresses! haha.. And sometimes, after nikah at the bride's home with just close relatives around we'd have photo taking ceremony where the bride's mak andam (like traditional stylist etc) will make the bride (sometimes with groom) change into 5 different outfits... I didnt do that myself, but during my cousin's wedding, his wife even worn korean, indian etc.. very fun to dress up, and they got to have all the pictures too.

Henna, if its made from scratch (your henna person ground the leaves etc) last about a week. If its henna from Mecca (and in tube) can last up til about 2 weeks.. if u apply on the nails (like nail polisher), that last longer!

[faryan 4]

Tom has never actually proposed to me but he doesn't really need to as we thought that asking me to give up everything here to be with him was a much bigger deal than putting a ring on my finger. We both knew that once that petition was sent off then we would be getting married within the year. I do wear a ring now (but nothing fancy) as it makes the engagement seem a bit more official.

You can see photos of most of the stuff on my blog in my sig. At the moment it's really stressing me out as I really want to plan things around a date.

Hmmm, Ryan has never actually proposed either.. except that one jokey time a few years back.. We just wanted to be together and going back and fourth re how to make that happen. There's no way I can marry without my family around (they'd kill me ), eventually we just decided that rather than wait, we started planning to get married. hehehe... I donno, maybe traditionally Asians are a bit practical when it comes to deciding to get married? Like, we dont usually have a surprise proposal like what we saw on TV. In fact, i've never heard of it.. hehehe..

p/s: i saw your blog on ur sig a while back.. u r pretty crafty! i love the invites!

[Laura+Tom 2]

Tom has never actually proposed to me but he doesn't really need to as we thought that asking me to give up everything here to be with him was a much bigger deal than putting a ring on my finger. We both knew that once that petition was sent off then we would be getting married within the year. I do wear a ring now (but nothing fancy) as it makes the engagement seem a bit more official.

You can see photos of most of the stuff on my blog in my sig. At the moment it's really stressing me out as I really want to plan things around a date.

Hmmm, Ryan has never actually proposed either.. except that one jokey time a few years back.. We just wanted to be together and going back and fourth re how to make that happen. There's no way I can marry without my family around (they'd kill me ), eventually we just decided that rather than wait, we started planning to get married. hehehe... I donno, maybe traditionally Asians are a bit practical when it comes to deciding to get married? Like, we dont usually have a surprise proposal like what we saw on TV. In fact, i've never heard of it.. hehehe..

p/s: i saw your blog on ur sig a while back.. u r pretty crafty! i love the invites!

Thanks! Making my own stuff kinda keeps my mind occupied, I don't confess to be the crafty type but I'm enjoying making stuff.

[faryan 4]

so.. photos.. a bit tricky figuring out how to post.. but will try anyways:

Apart from dresses, a fun part is to decorate hantaran trays (gifts).. My gifts for him were decorated with yellow, gold and brown stuff(fresh yellow roses and goldy orchids,ribbons, lace, basket):

Gifts from him to me decorated with white, purple, and silver stuff (fresh purple roses and orchids, purple weaved boxes, ribbons, and lace):

Hmm and picture after nikah:

how to reduce the size?

[kaffy 2]

As for the shoes, I'd kinda like to just go barefoot - is that too tacky? LOL

barefoot tacky? no way! I got married barefoot too . I wasn't going to wear heels on the sand so I bought a pair of flat leather sandals I was intending to wear. But after we got there all the guests and I decided we'd just to leave the shoes behind and go barefoot. I think my dad was the only one who wore shoes

see, no shoes

re: hair. If you can't decide on whether to go up or down there's always the half up, half down option

faryan- your pictures are beautiful and I enjoyed reading your story, especially the different cultural elements of your ceremony. Does your husband have a milgrain band from Tiffany? Mine has the same but his is the two tone one... they could be wedding ring twins

KAT&Allie- I think a BBQ wedding sounds like a fun idea too. good luckk with the planning!

Laura+Tom- Do you have any pictures of your dress? I am a fan of short dresses too and your sounds really lovely & simple

Edited December 18, 2008 by kaffy

[faryan 4]

Hey Kaffy, thanks! I'm a bit long winded on the stories sometimes, but i think the best way to know abt diff cultures (apart from food, hehe) i guess from the diff rituals/traditions..

Ring: we got the Atlas ring with roman numerals around it.. also 2 tone: silver and grey. quite chunky and rock and roll, i have a matching one. is it like your husband's? Ryan's not a jewelry wearer, but he loves it. Traditionally here, men usually wear rings with semi precious stones, but nowadays they wear regular bands.. but Muslim men dont wear gold though, Ryan got a titanium one..

Edited December 18, 2008 by faryan

[jundp 191]

P and I had a bit longer to plan our ceremony because we knew we'd delay his actual immigration until he'd finished all his grad classes. We got the visa in April, but he didn't come until July so we'd planned an August wedding. We were able to book the place in March while he was here visiting, and it turned out the only available date was a Friday night...exactly 2 years after we decided to start dating.

We got married at Camlann Medieval Village north of Seattle. We were in medieval garb, our minister was wearing a medieval monk's robe, and we had a traditional 14th century feast for our reception! We both love renaissance faires and since P's family and friends were coming so far, we wanted something unique and fun. It was great because we didn't have to do ANYTHING except send out invitations and get our costumes!

We had sort of a weekend long event as well, again because his family and friends were coming from Germany and some of my family was coming from Louisiana. We're pretty laid back people and we wanted it to be less about "us" and more about celebrating with those we loved. Two nights before the wedding we had a traditional German Polterabend at our house, where we were able to invite many of the people who couldn't be at the wedding due to space constraints. Usually the Polterabend is the night before the wedding but that was my sons birthday. Instead we all went out for a great dinner to celebrate his special day. The day after the wedding we had a pre-planned scavenger hunt in downtown Seattle with silly prizes for the winners. That was great fun because we had about 20 people and we formed groups and took off for a few hours.

We didn't go on a honeymoon until the week after the wedding when all our family and friends had returned home, so we could spend time with them. That was actually kind of nice, because there was no rush to leave after the wedding.

Also, I have 2 children and during our wedding ceremony we did a "family circle" in which we all held hands and P and I made "vows" to the children. That part made most of our guests cry Also, since my parents have both died, my kids gave me away and they stood as maid of honor and best man (along with P's best friend and my sister) and we all walked out together.

I think the important thing after we go through this hideous process, is to have the wedding that YOU want and that you will remember. I can't wait to read more stories here!

[Laura+Tom 2]

Laura+Tom- Do you have any pictures of your dress? I am a fan of short dresses too and your sounds really lovely & simple

Not really as it's being made from scratch. I'm also still quite undecided on what I actually want. I have inspiration pics but the website won't let me save them so here are the links.

This link is the beading I want along the top of the dress Link 1

This is the length I'm after, maybe longer, I don't know Link 2

And here are two dresses which I like, the first was just an idea but I tried that actual dress on and it didn't look great. The second, the more I look at it, the more I'm leaning towards having something similar. Especially the length.

[kaffy 2]

Faryan- Cool, my husband has the Atlas money clip and I like the other stuff in the range too. Husband's ring is the gold milgrain band with platinum inlay so it's a bit different to your husband's. I like the sound of the silver & grey though so I'm gonna have a look on the website.

I on the other hand went for bling and got the share setting half circle diamond ring for my wedding band

Edited December 18, 2008 by kaffy

[Terri and Seb 0]

Ooooh, I love reading everyone's ideas and traditions! I must say, I'm a little sad our families and friends won't be there on our wedding day. But it looks pretty unavoidable.

Shannon Your dress is gorgeous! I'd always dreamed of getting married barefoot and don't think it's tacky at all!

KAT&Allie I think an outdoor barbecue sounds awesome! I saw a picture in Martha Stewart's wedding magazine about how to make it look weddingish, let me see if I can find it!

faryan Your gifts look lovely!

jundp I just teared up reading about your family circle. That's such a great idea and so heartwarming.

Congrats to all you happily married couples!

I've officially banned Sebastian from looking at this thread, so here's me in my wedding dress. I LOVE it!

And here's where we're eloping:

[faryan 4]

Laura - I also enjoy making stuff (really depends on my mood & motivation tho).. hehehe.. Esp. cushions..

I vote for dress #2 btw.. hehehe... are you making yourself or having a tailor make for you? how about the materials? what you going to use?

Jundp - Medieval wedding, thats soo awesome.. the village looks so interesting and the activities you guys lined up for family and friends, that was so great that you had that for them.. Definitely love the vows to the kids.. Very happy for you guys..

Kaffy - Yeah i think the Atlas rings come in silver silver, and silver grey colour..

Terri - Your dress and that castle.. I want castle too... hehehe

Oh, by the way, snaps from the reception:

Family and friends arriving for buffet dinner (it was raining like mad outside)

I had to sit on the dais waiting for groom & entourage to be paraded towards stage/dais

Groom & entourage entered the hall, and was stopped by a few roadblocks: of my bros & cousins asking for toll $$

Chit chat on dais, after we were sprinkled with rose water, flowers, rice grains by family as well wishes.. and all this while on stage in front of the hundreds of guests who were eating away

Hope you guys enjoy the photos..

Edited December 18, 2008 by faryan

[faryan 4]

Shannon, wedding cheesecakes? that is going to be soooo yummy! i asked here but they are soo expensive, so i just got regular choc+fondant cake, plain.. and had our florist who did the floral arrangements for my bedroom and gift trays on nikah day and bouquet for reception to also decorate the cake with fresh flowers... we end up not eating our cake tho, coz everyone's so full.. hehe. here's the photo: