Ok, it may sound like I'm being snarky or dumb, but...Chuck E. Cheese Reception.

Pizza for all check
games check
alcohol check


...just an idea

I've always wanted (yes, I'm a guy who's thought about his wedding) to do the lakeside/sunset thing. I'd go total cotton linens and bonfire. I've also pondered how cool it would be to have a karaoke reception.

My ideal wedding? As strange as this may seem, considering who I am, I want a wedding in...a church. Or a synagogue, either one. It's just so..beautiful to me, I do not know why. They'd probably condemn me though for even stepping foot in there, but hey, oh well..HAHA!

My wedding was very small. The wedding and reception took place in a restaurant.

I desperately wanted a courthouse wedding, but my mother made such a deal about how I would regret it. I don't think I would have.

My advice to you is to not let anyone pressure you into wedding details that aren't what you want.

And if there's a next time? I'm living in sin. There won't even be a courthouse wedding.

We did it the easy way - married and honeymoon all in Vegas. The only downside was I never had a cake.

My wedding ceremony was like my engagement ring - cheap and it looked it.

Year 2000 prices:

CZ channel ring from the bargain bin at Jimbo's Jewelers and Pawn, which began turning green in the settings within three months ... $8

Wedding and reception including dress (made), cake (from my work), hall rental (garden club), food (picnic buffet - but NO booze), decor (plastic everything), DJ (the only real expense), flowers (from my work), marriage license, rings (sterling silver), and printer ink for the digital pictures ... $800

I'll leave it at that, the rest of the tale is worse.

I am far from being married but I know I want it to be fun at least, not too expensive and not tons of people. Probably 50 or so tops. Lots of booze, lots of dancing! lol.

I'd love a wedding near the water. But beaches are pretty windy and I don't know any really beautiful lakes that are nearby. I think hiring out a small cruise ferry would be a nice touch actually. I wonder how much that would cost me.
If someone arrived late... well... that would be a bit of a disaster for them. But it would most likely be a reasonably short trip anyway- the ceremony, photos, and a few drinks before and after. Could have a dinner reception on shore! God you really have me thinking!
Whoa, the one I was thinking of actually does have wedding packages!
link
even looks like they have a dancefloor!
link
Awesome! My wedding is planned, now I just need a groom! And money! ( I still don't know how much it would be!)
I love ideas that come to me as I write. It must have been sitting back there in my subconscious for a while

I want to big to do. I want the church, the dress, and the forever. If I get that, it'll be a miracle. Here's to hoping.

My wedding was basic. Vegas (if you are close enough, I highly recommend it). We didn't have everyone there (my best friend did though and her's was amazing). We got up on Dec. 26 and J said, get in the car we're getting married. Yup, he didn't have to tell me twice. We got there and I (who was preggo and hormonal) HAD to have a dress...I went and got a great dress and we called some places and on the 29th we were married. Afterward he took me to an expensive restaurant for a nice dinner.

We are planning a huge 10 year anniversary with vow renewals in a church and a big party after.

For us, perfect. His family wasn’t really thrilled but my husband and I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the whole day. I wanted a ceremony outside and didn’t care who officiated. My husband is a devout Catholic so there had to be a Priest and the church will not do a wedding outside. That was the only compromise either of us made. No invites to people we didn’t see on a regular basis, under 100 people invited and 98 people attended both the little chapel wedding and reception outside on a beautiful September day at a bed and breakfast/farm. There were tents with tables and a barn set up like a wine bar draped with grape vines. No standard flower arrangements all the same on every table. I went to antique shops, yard sales and open markets for large old pots for natural flower arrangements. No DJ, can’t stand a DJ wedding. My husband is a former drummer and his brother is a classical musician. We had a wonderful group of musicians playing string instruments. No first dance, no announcing the couple, no father-daughter dance and absolutely no seating arrangements. We invited adults and I fell you should be able to seat yourself. We did however break the bank on the best catered food I have ever had. The guy and staff were worth every dime.
This was as I said the perfect wedding for us, not my family and not his family but us. Keep that in mind and don’t allow yourself to get caught up in what you “should” do and not do. Too many people will tell you what you “should” do. Simply say, “I appreciate your thoughts”, and just do what you want to do. I remember fine details of the day because I decided not to make so much of the day, let it go and enjoy.

A ball pit at the reception would rock!

Of course, this thread brought up the topic with Cyn and I. We both realized we want about the same thing and really hate that we have to wait until she's done with school to do it.

DJ's: Waste of money nowadays. Sure, it helps to pay an under employed broadcasting grad to play music from their laptop...but I have PLENTY of music too. My sister actually did that for her wedding too (laptop w/mp3's)

We like the idea of a HUGE BBQ with a variety of meats auf dem Grill. NO VEGGIE TRAYS (fruit though). Bonfires (with s'mores). Alcohol. And, get this, Door Prizes! I've never heard of door prizes at a wedding, but I like it (everyone gets a free ticket and can buy more).

Spend the time, and have the ceremony with your friends.

Your post did nothing but bring back memories for me. From the moment of taking all those pictures where I sat on the church steps and my mom said not to, and the photographer took a picture of me. The moment during "wedding party refreshments" before the ceremony that my dad jumped up and clicked his heels that was also caught on film.

The bridesmaids showed up wearing bras for a backless dress. All three of them.
We walked out to take pictures on the deck at sunset and my heel stuck in the deck - so firmly that I needed someone to release it.
My father in law asking to see my ring. He was the only one that did.
The toasts that were made when my father called the best man a "silver tongued devil" only to learn later that he practiced for four hours.

Take the memories...

You should absolutely do whatever it is that you want to do when you get married. Don't let the purchase of a dress stop you. Hell, a fancy dress doesn't mean you can't go down to city hall if that's where you want to get married.

My wedding involved immediate family only (plus my three best friends who technically crashed the wedding), we traveled down to Eureka Springs, AR (you can purchase a marriage license and get married the same day). We all stayed in a bed and breakfast there and we got married in a small chapel that had been built in the woods entirely out of glass. It was like being outside and was amazingly beautiful. It was simple, short with a simple dress and our parents as witnesses. Afterward we had a small cake and some sparkling grape juice (I was 5 months pregnant at the time) at the bed and breakfast and the hubs and I retired to the honeymoon suite.

I had recently been through a massive, stressful wedding planning process with each of the weddings of the aforementioned three best friends the previous year. Each of them said that if they had it to do over again, they would have gone my route rather than the giant productions their mothers had orchestrated.

I'm not saying the huge fantasy wedding or even moderate sized gathering is the wrong choice, but I am a strong believer in the idea that a wedding should reflect what the couple wants and not what anybody else expects them to do.

Our wedding was rather odd I suppose. No white dress nor stuffy tuxedo. We wrote our own vows, and took them on a city sidewalk in front of an old building (no not a courthouse) simply because it had massive stone gargoyles overhead. Reception was at a public park.

We went to a beach at the end of the world, link, which is on an island and down a significant dirt road. Very small, only closest family and friends present...and absolutely noone else. Not even a minister was invited - a friend did the ceremony.

And no white dress either. I had a corset and skirt made in this rich blazing saffron silk fabric I got from an Indian store I still get a lot of wear out of it.

Good times

My wedding dress was a white strapless with red accents and a red corset back with red patent leather strappy heels, our party wore black tuxes with red vests & ties. both my husband and I come from military based families and are passionate about history so it only seemed fitting that we were married on a battlefield in front of a pyramid of cannonballs that was located in front of a HUGE tree. I have a good friend with a chopped 57 Chevy that just so happens to be in the exact shade of red as the red of my dress and shoes. Since we got married outdoors us girls hatched the plan that she would pull up to the end of the 'aisle' and Dad would open the door, I would step out and off down the aisle we'd go. No one knew except my soon- to -be hubby, her husband and the two of us. It went off flawlessly and people loved it (they talked about our wedding for six months afterwards!) We wanted semi-formal but we made it very much ours with things like that, our cake wasn't the traditional white (I made wedding cakes for years and can't stand white cake because of it) I wrote our vows. We had a memorial candle for those that are dear to us but have passed on, I wrote a sand ceremony instead of doing a unity candle and we were introduced at the reception to J-Pop instead of traditional music.

The most important thing is to capture what is important to you and let the rest go even if it's something that you're 'supposed' to do. Make sure you take a few minutes to just step back and take it all in- this is your and your husband's day, take a minute to enjoy it.