On this grey afternoon, let’s talk about something fun! What parts of weddings do you enjoy most? From teary vows to funny dances, seven couples share the things they’ll never forget…
“Jabari and I fell in love while on vacation in San Francisco, so we decided to have a destination wedding there. My favorite part of the day was right before the wedding — we spent the afternoon, fully dressed in our wedding attire, walking around the city (even stopping for a burger at In-N-Out). Spending time doing normal things in San Francisco, then ending the day surrounded by friends and family, was really special. P.S. I was totally nervous about the ketchup!” — Ashley (and Jabari)
“Our wedding day was freezing cold, and it had just snowed, but we were determined to continue with our plans! We kept things simple — just us, a few friends and a judge, on top of a mountain in our Montana town. The ceremony was short, with vows written by us, and so many giggles and tears. Once the ‘I do’s’ were said, we sprinted to our car, heat blasting, to drink Champagne out of plastic glasses.” — Maria (and Andy)
“Our caterer created the most epic charcuterie and cheese spread, but we didn’t even see it until the cocktail hour was over. While everyone else went up to the tent, we had our own private cocktail party — Negroni for me, Old Fashioned for Rob, and the board all to ourselves. We just kept saying to each other, ‘We’re married!!!’ The moment was surreal and magical.” — Mollie (and Rob)
“We wrote vows that were alternating promises to one another — some funny, some serious. Anca promised to support my lifelong dream of forming a family band, and I promised to support her lifelong dream of being cast as the victim on Law & Order: SVU. There were a lot of laughs.” — Kayla (and Anca)
“We also had a series of dance-offs. I’m not sure who won. I think we all won?” — Kayla (and Anca)
“We were living in separate countries at the time of our marriage — me in New York, and Alex in London. (In fact, we’d always lived apart and didn’t even move in together until two months after the wedding! Long distance success story!) We had planned to go with our parents to City Hall in the morning, and then celebrate with 70 friends and relatives at dinner that night. But over half of the guests came to City Hall! We hadn’t expected that, and it was incredibly moving.” — Tracy (and Alex)
“That night, we hosted dinner and toasts with our loved ones. It was the most romantic day of my life. I couldn’t stop kissing Alex and smiling.” — Tracy (and Alex)
“My husband and I had been engaged for five months when he unexpectedly lost his job at a startup tech company. We struggled to make ends meet on my teacher’s salary, but got married in the thick of it, having a small wedding in Austin at the childhood home of my mother-in-law. When it came time for me to say ‘for better, for worse, richer or poorer,’ I lost it, because we were living that very thing, right then. It made me feel all the feels, and at first I hated those pictures of me crying, but now I treasure them.” — Katherine (and Sam)
“For our wedding, I wore a simple dress I bought on eBay for $300 and my mother-in-law’s friend from church arranged our flowers. But one thing we splurged on was hiring a jazz trio to play Abdullah Ibrahim’s songs during our ceremony. Ibrahim was our favorite jazz pianist, and we always went to his shows when we were dating. It was such a special and intimate moment to have our favorite song, ‘The Wedding‘ (it starts at 19:50), which was unknown to everyone except for us, playing as I walked down the aisle.” — Erin (and Abe)
What wedding moments have you loved being part of? If you’re married, what was your favorite moment of your big day?
P.S. Surprising wedding advice, and did you have sex on your wedding night?
(Top photo of Ashley and Jabari by Rebecca S. Gratz. Maria and Andy by Jenna Graham. Mollie and Rob photos by Mark Sperry. Kayla and Anca photos by Justin McCallum. Katherine and Sam photo by Michelle Galizia.)