I have found the more that is spent on the wedding, the shorter the marriage. There are some very famous weddings we've all heard about that cost thousands, which lasted only a few months or weeks!
When my husband and I got married in 1990, we spent a grand total of $658.00, which included the marriage license, engraved invitations, postage, wedding cake( had that made), food (we catered it ourselves), paper plates, glasses, cutlery, napkins, flowers (I went to the wholesale florist and bought flowers for the table, a spray of orchids for the bridal party to wear, roses for me, plus everything with which to assemble the bouquet and corsages and buttonieres for the groom and his best man, and my "best broad"), clothes and rings. We got married at our local bar. Actually outside, in front of a mural painted on the side of the building by an artist friend of ours. The owner was so tickled that we asked, that he gave us two cases of (very nice) champagne! We had a friend that was licensed to perfom weddings marry us. She was delighted that we asked, and we wrote our own vows. The photographer was the husband of my "best broad".
My fiance (now husband) found 2 beautiful velvet jackets for his best man and himself at a thrift store. They looked as if they had never been worn and were perfect fits for both of them! My dress came from a shop in the neighborhood. I had been lusting after it for quite a while; when I went to buy it it had been marked down from $99 to $35! Went to the fabric shop and bought a hat, and various bits of lace, ribbons, silk flowers and crystals. A friend of mine who is a costumer, assembled it for me. The lace designer shoes were marked down to $12.00,new from Bakers', and matched exactly the lace on the hat.
The diamond engagement ring is a beautiful antique,from 1897- just under 1/2 a carat, that I purchased from a local jeweler who was recommended to me by my orthopedic surgeon: he called him and told him to give us a good deal. As I am a jewelry designer, I purchased our wedding rings wholesale.
We invited 100 guests. Some of our friends also brought food for the occasion. We got married a little after noon; left around 2pm. As we lived and worked in the French Quarter, a buggy driver that we knew drove us away, with ribbons and flowers that he had decorated his carriage with, just for the occasion. We heard that the party lasted another 10 hours, and made the 6 o'clock news! A year after we got married, we were still receiving wedding pictures from tourists that happened to stop in. The bar owner said that was the biggest ring-out he had ever had.
We have been very happily married now for over twenty years.
Love, Laughter. Happy Ever After,
Anne the Beadbear
http://www.beadbear.com
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Hi Anne! I love this description of your wedding. My husband and I got married in 1978 and we basically had the same type of wedding. It cost very little, we got married in Sweden in the church that I was confirmed in, my sister got married in and my dad is buried in. We had our wedding reception at home with our closest friends and it didn't cost much at all and we're still very happily married (I bought my anniversary necklace from you). I think this kind of wedding is more romantic than one of those big deals. However, I don't begrudge people who want that "big deal", we have just been so happy and have so many great memories from our simple wedding and the year we spent in Sweden after that.
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