The last wedding you attended

Lasairiona

What 3 things did you love and what 3 things did you hate?

mbcdefg

Loved:

* food
* drinks
* photobooth

Disliked:

* large gap and long drive between ceremony and reception
* DJ was so loud and obnoxious that I couldn't hear myself think, let alone talk to FI sitting right next to me
* hotel room (on-site) wasn't comfy and was expensive ... wish I'd booked an off-site hotel

anna.oskar

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_last-wedding-attended?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:a351050d-0279-47c0-aab2-cbd7ca5961f5Post:aa9b6173-b9ea-409a-8ff4-76caad5fe9bf">The last wedding you attended</a>:
[QUOTE]What 3 things did you love and what 3 things did you hate?
Posted by Lasairiona[/QUOTE]

loved
<ul><li>the cake</li><li>the food</li><li>the band</li></ul>
hated
<ul><li>nothing.  </li><li>It was my wedding</li><li>I might be a touch biased</li></ul>

fallbride1109

The last one was my own and I loved everything.  There really wasn't anything I didn't like, except the dance floor was too small.

The last one I attended as a guest:

Loved:
*the food
*the band
*the cake (best wedding cake I've ever had, even better than my own)

Disliked:
*the waiting between courses (plated meal)

*our table--was at the very back of the room and we couldn't see or hear anything.  Wedding was probably 300 people.

*the favors--they probably cost a fortune and to me it seemed like a waste.

AdeleDazeem

Loved:
 - the people!
 - the open bar
 - the many old pictures of family members

Hated:
 - the gap between ceremony and reception
 - the tulle... a giant roll of tulle had thrown up for the reception decorations
 - the overuse of the color pink
 - the Thursday rehersal dinner for a Saturday wedding (AGH!)
 - the general stress of key players over things that were. not. worth. it.

aerinpegadrak

Loved:
- open bar
- plenty of food
- fabulous coordinator who kept the day stress-free

Hated:
- long ceremony
- got dragged up for bouquet toss
- The wedding was kind of generic; it was very pretty, but the couple have very distinctive and quirky personalities that were completely absent.  It could have been anyone's wedding, it wasn't really theirs.

megk8oz

Loved:

* The reception was a very good reflection of the couple's personalities between the food and the decorations
*I got to sit at the head table with my FI, even though I wasn't in the WP and he was
*They didn't do a Dollar Dance and didn't charge for the bar (It wasn't a full bar, but dammit, I didn't need to open my wallet)


Disliked:

*It was a firehouse wedding where the hired a catering company-that wasn't the problem, the problem was the catering company didn't actually employ people that did more than make sure the warming trays didn't catch fire, so the GMs (Including FI) actually wound up "working" at the wedding to make sure people had food and drinks

*The ceremony started by the groom getting "dragged" down the aisle while his father yelled "You're gonna make an honest woman out of her whether you like it or not" (Yes, it was a joke ... not too many people were amused).

*They gave away the champagne flute w/their name and the date engraved on it as a favor. Making it the 4th set that FI and I have received in the past 2 years. I loathe this favor.

shainarae714

Loved:

-Individual cakes on each table
-the people at my table
-late night pizza buffet

Hated:

-the DJ, he was just awful
-cash bar (even soda), only because there was no on-site ATM and you couldn't open a tab on a debt/credit card
-smoking allowed in bar area

Pearls03

Loved:
The candy buffet, the beautiful decorations, and the being with wonderful friends.
Disliked: the wedding ceremony and reception locations were just too warm--the ceremony was outside so it couldn't have been helped that day but the doors to the reception location should have been closed. The MC didn't direct things well. The bride didn't smile during the ceremony.  I think she must have been too stressed cause she was smiling later--but I want to see a bride smiling and enjoying herself!  It's supposed to be the happiest day of her life and honestly I had to think to recall the things that went wrong.  It was a lovely day.

jenn.daniel

Loved:
pasta bar
dancing
cake

Hated:
until the last hour of the reception, the music as all pretty much the same beachy music
reception site didn't flow well and the halls where the stations were were kind of narrow
BM dresses b/c they didn't fit the girls well

enlightenedkarma

Loved:

*Catching up with old friends
*The reception decor
*Seeing my friend, who was divorced and trying again like me, take the plunge again.

Not-so-much:

*The photographer
*The missing staff
*The food

Most of my dislikes were mainly FOR my friend. She and I both got married right out of high school, and they didn't last. We were both independent women and were a little gun shy getting married a second time, so since she made it before me, she talked to me often about her feelings which mirrored my feelings about getting re-married. I had to drive 4 hours to be there, and was needed back the next morning. After the ceremony, the photographer took them for 2 HOURS. I didn't even get to say goodbye. There was no staff to be found at her site either. Just a bunch of people sitting at the reception, waiting for...what? They set up the food and told everyone to wait. So the caterers just stood there looking at us.

Otherwise, she did all the decorating herself, and it was simple yet beautiful. They had a wonderful experience in the end, so even though I didn't get to say goodbye, I was so incredibly happy for her.

aerinpegadrak

Out of curiosity, I asked FI what he remembered about the last wedding he attended before we started planning our own.  It was his brother's a few years ago.  He remembers that there was a freak snowstorm and it had to get moved inside, that his brother was miserably sick, that there was an open bar and good food, and that he had fun.  Other than that, he doesn't remember a thing.

SuMmErKuTiE

Loved:

~the dancing
~that the BP sat with their SO's and friends and not at a head table. We all had a ton of fun being together
~open bar

Hated:

~Sit down dinner, so we were all starving because there wasn't enough food.
~Huge gap inbetween the ceremony and reception. FI and I went home to kill time inbetween, but what if we had been OOT guests? That would have sucked even worse!
~No personalization. Like a pp mentioned, it could have been anyone's wedding because it was generic and they didn't put in any extra effort.

lifequestion

Loved:

- The location (Beautiful garden on the highest point in Florida)
- The friendly squirrel that I hung out with as we waited for the ceremony to start.
- I am really grasping at straws here.....

Hated:

- The trek. I had to walk seriously what seemed like two miles uphill. In heels. In gravel.
- The HEAT. Florida wedding, outside, in JULY!?! I've lived here for 14 years. There's no getting used to the heat.
- The two-second ceremony after keeping us outside for an hour waiting. There were all sorts of ants, too, so you couldn't even let your feet touch the ground.
- The trek back to the "reception" which was a maybe 200 square foot room filled with plain, uncovered foldaway tables. Canned soft drinks, cheese, and club sandwiches were served. The reception room was not even air conditioned. The cake was something you buy from a box in the baking aisle at the grocery store, plainly iced with chocolate icing. They didn't even bother to decorate it.

It really seemd like they didn't put any effort into the thing at all. It was astounding. I understand working on a budget, as I am as well, but there are ways to make it decent and less like a school field trip for very cheap. Come on, plastic table cloths? A CD player for music? At least??

The more I think about it, the more I realize what a nightmare of a wedding that was. The bride and groom (FH's cousin) truly appeared to be getting married only because they accidentally had a baby together. Heartbreaking.

janedoe1113a

Loved:
1. Food.  They had a heavy apps buffet from Applebees and it was delicious!
2. Bar.  It was only beer and wine, but it was better than nothing.
3. Location.  It was a pretty venue with floor to ceiling windows.

Hated:
1. No music.  I love dancing at weddings and they only used an iPod.
2. Open seating.  I hate not being told where to sit.  And this was a small wedding where I knew almost everyone and I still felt awkard.
3. Bride and groom barely said hello to us.

It was a pretty dreadful wedding.  Actually, it wasn't a wedding at all.  They threw a reception here after they had the real wedding and reception a few hours away.  Almost everyone was invited to the real wedding that was at the reception here, except for me and my FI.