Neither of my kids (who grew up very active Sunday school and youth groups etc) married in a church. For my sister (who only only did a bit of church stuff in one of their towns), two of her three kids were married in a church. And of course all five events were lovely, each in their own way. Weddings are such a happy thing 
6 Likes
Many desire outdoor weddings.
As one has said, many are not having church weddings. However DD did have hers in the Cathedral where she attended, and there was a wedding coordinator (her reception was also at the large enough church hall facility). But the reception details (caterer, set up/décor, clean up) were either with a paid coordinator or DIY.
I heard a detail recently about how drastically church weddings have dropped. Very big growth of ânonesâ - no claim to a denomination, or are nonpracticing in the faith they were raised in. Sometimes couples think more about faith when they have a child and want the child to have a faith base (or for example being Baptized for those that have infant baptism).
2 Likes
Not only did my D marry in a church, but because the venue was 45 minutes from the church she grew up in, our minister arranged to use a church across the street from the venue. It was a beautiful old church in downtown Detroit. The only glitch would have been if the Tigers had a home game on the wedding day ⊠in that case, we would have had to move the ceremony to another church a couple miles up the road because the church makes money from parking on game days (fortunately, the baseball gods were good to us). D never considered NOT being married in a church, to be honest. It wasnât from a sense of obligation, just something she wanted to do. D sang in church for many years (choir & solos), and the music director she grew up with - who was very important to D - played organ for her wedding. It was really special.
D has had a few friends marry in a church. Most did not, though.
5 Likes
Our neighborâs Lutheran pastor traveled 5 hours to officiate their sonâs wedding at the college chapel. That location worked out best geographically for the brideâs family and worked out for all.
3 Likes
DDs are every-week churchgoers, as are we, so a church wedding is important and expected. DDâ17 is using her current church and Pastor. She wanted our home Pastor to be a part, but his health isnât the greatest and our church 150th anniversary is the following week so we dared not tire him out.
DDâ19 will be more of a question mark as Iâm certain she will be moved away from her current city and church by then but I donât know that they will be settled in a new place before the arrangements need to be made. So we (and especially DH) are hoping for our home church. We donât have any super special reception venues nearby though.
3 Likes
We had two planters planted and grown by our CSA farmerâŠfor quite the song. I think they might have been $40 for both. They were supposed to be at the sides of the end of the aisle but it rainedâŠso they were placed at the bottom of the staircase where the ceremony took place. This all happened Memorial Day weekend, and we had them on our front steps the rest of the summer. We still use the square planter pots even now!
9 Likes
S1 told me today that he and SO intend to get engaged this summer, and have been trying to think of where they might be married that would be convenient âfor anyoneâ. They live 600 miles from her hometown, 800+ from us (which is where they met and went to school) and 1000+ from her grandmother/aunts. I told him wherever they ultimately decide, we will come. He is worried that we will mind that it wonât be in a church (nope) and that we will mind that S2 will not likely be the best man (S2 has already said thatâsfine, but itâs harder for me to get there).
Back to Etsy!
7 Likes
I did this for D2âs engagement party at a private dining room. She is considering something similar for the wedding, but maybe with less colors.
10 Likes
Our daughter and her husband wanted a church wedding (they both grew up attending regularly, although neither has done so in grad school). The priest at the church (that hosted the campus ministry, no less) was so unwelcoming that they wound up marrying in a garden instead. And churches wonder why the pews are full of grey haired folks!
Our daughter (age 27) grew up in the Presbyterian church. She wasnât interested in church at all during college but when she moved to Philly for grad school she and her fiance (now husband) started attending a Presbyterian church there and she became a deacon. When they started wedding planning they insisted that the wedding be at the church, which in turn drove the selection of the reception venue because we wanted it to be close by the church. It also drove decisions about time of day and time of year because the sanctuary doesnât have air conditioning and church policy requires wedding photographers to use only existing lighting during the ceremony.
The church staff really went above and beyond because they were so excited that âone of our deaconsâ was getting married. The head deacon was a retired event planner and he hovered around consulting with our planner and the churchâs wedding coordinator and personally decided the wedding dress looked too wrinkled and he would take over steaming it. Then he decided the steamer wasnât getting the job done and after consulting with the bride (who made the dress) he brought out an ironing board and iron and very carefully ironed the skirt and train!
11 Likes
wow, it turned out fantastic! Congrats.
2 Likes
Beautiful! What a nice story.
4 Likes
With DD home for Thanksgiving, we went to the bridal salon yesterday to order her veil. She went to the appointment thinking she would get plain tulle, but ended up choosing one by the same designer as her dress. Cathedral length with some beautiful lace work around the bottom. I was very surprised that she wanted a blusher. She chose a long one that will fall over her bouquet. To be completely honest, Iâve been a little surprised (but not at all unhappy!) by how old-school traditional they are going. They are not doing first look photos so fiance will first see her coming down the aisle.
Even though Iâm a complete traditionalist, I didnât have a blusher back in the 80s and donât remember seeing them on my friends. I asked the wedding dress consultant who lifts the blusher and she said the groom. I was thinking it might be Dad. Something I will have to learn about.
I didnât know bridal salons ran Black Friday promotions, but they said if we paid for the order in full before Saturday weâd get 25% off. Finally something for this wedding is discounted instead of marked up - woo hoo!! This probably belongs on the tipping thread, but when we received the invoice to pay through DDâs bridal salon portal, it asked if weâd like to leave a tip for the salon staff. What the heck??
12 Likes
I had a blusher ('81). As I posted upthread:
DH lifted it and saw my dress for first time as I came down the aisle (as we all did back then).
4 Likes
I had a blusher on a hot August day and I felt like a beekeeper â but I so wanted the moment. I wanted a huge long veil too but it made zero sense with the dress so the veil was same as the chapel train.
Are gloves coming back? I had gloves, too!
3 Likes
no more gift links this month, sorry!
1 Like
@aquapt any chance you have a guest link to this one?
3 Likes
Adding our other daughter to the currently engaged set! Now planning two weddings, fortunately likely to be one year apart- June 2024 and June 2025!
11 Likes
Anyone have a family holiday wedding (Christmas/New Years 2023/start of 24)???