Likes and Dislikes from past weddings

I cant stand it when people have like and hr long ceremony because they put in like 4 readings and play 5 songs! They just get toooo long!!!

I love when the guests get the new married couple to kiss my clinking there glasses but i saw a variation where everyone had to snap because they were not using real glasses it was sooooo cute cause even the kids could join in!

I went to a wedding once where the staff made the guests wait until exactly the time of the cocktail hour started to be escorted into the ballroom... then it took the Bridal Party almost an hour AFTER they were expected to enter to actually arrive... it was a late reception so by the time they finally got into the reception everyone was famished not to mention extremely bored from waiting for so long. (cocktails had been cleaned up for almost an hour already).

I love watching the bride and groom dancing to their first song as husband and wife i feel it is an explainable moment for two people that i believe you should be honored to witness...

I also like watching the bride dancing and having a good time with her friends... there is nothing better than a happy bride on her wedding day!!! Also love love love the toasts... although I suggest keeping them to a minimum!!!

Our ceremony took about 30 minutes and at the reception close friends of ours were making joking remarks on thanking us for the not so long ceremony. I knew they were serious about appreciating the ceremony being short and no offense was taken here because I felt the same way being in the wedding and attending others. Our ceremony was beautiful and all the bases were still covered.

Here are the most repeated favorite/most important things at the weddings people have been to on the knot boards:

Food (EVERYONE said this one)

Open Bar

Good DJ

Short time/drive between ceremony and reception (also mentioned by almost everyone)

Venue in general

Happy bride and groom

Short ceremony

Here are the things almost everyone complained most about, and therefore we should all probably avoid!:

LONG ceremony

Long drive or wait between ceremony and reception

Long speeches, or too many

Too many spotlight dances taking up so much time

Obnoxious/loud DJ that make everyone do stupid games ALL night

Too large centerpieces or too much stuff on tables, making them crowded

there were more likes and dislikes but I jsut listed the ones that it seemed almost EVERYONE said so I guess they are the most valid.....feel free to add more! I think this is very helpful

The clinking of the glasses I actually find annoying, because people in my family/friends, thats ALL they do through out the reception, The newlyweds would like to eat and talk and drink too you know!! To not have this problem, my cousin did a treasure hunt of sort, There was a list of things on each table (duct tape, anything with Edmonton Oilers logo, crayons, some of their favorite things, etc.) And if a guest presented one of these items off the list, The bride and groom would then kiss. Save the annoying clanking, the glasses from breaking AND you lips!! Other weddings I went too, they had a sing a song, read a poem, or answer a question about the newly weds...Way funner I say! ANyone have any other ideas for the kissing??

PROS:

+Short ceremony (ours is gonna be 20 min!)

+RUSSIAN FAMILY STYLE FOOD-----LOTS OF IT!! (my fiance's family/friends are Eastern European--we are doing this)

+Calm, professional, non-cheesy DJ

CONS:

-DJ who plays Kenny G for 2 hrs and smokes outside (my sisters wedding)

-Horrible photographer (I am avoiding this mistake by going with photojournalistic style photographer)

-Bad food

-Tacky venue that is shared with another wedding with drunk wedding guests

-Venue that was too small/crowded

As for an alternative to clinking glasses:

At Russian weddings, the guests yell "GORKA GORKA GORKA!" (BITTER, BITTER, BITTER!) and the bride and groom are to then start making out to "bring sweetness". I think this is too much fun and I know they'll do this at our wedding

For some cultures this is customary so I apologize in advance but I'm sorry.....I think the dollar dance is the tackiest thing I have ever seen.

I agree with all of the pros and cons listed above. But most of all, I love the send-off. . .especially if it's clever or fun! I had a blast waving sparklers as we saw the bride and groom off at the last wedding I attended. It's the perfect way to end the night!

Also, I can't stand the wait between the ceremony and reception. I told my photographer only to snap a few posed pics right there so we don't keep our guests waiting.

This was fun to read--great stuff to keep in mind for my wedding!

Dislikes:

- Long break btn ceremony and reception

- Having to drive to different location for reception, esp. in unfamiliar areas

- Music so loud you can't talk to anyone

- Centerpieces that are so large that you can't see the person across from you

- Looooooong ceremonies or speeches at the reception

- The chicken dance!

Likes:

- Ceremony & reception in same location

- Location easy to find and good parking

- Pictures are taken before ceremony so that there isn't a long wait before reception

- Being able to mingle and talk to people, including the bride and groom

- Good cake :-)

Most of the other stuff doesn't matter too much to me. I like good food, but it's not a big deal. Don't care one way or the other about alcohol. I can go with the flow on a lot of things.

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you all. I write ceremonies. I keep them to 15 to 20 minutes. I get the occasional bride who wants to include everything she ever saw at a wedding that she liked and wants to go on and on about how much in love she is. I have to convince her that she can tell him all this on their honeymoon and the ceremony is not the place to do it. Your guests know that you are in love. They want to get to the food and drinks part. I write beautiful ceremonies that cover all the bases and wish they would take my advice from years of experience.