My best wedding memory is my wedding in the back yard of the house I grew up in with Mike -- and doing the macarena. It was a blast. We just played music on the boom box, and danced in the yard, and it was hysterical.

The other funny memory I have of someone else's wedding is a couple we knew and the bride was at least twice the weight and height of the groom, and during their first dance, he dipped her -- you could hear the collective gasp as everyone thought for sure he'd drop her -- but he didn't. It was a close one... LOL

Sam

The same thing happened to me . . . my veil caught on fire when we were blowing out the unity candle. Another funny thing happened during my wedding ceremony which, in retrospect, should have given me a clue as to the fate of the marriage. After we were pronounced man and wife and we did the kiss, my new husband lowered the veil to cover my face again.

Our best man, who was from Texas, wanted to wear his cowboy boots with his tux. I told him no, and then the pastor showed up wearing cowboy boots and a green leisure suit. Next time a man of the cloth asks me if I want him to wear his robes, I'm saying yes.

I've been to quite a few weddings - it happens, when you have 19 first cousins [and that's only on one side of the family!] and all but 2 are older. Some, dragged on - a 3 hr wedding ceremony. But, I have been to some great weddings too. One was a college friend's - she had a huge wedding- nearly 500 people, but a lot of things worked out so it was actually pretty low budget. It was really fun and lighthearted. The groom actually walked down the aisle with his groomsmen - to a choreographed "dance." It was in a park, and the ring bearers rode in a little red wagon - a friend made a unique wedding cake just for the two of them - it was terrific. Another great one, was actually just a reception [long fun story there too] - but I was unexpectedly invited to one from a law school friend - a mutual friend and I had a terrific time. We danced the entire night, with his family - his aunts and grandmother were fabulous, and wild and crazy. They made [us] students looks dull and boring!

My wedding was largely uneventful.

However, a friend of my husband got totally and utterly wasted the night before his own wedding, and was still puking drunk at 1 p.m. on the big day. The bride was a total bride-zilla and had every detail planned, right down to not allowing any of the guests to walk down the center aisle because that was HER aisle on HER day, and NO ONE ELSE WAS USING IT. So the wedding begins, and the groom is this incredible shade of green, drifting back and forth on his feet like a tree in the wind. No more than ten minutes into the wedding he topples over, in slow motion. The best man, in none too good shape himself, barely catches him before he nosedives into his relatives' laps. The bride and her bridesmaids take off his coat and his bow tie, but the groom still can't recover, and spends five minutes swallowing visibly and sweating like a pig while sitting on the steps up to the altar. The minister finally gives in and does a quick "Do you?" "Yes" "Do you?" "Yes" "You're married". The whole thing took no more than 10 minutes. The groom did not throw up.

The expression on the bride's face as they walked down HER aisle as "man and wife": priceless. They are, however, still married, twelve years later.

I like when weddings are a bit different. Something other than dinner and dancing in a big hall. Does it have to be the same for every wedding?

My 3-year-old insists all a couple needs for a wedding is a ring. He announced after putting a happy face ring on my hand that we are married.

Last thing I told my soon to be husband the night before - be sure to get gas. So you know what's coming lol. He had just bought an english sports car the week before and part way to the church the car just stops. He and the best man in their tuxes push this car to a gas station. Gas attendant is saying he knows nothing about these kind of fancy cars. Luckily a smart mouthed little kids say, "got gas mister." duh. So half an hour late he walks into the front of the church and proceeds to tell his mother he ran out of gas in his "not inside voice" so as I finally start walking down the aisle, the whole church is laughing. Good thing I have a good sense of humor - we'll be married 39 years in june!

My best wedding memory was saying my vows in my own home, with all my family and friends present.

I don't know, Shirley...it was a weird time. We'd been engaged for just three days when I found out I was going overseas for three years. My mom planned our wedding in six weeks, and she did an amazing job. But the day of the rehearsal dinner, we had to drive out to Fort Devons to do our out-processing, get our official "red" passports, health screenings, etc. It all took much longer than we thought and then John, who was dressed in jeans and boots and a black tee-shirt, insisted he had to go home and change before he could go to the church rehearsal. The only problem--he lived more than an hour away. I couldn't talk him out of it, not even when I said he could borrow an outfit from my dad (who, I have to say, has a very nice wardrobe). So I got to the church, and both our families were there, along with the bridal party and the minister, but no groom... So we waited...and waited...and waited. I thought my dad was going to burst a blood vessel. He finally showed up, looking clean and showered and handsome, but I think everyone just wanted to kill him. Including me, LOL!

Those are quite some stories!! LOL - my wedding was pretty uneventful. But we did it our way - lots of laidback relaxing and visiting with friends and family. One of my favorite moments, though, was one where I wasn't even present! We have a mutual friend who is the reason that DH & I met. We couldn't decide who got to have D stand on their side of the wedding party, so we asked him to be the officiant. We both agreed that D would be in photos with both the guys and the girls. We did a bunch of those photos before the ceremony. After the bridesmaids had walked down the aisle, D kept telling soon-to-be DH "Move over, stand in front of me. Move over." Soon-to-be-DH thought it was odd...until D finally said. "Move over, you want to have the best view as she comes out."

Okay, so I can't quite explain it the way DH can, but it still gives me warm fuzzies to hear it. :-)

During the toasts later on, my Mom read the book "Your Personal Penguin". Not your usual toast, but so much fun! (LOL - meanwhile, I was surreptitiously helping the kids steal frosting off the cut pieces of cake, he he!)

I am usually pretty shy, so I was nervous about having to kiss in front of so many people. The longer the ceremony went on, the more nervous I got. I just remember wanting to hurry up and kiss so that I could quit being jittery about it. When it came down to the moment, I was so antsy that I just grabbed my husband by the back of the head and laid one on him. Everyone got the biggest kick out of it, because they did not expect that from me. They kept teasing about me being ready for the honeymoon. :)