Is anybody here not having a night do for their wedding

greenmoneysaver_2

I think not having a night do is fab.

One of my fave weddings had "carriages at 8pm" on the invite!

Civil ceremony at 3pm then vintage buses to champagne and canapies reception with 1 speech by Best man and 1 by the Groom!

It meant we could have drinks and dinner with old friends we hadn't seen for a while after the event, and those that had far to travel could get home at a reasonable hour!

Must have been fairly MSE and was short, sweet and enjoyable.

I hate the current trend for ceremonies at 12, "wedding only" venues where you can't buy food and then loads to drink and then a dinner at 6pm with nothing but light nibbles for around 5 hours. No wonder everyone is sozzled when then don't mean to be at weddings!
Sorry rant over - we are now organised in bringing a packed lunch and tea with us, and are thinking of setting up a service for others - we have been offered so much money for our food at various weddings!

svjenni

hey please excuse me for being a bit psyco (not engaged yet) but this thread caught my eye and this way of doing things sounds great, especially for small weddings.

my only question is what about your first dance? Are you gonna have one? Or just stick on a cd player after the meal?

I don't think me and the bf have any major ideas of how a wedding should be, but for me, i'd think i'd miss it.

JoeyEmma

I am not that bothered about a first dance. I find it all embarrassing and would hate to have everybody sit and stare at us. DF feels the same too.

When our parents got married, they nearly always had a day do, tossed the bouquet, got into the car and drove away into the sunset.

I don't see the point in an evening do, esp when you have to put on a buffet and pay to feed everybody twice. I'd rather just have one small amazing meal.

Oh, and when I say small, I mean about 90 people, which considering all other weddings we have been to lately have been at least 200, it is small!

squibbs25

We also never had an evening do, got married at 12 (registary office) then off for our buffet at the Fishermans club we'd hired til 6pm. Guests could stay later on if they wished but as we'd hired the main room the clubs members were then allowed in from 6.30pm. (to give us time to clear up)
Worked out very well for us, we had a fab day and then had the evening to our selves to reflect on the day and do the important bit.......... open the pressie's .

We only had a small (i class it as 'intimate') wedding with only immediate family present, which was exactly what we wanted but i know both sets of parents were upset as they wanted more family (aunts, uncles, cousins etc) to be included.

archie9uk

We got married in a registry office at 10am - just us and ten guests (family and best friends only). We then had coffee and cake before walking to the restaurant for lunch (about ten minutes away). We stopped in a park on the way for photos, and the lunch was at about 1:30pm. We were all done by about 4:30pm, when hubby and I went off to our hotel.

It was perfect for us, as we got to spend the whole day together. Neither of us feel comfortable in large groups, and to be honest we don't know enough people to have a big wedding. My husband didn't make a speech nor did we have a first dance. The whole day only cost £1500, and we paid for everything ourselves.

Kynthia

My uncles had a civil partnership without an evening do which was lovely!

It was a 10am ceremony at a very pretty registry office with photos in the stunning gardens. Then back to theirs for a champagne buffet lunch. There was a speech or two but no dancing. It was nice to speak to close friends and family. Everyone left about 6pm.

It was such a lovely, personal and understated event that it really made me reconsider the standard wedding day scenario.

svjenni

ok, so I got my proposal and we are now having a more normal sized wedding with an evening do.

The reason is that my fiance (who can't dance) asked me what song we would have - meaning that it is part of his wedding dream too. I'm relived cos i think i would have missed all the dancing

BUT

Its your day and if you don't want a night do, don't have one, I changed my mind because it is right for us

musicals

No, much more classy, no one getting drunk, no indiscretions, no fights...
And you can hire someone to provide some very classy music during the ceremony and lunch. Great idea!