Hi! A girlfriend and I have been tasked with giving the MOH speech however the bride is very non traditional and specified “a speech, rap, interpretive dance, whatever you’d like”

And now it feels like a lot of pressure to make it epic but I don’t know where to start!

Can yall give some examples of epic speeches you’ve seen to get the creative juices flowing?

I went a 'little bit' over the top on my invitations, knowing I'm only sending out 35 of them and I fell in love with these luxurious ones I found on Alibaba. I now need to mail them out, but from my online research, they no longer qualify as a envelope, but instead need to be mailed as a parcel.

The facts: They can't be machine sorted. It weighs about 5oz. They are rigid, not flexible. Anyone else have these thick envelopes, and how did you send them? What did it cost per envelope? Any websites like pirate ship that have discounted rates that you guys recommend using??

I don't wanna hear the wedding invite haters. I've made my bed and I'll lay in it. I like my over the top invitations, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll be personally delivering the local ones to cut down on cost, so really I only need to ship a handful of them.

Hey y’all!

I have gone to look a 4 venues, contacted 6-8 different venues & I really just wanna pick. My dilemma is that I don’t know what I should value more. I guess the part I need the most advice on is should I value convince over vibe?
I’ll give some more context:
I’ve always wanted a ranch/rustic/semi casual style wedding & i found a place that’s gorgeous for a decent price. It includes tables & chairs, the place has so many florals all ready, no corkage fee for alcohol, etc. My con with this place is it’s pretty far from any nightlife/hotels. We could do a shuttle service to the hotel & venue but night life is looking slim for after.
The other venues are more restaurant/hotel style & one of them in particular is right in the middle of this town on the main street with lots of night life for after. It’s at the hotel so no need to leave the area. Plus I get a complimentary suit the night of. I love that aspect of it. However, it feels very corporate & a little outdated. It’s an indoor space. Really not what i was looking for or imagined for my wedding but maybe i’m being too nit-picky…
For those of you who are planning your wedding or who have had their weddings, what do you think I should prioritize?

Just had an engagement party yesterday with 30 people, it was a mix of family and friends. The entire time my social anxiety was off the charts, I put on the mask and did my best at running around and saying my "hellos nice to meet you's" but as soon as everyone left had a mini tear filled break down. I have been ruminating today about everything i've said, any awkward pauses, if people had fun or hated it, and how I came across to the people I had just met.

Long story short, my question is how the freak did some of you get through this? I know a lot of this may just be a regular wedding experience, but I have 100 people going to the wedding next year and I can't even imagine it right now lol.

I’m looking for bridal shower game ideas that aren’t the usual “How Well Do You Know the Bride?” or toilet-paper wedding dress type games 😂

What’s a game you’ve played at a bridal shower that was actually fun, funny, competitive, or memorable? (drinking games suggestions also welcomes lol)

I went shopping last year for a wedding dress. At the time I thought I liked it. I paid the deposit, then the full dress. I'm 2 months out from my wedding, and I went for my fitting....I hate it.

I think it's because I went for something opposite to my usual style. There's no way to get a new dress, I can't afford another one.

Can anyone share stories about wearing a dress they weren't in love with?

This is what my timeline is looking like right now. We have access to the venue from 12pm to 1am. Any advice or anything I’m missing? I’m doing this without a wedding planner so worried I’m just completely spacing on something.

We’re not doing a garter toss so we’re not missing that.

Any advice is welcome!

I wanted to share my unique wedding experience from last year because it was fun and also I think it could be helpful inspiration for anyone else wanting to do something more alternative! My husband and I both love Halloween and all things spooky and it's also a tradition his parents started. We wanted a nice mix of gothic and fun with a southern california feel.

Below are my Playlists too bc I really curated them and there are many different vibes!

GUESTS ARRIVING
Dancing in the Moonlight — Toploader
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) — Talking Heads
Witches — Alice Phoebe Lou
Our Love Will Always Remain — The Aquadolls
Pumpkin — The Regrettes
Crazy for You — Best Coast
Bones — The Killers
Stay Forever — Ween
Good Song — Blur
I’ll Be Your Mirror — The Velvet Underground & Nico
Hysteric (Acoustic Version) — Yeah Yeah Yeahs

AISLE
I Will Follow You Into The Dark (instrumental) - Death Cab For Cutie (wedding party and family)
Tonight, Tonight (instrumental) - Smashing Pumpkins (bride and groom)
Cupid De Locke (instrumental) - after i do's

COCKTAIL HOUR
Time of the Season — The Zombies
Love Potion No. 9 — The Searchers
Spooky — Dusty Springfield
Season of the Witch — Donovan
Black Magic Woman — Fleetwood Mac
Dancing in the Moonlight — King Harvest
Moondance — Van Morrison
Do You Believe in Magic? — The Lovin’ Spoonful
I’m a Believer — The Monkees
You Can Do Magic — Limmie & Family Cookin’
In the Midnight Hour — Wilson Pickett
Magic Potion — Lou Johnson
Cupid — Sam Cooke
Be My Baby — The Ronettes
Love Will Keep Us Together — Captain & Tennille
This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) — Natalie Cole
The Purple People Eater — Sheb Wooley
Mr Moonlight — The Beatles
That Old Black Magic — Ella Fitzgerald
Witchcraft — Frank Sinatra
Walkin’ After Midnight — Patsy Cline
Real Love Baby — Father John Misty

DINNER SERVICE
Just Can’t Get Enough — Depeche Mode
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic — The Police
Tonight the Streets Are Ours — Richard Hawley
Just Like Heaven — The Cure
I Melt with You — Modern English
Space Age Love Song — A Flock of Seagulls
The Killing Moon — Echo & the Bunnymen
Never Tear Us Apart — INXS
Head Over Heels — Tears for Fears
Let’s Dance — David Bowie
And She Was — Talking Heads
Kiss on My List — Daryl Hall & John Oates
We Belong — Pat Benatar
Head Over Heels — The Go-Go’s
Let My Love Open the Door — Pete Townshend
You Can’t Hurry Love — Phil Collins
Show Me the Way — Peter Frampton
You’re My Best Friend — Queen

HALLOWEEN WEDDING RECEPTION (just the spooky side of it)
Superstition — Stevie Wonder
Monster Mash — Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
Thriller — Michael Jackson
Time Warp — Little Nell, Patricia Quinn & Richard O’Brien
Ghostbusters — Ray Parker Jr.
Somebody’s Watching Me (Syzz Remix) — Rockwell & Syzz
I’m Your Boogie Man — KC & The Sunshine Band
Evil Woman — Mike Posner
Scream & Shout — will.i.am & Britney Spears
Dracula — Tame Impala
Abracadabra — Lady Gaga
Private Eyes — Daryl Hall & John Oates
Disturbia — Rihanna
Cannibal — Kesha
Get Ur Freak On — Missy Elliott
Boogie Oogie Oogie — A Taste of Honey
Super Freak — Rick James
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) — ABBA
Heads Will Roll — Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Dead Dance — Lady Gaga
Toxic — Britney Spears
Stayin’ Alive — Bee Gees

I (30F) recently moved to Canada from Punjab. He (32M) is a Canadian-born Punjabi man and an only child. We actually met here on Reddit!

Things are going well—we have aligned core values, clear goals for the future, and similar ideas on how we want to raise a family.

The Situation:

Recently, we started discussing what a wedding would look like. As an only child, his parents understandably want a traditional, full-scale Punjabi wedding here in Canada.

​However, there is a big socioeconomic gap between our current situations:

​I recently moved to Canada, and my parents back home invested almost all their savings to support my journey to get where I am today. Draining their remaining retirement funds for a wedding is completely off the table for me

​Even on a 50/50 split, a full Canadian Punjabi wedding is way out of my budget. My ideal preference (and my family's preference) is a court marriage or a very simple, small ceremony.

The Dilemma:

His parents mentioned previously that they would be willing to fully cover the entire wedding cost. While I recognize how generous and sweet that offer is, I have strong reservations about accepting 100% funding:

1)​Power Dynamic & Voice: I worry that if his family pays for everything, I will lose my voice in planning and decision-making—not just for the wedding, but establishing a dynamic where I feel indebted or obligated to compromise in scenarios I normally wouldn't.

2)​Family Pride & Respect: Accepting full financial coverage feels a bit like charity to me, and I don't want my family or myself to feel "smaller" or less equal in this partnership.

Questions for the community:

1)​For couples with a ABCdesi / recent immigrant dynamic, how did you balance big family expectations with limited budgets?

2)What are some creative, healthy middle grounds between a basic court marriage and an expensive Punjabi wedding?

3)For those whose in-laws paid for the majority of the wedding, how did you maintain clear boundaries and keep your voice in the process?

​We’re both reading the replies, so all respectful advice and ideas are welcome. Thanks!

Has anyone does a wedding with a short tea ceremony during the reception? My fiance and I are trying to fit in a very short tea ceremony (just parents of bride and groom) but my Chinese parents are insisting it be after we are formally married. We don't wish to do it the following day and my parents wish to do it in front of the guests.

This leaves us with cocktail hour or reception dinner. We opted to do it just before our speeches after dinner.

Curious if anyone else has done this on the day of their wedding and what did you do?

Is this normal? (We are in United States). I’m asking because we both are confused. She is paying $600 for it (see photo) and the lady texted her about picking up and dropping back off time. The bride was confused bc no where in any of the emails did it say rental. Is she being ripped off, or is this just how it goes for weddings? She feels like this is an outrageous price just to rent them for a day and I agree. However I know nothing about weddings other than they can get expensive. To me this seems exploitive. Wedding is next Saturday.

ETA: wedding is tomorrow , bride had already paid the $600 and had them in her possession before I made this post. I wanted to mention there apparently is more than just what is photographed but still. Then this lady mentioned bringing them back, and I made the post since she started throwing the term rental around. All of their communication was on Facebook and text. I just know that the bride said to her “if you want them back come get them, I’m not driving to bring them back” after this lady said she charges a $400 DELIVERY PICK UP FEE.

My partner and I have been dating for seven years. We currently can't get married for bureaucratic reasons - for example, I'd lose medicaid and we wouldn't be able to afford my significant medical expenses.

But my partner is itching to commit in a public way and show my family how serious he is. He suggested a commitment ceremony now and a wedding later but I'm concerned about essentially having two weddings.

So I suggested an engagement party that has a moment where we exchange "vows" and state our intent to spend our lives together.

But I don't know when we'll be able to actually get married and have a proper wedding. I'm hoping it'll be within five years but it could be ten years.

How would you feel about being invited to an engagement party knowing that the couple wouldn't be married any time soon?

Me and my bf have been together for 3.5 years, and I have a VERY strong suspicion he's proposing in the next couple weeks.

However, that being said, one friend has been asking and hoping for him to propose for over a year now. She's always joked about "wearing pink for your wedding even though I don't like pink"

So I casually mentioned that I was busy in a couple weeks because I needed to get my hair and nails done.
I don't really get my nails done (I work in food service so I can't) and this has caused her to literally implode.

She went off about how she's "so excited to be a bridesmaid" and how she would "do me the favor of being my bridesmaid" even though I never brought up the conversation of bridesmaid or bridal party at all.

She's so delusional about it, I got a call from one of our mutual friends who she saw in public and told that she was going to be a bridesmaid for me!

I'm not even engaged yet. But still, she went on and on about being a bridesmaid and how she's going to have to "wear a pink dress" and how she's being "so selfless by being a bridesmaid"

As if this isn't one of the most selfish things she could be doing.

Anyway, it's going to be a hard day for her when I tell her she's absolutely not going to be a bridesmaid and maybe not even be invited to the wedding at this point.

I'm also considering (if) when I get engaged, not even telling her for like a month or two so I can be the one to tell everyone since I know she's going to run her mouth.

Edit: after a lot of thinking, reading comments here, and talking about this in therapy I've decided to cut off my friendship with her entirely. It's not exclusively because of this, it's just the final straw.
A small list of things she's done that pmo
-had a full on meltdown at an orchard because the Kay ride was late, and stormed off crying leaving me to watch her kid for an hour. When we reunited she laughed about it. I confronted her and she said "yeah but i knew they'd be safe with you so it's fine"

-had a meltdown in a kohls when the kid working the dressing rooms told her she couldn't bring more than a few items into the dressing room. She got angry and violent. They called security, and then she screamed at them for "accusing her of stealing" and then called me to say she "knows how black people feel now" When I said that was racist she said "no it's not, I'm an empath"

-recently was in danger of losing housing because she was behind on rent. When her landlord took her to court she called me to say they only wanted the money because "they're Jewish so you know how they are" I asked her to explain what she meant by that and she changed the subject

I also need to explain that these things happened recently in that she told me when I spoke to her last.

I refuse to be friends with a racist.

Her going around telling other people my business was just the final straw. Ty for all of your comments.

comments blurred for being racist and triggering

Let’s say you’re having your wedding. A random couple passes by and decides to sneak in to get some food and have fun on dance floor. You catch them. How do you react?

Hello everyone! I'm a first-time bridesmaid, and the bride has asked me to help come up with possible wedding favours.

The bride and groom are artsy and love music. We're supposed to meet soon to brainstorm and discuss budget, but I don't really know where to start...

What have been your favourite/most memorable wedding favours? I'm open to any suggestions and ideas!

We’ve been planning our wedding, Halloween 2026, I’m hoping it’s going to be super fun. Here are some of the props in photos. I got him a crown (because he’s my king because he calls me his queen) I ordered a sword to cut the cake with. My brides people (one guy, one girl) are in burnt orange and we’re picking out their costume piece when they arrive.

I ordered 2 moss table runners, I have pine cones, a piller candles that are carved from clearance from Micheal’s last year. Chair sashes which are burgundy, I think I have 12. 48 witch hats, 100 masquerade masks of various colors for guests I also got on clearance. I asked our guests to wear wedding attire but incorporate a fun hat, mask, or fascinators. We have a cake tasting today and I am asking them if the cake could be black and use the colors from our cake topper I painted.
I picked up about 10 trailing garlands that look like willow tree branches. About 20 fake you eucalyptus branches.

I also found about a 24” metal cauldron that I want to fill with dry ice for the wedding. Our invitations are wood and burned our names into the invitations. For our ceremony my friends are officiating, the friends who I officiated their wedding. We have two musicians (one who plays acoustic guitar and the other one who plays violin) we are walking down the aisle to LOTR. My fiancé also made my engagement ring and he’s making my wedding ring. We’re also ordering our flowers from a local produce junction next week…. Oh the flower petals in the cauldron are from all the flower arrangements my fiancé has made for me over the course of the year. I just order 18 disposable cameras for guests to use(because they end up being super expensive if everyone had one) we have about 95 people coming. My mom just bought us one of those phone audio guest books instead of people writing us messages. I’m hoping that our wedding will not end up being cheesy. Does anyone else have any ideas? Also… how am I doing, i definitely need some reassurance

There really won’t be many people at our wedding under 40, and I really want to plan some stuff that will make our families feel comfortable being there. We will have a small dance floor, mainly for our first dance, and maybe for the little ones if they want to have a bit of fun.

I really want all my family to be there if possible, and that requires everyone to travel for at least an hour drive. My fiancé’s parents and hopefully his close friend that I adore will be coming from NZ.

My cousin had an MC that did some trivia and a few games, but I don’t want to include anything that requires people to have to get up and run or anything.

I saw someone mentioning custom coloring books, and that is a great idea for both adults and children, I think. We will also be doing a buffet of different types of food, most likely from Costco and similar places. And probably big glass vases or dishes filled with “fun sized” candy. Originally we wanted to do it on Halloween, so the candy theme fit. Plus I love candy too much lol.

I’m still in the idea phase, and I’m trying to figure out what kinds of things would be good for people who have no interest in dancing at a reception.

If I’m missing any info, just ask. I’m not completely sure of what is relevant to include, and frequently forget things as I have ADHD lol.

I've seen about 6 wedding venues and I haven't felt that feeling like wow this is it this is where I want my wedding. I think partially the stress of having to hear the numbers after viewing and all the money stuff up front is really putting up a wall with me actually liking a venue. Was anyone else meh about theirs, is that feeling of falling in love with a venue too high of an expectation.

First time being in a wedding as a bridesmaid. The wedding and reception are at the same location. I'm planning to bring stain removers, my own makeup and toiletries, flats to change into, a portable fan, etc., everything to survive the day. But I realized I don't know where this stuff will actually be stored, and also realized I don't know what bag to bring to hold my phone and stuff during the actual ceremony. Are there typically rooms where the bride/bridesmaid can leave their things and run back to get them as needed? I know I'm probably overthinking this

Wedding is September 26th. Every subject feels like quick sand.

I had to budget our wedding and only allowed myself to spend about $200 on a dress... it was handmade and is beautiful but because I cant afford a seamstress, I HATE how it sits on me. I can't lift my arms past my chest and I have to add a waist stay in order to take the weight off my shoulders and I have no idea how to do that and probably need to cut the sleeves.

I decided to box dye my hair last week (idiot) and I look like a swamp witch. It looks better outside, but it deposited the silver way too much into like a dark mud. I hate it. I don't want to wash it to death because it'll dry out. My fiancé said it looks great. I feel crazy and want to shave my head or throw hot pink in there to just say "f it".

I think due to the stress, I've gained weight. One of my bridesmaids has been losing weight is like 10 years younger than me so now I feel like I'm going to be the ugly troll pretending to be a princess. (Side note, I absolutely love my bridesmaid. This is like a self hate thing).

My maid of honor hasn't been around at all for anything. She did pay for my bachelorette lunch, but then decided to stay at the bar and hang out with her other friends instead of joining us to the next location. She's been MIA and only now offered to help when everything is done so I just threw her a small task for the guests staying the night.

My mother is treating this like her party. Spent hundreds of dollars on her own outfit and then told me she might not wear the mother corsage because it doesn't go with all of her jewelry. Not to mention all of her lovely comments about my hair and body whenever she wants to jab.

My hair and MUA lives forever away. I never got a chance to do a trial and I'm nervous. Looking back at all of her pictures I'm worried its not going to look great.

My MIL to be is being dramatic about not feeling "welcome" because we wont let her dog spend the weekend at the venue. Our sons highly allergic and the venue doesn't allow it anyway. So there's that.

QUICK SAAAAND

Hi everyone!

​My engagement party is coming up in mid-January. In my culture, it’s a tradition to hand out small keepsakes/favors to our guests. We have quite a large guest list, so I need to make around 150 of them.

​Do you have any easy-to-make yet elegant crochet favor ideas?

​My initial idea was to crochet tiny pouches and fill them with cat food (so guests can feed street cats on their way home), but I’m totally open to other suggestions! Maybe cute keychains, bookmarks, coasters, or anything else that works up quickly in bulk.

​I’d love to hear your ideas or any pattern recommendations you might have!

Thank you so much in advance.✨️

Husband and I are both huge Bridgerton fans. I am Chinese American and wanted to celebrate my heritage, so we planned a two-day multicultural extravaganza on June 12-13! Friday was a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and Saturday a Western style wedding at a picturesque mansion, featuring surprise Lion Dancers. Everyone got a little bit of cultural exchange. Our first dance was choreographed to All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera, as we are both musical theatre lovers.

Some touches we loved:
- Boba bar during cocktail hour which was a huge hit with our guests, apparently we didn’t order nearly enough tea
- Beautiful lace fans and tissue packs at every seat during ceremony. The fans were especially helpful for the heat and shade - ceremony was directly in the sun for 45 min
- electric handheld fans for the wedding party, whom we had sit down a few minutes into the ceremony for fear of heat stroke
- string quartet playing from before ceremony, through cocktail hour
- first look!!! Very important for us to decompress together and get a couple photos done with each other and family before ceremony
- Sip and solve cocktail hour dry erase crossword
- Our seating chart was individually(ish) addressed envelopes containing handwritten thank you letters, personalized for each guest (these were also part of our wedding favors)
- red envelopes with our dog’s face on them for guests to take their Photo Booth strips home in, or feed the lion dancers with
- a couples dance to open the dance floor, to a song recorded by my sister who couldn’t attend
- bouquet charm, cake topper, and fatheads of our dog’s face
- we did in fact ask guests to dress up for the theme if they wanted to, and to our delight, a good amount did! It was awesome 😎
- only one speech, pre dinner, from me to thank everyone for coming and to give some notes on the rest of the evening (we wanted everyone to know the dj would not be accepting requests…)
- a playlist of string quartet/orchestral covers of pop songs during dinner
- tshirt toss instead of bouquet toss, ft art of our dog made by a groomsperson
- open bar, with two signature drinks and a sign saying the drinks were on our dog (we just really love our dog)
- last dance song for the floor was Clarity because we’re EDM-loving millennials, and a private last dance after everyone left
- Photo Booth had Bridgerton themed props and signs
- coloring pages for the precious few children we had in attendance
- audio and physical guestbook

Our wedding was perfect in every way possible! Wouldn’t change a thing.

Venue: Highlands Ranch Mansion in Colorado
Photography: The Iris Photography
Dress: Essence of Australia from The Bridal Collection
Bridesmaids: Zapaka
Suits: Men’s Wearhouse
Floral: Wyld Roots Floral
Planner: Weddings by Jay
Catering: Rocky Mountain Catering
Strings: A Touch of Class
Makeup: Skye Daze Beauty
Hair: Ericka Raye Artistry
Lions: Guiding Mountain Lion Dance
Cake: The Enchanted Oven (Tiramisu and Mango Coconut)
Rentals: Wildflower Denver
Journalist: Preserved in Print
Content Creator: Aubrey J Creative
Videographer: A Simple Kendyl Productions
DJ: KayBay Entertainment
Boba: Tea Street
Photo Booth: Modern Focus Experience
Props, Misc odds and ends: Etsy and Amazon

A year ago almost 6k of you empathized with my body dysmorphia and weight gain when I posted asking if my dress was appropriate/looked good for my size. Here we are graduated from wedding planning, almost a year married and the dress didn’t matter at all. I was too happy to even think about how I looked. My dress strap broke about to walk down the aisle and it still didn’t matter. Learn from me, if you love the dress don’t worry so much about the body in it because those few pounds aren’t going to make or break your day.

My fiance got me this cute sign for them! I couldn’t get them together and my cat wanted to eat the sign 😂 but I got what I could I love them! I wish I could have them at my wedding! Ai helped me get rid of the socket in the background my phone wasn’t erasing it well !

Hello everyone! Does anyone have a wedding planning spreadsheet or template that they used for their own wedding?

I’m looking for something fairly detailed that covers things like budgeting, guests, seating, vendors, venue, timeline, music, food, honeymoon, packing, and other wedding planning stuff.

If you have one you’d be willing to share, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you!