Our plan was to get married at City Hall... After our families threatened to do everything short of disowning us we gave in and had the big party our mothers had always wanted.

At city hall? No. But would I swap an elaborate wedding for a small, quiet one with just close family at a park or something? Yes, absolutely. While it's practical to do it at city hall, I don't want my wedding memory in a courthouse, where divorce proceedings are taking place in other rooms! I all for non-elaborate weddings though.

I never intended even as a little girl to do a big deal of a wedding anyway.

Yes.

We actually got married in a friend's kitchen. By a friend. That's how we got married. Then we left for the honeymoon. All by ourselves.

Of course, we also had an intimate, family only ceremony and reception for the month after. It was held outdoors and was very very simple.

I simply don't understand the price tag people shell out for their weddings-- it's not about the day, it's about the relationship and the commitment. Why go into debt right as you're starting your new life together?

Yes, in a sense, we did that. It was right and good for us (I'm NOT speaking for anybody else).

I'd much rather spend the money on going somewhere exotic with my new husband for the honeymoon, so yeah... I would scratch wedding plans for city hall.

We did this. We were having a destination wedding and didn't want to deal with having to get another certificate from another state etc, so we just went to a justice of the peace's office with two friends who were our witnesses.

I think I wore jeans. Obviously we don't count this as our "wedding" though.

By the time the week before the wedding came around, I was seriously considering it because the stress of all the wedding planning stuff was crazy. In the end, we ended up still having the wedding, but I wouldn't regret having gone to city hall to get hitched and then just having a small reception party afterwards.

Yes, if the stresses of planning the wedding were too much to handle. I think there is something quite romantic about getting married at City Hall.

we actually SERIOUSLY considered this for our wedding but decided that we'd regret it in the future.

No to City Hall, but yes to a small informal wedding. Who needs the stress?

"Real Wedding?" Is city hall not somewhere that you can have a legally married, "real" wedding? And who's to say it wasn't the plan in the first place?

We did the city hall thing. It's better that way for us (we preferred it), but yeah, my mom now is insisting we throw a 'real wedding party' so we will...but it'll be a small, simple (and cheap LOL) one with close family members since they're the ones that've been bugging about that.

We simply had our license notarized & went out to dinner because we didn't have the money for a ceremony or reception. I've always regretted that we didn't wait until we could afford to do something special to mark the occasion. But if we had spent lot of cash on a wedding, I'd probably regret that we blew it all on one day.

If I do get married some day I had always wanted to elope. And its funny because before I saw that episode of the Office I had always imagined my SO saying what Jim said to Pam. "You know what I want to do today? Marry you"

I've told my mom I might do this and I said if anyone is invited its only her and my dad. not my 100+ family members who just talk to me on holidays.

This has been my idea from the get go.

we nearly did last year, so i could take advantage of my fiance's insurance while i was unemployed (i decided not to, as it would have made me sad, and we found out that i was eligible for benefits as a domestic partner in nyc). we're getting married in a year, and while i don't need a fancy wedding, i need my big family there with me to celebrate.

City Hall? Absolutely. It's just about being with your person, isn't it?

It really pisses me off when people knock big weddings as being self-induglent and selfish. If you can afford it and both bridge and groom to be want it, why not? ... I know I'm being defensive, but I had a big wedding (150 ppl), fancy, and we had a good time and didn't go into debt.

You don't have to get married at the courthouse - it's entirely possibly to have a fun, intimate and affordable wedding on a budget.

No way. Sure, it's legal, but I wouldn't *feel* married. There's something about having the whole ceremony + reception (witnessed by your family, friends, and -- for the so inclined -- higher power/s) that makes it feel official to me. Without making a big deal of the occasion, it's just a legal proceeding. Whether that "big deal" is something small at a church followed by a restaurant backroom party or whether it's a huge to-do at an estate, the occasion itself is too important to ignore.