And so it begins! Wedding planning....any suggestions/ideas/ect are welcome! - Page 2

Are you sure you want to get married in a place that has hostile feelings towards your preferred method of sustaining your mental health?  Sounds like the polar opposite of "joyous occasion"  :/ 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkangel9685 

already ran into a roadblock!

 

The church we're planning to get married at is giving us problems b/c i received psychological counseling. (Yes i admitted to it, I'm not ashamed of it like most people are)

 

So now the priest has to check with the higher ups in the the church buerocracy to see if its okay to marry, and they want to peek at my records apparently.

 

I hate drama

My advice is to try to find a reception venue where you can get your own caterer and buy your own alcohol. 

I got married at the university where my wife attended. They had a great event space and allowed us to bring in all our own food/alcohol. We had a great barbecue place cater and got all the alcohol from the volume-discount liquor mart. That right there probably saved 5 grand over the overpriced "chicken, beef or vegetable" and watered down cocktails hotels charge for. 

Get prepared for a lot of random expenses you didn't expect. For example, I had no idea you were supposed to buy gifts for groomsmen. There goes $300... Oh, and gifts for out of town guests. There goes another $300. Rinse and repeat. 

Also, if you are inviting more than a handful of people, get prepared for a thank-you-note deluge after the wedding. My wife and I probably put a good 60-70 hours into thank-you notes alone after the wedding. 

I'm so glad those days are long over...along with the diapers and formula.

It's much more simple now. All I have to do is come up $18K/semester....and that for a SUNY state school that I have a daughter who was in and advanced program since she was in kindergarten. My son will only need bus fare to get to the local 7-11 

My advice, as was brought up b4, was to go to a different church. How dare the members question a psych eval, when they are littered with their own accusations. Remember the church is a business (depending on how much you believe in your religion) and will always be treated as thus.

Honestly, it's weird that they were even asking for your psych history. The church I got married in just required 6 hours of pre-marital counseling. The counseling actually consisted of some useful marriage advice. 

In some states, you don't even need any particular qualification to marry people. Basically, as long as the couple has a marriage license, has *someone* officiate, fills out the paperwork, and they say some sort of vow, the marriage is valid. 

However, even if you aren't religious, a good reason to go to a church is the venue. Churches tend to be well set up for weddings. They usually look nice inside and are already set up to seat a lot of people. Most won't let you use their space unless one of their ministers officiates. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik 

Have you considered alternatives? Being a lawyer, I've always wanted to have a Judge perform the ceremony. I know a few who would be wonderful. Of course, that would also depend on my hypothetical fiancée's wishes.

Without getting into religion, you can always have a good friend or family member ordained. Head over to the Universal Life Church (www.ulc.org) and get ordained, online, for free. Yes, it's legit and a ULC minister can perform weddings.

Or just get ordained for the heckofit. I did.

I just saw this today. It's funny and some of the tips could come in handy.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/12/13/132022032/wedding-tips-from-an-economist