A Simple Wedding

I attended a very simple, low-budget wedding last Friday that still had many of the elements associated with a more expensive and upscale affair.

This brings me to an important point: it's not how much you spend, it's how you spend it.

The wedding invitations were sent out, email and snail mail, 6 weeks before so we all knew the date was June 6. The location was a town hall in a small, central Ohio town with a reception to follow at the groom’s family's home.

Despite all the myths and stories about June weddings, the reality is that here in Ohio, you never know what to expect - especially weather-wise.

On June 1st, we had to turn the heat on and on Friday June 6th, it was over 90 degrees! So, of course the town hall where the wedding ceremony was held did not have air conditioning!

As we entered the hall, where the town mayor was going to officiate, two little girls handed out wedding programs. (The programs ended up serving dual purposes: they gave information about the party AND became handy fans!)

Luckily, there was a breeze – even if it did manage to set one of the candle arrangements on fire. Fortunately, there were some quick-thinking members of the groom’s motorcycle club who were able to stamp it out and avoid any of the other candles from catching the shades on fire as well.

After that excitement, as the acrid smell of smoke wafted all around us, my cousin and I worked out escape routes where we could grab his 94-year-old grandmother and exit the building! But that speculation ended once the processional and ceremony started.

I did feel for the poor bride though. Even though the sleeves of her wedding dress were short it was a heavy satin gown with a long train. It didn't bustle so she had to carry it on her wrist the entire evening too.

The bridesmaid’s dresses at least had spaghetti straps on them so they weren’t quite as warm as the groomsmen who were wearing black tuxedos, heavy satin vests, and leather hats! By the time the pictures at the hall were over, all the guys were down to shirtsleeves.

After a 30-minute drive through some lovely countryside, we arrived at the wedding reception site. There was a huge tent with tables and chairs set beneath it, and in the family barn/garage, there were wedding decorations – bells, flowers, small white lights, - and a buffet table with a nice simple meal and two ladies serving it.

A cake table held a wedding cake that carried out the motorcycle theme and there were three different flavors of cake available to everyone. There was a drinks area with cold drinks that were especially popular on such a hot day!

Even though the affair was simple, it had all the elements that make a wedding a memorable event and this wedding had its share of memories – the small fire at the hall, the bride’s dance with her father, the cake ceremony. So even on a small budget you CAN have a successful wedding.