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Which do you ladies prefer(for yourself or as a guest), an elaborate and glamourous hoopla or a casual cozy get together? And why? I'm torn between the two. One's potentionally less stressful with a more relaxed and fun vibe but on the other hand when else do you get to be an elegant princess for the day? Hmm..
I'm leaning towards laid-back but I'm afraid I'd miss that princess-for-a-day feel.
Although I'm sure it'll be magical, it's more of the long white flowy dress and four course meals I'm thinking about going without.
I'm planning on having a semi-low-key wedding. I'm still going to be a princess no matter what!
I had a elegant, beautiful elopement...
I'm not sure elopement = laid back.
I vote 'cocktail fancy'... meaning fancy enough to get dolled up but not so fancy that I can't be comfortable letting my hair down a bit :)
There won't be any sit-down dinner for us, but I wouldn't exactly call it laid-back, either. It's hard to call something low-key when there are going to be 250+ people there, lol. This is really customary in our area, but there will be a buffet of delicious Italian food, a cookie table, and LOTS of dancing! It will probably be in a banquet hall that's been pretty decked out and formal-looking, but without the stuffy atmosphere of a traditional "formal" wedding, if that makes sense.
I prefer laid back weddings. To me they're more enjoyable and pleasant.
I love fancy looking but it has to be FUN and a little wild
I said best of both worlds... Mine is kind of semi-formal to formal. I'm getting married outdoors with a tented reception, fancy dinner and open bar, cocktail hour, long flowy gown and men in suits. I would say the actual event will be laid back though. Dinner, dancing, and laughs (hopefully).. basically I'm going to make it look fancy but people can act however they choose-- all of my family occasions are pretty open to doing what you feel like and I think my wedding will be the same.
Mine will be all sorts of laid back... that is who we are. In no way are either of us fancy. However I will be wearing a ballgown/a-line dress and FI will be wearing his dress blues that is as fancy as we are getting LOL.
We originally planned on having something very laid back, but its turning into something else entirely. Not glamorous exactly, but traditional and kind of elegant. My fiance suprised me by feeling very strongly about having a string quartet for the ceremony... which throws off the entire vibe.
Our wedding was "fancy" in the sense that people dressed up for it, and we had formal decorations. However, it was laid-back in the sense that we were so thrilled to be able to get married after 9 years together that neither we nor our friends stressed over the details.
Were doing a laid back fun more casual (NO JEANS) wedding I think as long as the wedding is YOU thats all that matters!
We're having a black tie wedding with a fancy church ceremony and the reception at an upscale hotel ballroom. When else do you get to have all your nearest and dearest (and the randos your parents just HAD to have on the gueslist) get all dressed up?
And for those who voted "best for both worlds" how would you go about doing so? Just curious.
I said best of both worlds. We will be having a black tie wedding with a sit down plated meal (not 4 courses though), but the focus will be on fun. We love to dance and party and are really laid back people so that how we want our day to be. We want elegant but not stuffy. I think you can do both if you just pick the elements that you like.
I voted for the best of both worlds. I imagine the wedding ceremony "fancy" but the reception/dinner will be full of laughter, food and drinks (laid-back).
Our reception is pretty laid back but the ceremony is fancy all the way! Best of both worlds hehe.
I prefer laid back, simply because to me fancy = formal and...formal = kind of boring (the ones I've been to anyway). No offense to anyone having one but the ones I've been to have just been...meh.
I'm actually going for both, with a princess dress and tiara, and the wedding style will be very "harvest, lothlorien, hobbit' styled. So rustic and beautiful, but relaxed and fun. :)
We had a beach wedding, and many of our guests commented that they loved the "laid back" vibe, and that it was not like other "stuffy" weddings they had attended. The setting certainly had a lot to do with it, but it's also reflection of our personalities. We used contemporary music, the guys were dressed in linen pants and shirts, we had a lot of DIY elements, the ceremony script was very personal to us and the vows included a couple of jokes.
Having said all that, it doesn't mean you can't integrate whatever elements will give you the "princess" feeling with an informal affair! Remember, there's no such thing as an overdressed (or over-pampered) bride. And no matter what, you WILL be the bride, which automatically makes you the "princess for the day." :)
Just curious - what are the elements of a more formal wedding that would give you that feeling? And if you were to go more informal, what would your ideal venue/theme/vibe be?
Our wedding will be pretty casual and laidback but hopefully still somewhat elegant. I don't like weddings to be too fancy or too casual. A happy medium is best for me.
I wanted my wedding to be FUN. That was the first descriptor I used whenever imagining or describing our wedding... and to me that meant laid back and NOT fancy. I wanted it to be super personal and different and make everyone feel like we were approachable and there to just enjoy the night. Afterwards we had so many people tell us they've never felt more connected to a wedding (due to our super personal ceremony) and never had more fun. Best compliments ever.
Are we talking about actual fancy weddings? Or pseudo fancy weddings? I shoot a lot of "fancy weddings" (i.e. bride is in a ball gown, evening attire, etc..) but they take place in the day, no alcohol (not that it matters), basic lunch buffet, and no soda (I've never attended a wedding without soda until I moved to VA). I'm not criticizing these things, I just don't always get it. Expensive floral designs paired with so-so food and no soda (soda is an issue for me:). Huge beaded ball gown/guests requested to wear cocktail attire at 9 a.m. I truly like all weddings, but prefer when the "feel" makes sense.
We went to the courthouse and had a very small wedding with a slightly larger (but still laid-back) reception. We're not into fancy weddings and didn't want a huge crowd, so it was perfect for us.
@Miss Fish: I'm dying to know if you know my friend at Studio N? She's from Youngstown, too. I just love her to pieces and am curious if you share my love! lol
@maureen9004: I think that "fancy" means something different in the morning and the evening. Our wedding was fancy in the sense that people wore "church clothes." We had a 2:00 lunch reception, with entree choices that included fillet mignon or lobster, and supplied both alcohol and soda. However, no one but us wore long dresses--it just wouldn't be appropriate for that hour.
Of course, part of the issue is that the only choices given were "elaborate and fancy" or "laid back." Ours was probably semi-formal, so closer to formal than to casual, but no tuxes or evening gowns were involved.
I'm having a full "wedding" but TOTALLY NOT stuffy or too "formal"
Our decor and theme is bright & fun, but we're still having a full ceremony & reception for 100 guests and doing the traditional cake, dance, toss, etc =)
You can definitely have the best of both worlds and the stress level is TOTALLY on you and what you take as "freak out" or "not worth the time" appropriate. =)
I like fancy dress up events as a guest! Of course, I like getting dressed up and dancing the night away with my friends and family, so that sounds perfect for me. I don't think that having a dressy event means that you can't have a fun event, rather in my experience it's just a well thought out event. Being laid back and casual can also be well thought out but in my experience the events that the bride wanted laid back ended up meaning that guests ended up doing more work rather than being able to just relax and enjoy the celebration.
To answer your question: To me formal is I guess more traditional. Formal attire, sit down meals, etc. Laid-back would be more like summer dresses and cocktail food. Kinda get-together like opposed to a formal party.
I guess then our wedding would be formal since we're following tradition... but definitely on the "unique" side, and lotsa fun lol.
I like fun and wild. I love laid back, and (although I hate the word) I also love classy. But, elopement- was that option suposed to mean "the most laid back?" I just wasn't sure in the poll. That just seems like another kind of wedding that could be formal or laid back.
@jwinnings: Our wedding was a mix, then - we had passed hors d'oeuvres and a sit-down dinner, servers were dressed in black slacks and vests with white shirts and bowties, and I wore a full-on bridal gown. MOH wore a traditional bridesmaid dress. The guys wore linen pants and shirts - not suits/tuxes, but this is considered formal wedding attire in Caribbean islands. On the less formal side, the decor involved lots of bright colors, our dog was present, we had guests get up and hula-hoop during dinner if they wanted us to kiss, and they were encouraged to take their shoes off to dance in the sand. We also had a "faux-to" booth with fun props that really got the guests loosened up.
Bottom line: I do think you can strike a balance!
Our wedding was definitely on the laid back side, but I really enjoy attending both types of wedding. I've always loved getting dressed up, it just wasn't the style we wanted for our own wedding in the end. So as a guest I'd say either, and as the bride I had to choose laid back!
@2dBride: But that makes sense to me :)
I get fancy day time.. I don't get when a wedding is in the morning, cocktail attire, and the lunch is cheese tray, green salad, and some fruit. Most the morning/afternoon weddings I shoot are like this.
I was going for a laid back feel originally but it ended up being more work as we were going to have a marquee. Going for the princessy / perhaps more traditional day is actually being less work for me and less money. Though I hope the day will be both magical and have some laid back elements too. I can't wait.
We're planning on having a fancy ceremony and dinner and then changing pace and chilling with some fireworks and board games.
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