As you experienced the various wedding locales and venues (including nuptials in a hot-air balloon), which one appealed to you the most? If you could have an unlimited budget for your wedding ceremony, what features would you choose? As a guest, what was the best wedding you ever attended, and what made it so enjoyable?
I think the wedding in the hot air balloon sounded beautiful—such a unique and romantic setting. If I had an unlimited budget, I’d skip the lavish wedding and go for an extended honeymoon full of travel and adventure instead. The best wedding I’ve ever attended was a traditional Mexican wedding. It had everything—lots of family, dancing, culture, delicious food, and even a parade down the main street. It was joyful, vibrant, and unforgettable.
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The best wedding I’ve attended as a guest was in Telluride, CO on top of the world. A gorgeous mountain top venue with views for days. A second wedding for both, no expense was spared. It was a gorgeous weekend.
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None of the wedding venues spoke to me but I loved Augie and Maxxie’s personalized touches that surprised their wedding guests and horrified Arabella to her core!
Regardless of wedding budget, I would elope. Not much for pageantry, traditions, or ceremonies…at least for myself.
While I have been to some lovely weddings, a memorable wedding moment was one that we witnessed at a hotel where we were staying (hotel guests, not wedding guest). The Indian groom rode to the hotel on an elephant - quite a sight in Lexington, KY where thoroughbreds are much more common than elephants.
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All of these weddings were so over the top I had a hard time even beginning to visualize them. I have two married daughters, so have been part of preparing and paying for two lovely but not extravagant weddings that I would take over any of these.
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I’m still laughing from your comment about the elephant vs the thoroughbreds!!
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I agree with Laura on not being excited about any of the wedding venues. I just couldn’t relate. My favorite wedding was my daughter’s wedding 16 years ago because it was in a beautiful church and the reception was at the Kennedy Center. Everyone commented on how much fun it was. It was extra special for guests who had never been to the Kennedy Center or experienced the motorcycle take-over of DC on Memorial Day weekend. With an unlimited budget I would have invited more guests and paid for all out-of-town guests’ lodging! 
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Even if I had lots of money, I would choose to have a destination wedding in an outdoor nature-like setting among the trees and birds singing. Money would be spent on travel to get the wedding party and select guests to the location. Money would also be spent of creating atmosphere, providing great food, and celebrating new lives together.
The best wedding we have attended was the destination wedding on Sullivan’s Island. It was outside and we could see “tall ships” in the background. Everything about that wedding was based on a beach theme. Small nautical bottles with sand on tables served as place holders. The cake was delicious and had icing shells on top. The other food was Southern in nature. It was definitely a memorable experience.
It was fun to read about Hawaii, as we are taking our granddauther’s there in January. However, everything was so over the top that the thought of that much money being wasted would have made me terribly uncomfortable. My four children’s weddings were my favorites. Surrounded by friends and family and seeing how happy my kids were that day…still after many years makes me smile inside. And none of them cost more than $6,000.
Are you in Lexington? I live in Louisville. Or, if not, what you were doing in Lexington at the time?
I thought the hot air balloons sound magical, but I don’t think I would have done this. I am not sure what I would want my wedding to be with an unlimited budget. I was never one of those girls that dreamt of my perfect wedding growing up. My husband and I had a fairly typical wedding, on a budget, and it was nice. Looking back, I think I would have prefered that we used the money for somthing else, like a down payment on a house or to pay a chunk of my student loans. Or for a nice trip. I think that spending that much money on one day (really even a few hours of one day) just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I have never been to a wedding that was stand out as anything but just the normal, typical wasp-y wedding. My best friend’s sister had a trivia game at the reception where there were papers on the tables with a few lines of song lyrics and you had to name the title and artist. Whoever got the most correct won a $50 gift card or something like that. This was fun as it gave us all something to do while we were waiting for them to finish with pictures. My step-brother and his wife had a wedding at a campgrounds that they go to. They had been living together for a while and it was her second wedding, so they did not want anything special. My oldest step-brother married them and her sons were the groomsmen. There was a potluck afterwards. It was a lot of fun because it was just family and close friends and the weather was beautiful and it was comfortable and relaxed. Same with my best friend’s second wedding. It was in a rental room at a park we went to as kids. There was fountain and a play set next to it for her daughter and my son and all the other young kids there. She cooked the food for it and I prepared a playlist. It was relaxed and comfortable and fun.
We were passing through Lexington, where we spent the night, on our way to Annapolis. Know Louisville well and pass through frequently en route to Cincinnati where we used to live. Now live in SW Indiana for a while more anyway as we are moving in the next year.
The hot air balloon wedding was so over the top that I guess that was my favorite. They were all so opulent and beyond imagination. I like a simpler heartfelt affair. My favorite wedding was my brother’s around a pool…the keg was tapped before the ceremony and many people had swimsuits on.