Gee, why not just take her to a third-world country and trade her for a yak? :rolleyes:
The whole time I'm sitting here thinking, please don't be Black...please don't be Black...
Dagnabbit. :(

Actually, my family is, but the pastor was NOT! But he was LOVIN' the Steve Harvey style! :eek:

has anyone ever been to a wedding where the pastor says "if anyone here objects, please speak now" and someone actually did this?

No, but I was thinking it several times over many years. Come to think of it, I've seen a lot of people significantly cutting their eyes around when the pastor said that.

No, But in the wedding that I described a number of the people from "our" (the groom's side) were waiting for the Rabbi to say it. The Rabbi didn't say it, but gosh if he did...someone might have said something.

Okay, so I went to a wedding this summer for one of my best friends. I love him to death, and his wife is pretty cool too, but their wedding was pretty... awful.

So they had to plan it "on a budget," which I totally get, but there are some things you just don't do. The bride's dress was so thin and cheap, I could literally see her underwear through the back of her dress! It was a nice design, but obviously not very well made. I felt kinda bad for her. She didn't bother to get her hair or her makeup done. All she had on was mascara and lip gloss... kinda weird. The ceremony would have been fine, if I could have heard the pastor at all! I was sitting near the front, too. It was in a fairly large church and they apparently neglected to get a mic, so nobody could hear him. After the vows, there was the exchange of rings. Because they were on a budget, they had the pastor change out "circle of gold (or whatever it was)" to "circle of titanium (or some other cheap metal). It was very awkward to say the least. Then, they went to do their unity candle, which I think is a really cute tradition. However, the didn't light it right away, they stood behind the table talking to each other quietly for several minutes while the audience just sat there, confused and waiting around. If I thought the ceremony was bad, it was nothing compared to the reception.

The reception was held at a very old but beautiful church I had never been in before. Unfortunately, the road to get to it was closed, so all of the guests had to take a detour through a really seedy part of town. When we all got there, there was no music, no drinks, no appetizers, no nothing. We were just expected to sit there and wait for the bride and groom. I forgot to mention that it was in a gymnasium done up in the finest 1970's style. They tried to doll it up using fabric, but it kept falling down on the guests. It was in the middle of summer in the hot and humid midwest and the church had no air conditioning or open windows. The room was not nearly big enough to hold all the guests they invited, so we were sandwiched together in our formal wear in a swelteringly hot confined space with nothing to eat or drink. The bride and the groom took their pictures, which is totally fine. After they were done with their pictures, they decided to take off and "do something else," that something else being having sex in the back of their car. They made everyone wait so they could have sex. I was seated at the "family and important people" table according to the check in list. I got to the table and there was no name card or place setting for me. I was sat with a bunch of old people who I didn't know and an inept young dad with two screaming toddlers. When the bride and groom FINALLY arrive, the food is served. It was buffet style, and since I was at the "important people" table, we got to go after the bridal party. They got it catered from some obscure place, and half the time I couldn't tell what it was supposed to be. I literally could not tell the difference between a fish fillet and a chicken breast.vAfter eating the mystery meat, I immediately began to feel sick and had to go to a nursery and lie down. I wasn't the only one either.

I think that this wedding could have been decent if there weren't technical difficulties and awkward pauses during the ceremony. I doubt if the reception could have been salvaged though. A hot gym with falling down decorations with nothing to drink and horrible food made for many unhappy guests. I would have to say this is the worst example of a "budget wedding" that I've ever seen. I still love my friends to death, even though their wedding was like hell on earth! :)

Sheez. If you're on that much of a "budget" there are so many classier alternatives, such as:

- Have a small wedding now. Immediate family and a handful of close friends only. Go out for a nice dinner after the ceremony. Have an anniversary party in a year or two, when you've saved up enough money for the Big Party you want.

- Scale down your guest list.

- Don't get married now. Wait a year or two and save up for a better quality dress, better rings, better reception venue, better food, etc.

But something tells me "classy" wasn't the first thought on their minds. That something being making everyone wait while they got it on in the back of a car.

They are really classy people, but it was just thrown together quite quickly. The bridesmaids looked more dressed up than the bride. They also had upwards of 200 people there.

IDK, I don't associate sex in the back of a car and class.

That sounds like the absolute worst wedding ever. I'm certain I'd have left. I love reading these stories, they give me the guts to walk out if this ever happens to me. A couple more and I'll probably have enough guts to take my gift with me! :p

Me either...I mean...it happens, but not between the wedding and the reception.

I'm confident there are better ways to handle low budget weddings. The majority of my friends who have been married in the last couple of years obviously had limited budgets, but they all did a great job of stretching them. Their weddings were low budget but still classy. Having fewer guests, making your own centerpieces, etc. are ways to use your money wisely.

I used to work in a store that rented tuxes. One of the groomsmen was an investment advisor. Unknown to the groom, all the groomsmen had given an additional gift of $100 each that one put into a portfolio and was managing, so that when it was time, he would have money for divorce proceedings. They were that confident the man was making a mistake.

Hopefully if they were wrong, they could have given it to the couple for something like a 25th anniversary cruise or something. But *ouch*.

Thankfully, no.

FWIW, the question traditionally is along the lines of "if any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak or else hereafter for ever hold his peace." The bold is my emphasis; the point of the question was not to see if anyone thought the marriage was a bad idea, but it was a last chance for anyone to claim that there was a legal impediment to the marriage.

The custom relates to the publishing of banns, which is still (I believe) required in the Church of England but no longer required in the Roman Catholic Church. (One will also sometimes hear banns published in Episcopal churches, though it is not required.) In order for a marriage to be legal, notice had to be given on successive Sundays prior to the wedding; the notice according to the use of the Church of England is along these lines: "I publish the banns of marriage between NN of _____ and NN of _____. This is the first/second/third time of asking. If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony, ye are to declare it." (Or "This is the first/second/third time of asking. If any of you know any reason in law why they may not marry each other you are to declare it.")