For the married ladies: what were the successes of your day?

My guests loved the photo booth at our wedding. It was my husbands idea to have one, surprisingly, and we had a bunch of like silly hats and other costume items. I honestly did not expect it to be so popular.

Our food was a huge hit (DH and I still talk about the roasted rosemary potatoes, and right now I want him to figure out how to make them because I'm pregnant and currently love potatoes).

The venue had a sunset view of the Hudson River, so that was popular...

The swordfight, of course, but our crowd expects a theatrical element, honestly...

I've legit had people tell me - over a year later - that it was one of the best weddings they've ever gone to. So, I guess... the whole thing?

We did center our planning around making things fun for ourselves and our guests, and I guess it paid off.

Food. Everyone raved about the food. I can't attest to it, but everyone else loved it. I know it looked delicious, at least.

We had a fresh fruit smoothie bar. Because we had a dry wedding, I personally felt like we needed something more than just soda and tea. Specialty coffee/tea/cocoa bars were already common when I got married, but we got married in the middle of summer. Even chilled coffee drinks generally have milk/creamer, and if there is anything that sounds repulsive when it's 95 degrees, it's got to be milk... So I asked the caterer to look into smoothies. Bartender had baskets of fresh fruit, and blended them right there in front of guests. Super easy setup, and a HUGE hit. Everyone raved about this. I also happened to glance at the caterer's wedding menus afterward and found they'd permanently added smoothie bars to their specialty bar cart options.

Our vows. We wrote them together, but did it a little differently than what people normally think of for writing their own vows - they were still structured like traditional vows and we exchanged the same vows, but they were "freshened up" into something more modern and contemporary. My mom (who was originally aghast that we were not saying traditional vows) cried, and the reverend later asked for permission to use them as an offering to couples who didn't want traditional "till death do us part" vows, but also didn't want to write vows with a bunch of personal information in them. While for our vow renewal, we will be going the more well-known route of "custom" vows that make direct references to us and that we each write on our own, I am still glad we started our marriage off making the same promises to each other.

1. food was a hit! it better have been LOL i mean i upped my budget and did premium menu items because i cared most about the food being good

2. welcome entrance photos. i didn't want to do these. i've mentioned them on WW before and what they are is the couple stands by the guest sign in table with a nice backdrop in the background and we greet the guest after they signed in. We take a photo with them and they get it as a keepsake [a print out in a nice thank you folder at the end of the night]. i didn't want to do these cause it's standing there for a literal hour! but they were really a big hit because people didn't really spend much time with us overall that night so at least they got a nice photo with us and a brief individual moment.

1. Our ceremony was a big hit because we were being ourselves and we made them laugh. My husband was trying to kiss me before our officiant say that we could and she had to tell him that he had to wait. The expression on his face was priceless. Our officiant was great (who happens to be my cousin) was herself. We created a wonderful environment for guests to enjoy our ceremony.

2. Our entrance to the reception room was great because of our bridal party were dancing to their own beat and so were we. Some of the traditional things that we had during the reception like the tossing of the bouquet and the garter were hilarious We made it fun. Also, we had a good time going around and talking and taking pictures with everyone.

3. Food-- most of the guest did enjoy the food.

My church ceremony was really touching for my guests I think. The fact that it was in 2 languages really was a succes.