What makes a successful & beautiful wedding in your eyes?

Great food and drinks and a great DJ! I love weddings that feel elegant and formal, but after dinner you can dance and let loose!

I’m a huge flower person so I always remember the flowers. But the more important things are DJ, the food, and the alcohol or lack of alcohol. One other thing is, I guess the timeline? Like if the wedding started way later than they said or if I had to wait a really long time before they served the food

I think what has made the weddings I've been to "successful" is that the couple rolls with the punches and enjoys themselves, even when things go wrong. At one wedding, the Best Man dropped the rings - he had been joking about it because he knew it pissed the bride off, but then actually did drop them during the exchange and was mortified. The bride laughed lightly instead of losing it, and that made everyone else laugh and move on.

Things will fall behind schedule, someone will forget to do their "job", a decoration won't be in the right place. But if that's all the couple can think about, then that's all the guests will focus on too.

Things I remember are: the details-decorations, flowers, and if it's cohesive. I don't judge it, I just notice it, and how it relates to the couples personality. The other big thing I notice is the flow of the evening/the timeline. Oh, and when guests are treated well.
Succesful weddings that I liked, and inspired me to emulate in my own hosting for my wedding: welcome champagne passed by servers upon arrival, guest parking and transportation paid for by the hosts, open bar, a good flow to the reception, and lots of yummy food. I like personal ceremonies, and have enjoyed those touches, so did that for my own wedding .

Personalized ceremonies top my list. Including family and close friends in the ceremony. Surprising a loved one with a special place of honor. Ex: My nephew had my step-mom escorted down the aisle in his procession. She was given a corsage and treated as a VIP. She was sitting next to me at the ceremony and I will never forget how she was shaking (with joy) when she entered the pew. She told me, "I've never walked down the aisle before"! It was one of the sweetest moments ever. A happy couple, cohesion in decor and overall feel, a good flow to the night, great food and an even better band/or DJ. Oh and real flowers!!

Being comfortable. I've been to weddings where I was sat at a table with people I didn't know AT ALL. I was there with my mom, stepdad, grandmother and stepgrandfather. None of us were VIP guests, or anything, but for some reason I didn't get to sit with them?

On the other side, I've been to a wedding where the couple clearly thought about who would be most comfortable sitting together, and I know they put a lot of thought in to it, because I had been dumped by my partner of 7 years, and we were both invited, but discovered we had been moved so we weren't sitting together, and we both were still sitting with people we knew.

The cocktail hour with no where to sit is a big one, also the dinner where the room was so squished we could barely move our chairs.

I remember weddings where you could tell the couple really loved and had fun with each other. I remember weddings where the bride and groom made a point of spending time with all their guests rather than just their friends or wedding party. I remember really good food and really bad food. A few too many examples of the bad food. I remember, not fondly, any time I'm expected to pay to attend the wedding through a cash bar. If you are hosting, host well. That doesn't mean extravagant.

I remember, not fondly, weddings where the decorations look like an explosion off of Pinterest. Weddings where almost every idea from Pinterest was used. Not classy and not elegant, just too, too much.

Good food and enough to fill me up!

I also clearly remember the wedding where the Catholic priest repeatedly put down anyone who wasn't Catholic or who had ever been divorced. BAD feels from that wedding, and I'm no longer friends with the couple.

Alcohol, food and florals. And the whole overall vibe of the wedding. I've been to weddings where the groomsmen do special dances or yard games.

Alcohol and the love between the couple. You're not there as a guest for you, you're there because you care about the people getting married, but alcohol never hurts the fun

View Quoted Comment Yup that was part of it. No cocktail hour so everyone decided to start eating the meal while wp was doing pictures then we had to wait on food because they cooked burgers on a grill and they had to make more 🤦‍♀️

The first thing that comes to mind from the last two weddings I've attended have been the couple during the ceremony. The Groom choked up a bit in one and the other had the best reaction when he saw his Bride. Those are the moments that stick really well with me and always make me smile.

For one friend's wedding, it wasn't what she wanted at all, because she pleasing a lot of family members and not herself or her husband. l remember having to keep her calm and take care of her and her very pregnant MOH.

For another friend's wedding, I remember the reception being themed to their personalities and everyone having a great time.

Good food, good drinks and good company. I agree about the personal touches. How the couple makes the wedding unique and their own is very important and memorable.