Your wedding vs your childhood dream wedding?!

Mine was similar ish. Aha outdoor wedding. Outdoor cocktail hour. The food I wanted. The colors I wanted. Only real difference is the decor wasn't very romantic as I imagined since I barely had any

Childhood wedding: giant princess dress, ballroom reception, 200+ guests, carriage, black tie formal affair, $100K+ cost.

Real wedding: only slightly princess dress, pirate wine cave reception, 15 guests, 5-star meal but family style, $15K. MUCH happier with real wedding in my 40’s than my “20-year old” idea. 😍

Childhood dream wedding: a fairytale in the woods! Big sparkly ballgown, horses, the works.

Then of course, fast-forward to Pinterest, and I wanted it even more! I'm still a sucker for all of the pics of rustic tables outside in the forest with lights and lush greenery. But that's not exactly realistic for our budget, or Ohio's unpredictable weather. I thought a barn would be a good compromise, but those ended up being astronomical in price and logistical nightmares.

Real wedding: at a country club! I think I'll still get to feel like Belle, though. My dress is a fit and flare that has very ornate beading and lace. The grounds have beautiful trees, bridges, and water elements. We'll be bringing in a nature element through our centerpieces and other decor.

Not exactly what I envisioned, even when I started planning last year, but I love how everything is coming together!

I actually never really thought about mine lol. I suppose I’m weird like that. I am Doing a Disney themed wedding and I never would have imagined that.

I always imagined myself wearing my moms wedding dress. My 3 oldest sister wore it and then as I got older I realized there was no way my chest (or any part of me really) was fitting into that size 2 dress. I wanted a huge family with all of my aunts and uncles and cousins-easily 300 people. Now I bought a brand new wedding dress and only my parents, siblings and my nieces and nephews plus a few friends will be in attendance.

I can't recall ever dreaming of a wedding of any kind when I was a child.

Growing up, I had two different visions for my wedding - beach and ballroom. I loved both, but knew I could only really have one. After breaking up with one of my exes, I no longer wanted to have a beach wedding because that's what him and I talked about doing for our wedding if we had gotten married and so the broke up kind of spoiled the idea of a beach wedding for me. When I got engaged to my husband, I knew I wanted to have my reception in a ballroom. I always loved red roses so I always envisioned beautiful red roses as my centerpieces with black table clothes which is exactly want I had. My husband loves the NJ Devil's and one of their colors is red so he was thrilled when I told him I wanted to have red as one of our wedding colors. I also always wanted a sparkly ballgown. I tried on all different styles of wedding dresses at my mom's request, but I ended up getting a beautiful sparkly ballgown just like I wanted from the beginning and I felt like an absolute princess on my wedding day.

View Quoted Comment Thats great! I mean I can't remember my "childhood dream wedding" as a wee one but I remember my teenage wants

View Quoted Comment So glad to hear you were happier and much more money savy with your real wedding! You had such a cute "little princess" dream wedding when you were younger!

View Quoted Comment Thats great!

View Quoted Comment Tee hee. Um, my “little princess” dream was when I was in my 20’s. 😂

Oh man

Middle-school aged me: Beach wedding with tented beach reception. Strapless, heavily beaded, full princess ball gown. String quartet for the ceremony music. Seafoam green matching bridesmaid dresses. Rose bouquet. 200+ people. And marrying a man.

Me now: Forest, vintage/romantic theme, with indoor reception. Open-back, lace mermaid or a-line dress. Acoustic guitar for the ceremony music. Peach or blush coordinated but different bridesmaid dresses. Peony and eucalyptus bouquet. Still 200+ people (We both have big families 😓). The biggest difference, though, is that I’m marrying a woman—that one was buried DEEP (thanks, Bible Belt!).

Mine was similar to what we're doing now. I didn't imagine being pregnant either, but we're happy to have a little blessing joining us too ❤️

So this is my second marriage. My first I did the whole big ceremony and reception thing, so I had more or less what I thought my wedding should be. I also took a lot of advice and input from my family, which I can say in retrospect made me want a lot of what was done as opposed to me wanting for myself. While I don’t regret my first marriage, as I got my son and the failure resulted in the happiness I have in my life now, I can look back and see that I really was trying to fulfill that childhood dream without actually taking into consideration that dreams can change as you grow up.

This time around, I am taking almost no input from anyone else. We are having a destination wedding, and aside from considering our families for the location, we have planned simply what we want. I am finding it to be essentially stress free, and we are both very happy with how things are coming along. Without going with a traditional wedding with traditional planning, such as not having a bridal party, not asking mothers for advice, keeping it to a small guest list, and just not caring what others think we should do, is making everything so perfect. We really want our day to be a reflection of us as a couple and our love for each other. Both of us have had failed relationships and hardships along the way, and know that the best dreams are the ones you live, not the ones you cling onto despite personal growth.

Well.... my FH and I actually had completely different ideas of our "dream" wedding. He wanted to elope and I wanted the big wedding. So we compromised

We eloped and went to the courthouse with our parents on Nov 9, 2018 and it was magical

This Nov 9, 2019 (15 days away!!!) we will be doing a 1 year vow renewal with our friends and family, that way I still get my big dream "wedding"

I could not be more excited to renew my vows with him in front of our close friends and family!!

Childhood Dream: Sparkly Princess Dress, Tiara, Prince Charming, Church, Gorgeous Reception Venue, June Wedding, Bridesmaid's in Blush, New York City

Real Wedding: Sparkly Princess Dress, Tiara, Prince Charming, Church, Gorgeous Reception Venue, January Wedding, Bridesmaid's in Burgundy, Washington DC

Close enough! The process on the other hand has been more of a nightmare though.

I never had a dream wedding idea as a child. Maybe because I never went to a wedding until I was in high school and my parents got married at the court house. But I guess I would have assumed it would be in San Diego, maybe on the beach, where I’m from.


Fast forward to now... having a long engagement, getting married on 10/10/2020, both ceremony & reception are early (starting at 11am) in Las Vegas where I currently live. It’s a ballroom. Haven’t picked a dress yet. Colors are teal and yellow with little hints of Italy. Loving the ideas and process so far!

No high/low but my MOH wore a similar dressHad similar venue vibe going on but insideMy church looks nothing like this lolBig veil, so 90s with the bow

Dream wedding: the wedding in the November Rain music video. I wanted that feel. Classic. Minus the high/ low wedding dress. So big wedding, band, church with stained glass, lots of natural light, getting married to a rock star LOL

Actual wedding: In a church but no stained glass. There was NO NATURAL LIGHT ANYWHERE. But our church is one of those modern churches that is more auditorium than anything. I think it kind of did have that feel to it, though although it was a small wedding without a band. Just classic I guess. We incorporated elements into it that were similar such as using Guns N Roses music, roses as our centerpieces, small bridal party.

I’m a Colorado native and my dream wedding was fall, in the mountains, and in a barn with rustic decor. I dreamed of the sunflowers, yellow and orange trees, a cider station... the whole “fall” theme. But I grew up to realize how expensive a mountain wedding is.

My wedding is going to be spring, at a ranch, with romantic pastel colors! Totally different vision and I wouldn’t change it for a thing!!

To be completely honest, I chose a spring wedding date because our dating anniversary is in October. We’ve been dating 8 years, and I wanted to celebrate two anniversaries: marriage and dating! 😂 I didn’t want to throw away those 8 years and start over at one! Is that bad? Haha

View Quoted Comment How cute! It's funny how we don't think we would choose what we do and how it changes from your vision to yours and your SO's vision!