<p>Motherbear, I also have Noritake, but the Carolyn pattern, and I also still like dusty rose.</p>
<p>I just realized the flowers on my china, Jasmine (Minton) are dusty rose!</p>
<p>Our wedding was another late 80’s combination of bridesmaids in HUGE shoulder pads in mauve dresses that I was certain they could wear again and groomsmen with big hair. We picked a venue, and it burned down, we met with the priest and he died a month later, our new priest mispronounced our name at our wedding, the limo showed up (first time in a limo) and it was dirty and brown, BIL(groomsman) kept threatening that he might not be there because he “might” have a closing on his house…on Labor Day??? My face broke out to the point where friends said “they felt bad for me”, my dress was $250 (half price from the sale rack at Sears), my band was terrible, during the wedding the people who were parking the cars at the new place we had to find at the last minute, decided to take the nicer cars on joy rides…I could go on…but more than 20 years and four kids later - we’re still together. I would change everything about that day, but nothing about the last twenty years!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have sweated the small stuff…for some reason I spent HOURS making these little silk tulips to throw the rice from. I’m sure no one cared, and it almost sent me into orbit at an already stressful time. There were lots of little things that made me crazy that I should’ve just skipped.</p>
<p>I wish I wouldn’t have worn the popular on-the-forehead ring of flowers with the poof veil. Something a little more timeless…altho my friends did say I looked like an 80"s soap star!</p>
<p>But I wouldn’t trade my husband for anything…so I guess it all came out fine.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wow! You’re definitely in the running for the worst wedding day!</p>
<p>had to visit our jeweler, family has known for 50 years. The bands that I bought 36 yr ago for $150 is now close to $900. Rings were never comfortable and we haven’t worn them for years. Not worth much in gold value. </p>
<p>If we get new spouses, Do we get better rings?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I know that one! My SIL wore it when she was married.</p>
<p>First wedding rings: abalone bought from a kiosk for five dollars each. Abalone eventually became unglued and fell out. Oh well.</p>
<p>Neither current H nor I wear wedding rings. I am allergic to metal now (not always, but enough of the time) and he can’t be bothered.</p>
<p>No engagement rings, which is a good thing because DD is on a crusade against diamonds.</p>
<p>I had quite a few mishaps in the weeks leading up to wedding date -
Venue was not ready, had to find another place in Manhattan on 3 weeks notice, purse with all my wedding info was stolen at work, I broke my collarbone skiing 4 weeks before the date - not a good look in a strapless dress.
I also obsessed about getting pink matchbooks to match everything. HUH?? (Everybody smoked back then.)
Oh and my honeymoon luggage ended up in Africa. I wore the same dress in Paris for 3 days. Oh and H came down with the flu on our wedding night - I draped cool towels on him all night long.
PS The setting on my engagement ring broke last summer and I lost the diamond. Not a bad thing cause it really made me think about what was important in all those traditions about weddings and marriage. Answer : Marriage stuff is infinitely more important…</p>
<p>I couldn’t stand those headband veils with the gigantic pouf of tulle in the back and that was about all that was available when I was getting married. Fortunately, a talented friend made my veil for me - it was a small lace-covered cap trimmed in flowers, with a small pouf at the back to honor the trend. I liked it much better than anything I saw in the stores.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I had my dressmaker make something similar to what you described - sort of a mini-pouf. But I was unsure about it - it had a nurse’s cap feel. So I also had the florist do up a gardenia for my hair. When I was getting ready I had everyone in the dressing room vote and the gardenia won and the toulle covered nurses cap lost. It’s still in a shoe box on the top shelf of my closet. When I die, my kids will find it and have misplaced sentimentality toward it…aw, mom wore this at her wedding…maybe I should put a note in the box that I didn’t wear it…</p>
<p>I wore a hat with my wedding dress. It had a brim all the way around but wasn’t floppy and had a veil attached.</p>
<p>woody I lost the diamond from my engagement ring (loose setting) eight years after we got married. Filed with insurance, paid a deductible and got new diamond ring. It seemed really important then.<br>
Last month, same thing happened with the “new ring” almost twenty years later! I have declared myself diamond free. No more for me. It’s just not a big deal to me anymore. I took the two gold rings/settings without diamonds to a local jewelry store last week and sold them for $78.</p>
<p>DH lost his original wedding band after one year. We got a replacement but he doesn’t wear it because of the kind of work he does.</p>
<p>Wedding rings…that could be a whole other discussion thread!!! </p>
<p>Wonder what percentage of people are still wearing their original ring/setting/diamonds…</p>
<p>Mine is original, but I worry about the band breaking cause it seems to be getting worn/thin…</p>
<p>“Wonder what percentage of people are still wearing their original ring/setting/diamonds…”</p>
<p>DH and I still wear our original rings - inexpensive, simple gold bands, no diamonds or stones of any kind. We were poor when we got married, and these two gold rings were everything we could afford at that time (did not have a wedding because it was out of our budget). The only times we ever took them off were the hospital stays.</p>
<p>H and I are both still wearing our original wedding bands. They are plain gold bands. I also wear my original engagement ring, but since the diamond is not large I convinced H to buy me a third band for our 15th anniversary, it wraps around my original diamond with 3 smaller diamonds on each side and just makes it a lot nicer.</p>
<p>Great thread!</p>
<p>Dh and I wear our original wedding bands. I lost the diamond in my engagement ring in 1994 – was very fortunate and found it again, so had it reset in a different (but similar) engagement ring. </p>
<p>Dh and I were both 22.5 y/o when we married six months after graduating from college (where we met). My mother planned most of the wedding. I’m not sure what I would change now, though. My next-door neighbor worked at Lord & Taylor, and she enjoyed helping me get my gown at a great discount. It was a sample gown needing some alteration, and was nice enough (although probably not a style I would have chosen). A veil was made to match, also at Lord & Taylor. </p>
<p>My bridesmaids wore Williamsburg blue gowns, with my matron of honor wearing one that was a slightly deeper blue. I loved my bouquet, which had yellow (my favorite color) roses in it. My sil did something at her wedding that I wished I’d thought about for mine – she rooted some ivy from her bridal bouquet and grew a plant from it. What a great idea! I’ve even read online where women can keep that ivy going so that their own daughters can use some of the same ivy for their bridal bouquets.</p>
<p>The cake was simple, classy, with fresh flowers on top instead of the bride and groom cake topper which was popular at the time (is it still?). But I can’t remember the flavor, so I guess it was a vanilla or almond flavor. I don’t remember the groom’s cake flavor, either. We got a nice wedding album typical of the time.</p>
<p>We were married in the same Catholic church as my parents were married in 25 years prior, which is in my hometown. I carried the same handkerchief that my mom had carried in her wedding. </p>
<p>There were only about 75 guests at our wedding, but that was because a number of dh’s family/friends couldn’t make it because of an upstate NY snowstorm. We had the wedding on Thanksgiving weekend, and thinking back maybe that is something I would change as we rarely go out for an anniversary dinner within days of Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>It was an afternoon wedding with a formal reception afterwards at an area restaurant (which burned down some years back). There was a sit-down dinner, open bar and a band for dancing. I am an only daughter, so my parents wanted a very nice wedding for me.</p>
<p>We had a short (~5 day) honeymoon in St. Martin, and then we flew up to Alaska, where dh was already stationed as a junior Army officer. </p>
<p>Looking forward to the thread about what we would like to change about the in-laws!
: - D</p>
<p>My hubby still has the original ring but hasn’t worn it in probably 15 years due to weight gain. I’ve lost three wedding rings and had to sell the engagement ring in a time of financial difficulty. I’m not a jewelry person, so I have a naked hand now.</p>
<p>I had a really beautiful ring—lots of yummy diamonds—but alas, it was hot on “black Wednesday”(as I now refer to it) in 2003 and I took it off because my hands were swelling—put it in my purse-- left my purse in my car parked in the garage-- then left the garage door open all night. BAD MOVE. Yep- stolen!!! I am sure the thieves just thought they were getting $10 and some credit cards- the diamond ring was a bonus prize.</p>
<p>I went diamond-less for a while–finally got a replacement a few years later. Very nice…but I do miss the original. And I am a lot smarter now…funny how those hard lessons happen.</p>
<p>My husband and I still have our original wedding bands, simple gold bands. He had to get his cut off his finger once when he injured his finger. We had it repaired and it hasn’t left since. I also still have my engagement ring. My ring is a small saphire surrounded by even smaller diamonds. We didn’t have a lot of money at the time and couldn’t afford anything large. About 10 years ago my husband asked me if I wanted a new ring, but I really like the ring I have. A friend of mine recently got a mothers ring with her three sons’ birthstones. The ring is beautiful. I might put something like that on my wish list.</p>
<p>Did anyone get there husband an engagement gift? I gave my husband an engraved pocket watch.</p>
<p>DH and I had simple wedding bands, but he lost his about 3 years in. At our 10 year anniversary, we added a solitaire diamond to mine. I love it.</p>
<p>This year is # 32. </p>
<p>DH was recovering from mono at the ceremony and I was coming down with the flu. Given a choice, I would change that.</p>