Let’s see…
My sister and brother-in-law were married by a bureaucrat at City Hall.
A friend of an old girlfriend was married in a Pagan wedding: outside around a firepit in Sunnybrook part, Toronto. At the climactic moment the couple jumped across the fire hand-in-hand. 
We’ve considered getting married in a little park here in town where we love to go spend an afternoon feeding ducks and having picnic lunch. We figure we could give the guests cubed bread to toss so we’d end up with a duck processional! We’d then proceed to the picnic area, where we’d entertain with a picnic-style lunch and give out silver-plated ducky figurines as place-card holders.
Airman and I got married at the park in Biloxi, Mississippi. The ceremony was held in a treehouse by the local judge. Afterward, we went to the Beau Rivage hotel and had their buffet. We spent the weekend in New Orleans near the French Quarter.
Oh, and SnoopyFan, I got married in a lavendar floral-print dress and white Keds sneakers. (I was six months’ pregnant at the time and in no mood to wear dress shoes; even flats hurt.)
Robin
I’ve actually thought about renting one of the pavilions at a park for a wedding. The two most fun weddings I’ve attended had covered dish receptions. But I don’t think we’ll have enough people attending to make that worthwhile.
I’ve been to weddings in churches, parks, homes, museums, judges chambers, courtrooms…
Whereever you can “be” you can get married.’
For maximum flexibility, have a friend marry you. Most states permit licensing to pretty much anyone ordained - and their is some church out there that will ordain anyone. Several of my friends can perform weddings in Minnesota for this reason. This will allow you to pick the place and the words and not have to worry about finding a minister willing to marry you in front of the monkey cage at the zoo.
Decide what you are going for - funny, quirky, cheap but elegant, themed. A Star Trek wedding (been to a few of those, too) can be great fun for Star Trek fans, but might not be your cup of tea. Likewise, getting married in a big nature themed pagan celebration is great - if you are pagan. Went to a wedding that was a pig roast at a friends farm. The bride and groom in Hawaiian shirts (well, hers was more of a sarong style dress than a shirt). Saw family get married with eight guests, then we all went out for a really nice dinner.
For our wedding, we had six guests (of the immediate family) witness us get married in front of a JP in chambers. No music. I did have flowers, my maid of honor just a corsage. Dresses were off the rack street length dresses. Took about three minutes. We then had a big party, with a DJ and beer and wine, and lots of food (sub sandwiches - we did this on the “as cheap as we could” program).
So sit down and think…what do I want…and what will I look back on and think was really stupid. How many people do you think are attending - a friends house may be better than renting a park pavillion if it isn’t too many.
Wow Snoopy Fan, blue velvet is a GREAT idea! Sounds lovely.
The best wedding I ever attended was held underneath the tree in the front yard of groom’s parents. His Dad died when he was still a kid and the tree was the one he’d planted when the groom was born. They were both barefoot. He was dressed in hobo chic; her dress was a lovely pearl-covered bodice she’d picked up second hand and had sewn green and ivory chiffon (I think it was chiffon anyway) layers as the skirt. She wore a crown of gorgeous wildflowers she’d plucked from her garden and made herself, and the cake was simple, but also made gorgeous by the use of more wildflowers as decorations on it. Most beautiful wedding I’ve ever seen.
Best of luck and congratulations.
I forgot to mention it was a small affair with less than thirty people in attendance.
I always thought it would be cool to have a suprise wedding ceremony. You would not announce that there was going to be a wedding, but would invite your friends to a party somewhere. When they got there, you would tell them that the party will start right after you take care of a little business first. I don’t know of anyone who has actually done this, though, so I don’t know how well it would turn out.
Whatever you do, just relax and have fun. After all, this should be a celebration of your union, not a show that has to be perfect. Our reception was held at a friend’s house where people could come and go as they wished. It was very relaxed and we still talk about how much fun we had there. We contrast that with my sister in law who stressed out so much over everything being perfect that she did not enjoy herself at all at her reception.
Hmmm, since you are the bride, I don’t think that I can congratulate you. Best wishes, perhaps?
It wasn’t the Friendship Oak? On USM’s campus?
Well, the idea is that you speak if the spirit moves you. There’s no shame in not speaking. It’s okay if there are periods of silece and reflection. And you might be surprised, if other guests start speaking, your family may join in.
This site: http://www.documentsanddesigns.com/about_our_products/about_tradition_history.htm has more information about Quaker marriage certficates.
It wasn’t the Friendship Oak? On USM’s campus?
At my first school, Murray State University, there is a “shoe tree” in the middle of campus. Couples that hooked up at MSU would take one of their shoes each and nail them to the tree, usually they would write where and when they met on one of the shoes.
Not sure if there ever was a wedding there, though, but that would be cool.
I dreamt recently that my roommate and her fiance got married on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. I shared this with them and while they were amused, I don’t think it inspired them to rush off and do it.
I think it’s a brilliant idea, though (and naturally so, it did come from my subconscious), and maybe I can get them to change their minds. That would be pretty damned unconventional.
Nope. It was on the (IIRC) Town Green. Airman was stationed at Keesler AFB but for various reasons, we chose to have a civilian wedding at the park.
Robin
Our wedding was at a park in Chicago. As my husband’s family is Indian, we tried to incorporate a bit of both traditional American and Indian in the ceremony. We both wore Indian clothing (not a sari for me but something more modern) and we exchanged both rings and a traditional Indian necklace. (Well, no, I got the necklace and we both got rings.) We had no attendants but we did ask the two friends who introduced us to read something. We asked them to keep it a surprise until the ceremony. One read a poem by Maya Angelou–and the other (dear Eva Luna) read Oh the Places You Will Go, by Dr. Suess. She then passed the book around and most of our guests (there were about 80) signed it and we now have this as a wonderful memento. (Eva was the hit of the wedding, let me tell you!)
We annonced that we would not respond to glasses clinking. If people wanted us to kiss, they had to write a poem and recite it first before we would kiss. I think people really liked that (it was a creative bunch). Guests seem to take it as a personal challenge to outdo each other!
The ceremony itself was only about 15 minutes–and people seemed to like that. The main reason it worked well for us was that we had this great (secular) minister who really personalized the ceremony and made everyone laugh a lot, which is what we try to do ourselves. I’ve been to weddings were the officiants have been terrible and the wedding is a trial to sit through.
I should point out that the reception was just a brunch (we left for our honeymoon that afternoon) and there was no dancing (we’re not opposed, we just didn’t think it was necessary at 10 am), so there was nothing elaborate. But because it was small, we were able to talk to everyone and spend time with our guests. We had a no present rule and instead gave folks lists of charities they could donate to.
In all, I think you just need to choose something that really reflects you and that is what people will remember. We had a wedding planner, who was not too expensvie, and she helped us with all the logisitcs, which made things easier.
I knew someone once who had a surprise wedding - her husband planned it all (I think they were engaged already) and sprung it on her. She was thrilled. The surprise-all-your-friends wedding sounds neat too !
My wedding rocked. We snuck down to City Hall with two friends, went out for Thai food, then called everyone and told them. A few months later we rented out a bar and hired a DJ. It cost $500 altogether (half for the DJ, half for nibblies), and it was the best DJ I’ve ever heard in Toronto. (If I do say so myself.) Stress-free, and everyone seemed to have a great time!
The other Best Wedding Ever was when a friend of mine managed to secure a campground for the weekend. The ceremony was outdoors (it was interrupted by a rude bullfrog) and then the drinking and partying commenced. The tennis court became a dance floor. It was the most fun I’ve ever had, maybe anywhere. The setting is everything !