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Hi everyone! I've got an interesting question for you all... I've noticed that there are many people here who have life partners, with whom you share your life and many of you also have beautiful children together. So, my question is, how did you choose to pledge your dedication to each other? Did you have a traditional/conventional wedding? If so, was it in a church, garden, beach...? Or did you have a commitment ceremony of some sort? Was your wedding performed by a priest, a celebrant or something else (are there even other options?)
And for those of you who are in a relationship and would like to make it somewhat more... I'm not sure of the right word, maybe defined? Recognised? What are you planning on doing? Have you thought about it?

I really don't know where all of these questions have come from!  :laugh: I have never been in a romantic relationship in my life and I'm certainly not considering it - at this point in my life, I can't imagine ever wanting to have that kind of long-term relationship with any other person (although my cat and I are in for the long haul!!  rofl) I guess it interests me because if I were to ever find myself in a relationship with someone I truly loved and I wanted to recognise my commitment to them in a concrete way, I wouldn't be able to have a traditional marriage. Even if the church did recognise the love between two women (or two men) I wouldn't want to get married, because I'm a strong athiest and I don't feel the need to have the church recognise my relationship.

Well, thanks for reading guys!  :ohyeah:

..perhaps that's why your name is Freedom, Freeedom? BTW, did you ever end up actually changing your name? I was married by a celebrant in a backyard ceremony with close friends and family.

Boy, what a question!!!!  Pandora's box has opened....LOL.

Well, I'm married and I did it 'traditionally' through the eyes of God.  But I did get married in the Botanical Gardens in Bundaberg with a Pastor, and then celebrated the night away.  Also, I was 21!!!  Now that is 13 years ago and am still married and have two beautiful girls.

If I was to do it all over again, I would save my money I would spend on the wedding and go on a holiday (Perhaps Canada, France, Italy.....wherever, just not the Botanical Gardens in Bundaberg.....but that was lovely nonetheless).  But I will say I will still do it 'traditionally' through the eyes of God because I have a strong belief in God. 

I suppose I also wanted to have the same last name as my husband, and wanted my children to have that too.  I know there are other ways you can achieve that, but this is the way that I wanted.  Adam and Eve were never married by a pastor, priest or whatever, but were still married through the eyes of God!!!  I think also some people, like myself, get married the traditional way to be legally recognised as a married couple.

As for if you were ever to find yourself in a relationship with someone you truly loved and wanted to recognise that commitment, there are many other ways you can do that that doesn't involve a/the church.  I just say.............GO AWAY AND TAKE A HOLIDAY.  You'll enjoy it. :ohyeah:

I tell my husband that the next time I get married, I'm going away to Italy for the ceremony!!!!!!  Oh, and he can come along too rofl rofl rofl

Rita xx  :heart:

Hey FreedonB, what an interesting question! I will tell you my experience because you asked, I do not want to push my beliefs onto anyone, I respect everyones choice and decision.

My husband and I were engaged after two weeks of dating, and married 4 months later. Right from the word go, we felt instinctivly that we were meant to be together, this feeling was so strong, we felt that we had known eachother before and now had been reunited in this life. Our lifetime path was to be together, we were planning our marriage before he had offically asked me, we knew it was right for us to commit to eachother in a way that would be binding on earth as well as the next life, the confirmation from higher powers sealed our decision.

Our beleifs in getting to know eachother spiritually more than physically whilst dating helped us look deeper into our souls, to see one anothers inner true self, we didnt have sex until we were married. Most of the Christian world believes that Marriage is till death only and then you are parted forever. We chose to be married in a temple that performs marriages for eternity, meaning we will be together with our children forever...and not only that, but continue the family unit forever, Death has no bounds on the marriage and family unit, and what a wonderful promise that is, because my husband is my life, he is my part of my soul and who Iam. We chose to be married, the physical act, because for us it is symbolic of our promise for eternity, it helps us be more dedicated and really work at what we have together. We follow the traditional male and female roles in our marriage, whilst working together as a team, we are both equal partners.

Hope this helps, and I say again I am not preaching, I dont judge anyone in their choices, I respect each individuals decision for their own path in life.

Love to you freedomb

BB
XXX

Timely Freedom...I'm gettin married at 4.00PM today lol.

Defintely Non-Tradtional for me. We want the wedding to be fun for everyone involved. We are having a Celtic Theme (actually an ancient celtic ceremony including the hand fastening which is where the term "Tie The Knot" originated").

The celebrant specialises in celtic wedding and shall be wearing a kilt as will I and most of my guests.

Oh and it's at home. The bride will be piped down the street then a short ceremony including the "warming of the rings" where the rings are passed between family members who then think on the couple and wish them well...there's a lot of stuff actually but you get the idea.


And my "best man" is female so that's certainly not "traditional"...my best friend just happens to be a girl so I figured why not?

After that...one big party with a few "surprises" in store for guests one of which is an artist who will be doing ink brush drawings of people.

"Traditional" ? ( thumbs down ) lol.

John

John, all the best for your wedding today.  It sounds amazing...I hope you tell us all about it in the coming weeks. 

May your future lives together bring you much love and happiness.

Congratulations!

Love,

swami xx

Congratulations John,

Indeed, how timely.  So what are you doing writing on the forum......aren't you supposed to be PANICKING!!!!   KIDDING!!!   If you're like me, I was really calm because I knew it was right.

Congrats again and best wishes to you both.

Rita
 :heart:

P.S.  If possible, and when able to, I'm sure we'll all like to see some photos.....

Oh your day sounds so exciting and FUN, I am so happy for you John, all the best, please post a pic of the beautiful bride!

Love BB
XXX

Hehe, perhaps it is Brett. And, yes, I did legally change my name as soon as I turned 18 - so in just a few weeks I will be celebrating 19 years of being on this planet and 1 year of being Freedom. I'm sure you're backyard ceremony was gorgeous - when I was little we had a beautiful snowball tree (don't know the botanical name!) in our backyard and I used to say that I wanted to get married beneath it in spring when the flowers started falling.

Thanks for your answer Rita, oh and how nice of you to let your husband come to Italy, lol!  :laugh: Though if you ever found yourself in a position where you could take that trip, wouldn't it be beautiful to have a renewal of the vows? My parents have talked about doing that a number of times, I think it would be fun but they've never gotten around to it.

That's so beautiful BB, that you knew so soon you were committed to spending eternity with your partner. I know lots of people who would say it's stupid to get married so quickly, blah blah blah but I think if you can feel that it's right, do it. My parents spent four years dating and 2 years engaged before they actually got married, but I think that was more due to pressure from their families (and financial constraints) as they were only 16 when they started dating. But in a few weeks they're celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary!

CONGRATULATIONS John!!!  :yahh: And you're non-traditional wedding sounds awesome - do you or your partner have a Celtic background, or did you just think it would be fun? Anyway, have a wonderful day!  :ohyeah:

in the past I gave into society/family pressure, so I had official weddings (2 of them), done by civilian celebrants, no church.

None of the 2 wedding has good memories, as they were missuesed by various family members for their personal agendas and forcing their wishes...

In future I probably will not do any official ceremonies...

I have a question - why there is a need for any type of ceremony at all, why there needs to be something official,
why teh need for papers, stamps and signatures ?

would like to read people views on this.

so far when I am questioning this, the answers are of type - well thats how it is and always been, and society and family expects that...not good enought reason for me...

interesting point rudolf..... i don't know why many of us feel the need for an actual event such as a ceremony or similar, whether it's recognised or not. it probably comes down to years of conditioning - it is in no way a bad thing, it comes down to the individuals involved and what they want. i could take a stab at it and guess that many if not most of us humans are rather out of touch with ourselves emotionally, have blurred or contradictory views on self, attachment to self, ego, love, who/what/where etc and so need to recognise things externally (i'll put my hand up first for being out of touch with myself) - or maybe people just do it becauses it's fun. sometimes the reason is too simple for us over-complicated beings to see.

in answer to freedom's initial question - at the moment my plans for a recognition ceremony involve just two people - hopefully one of them is me - in a gorgeous tropical rockpool/lagoon, dressed as we were when born - eating mango from a coconut bowl and then possibly using each other as plates (think i'll stop there.) but then i'm open to whatever my significant other wants....

ps - john, i dig the "best girl" concept - hope your day is special

yeah, but thats how every day of the life should be :laugh:

Freedom - I am getting married in 6 weeks from now in a garden wedding (we arent religious) then the reception at a restaurant on the river.
We are only having 32 people there, so its quite small.
Gary and I have been dating for about 3 or 4 years and engaged for about 1 year.
We were friends for awhile first too.
Some parts of the ceremony will be traditional, but we have written our own vows to say.
We are only having 1 bridesmaid and 1 groomsman, so its pretty simple.
Just a few family and friends gathering together for a nice day & dinner!  x  x

we met in a bike shop last year. around april it was. love at first sight...all my mates were like 'wow! you scored dude!, can i have a ride?!'. i had to work hard to get her. constant visits to the bike shop..pretending i wasnt interested when actually i really, really was..you know how it is, after a few visits one of the sales people says 'so how about it? you interested? we can hook it up for you? come on you know you want it..'

id go back for a few weeks..go to different bike shops and see what was hanging around there. saw a few nice lightweight fast looking models but none like her. they really know how to make a fine piece in taiwan. i used to be into euro and american models but thesedays..the asians are tak'n the cake. they create so many..any flaws are quickly eliminated in the next generation. so you can be rest assured your in for a long relationship.

i went to thailand and then america and so we had some time apart. i came back and we went for a ride..but something just didnt feel right..had i changed? had she? we decided to seek some professional help and booked in to definitely the most famous clinic in the world. its in sydney. called pedal pushers. they help more people overcome these sort of issues than anywhere...

they told me that i was at fault..that she was fine and the problems were with me. i wasnt flexible enough..i had to relax more. too tense in the shoulders i was. then steve the guru pulled me aside and said 'we set her up right..she is ready to roll. you just gotta harden up and ride her more.' that was all the advice i needed.

so we planned a trip from byron to adelaide. just me and her. no distractions. riding for 7 hours a day..for 14 days. we saw had lots of time to get to really know each other. nothing like the outback for some real intimacy. we would get up with the sun and ride all day and often into the night..after a week i really started to enjoy riding her.

when we got back to adelaide people said we looked like we had grown together. you could tell she was mine and i was hers. maybe it was the 'go vegan' sticker i put on her. whatever the reason..they knew we were a hot item. we have been in a few magazines even. she always attracts attention. especially with school boys. they are like 'wow! ive never seen one that sophisticated!'

i really get pumped up talking about her. im proud of her heritage and where she has taken me. the places we have been and the trials we have conquered..
but i get a bit irritated when people ask me 'how do you know its a 'she'?'

cant they tell? cant they see the beauty? the smooth lines..the curves..the hardness when it counts..the softness when required..the sexy carbon glimmering in the sun..the long travel forks to deal with whatever the trail may throw at us..the aggressive geometry that puts us both in an optimum center of gravity..

this aint no rough bloke my bike...my bike has all the virtues of a good woman.
one of my mates said that the reason i aint found a woman is cos im too busy riding 'her' all the time. 'no chick wants to compete with a bike' said another..

maybe they are right..but we got paperwork to signify our commitment. a reciept from the bike shop. with witnesses. sure we did it for tax purposes..but who cares as long as your happy...

I loved that post Harley, laughed and laughed.

I think whatever a person/couple does, it needs to be entirely because it is what they want and how they want. Be true to your own ideals and values and throw the rest out the window.  

Harley, how funny!!  What a great story.

BerryBliss, I love the knowing you both felt when you met each other.

Viola...a handmade wedding dress.  That sounds incredible.  Photos??  Your ceremony sounded amazing too.

Rudolf, I have always wondered the same thing.  I could never understand why people felt like a piece of paper would give them commitment.  I always thought you could achieve that without the paper and the ceremony.  However, in speaking to many, many people, including some who had been together a long time, they've all told me they feel different after getting married, no matter how committed to each other they felt beforehand.

I'm going to sound like a relationship junkie here, but I've been in three relationships and never had the desire to marry any of them.  Just as well or I'd have been divorced three times by the age of 34!!  (Or maybe not...maybe the paper would have made the difference and I'd still be with my first partner...who knows?!)  Anyway, I think I'm your ultimate commitment phobe...I'm happily single and can't see myself being in a relationship again.

Reading the replies above though, I think that it's beautiful to have some kind of formal recognition of your commitment to one another and maybe just living together or saying you're committed isn't enough. 

fruiteus maximus, your celebration sounds divine!!

RNJ...all the best for your wedding in six weeks.  Sounds lovely.

Emi, it's sad that what some consider to be "the best day of your life" turned out to be one of the worst for you, and that you did it for the family.  I guess we all live and learn.  I think I'm like you in your belief that relationships are like the seasons; maybe it's because my mother's been married twice and my father three times (GREAT role models!!) so I don't put much value on wedding vows or their meaning. 

Great thread Freedom. 

xx

Oh MY GOODNESS...phew, harley, wow..speechless...lol
That was soooo sexy and hillarious at the same time..Love it!

I gotta show hubby that one!

BB
XXX

DR, that made me laugh so hard.  Always feels good when you have a deep belly laugh!!!  If only we were all so committed to one another.....hee, hee.  :laugh:

BTW, Harley, if you trade 'her' in for a newer model, how do you think she's going to feel?  LOL  :P rofl

Rita

Never got anyone saying this to my face but I can ONLY imagine the gossip behind my back.

Married my husband six weeks after meeting him, we celebrated 12 wonderful years in May 2007.

We had a fairly un-traditional wedding. We were desperately low on funds, so had to pawn our cameras to buy the wedding rings. We married at a registry office after pulling three strangers off the street to be our witnesses.

Spent the afternoon of our wedding day in the New Zealand Tax Office (could have done without that) as needed to get our tax refunds so we could pay for our airline tickets back to Australia.

If I had my time again, I wouldn’t do it any other way (except I would leave out the visit to the Tax office)

To me, it’s the marriage (or commitment) that counts, not the actual wedding.

My turn lol,

I got married in a church, no music at reception, no alcohol (probably a good thing lol) and it was all over in two hours... I love my husband for life, for ever... But if i was to do it again, i would invite all of my friends and wanted family to a backyard or beach party, without letting them know that we are getting married and surprise everyone, dress would then be casual, no presents (takes pressure off), lots of music, love, laughter, and fun.... What else does anyone need lol...

As far as that dreaded piece of paper some people refer to as an unimportant thing to have, i say "If it's so unimportant why not have it, how can that hurt or change your belief", remember it's already unimportant to you, so just sign away who cares lol...

with love  :rose:

long time ago, back in my country, I heard this expalanation, why the wedding or the paper kills everything :

there is no need to try work on relationship, once the goal has been achieved,

it was comapared to the public transport :

You spot the bus, You realize it could be Yours, You start running, You realize the bus is going to leave the busstop, so You run hard, You run fast, You produce Your running PB, just to get a chance to catch the bus.

You may succeed, so You catch teh bus, You jump on, totaly exhausted,
You look around , find the free seat, You drop down on teh seat and will not move anymore.

You catched the bus, got a comfy seat, and so You are going to reciver from the hard running and just enjoy the ride, You have done Your bit, and the bus is suposed to provide the effortless ride...


Have You seen anybody on the bus to keep running ?

John - I hope you had a lovely wedding, and are currently off enjoying a lovely honeymoon somewhere romantic and relaxing! x

That may be right, Rudolf.  But if you are to compare my marriage to the public transport, then, yes, I suppose we did do the running before the marriage.  But once married you know that you are on that bus for the long haul/trip and there are other things you can learn about the bus rather than just running after it.  You can talk, get to know the driver and find out what he or she likes, add a few more buses perhaps to the journey.....whatever takes your fancy.

I know a lot of people who aren't married and in a relationship, and they're sitting on a bus comfortable and not moving anymore.  The 'piece of paper' is NOT the thing that stops people trying.......it's the people themselves.  I have seen people not married and in a long-term relationship and not trying and things fall apart.  And I have seen that with married people too.  It comes down to individuals and what they stand for and who they are; and whether the two people can be happy AND comfortable with their partner/spouse/bus!!!!

As for "there is no need to work on the relationship once the goal is achieved", you can always set other goals in your lives.....whether it be starting a family, going on a trip, learning a new language.......whatever.  Relationships are on-going work whether you're married or not.

Luv

Rita :heart:

P.S. John I hope you enjoyed your wedding yesterday.  Best wishes again to both of you.

P.S.  when I say 'adding a few more buses perhaps to the journey', I meant little buses (children)........not other people........LOL!!!!!  I just re-read it and thought I'd better claify before people get the wrong idea!!!  rofl rofl

Rita :heart:

Rita, I posted what I remember hearing back than, I am not saying I agree with it, but it is good paralel to describe lots of relationships (with a valid bus ticket or not :laugh:)

It's a case of whatever rocks your boat..... Again each to his or her own lol... Some believe in pieces of paper some don't, who cares as long as you find that special someone to share your journey with, it's not how you get there, but what you do to get there, lol iv'e confused myself  lol i'm going now lol....

John happy marriage and all that lol....

with love  :rose:

I apologise, Rudolf, for my misunderstanding. Sometimes I read something and assume what is meant by it.....

Rita :heart:

As long as you've got the Love thing going on, who cares if it is traditional or not!

Beautiful thread Freedom:)

Great thread Freedom.

Hope you had a great wedding day John!

Its wonderful to hear about peoples past and future wedding/commitment ceremonies.

I like the idea of a commitment ceremony because it is a celebration. I think that it is a cool concept to have a day/party dedicated to the LOVE between a couple.

I have been with my partner for 3.5 years and would like to have a 5 year celebration ceremony. I think that it could be cool to celebrate our love retrospectively... ie. have a love celebration ceremony every 5 years or something. This appeals to me because I'm not so certain that I believe in the one soul mate thing, I think that it can be good to have many loves throughout our lifetimes and to feel good about each one at the time. But I have to admit that the idea of one love for life is so appealing in that is more socially acceptable and comfortable. Its interesting to try to think about what 'commitment' means if it is over an undetermined period of time, ie. my parter has been financially supporting me a bit over the last year because I have taken significant time off of work due to illness. He is committed to me and thinks that his extra effort will 'work out in the wash'. I often wonder if it is a good idea to let him support me unless we have commited ourselves to life or serious long-term?

I like the idea of having a shared last name... maybe one that is not connected to the two names we have now.

Durianrider... what a fabulous story! It was strangely romantic. You are a great writer. You could write a good column for a mag or other publication.

Kelly

Garfield i love it..........

as long as you've got the love thing going on,who cares!! im with you on that one.........cheers!

Some great posts in this thread. Very thought-provoking. One of those subjects where you agree with everyone even if it's not for you.

Thanks to all for your best wishes (never seen your romantic side before Harley lol).

*WARNING: Long Post (and much of it is about my wedding) ;-)

I tend to agree that you don't need a wedding ceremony tradtional or otherwise...but...every circumstance is unique. I was married "traditionaly" when I was 22 and it lasted 18 months. Married for all the wrong reasons etc. I swore then I would never marry again and lost complete faith in and respect for the whole deal.

For that matter I don't believe you need a partner at all to be happy...some people seem to "need" someone in their life and that can lead to making compromises with less-than-happy outcomes.

How to explain this without it coming out wrong...this is pretty personal and hard to find the right words...so I hope it makes sense.

I didn't "need" to marry Cindy to make our relationship mean anything more than it already does. But over the six or so years we have been together it slowly started to dawn on me that the concept of marriage meant something to her.The little things, like how you get introduced to other people etc...The fact that society doesn't consider her an "attractive" lady (and she doesn't)....some quite subtle stuff that affects the view she holds of herself...I dunno, I'm gettin a bit lost trying to explain this...

Cindy never ever nagged about this subject but for some reason it was in the background.

I had a long talk to a mate of mine about this and he summed it up like this, " John you love Cindy and you're going to spend the rest of your life with her right?.....yeah...so ok marriage means Jack to you but it seems to mean a lot to her? ...yeah....so why not marry her...is it possible you're just being a stubborn p**** about this"?

Long story short I came to the conclusion that me marrying Cindy was an act of love towards her...that I would forego my views and stance on the subject for her.

So from the ground up I (we) planned a party. A celebration. A marriage ceremony the likes of which anyone who attended will never forget. And we succeeded in spades.

We researched and wrote the entire ceremony and vows. We researched our celtic heritage. In celtic law and ceremony there is no divorce. You are together for life.

We set this place up with marquis and family crests and...well I'll post some pics at some stage.

We had a piper,(who ended up staying for the party), a muso who arrived at 10.00am was booked till 11.00pm and stayed till 2.00am. During the evening the piper and the muso got together and did some stuff. Awesome to hear the bagpipes and a one man-band play together.

An artist set up to do ink brush drawings of anyone who wanted them was booked from 6.00-11.00pm and was still there standing at 1.00pm with names on the whiteboard still to be done. After 7 hours on his feet fully focused doing drawings he tried to soldier on but it was game over for him.

Ever seen the movie "*tail" with Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown? We had a crew up from Sydney to set up a *tail bar and do a full on flare show for the night. I was very dubious about serving *tails at a wedding...particularly at home. Had a chat with the bar crew and it was up to me If I wanted to shut the bar down at any stage so I went ahead.

They were booked till 11.00 pm and were still serving *tails @ 1.30 am. This crew has done shows all over the world and we broke some records. Most *tails ever served per head in any event they have done anywhere and best crowd ever. They were amased at the amount of alcohol consumed and no problems so they stayed till late and didn't charge us for the extra time because they were having so much fun. To me that was a tribute to the friends we are lucky enough to be blessed with.

One relative I had not seen for years asked me who we booked the function centre through because she wanted to book it...ummmm it's our home!

The cops turned up @ 1.30 am...noise complaint...geeez I thought i had all the neighbours onside lol. A few of the boys in kilts wandered out to talk to the cops and when they saw it was a wedding and winding down they were cool. The female police officer made the mistake of asking the boys what they were wearing under their kilts...

Anyway the point is we planned a party to celebrate our wedding in the most relaxed and fun way possible for everyone involved. The ceremony was short and sweet so the usual fidgeting and sudden interest in anything but the ceremony syndrome didn't occur. Let's face it...some (most ?) weddings are deadly boring affairs.

Many said on the night it was the best wedding they had ever attended and some said best social event of any kind they had attended and I'm still getting phone calls saying same. Amasing how much planning though goes into a relatively casual event ;-)

I'd say Cindy and I achieved our aim which was all we could ask for.

John

John Congrates on your day it sounds perfect.

Well I am one of those ppl that dont believe in a piece of paper. Everyone that matters around us knows we love each other and what is the point in spending all that money on one day where all you rellos get extremely drunk and dont remember it anyway.

I dont know why I dont believe in a piece of paper maybe cause I dont believe that Pete is my only soul mate. Is he my soul mate? I really dont know. Will not be with him foreverl. I love Pete and we have 2 soon to be 3 beautiful children and I will always love him for that reason. I just dont know. I believe I will find someone one day and our hearts will just intwine (sp?) like you are explaining Berry that is what I want but I know I will never have it with Pete. I also know that Pete will have the love and affection that he so wants I try my hardest to give it to him but I know from his point of view it isnt enough and same as me he doesnt give me enough. this is hard to explain it like we are not getting enough cause he isnt the right person to be giving it IYKWIM. I know Pete and me and of course our children will be happy I just dont know if it will be will all of us living under the same roof.

this has really made me think Freedom. Please everyone dont get me wrong that is just the way I love Pete dearly but are we ment to be together?

Good luck to everyone and whatever they decide to do with their relationship.

Love angie

John, what an extremely wonderful day for you and your wife, with all the important people in your life sharing that day with you.......and others who joined in and had a fabulous time too.  Next time you want to have such an extravagant event, I'll serve behind the bar.......do anything, just to get that exclusive ticket to the event!!!!  LOL. rofl rofl

My heart goes out to both of you, and it says so much when someone can put aside their beliefs for a time to make someone else happy.........you are a great person.  And even though we have not met personally, I wish the both of you neverending happiness.   I've heard this saying before and have kept it close to my heart which I sincerely hope for you both:  May the best days from your past be the worst days of your future!!!

Cindy, congratulations and wishing you a life full of wonders and love.

Take care

Rita :heart:

Thanks for telling the story of your wedding John. It sounds wonderful. I really enjoyed reading that.

Also I'm impressed that you got married for the sake of your partner. Very selfless and giving of you.

I'm so pleased to hear about your wedding John.  It really was different wasn't it?  I wish I could have been there too.  I'm very happy for you both, but particularly for Cindy.  I think a wedding is more the bride's day than the groom's - he's just there for decoration and for the bride to lean on in a few pictures I say ;)

David and I were totally traditional.  We met when I was only just turned 16 and he was heading for 18 and dated for 2½ years.  We married when I was 18½ and he was just turned 20.  We married in a traditional church with a traditional priest and had a reception in a reception centre adjoined to a tavern, and have never looked back since.  That was 32 years, 9 months and 6 days ago and we would never take back a single moment of it.

I guess we married because back then, in the olden days, it was the done thing.  We wanted to be together every moment and marriage was how it was done then.  We have Christian beliefs and wanted it to be done in a church.  I was also very happy to get rid of my maiden name, Smith.

We've never considered renewing our vows - not knocking anyone who wants to, but we feel we got it right the first time and don't want to jinx it LOL

The only untraditional thing about our marriage was that David's parents and sister did not come along.  I wasn't good enough for their David - though they realised after a while that they had been wrong and now we all get along really well.

Love
May

sounds great john, wish u health, happiness, dreams fulfilled and a life of rich adventure together!

ps

the word they took out b4 tails in your post actually makes the post read quite funny

les

Wow what a beautifull thread Freedom well done!

Beautifull stories eveeryone!!! Harley you are a rawwwing genious and BerryBliss wow what a romantic love story one only dreams of stuff like that good to know they exist.
I must say I dont have much to contribute cos I am a single gal and still looking.
But I would go traditional .
What worries me though is now that I have found raw...how would a possible partner who hasnt found raw react?...I guess I have been around too many meat eating blokes.
I guess we have to think about the non raw people in the world too .:)

By the way I know this sounds corney but if anybody does know any raw blokes with a greek backgrd let me know.  :yahh:

Thanks for posting about your wedding John. What a fantatsic event it must have been. It was fun just to imagine it in my head!

Alegne - what a beautiful natural photo of you! I wish I knew how to pronounce your name (you know when you read in your head and if you are pronouncing it wrong it is really hard to get out of the same habit) but I guess its silly to ask over the net.

Kelly i adore your new pic,you look totally stunning babe..

i believe its pronounced.(ell-lene-nee),but the first part,ell,is said quite 'shortly' and of course with an accent...right Alegne????

John awesome,sound like it truly rocked,lol..

Thanks RGG  :wub:. You are wonderful. xoxox

hehehehhe rofl
Hey guys I have had trouble with my name alllll my life both first name and last you dont want to know my last name it contains 15 letters  :yahh: .

RGG and Kelly both of you look fabulousss in your pics.
RGG I love the fact that you could go that short with ur hair look soo good its must have been soo liberating I would love to do that but I have a little this narrow face and my wavy hair is my security blanket
Aaa leggg ni = Alegne  its actually my name back de front "E"ngela yes with an e bet you havent met many Engelas with an e  :laugh: See on this forum its chock full of amazing things .
There you go the secret is out  :laugh: .

I admire Oprah ( she calls her production team Harpo) so thats where I got the idea and  I like it cos its different and it reflects my personality.

Evern though I dont get a chance to write in the forum as often as I would like I still look forward to ur posts RGG
XXXXX

Hey Freedom

How ya doing girl?

Good question. Carl and I were married at home in the backyard by a celebrant and we wrote the beginning of the ceromony ourselves based on our spiritual beliefs. I don't know actually how we came about doing it we were only together for 2 1/2 months before we got married with no engagement and Carl didn't believe in traditional marriage but it happened.

We knew we were mean't to be together we were/still are Soul Mates and had and will always have a very deep spiritual connection.

I don't think I would ever marry in the traditional sense again. The idea of a Handfasting Ceromony sounds nice but I don't think Mark and I will ever go down that road. We are deeply connected and will be together for the rest of our lives so it doesn't really matter anyway. Besides we have the same last name anyway so know one who doesn't know us will know anyway.

Love & Hugs
Tracey