I remember very little of my first wedding, which was 40+ years ago. All I DO remember was the cake was awful. That was a big disappointment because it was made by a very well-recommended Washington, DC bakery. Oh, well, the marriage was a disappointment, too, as it ended in divorce not many years after.
When Buck and I married, more than 30 years ago, we were as poor as a church mouse and did the whole thing ourselves. I made all the flowers, decorations, my gown and veil, all the attendant's dresses, as well as the wedding cake.
The facility where we had the wedding was a huge 1770s mansion that had been turned into a party/function center and belonged to the county. Since we were married the week before Christmas, the place was decorated to the rafters by the county as a Christmas showplace. It was gorgeous.
In addition to the cake, we had finger foods (no full kitchen because the facility was not licensed for that type of event) and plenty of champagne. I think there were about 125 people there to celebrate with us. The cake was great, even if I was the one who made it.
Fast forward to Halloween 2009. Glenn's and my wedding day. It was a lovely, mild, sunny day. Somewhat unusual for this region for that time of the year. Beautiful shirtsleeves weather.
We were married at 4 p.m. outside in the huge gazebo that is a focal point in the city of Paducah, which is near where we live. A dear, dear friend married us and we went back to their store (a very elegant jewelry store) and had wedding cake and champagne. And, man oh man, was the cake ever good. So good that I had the bakery make another smaller one for our second anniversary.
We were a small group. Just our friend who married us, his wife, one of his employees (a friend, too), Constance (a fellow DCer) and her husband, and one other very dear female friend.
After the cake and champagne, Glenn and I walked down to a bed-and-breakfast where he'd made reservations for our honeymoon night. The inn is above an outstanding Mexican restaurant where we had our first date. We checked in and, after an hour or so of kicking back and reliving our wedding, we went downstairs for a fantastic Mexican dinner. I don't remember what we ate because we've eaten there so many times, I think we've had everything on the menu by now. It's all always sooooo good.
P.S. The gazebo is where we made arrangements to meet for the first time. It's now "our" gazebo.