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"Do's," "don'ts" and "absolutely don'ts" come to us today, courtesy of people who have been there, done that. "What, if anything, would you change about your wedding if you could go back and do it over?" was the question.
Of course, use your own best judgment when you decide whether to follow the advice or not.
"I would prevent my mil from taking down the decorations at 10 p.m. when Dan & I left (people were still dancing!!!!)"
"We went to Vegas with about 15 people and it was awesome! One thing to change? Well, I might have waited until I got there to book my wedding.
My wedding was booked over the phone by some drunk guy. The picture on the internet failed to mention that it would be held in the back of a motel court yard and that men in towels drinking wine would be cheering me from up above... then again, I dont know if I would even change that. It was definitely an experience.
Maybe I would just say, dont book your wedding with a drunk guy over the phone."
"I would have had it in the summer. We got married in Nov, and I always wanted a summer wedding, but I was not waiting for another nine months!"
"I would have had a serious talk with the DJ about what he knew and what I wanted. I am very particular about music. If I give you a song list with a Bob Marley song on it, that does not mean to play any Bob Marley song."
"I would have black & white photos done, and some candid shots too. I would also get someone else to video tape it."
"My mother-in-law would have showed up on time. About thirty minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, she tells my mom that she's going to get changed. My mom is thinking 'OK, she's going to change in the dressing area' - nope she went home (45 minutes away), took a shower, dressed, etc., and kept everyone waiting for over two hours."
"I wouldn't have allowed smoking. My wedding dress will forever reek of cigarettes."
"My bride would show up on time. Apparently our wedding wasn't important enough to put on her schedule."
• The Shrine of Saint Therese
Heather and Styge Smith were married at the Shrine of Saint Therese in a nearly traditional ceremony.
"Since Styge is from England, his friends couldn't be here," said Heather. "So, my Juneau friends were groomswomen."
Due to Styge's work commitments, Heather did most of the planning, and she knew the Shrine would be perfect from the start.
"The Shrine has always had a special place in my heart," she said. But she also felt that the stone construction and age of the chapel would appeal to Styge as well. "It's so old, it was just a little more English."
Although the Shrine chapel itself has a small changing room, Heather advises renting the old Post Office as a staging point for the female members of the wedding party. It provides more room and has a wonderful Alaskan feel.
"The post office is so rustic - it was kind of fun getting all dolled up out in a cabin."
• The Pavilion at the Mendenhall Glacier
A strong desire to enjoy the beauty of their home town - combined with a practical desire to avoid weather worries - led Mindy and Stew Rowland to hold their wedding ceremony at the Mendenhall Glacier Pavilion.
"We had a ton of out-of-town guests," Mindy said. Since she and Stew had grown up in Juneau, they felt a connection to the outdoors and wanted to give their visiting guests a taste of it. Their family and friends from Mexico, Washington DC, and Hawaii were especially impressed about the icebergs floating in the background.
Mindy's father escorted her down the aisle, which for their purposes included the switchbacked trail from the Visitor's Center. Although she did not plan it that way, it remains one of the highlights of a treasured memory.
"We had the best talk," she said of the walk they shared. "That was pretty special."
• Adlersheim Wilderness Lodge
Gwen and Jason Cornelius knew that they wanted to have a big wedding, with lots of food and dancing. They also knew they wanted to get married outdoors.
"We wouldn't have it any other way," said Jason of the setting for his wedding day. "We went [to Adlersheim], and we immediately thought 'this is where it's got to be.'"
They felt Adlersheim gave them the perfect combination of view and an onsite reception. Even the distance from town was a bonus.
"It was a drive, but I think a lot of [out-of-town guests] got to see more of Juneau than they would have ordinarily," Jason said.
Gwen, as the primary planner, does recall making some concessions particularly in flowers and catering. However, the setting was gorgeous, and their families pitched in and made all the food - and even some of the beverages: the Wicked Wedding Ale and Post-Nuptial Pilsner were brewed by Gwen's father especially for the occasion.
Gwen said, "We managed to have a very nice, very traditional ceremony, but I still got to have a garden style wedding - minus the ExtraTuffs."
• Home is where the hearts are
Judy and Al Fletcher could not imagine a more perfect location for their wedding ceremony than the place they lived every day.
"A home is intimate and personal to me," said Judy, "[and] we wanted to have a more intimate type wedding."
For a year, Judy spent her weekends researching ideas and making plans for the big day. She and Al shared a vision of a small, twilight ceremony surrounded by close friends, and each aspect of the decorations, food and music was carefully planned around enhancing that setting.
Even though Judy is very artistic and loves to cook - she hand-lettered the invitations and made all the hors d' oeuvres - she drew the line at the wedding cake. "You don't realize how stressful it's going to be the day of the wedding."
"I knew what limitations my home had as far as decorating, and I knew how I could enhance it," Judy said. "[We had] everything that we wanted to have, exactly the way I wanted it."
• Glacier Gardens
True Juneauites, Jason and Kerin Wilson agree that their wedding day at Glacier Gardens was perfect, even though the sun did not make much of an appearance.
"The rain stopped about 10 minutes before the ceremony," said Jason. Kerin added, "And it started [again] when we were getting in the limo."
They wanted to get married in a beautiful location, but they especially appreciated the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere at Glacier Gardens. The setting felt right for a couple that wanted to make their ceremony an intimate, personal event.
"We just felt closer to God outside," said Kerin. "We got to write our own vows, [and] we got to choose who married us. . . I would not change a thing."
• Underwater
The Hatch wedding probably deserves a prize for Most-Crashed Nuptial Event.
"We only invited maybe 25 people," said Mike of his wedding to Karen. "But when we got over there, there were probably 200 people."
Since the wedding took place 60 feet underwater at Barlow Cove, however, parking was not a problem. All the boats tied up to each other, and everyone remembers getting plenty of food.
Both the bride and groom wore drysuits, although Karen also had a veil.
"It didn't last long," Mike said. "It floated away."
"When I suggested it, I was actually just half-kidding," Mike Hatch admitted. "[But] she couldn't think of anything better."
• Berner's Bay Cabin
The groom, the bride, and the officiant all had a secret at Tom and Mila Cosgrove's wedding.
"We call it our stealth wedding," said Mila. "Nobody who was invited knew."
The handful of close friends the couple asked to accompany them on Mila's birthday weekend in Berner's Bay were pleasantly shocked when Tom announced that they had a little something they needed to do as soon as they arrived. However, they rallied to the occasion, collecting flowers for Mila's hair and bouquet and forming a kayak paddle arch for the couple to march through.
"We both love nature; we like being outside," said Mila. "We both like a good story."
As Tom, the former bachelor, said, "It was a wonderful way to go."
• Adlersheim Wilderness Lodge
"It wasn't that we didn't want a church wedding," said Lecia Kahklen of her nuptials at Adlersheim Wilderness Lodge. "It just worked out better [to have it there]."
Both Lecia and her husband Keith love the outdoors and wanted a wedding that would incorporate as much of Juneau's natural beauty as possible. They also wanted to be thoughtful of their guests' comfort, so they planned to have both the wedding and the reception at the same location.
Advance planning took care of the decorations. "We had planted flower pots earlier in the year, and they were all [in bloom]," Lecia said.
Having the wedding at Adlershiem provided an additional bonus.
"We [arranged for] out-of-town guests to stay for the weekend," Lecia said. "That worked out well for us."
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