The best moments from weddings are never what you think they are | Life

23 Feb 2018

Tammy February

I love a good love story. More importantly, I love it when that story is paired with a wedding day (big or small) filled with love, laughter and the kind of memories that you hope will last for a lifetime.

Admittedly I totally fangirl over the sheer and magical quality of a beautiful and fully decked out reception, a beautiful wedding gown and the romantic atmosphere.

But it's rarely these things that mean most to couples.

I was reading this piece on Brides.com where a variety of photographers shared some of the favourite moments to photograph and the responses showed that many photographers agree.

Some said that time with the mother and bride are wonderful snapshots worth capturing, while others talked about other candid emotions filled with happy tears.

We decided to ask some readers to share their favourite wedding moments and here’s what they’ve had to say (we're still looking for some queer and more POC wedding photos and memories, so please scroll down to the bottom to find out how to send us your pics):

For @shamz04 on Twitter, it was all about the guests:

Our favourite wedding moment was looking at the candid photos of our guests afterwards. Talking, eating, laughing, having fun. Celebrating us. The day is so busy, it's a bit of a blur.

You're saying "thank you" to everyone who gives you a heartfelt compliment but you're saying it 200 times.

Only afterwards, when the dust has settled do you remember seeing everyone and seeing them happy in the photos made it all worth it.”

Author Masha du Toit celebrated her wedding day and craft by having storytellers at her wedding:

The ceremony was lovely. We asked Giselle Turner and Wendy Nell, who are professional story tellers to tell stories to open the ceremony. Traditional fairy tales.

One of the stories was The Lindworm, which is a beautiful tale about love conquering difference and prejudice.

There were many parts to our ceremony, including my mother and my mother-in-law putting the last stitch into my wedding dress, which I'd embroidered myself with, among other things, dragonflies and scenes from Tintin.

The marriage officer, who'd been told that we didn't want anything religious was so moved that he did an impromptu religious speech.

I learnt that the thing about weddings is that they really belong to everyone involved, you can't be too precious about what happens without losing the spirit of it all.

Then we had line dancing which was a lot of fun. The food was mostly a sort of bring-and-share picnic, people brought their own cushions and cutlery and we camped out all over the gallery.

Brendon had organised one of his colleagues to make an enormous pot of briyani, which I'm told was delicious, although I was too keyed-up to eat any, and my sister in law made a cake iced with an image drawn by one of her children.

The moment after the ceremony really struck a chord with Kerry:

My favourite moment is perhaps a less traditional one - it was the moment we walked into the hall after the ceremony and we were announced as Mr and Mrs.

Having everyone I loved in one room standing for me and my new husband just put my emotions in overdrive.

I felt like I was walking in to a special and beautiful new chapter in my life. I will never forget a few days after the wedding we heard the song that we walked in to - Love me Like you do by Ellie Goulding and I just teared up and looked over at him and he was also quite emotional.

READ MORE: The best royal weddings around the world we wish we'd cracked an invite to

Getting married in a beautiful park, surrounded by her loved ones was what mattered most to Robyn

My entire wedding was filled with awesome moments and a piece of advice that I give to all those planning a wedding is that the day should be exactly what you want.

No matter how different or strange it may seem to others.

We got married in a park, surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers, on a Thursday afternoon. And it was everything I ever wanted.

One particular moment I loved was captured in this image. I married my best friend (cliché I know) while standing under a majestic tree on a bed of rose petals.

The best of all is that my brother was the one to do the ceremony. So many special memories!

Karen loved that she got to celebrate her wedding at the school she teaches at

Ha ha, we sang at our wedding. It’s on YouTube!

My favourite thing was that being a preschool teacher and it was a total family friendly/kid friendly wedding, so we had it at the school that I was teaching at.

All the family kids that came got to play in the playground. And since it was my 2nd wedding my son gave me away.

WATCH: Karen and her hubby Scott singing at their wedding:

Paula loved the process of making her own invites and using song lyrics

My partner-in-crime proposed to me on our 10-year ‘going out’ anniversary and we tied the knot a year later. I handmade our wedding invites and hand-delivered or posted them to all our South African guests.

The lyrics I had printed on the back of the envelopes were from a song by VNV Nation, which we chose to open the dance floor, after our first dance: "I am sentry to you now, all your hopes & all your dreams; I will hold you to the light, that's what forever means."

On 13th March this year we'll be celebrating a total of 24 years joined at the hip. Best friends for life!

Our family, the triangle. Thank you to everyone who jumped in, pitched up, flew in, hugged us, danced, tuned in, sent wishes, made it possible for us to look this good, and helped turn this celebration into a day of complete joy. I will never forget those five minutes before I walked in. Held together by my bride tribe, yelling because I couldn't get my head right, and just as I spotted my husband before me, my mind went quiet and still. All I could see was him and this child in the middle. And nothing else matters. ? ?? by @laurensetterberg
A post shared by Catherine Cassells ? WordWoman (@cathjenkin) on Sep 10, 2017 at 6:19am PDT

Catherine loved her first dance with her father-in-law!

Our entire day was this weirdly surreal, magnificent thing I'd do all over again. But, if I have to highlight two things, it's this: My husband singing one of my favourite songs to me and I didn't know what it would be until that moment.

And, when I stepped out to dance, my father in law was waiting for me instead of my husband. I couldn't have my dance with my dad, so I had my dance with him instead. My whole heart settled in that moment.

All images provided and submitted by the readers featured in this piece.

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding? Send us your pics and stories and we could feature it in a follow up article!

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