More than one month passed since my Wedding day in Romania and only now I have strenth to write about it. I like the idea of marriage but I've been always against any weddings. When my boyfriend and I decided to get married the first idea was just to go the City Hall to have a one minute civil ceremony, then have some small cake party with the friends/relatives, and then at the same day leave somewhere for a honeymoon. I still like the idea and we actually did everything I described before with a small addition.... yes, after almost half-year pressure from the relatives from both sides we did a normal wedding as well... yes, with the church, white dress, party till the morning, lautari (music band playing and singing traditional Romanian music), brides steeling, waltz, etc. Well, when I look at it now I think I wouldn't recommend any "normal" wedding to anybody, my choice would be still the first "quiet" and happy option. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing my friends who came to support me, also I like the idea that now nobody will tell me: "how come, you got married but didn't have a wedding", etc. But at the same time I think the price of nerves and related expences make the benefits arguable. Here are some conclusions I made after the event:
1. Opinion: Wedding is the happiest moment in the life of any woman.....
Conclusion: wrong. probably a wedding is the happiest moment of a woman if
1) she hadn't paid a penny for it, the best case when her/his parents cover all the expenses; she wasn't too involved into the wedding organization details; she didn't have to waste her nerves convincing the groom's side that she didn't like any traditions (like putting a head scarf at the end of the party which simbolises her new status of a married woman...), lautari, and didn't want to have the party till 5 am, etc.
2) she didn't have to stay late hours before the wedding to arrange final details, or go to the airport to pick up late guests... after which she didn't have to wake up at 4 am and go 6 hours by car to the wedding place.. When I woke up in the morning after 2 hours sleep I was the unhappiest woman in the world.
3) During the last month before the wedding I had the first really serious fight with my fiance, and then with his relatives.... just because of the organizational details we couldn't agree upon....

Recommendations:
1. if you don't want to have a "normal" wedding (with lots of unknown guests, etc) but parents insist on it just offer them to cover all the related expenses.... In many cases they will stop bugging you immediately.
2. if you make your wedding and pay for it and your parents insist on any traditions you don't like remind them about the golden rule: "the one who pays can order the music"...
3. When you hire a camera man for making a wedding movie and pictures don't forget to ask for references and his/her previous works to see. If you don't do it you may wake up with having a student with an unprofessional camera who will produce lots of teeth, red eyes, "in motion" quality stuff which you will have to enjoy for the rest of your life....
4. Don't expect anything from your "dream wedding" ideas. Just enjoy anything happens there. Remember it's too late to change anything, it will never be perfect 100%, and you can do nothing about this. So just relax, smile and enjoy your special day.

At the end I may say I liked my wedding. there were many friends of mine who came to see me, from Romania and even from Hong Kong and Czech. I cannot describe how much I appreciate they managed to come. we had a wonderful "lautari" band which consisted of former members of a traditional band from Vrancea supported by the government for the last 30 years. they did a really wonderful job. No manele but quality traditional stuff. it was so cold in the party room (the wedding took place in mountains) that guests just coudn't afford to stay bored at their tables and had to dance and drink a lot... So at the end everybody was happy and enjoyed themselves. I got to hear my husband singing for me a love song and paying 20 litres of wine as a price for the stolen bride... and I forgot to mention, the church ceremony was really rock with a professional chorus and a priest who actually baptised my husband and who made a really wonderful speach about love in general and historical info for guests about the church... So yes, I enjoyed it at the end but I would never recommend it to anybody:))) And to be honest I felt the most happiest woman in the world only the next morning.... I woke up and my first thought was: Oh my God! It's over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!