[TaraMaiden]

The only reason my partner and I will marry is to allocate finances more constructively (married person's tax, pensions, that kind of thing....)
Otherwise, it's pointless.
I know he's committed.
He knows I'm committed.

I shall probably have a Buddhist blessing, and dress the way I want, not the way convention 'dictates'.
I told my Roman Catholic mother of our intended, low-key, informal, and unceremonial plans and she said - "Good for you!"

[Stung]

Who is trying to 'force' you into white dresses?

My engagement and wedding rings are important to me and I love them, and my husband's ring is important to him as well, but that's us, we appreciate the symbolism. Obviously you don't, and that's fine, for you. It seems like you take other people's rings kind of personally, which seems a little odd to me. I have known couples who were married but didn't wear rings, for various reasons. Other people might have questioned it occasionally but I don't think anyone considered it a big deal.

My own ceremony was small, short, civil, outdoors, and I wore jeans and a nice ivory tunic. My stepdaughter was both the best girl and the maid of honor, the 'best maid'. Afterward we had a BBQ on the beach and ate a lot of cheesecake. My rings aren't 'traditional,' either, as I don't care much for diamonds or the diamond industry.