Can I Just Get Married on a Beach Somewhere?

This is your wedding. Make it exactly what you want it to be. Weigh out the pros of each and the cons of each and go from there. And congrats on your engagement and graduating!!

You need to do what is right by you and your FH. You are absolutely right that it is about your marriage and not the wedding. Have the wedding you want and you will never regret it. Good luck!

Thanks so much, ladies! I think the only reason this is such a big "what if" is because I don't know anyone personally who has done it this way...and so I'm really straying from tradition in a way. I plan on having immediate family and friends, but I would hate for extended family to say to me years later "Oh I wished you'd have had a big wedding so we all could've been there."

It's definitely something we're seriously considering, though

Honestly, I think that if you're already considering it, you will want to even more as it gets closer and the logistics get more detailed.

Have the wedding you want to have. The closer the date gets, the harder it will be to back out of the big fancy wedding and scale down (more stress, loosing more deposits/money, drastically cutting a guest list, etc). If you want the small wedding now, you'll just want it more and more as time goes on OR you'll have the big fancy wedding your family is used to and regret not doing a small one to begin with. You have to decide if loosing your deposit money is worth it, but if its something you really want, it will be worth it in the long run.

Whatever you do, it will be your wedding day, and you will remember it fondly-- even if everything goes wrong, and *especially* if you plan exactly what you want. Brace yourselves for a lot of push back from your family if 'everyone else has gone traditionall'. Just keep repeating, "This is what Dan and I want" and leave it at that. Good luck!

I was the exact opposite - I originally planned my wedding to only have about 20 people and no bridal party at all, but after thinking about the family I would be leaving out we've upped our total count to around 75 people. I will not be going higher than that though - my venue fits a max of 110 and I want us all to be comfortable and happy.

Even when I was planning the small 20 person wedding I was thinking about eloping, but now that I've found a venue I like, have come up with my guest list, picked out my dress, and nailed down a few key vendors I haven't considered it at all. I think for me, eloping was a way to just get rid of the details that were bothering me, but now that I've worked out what I really care about I know our wedding will be very much "us."

I support you doing whatever you want. Beach weddings are nice. But just to play devil's advocate have yoy looked into all inclusive venues where the ceremony & reception in the same place. Includes catering, bar & centerpieces (& many times include the DJ). After that all you need is photographer & officant & a florist all things you'd need even w/ a beach weddings. Give the STDs & invites w/ GL to mom or aunt and let them handle it. Just this weekend a distant older cousin offered to handle invites or whatever. She has an empty nest, one son who just went to college who wont be getting married anytime soon. I had another distant cousin go drwss shopping w/ me since my mom is out of state. She has no daughters only sons & was thrilled. Just saying all the little details to us busy madly in love I just want to marry my man brides is actually something to look forward to to a lot of older women. Maybe they'll be willing to take over some of the little details. Esp since money isn't the problem

I planned a big wedding for a year. I canceled it this week and we are eloping to the Oregon coast with our parents and a couple friends. The beach is public access there, so we only have to pay for the officiant (and a photographer.) Plus we get to stay in a beach house for the weekend! It's the best decision we've made so far and I'm finally REALLY excited about the wedding. All stress is gone.If you're going to do it, decide now before all of your deposits are in!

We kept our wedding small and I haven't regretted it for one second. It was also a huge departure from our family tradition, but people adjusted to the idea and accepted. Deep down they all knew I typically have my own way of doing things. It ended up being so special. Do what your heart tells you to do and don't feel guilty about it.

Have the wedding you want. I was talked out of my tiny beach wedding in the start of my planning. Now 20 days out I just want to be somewhere warm and beautiful and marring my FH.