Destination wedding and hometown reception help!!

We had a family ceremony last month at my uncle's. There wasn't a judge available for our wedding this Friday in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic). DS's family isn't coming, which is why we did the small ceremony-so they could see us get married. So technically we're doing a "vow renewal" on Friday and using that package at the resort. You could always just show the video of the ceremony in Jamaica. That's what we're going to do for our reception in September. We'll be having a very casual party of 100 or so. And if you do decide to do a vow renewal at the reception, then do it however you want

We are getting married in Canada (Cause the US is lame) then having a cocktail reception here 2 weeks later. We are going to do a unity sand service to include all of our friends and family. The vase will be by the front door for all the guest to put a scoop in, then it will be moved to the front. We will say a short version of the vows then add our scoop to the vase. We are also going to have a photo slide show along with a video of the service in Canada. I do plan on wearing my dress for the first part of the reception then changing into a shorter bridal dress. Hope this helps.. I’m stressing more about the planning for Canada then the reception here. UGH!

Thanks ladies!! I am pretty nervous about all of this. I wish our families had told us ahead of time that they weren't going or that they wanted us to do it this way in the first place. The reason we decided to do a DW is because we are very non-traditional and laid back (I'm the furthest thing from bridezilla you will meet!) and now I have this added stress and I hate it!! I wanted a small beach wedding and then a big party when we came home. Now we have to add ceremony stuff to the reception and I had no clue what to do!

You follow the same process as a regular wedding; everything is the same except you let the officiant know that you are already legally married, you can say the same vows you used for Jamaica

Do you think that's ok to do 4 months after we JUST got married? I just feel like it may be a little weird walking down the aisle all over again...but that's ok?

I'm also thinking about doing a DW, but possible having a bigger reception back home. Although my FS thinks we should have a ceremony reception here, and then do another ceremony for just the two of us on the beach, that way our parents don't bother us too much on our honeymoon.

I don't think it's a problem at all. At least it's not a problem for us, since we're doing our reception several months after, too. LOL. I'm the complete opposite of a bridezilla as well. That's why a DW in Punta Cana was perfect for us. There are about 20 of us going including my family and our close friends. Between the trip, the wedding there, and the reception in September it's costing $7,000-MUCH better since we're getting a WEEK out of it, and not 5 hours. BUT, neither of us wanted a traditional wedding, so no one get offended.

I agree. I feel like we are saving so much money this way! We only anticipate about 10 people to the wedding and then we already have over 200 on our guest list for the at-home reception.

You might consider hiring a planner for your vow renewal, since this party is going to likely require everything the wedding did, with a few notable exceptions. You may not want to plan a wedding and then turn around and plan what will just about be another one!

I agree with Nikki!

I think its nice to have to small intimate Jamaica Wedding and 4 months later is a nice amount of time to hire a wedding planner and have a small wedding and big reception for the rest of your friends and family!!

So you suggest going through all the motions all over again at the reception?

One thing you might consider (and something a friend of mine did) is to make a short video to show at the hometown reception so your friends and family can see your actual wedding day and you don't have to completely reenact things (unless you want to.) It went over pretty well.

Okay, and now for a shameless plug, I do wedding photography and cinematography and love to travel. I have it written into my package prices that I will give you a deeper discount if you want me to go somewhere exotic. That way, you would have the same photographer/videographer for both events. If you are still looking for that, message me and we can work something out. If not, good luck and congrats! Jamaica will be beautiful!

I see that others have said this, but the video idea is great! My aunt got married in Jamaica a few years back and she had a hometown reception at a firehall back home. She had a whole table set up with pictures, as well as a video and slideshow running with clips from the wedding and other pictures of them. I thought it was very well done You probably don't even need the vow renewal. Plus it'll give you more time to catch up and socialize with your guests as well. Good luck!

All of your ideas have been great! I definitely am going to play the Jamaica wedding at the reception. We know a minister so we were hoping maybe he would stand up and say a few words. IDK but this is not what I started planning...ahhh!

We are doing a dw about 3 hours from home and only inviting 65 people...so we are having a cocktail party to celebrate after the holidays are over since we get back from hm fright befoire turkey day! =] we plan on playing the vows and then clips of photos from cer & reception 7 wedding weekend and also of honeymoon in disney!....you can also use the same guest book just write on the page in between the second receptions date and title...aloso make sure you get a photographer for second reception 2 you will want great pics with family and friends that couldnt make it...plus its an excuse to wear ur dress again

We are having a photographer at the DW. Do you think it's ok to just put the disposables on the tables to avoid another photographer fee at the reception?

Yea I think that the disposibles would be a great idea at the reception. People will also have digitals too & they can photo dump them on photobucket or something for oyu