Having a separate small destination wedding abroad, and a reception at home. Any one else do this

I am doing this! Ceremony in USVI and an at-home reception... Inviting everyone to both but making it very clear that the only thing happening in the islands is a 15min ceremony I have a wedding planner in the islands but just have a DOC that came with my venue at home.

Lots of people do this and it's a great idea! I'd check out destinationwedding.com or a similar site to help with the destination part. Unless you can afford it, most people will pay for their own accommodations (so make sure everyone you want there can afford it). And lots of venues have DOCs for your local reception or you could hire one.

I am having a DW, we will be having the ceremony on a beach in Maui, and a really nice dinner, dancing, and cocktails following (true reception). We are hosting a "Celebration of Marriage Party" (Reception) in California upon our return. I did NOT hire a coordinator for either event. Our Ceremony in Maui was a package and includes our Officiate, leis for the exchange, Ukulele player, and Photography/Videography. I do have a budget for each event. We gave our Immediate family a year and half notice, we did not offer to purchase their flights, but we did set up a "cant beat it deal" through Costco travel for our guest who wish to come, which includes RT flights, Condo, and rental car for the week at a really great price (they pay), we also gave our guest info for VRBO. More than half of our guest used their timeshares. The way we did our dates allows for us to arrive on a Friday, ceremony on Sunday, and individual family vacations from Mon-Fri. We understand that for a DW people will need to take time off work, coordinate travel and etc. So if they will be flying for 5 hours on a plane why not make it a vacation too. I set up a wedding website on WW (here), and listed all Hosted (wedding related that we pay/provide for) and Non- Hosted events, this way no one feels obligated to satg along all week, and family can meet up if and when they want. Some tips that have helped us, I cashed out all credit card rewards points (after all BIG purchases) for cash or gift cards what ever they offered. We used my FH work perk website for travel that gave him points for using it towards cash on the site, and I used my highest credit card rewards to book all flights. We have a huge plastic thing of change that we have been pouring into it for over three years, I plan to cash out to help pay for (me Stuff) hair & make-up, nails, massage, and my favorite bottle of wine Good ole Silver Oak I can not wait. Planning has been fun. I would suggest Keep it simple. and in your case you may want to consider hiring a coordinator depending how large of a wedding you plain on having.

First - Pick your Destination

Second - Secure Venue

Third - Start planning get ready to send Save the Dates, invitations, start researching your music, flowers, photography. most of all this wedding stuff is CRAZY so have a good idea of what you want and let go of all the rest. Enjoy and happy planning.