My fiancé is from Australia and I am from the east coast of the USA. All of my close friends and family are in the USA and all of his are in Australia. After a lot of discussion we decided to have a tiny wedding with our immediate families and our bridal party in Hawaii. Meeting in the middle seemed like the only way to ensure that our parents and siblings could all be in one place. It also seemed like the only way to avoid one country getting to be the “real” wedding while the other would not be the legal ceremony. Because of this crazy meet in the middle thing, we decided to have a post wedding party/reception in each of our places after the wedding. We each have close family and friends who are unable to travel long distances due to financial and health reasons and we would like to celebrate with them. My fiancé and I are hosting a party in Australia and my mom is throwing a party in the USA.
The thing that I am trying to figure out is how much wedding to put into the Australia and mainland USA parties. I think I am going to wear my dress again, but I may have it shortened after the Hawaii ceremony. Other than that I haven’t really decided which wedding things to do or not do at each party.
Are there any other brides out there marrying someone from another continent? If so how did you handle this? If you had a post wedding party in one of your places did you do your vows again... or show a video of the vows... or skip that bit all together and go straight to the party?
I know the east coast party my mom is throwing will be really nice. She is having it at her country club with catered food, open bar, dinner and dancing. My fiancé is in charge of the Australian party, so that one hasn’t been planned yet...
I am stressing out and trying to figure out the best way to do this to make it fun for all parties involved, include the people we love, and hopefully avoid greatly offending anyone. Anyone who has been through this and/ or is going through this and may have advice, I would really appreciate it!
Thanks!
