Small, destination, or large wedding?

I would say that if you want to do a small ceremony the n have a big party at hime try to price that out as well. Those things aren’t as cheap as you might think. If you have to rent tables and chairs, linens, catering, etc but it might be worth it. I would say that you do whatever you and your FH want and don’t try to please others. We did a DW with 55 of our closest friends and family and it was great. I was a bit sad that I couldn’t invite everyone I wanted due to limited space at the venue we chose but otherwise it was great. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! I have been pricing out the beach houses and what not. We would do it at the place we rented so I've been looking at nicer ones directly on the beach and you're right they're expensive, but I'd much rather spend the money on than than at home.

It sounds like you have your mind made up ! Destination weddings are fun but not something I wanted strongly. I did however want my grandmothers there and they don’t fly anymore or do long road trips. My wedding is coming up and right now I wish I had more financial help. Trying to be savvy but still !
Your destination wedding will be great no matter what!

One of my friends did just that they rented two houses next to each other for them and family. Other guest stayed at near by hotel. The ceremony was at the beach right outside the house..... and they had a taco stand for a few hours . The only thing they rented was chairs for ceremony. It was a great party!

I’m myself planning a destination wedding in April at Cabo with 40 friends and family. The thought of inviting cousins , parents neighbors or people that i hardly see is just for obligation is not appealing to me. Lol

Good luck with your decision!

When we talked about the kind of wedding we wanted, there were a few things that helped us decide what type of wedding to have.

1. We didn’t want to be rushed. Most venues only give you a set time and we want to be able to enjoy the day with our family without being rushed through dances, cake, photos, and speeches.

2. We wanted to make the food. Wedding food is usually bland and nothing too memorable. We are both big “foodies” so we knew we wanted our food to be awesome. Most venues require you to use their catering services which are pricey.

3. We want an open bar. We want beer and cocktails but don’t want our guests to have to shell out a ton of money.

4. We don’t want gifts. Our families have done so much for us over the years that neither of us have any desire to have them feel they are obligated to give us gifts.

So, that leaves a simple wedding in the yard.

To further cut costs, we’ve decided to do a surprise wedding. Our guests will be invited to our usual Easter event with the guise that he will be proposing but it will actually be the wedding.

I’d say that you’ve already started looking at the alternatives to a big wedding. All you have to do is find what fits you both as a couple. Good luck!

FH and I originally wanted a courthouse wedding, but changed it in favor of a traditional church wedding. Boy do I regret that! If we could go back, I think we'd most definitely stick with the courthouse. It would've saved us so much excess stress and money!

I am in the same boat as you! I come from a very large family, so just family alone was going to be over 100 people, then you add in friends & the guest list is just way too big for my tastes. I know a lot of people enjoy large weddings, but I always feel like guests are like cattle at them- being herded from one space to the next, then being herded up to the feeding trough (since most large weddings are buffets). The thought of that was not appealing to me. Rather than spending tons of money on a large “just ok” wedding, we decided to enjoy that money by having a much smaller destination wedding. I think a trip to a fun place with close friends & family will be much more intimate, and will create lots more fun memories! Plus, everyone says the day flies by so quickly you hardly have time to enjoy it. With a destination wedding, we will be able to celebrate for an entire week! And then the celebration will continue when we get back and have the large informal reception for alllllll the family & friends. And if you wanted to, you could spread out the celebration even more & do an official honeymoon at a later date.

We didn’t want the big pomp and circumstance, so we decided on a destination wedding. It’s been so easy so far. Our venue has a wedding planner contracted, and they give us lists of things to choose from. So we just have to pick from the list or let them know if we want something else and they’ll make it happen. We’re going down to Key West. Since it’s still in the country and easy to get to, our guests can come for just the weekend or spend as much time as they want for a vacation. To us, that made more sense than a cruise or somewhere out of the country where you kind of get locked into certain dates to travel.

We wanted the traditional, large, loud, bustling big church wedding/reception from day 1 (250 guests) It's a ton of work but luckily I have my mom to help with everything. So far have not changed my mind at all. It totally depends on you and your fiance's vibe, no wrong or right answer thankfully.

We originally planned a DW for 40 guests (an entire weekend of events) but it would have been too expensive for us & guests. Happily, we opted for a 15-person DW and a local reception for 50 guests three months later. Loved two celebrations! We went way over-budget but it was still a lot less than our original plan.

What about a small wedding, then a simple & fun reception later for all? The reception can be cake & punch, a fun catered taco bar or catered BBQ.

Similar for us! We both come from large families so we knew we'd have about 150 at our wedding. We miserably looked at 9 venues before deciding a traditional wedding was just not what we wanted. We decided on parents, siblings and 2 friends each and we're renting a huge house on the lake for the weekend and doing a small ceremony on the back patio. Our families and friends are scattered around and I couldn't stand the thought of having 100 people buy flights, car rentals and hotels only to spend a few moments with them at the reception. Once we landed on that plan, we were both so excited about the wedding again. So, I think whatever makes you feel excited about the day is what you should do! Good luck!

We are having a semi DW. Our gorgeous venue ( also an Inn so we will mini-moon with them over Christmas) is 3 1/2 hours from where we live. We bought their small wedding package which allows us a total of 12 people. My health has become very poor and I'm not well enough for the large church wedding we originally planned. We are still having a wedding with all the frills, just immediate family only. Then next May, or June, we will have a large black tie reception and have appx. 250 guests. I wish you the best of luck!! ❤

When I was younger I wanted a huge extravagant wedding, but now that I am less than 6 months away from our wedding I am very happy that we are going to have an intimate wedding of a total of 10 people, including us. I wanted to spend more time interacting with my family who I rarely see than a bunch of people I invited because I felt like I had to.

The cost of it though is equaling to be the same as having a huge wedding because we are having a DW and decided to pay for our family's plane tickets, hotel rooms, and dinner for 2 nights. We went into the planning hoping to spend very little, and I am trying to find ways to save through points and deals, but at the end of the day I am glad we are creating memories with our immediate family. We still haven't decided if we will have a huge party afterwards because everyone is asking for one, but that's an additional cost that won't likely happen...

Best of luck!!!!

Thank you ladies! We're still undecided, but at this rate I'm ready to take off and elope with just our kids and is lol