Wedding or Honeymoon?

Well Casey which would u rather have more of the wedding or the honeymoon? well u could have an outdoor wedding at a park if u really wanted to save money & still have a nice wedding or what about having a backyard wedding??

Well. I am in this situation and I have decided on having the wedding and doing the honeymoon maybe for our one year anniversary.

Here's why. FH and I actually went and got married at the courthouse on Monday (yay!) for various reasons. However, we're not telling anyone but our parents that we're married; just carrying about as if we're still engaged and having the planned wedding next year.

But getting married at the courthouse... It was very uneventful and awkward. It was as ceremonious as renewing my license at the DMV- in fact, the building looked exactly like the DMV, and the room we got married in was this tiny little room with a cheesy looking vine arch and fake flowers. Then some lady came in and read the pre-determined vows, we exchanged rings, and that was it. In and out in five minutes. Then, we left and went to lunch.

I can say that if I left that was my one and only wedding day, I would really regret it.

I would still a regular wedding and do a mini-moon. Sites like Living Social have great deals. I plan for a larger vacation in a few months when I had more time to ssave.

I dont think that a honeymoon is important. there are lots of ways to include your family in a real wedding with out spending a load of money

Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic to be married to the love of my life, and the marriage is more important than the wedding, but I always just imagined my wedding day as something different and I know I wouldn't be happy just leaving it at this. I want to wear the dress I have hanging in my closet and celebrate with our friends and family, and do all the little traditions that I've always wanted to do. This, to me, is more important than going on a big honeymoon, because we can take many trips later on in life.

I think I'm just the opposite. I would rather have a courthouse wedding or small ceremony and nice honeymoon.

We worked with a very, very small budget, and pulled a wedding together for $3,000. That included our rings, my husband's suit, my dress, everything. We spent our wedding night at a very nice hotel and pampered ourselves. But, no honeymoon.

I look at this way: I'm married until either I or my husband dies. This might be the only time in my life (at 50) that I marry, so I wanted a wedding, however small, but meaningful. I wanted my family there and people who I loved and cherished. A "honeymoon?" It's a vacation. And my husband and I can take a vacation anytime. So why not save up, plan up, and go some place that is really going to rock our world?

We faced that choice, and decided on a wedding, with two receptions (one immediately after our small ceremony, one back home three days later) and no honeymoon. We can always travel, but we'll never again have that ability to celebrate a major life event with those we are closest to.

Its really a personal choice. We chose a wedding. That is a "one" time thing and its such a special day for the two of you and your loved ones and friends. You can take a "vacation/honeymoon" anytime.

Like everyone else said, its personal preference. Because I'm part of the minority who would say forget the wedding and have a honeymoon.. While I enjoyed our wedding and was glad to get to share the day with our friends and family, I wouldn't regret NOT having one. There was so much stress and worry and anxiety tied to it, that if I could do it all over, we wouldn't have had one.

Honestly, the perfect ordeal for me: Get married at the court house (or cruise ship), go on an amazing honeymoon and enjoy yourself, then come back and have a big bbq or party of sorts and invite all your friends and family to celebrate with you. It could be super casual so you even do potluck if you want.

Kk you're idea sounds much more appealing to me...I don't want to deal with all the added stress that comes with planning a wedding

Hm.... after all this time i would LOVE a HM, lol... but we're trying to split it pretty even.... i say have a great wedding, cause you can have a vacation whenever the mood strikes and you save money... but a wedding.. its ONE day. have fun with it!!! maybe do a SMALL mini vaca... 3 day cruise etc... then do a great vacation later!

I'm part of the minority, I'd much rather have a honeymoon. We're doing a private ceremony with just immediate family, and then have a big reception in our backyard. Cutting out most extra costs, and saving as much as we can for a honeymoon. But between my job not giving me much time off, and the kids schedule being absolutely 100% unflexible, we don't have much time to take vacations. We have no flexibility on when we can go to save money at all, so we're gonna make this one count. Who knows when we'll get another one.

FH and I decided that we are going to our court house and just immediate family will be their, were going to take professional pictures and then going out to eat afterwards. my family is giving us a whole heap of junk about how its not right and so on and so fourth but hey, its what we want to do its our wedding..What would you like to do? it's all up to you and your FH no one else should matter.

I'm an officiant and even I say that the wedding should be small and the honeymoon big! Do yourselves a favor, have a small, meaningful but inexpensive wedding, and then go someplace you've dreamed about for your honeymoon. You will long back on it fondly forever!

We're having a courthouse wedding with a dinner with only the closest after.. our "wedding" will be later and it won't be nearly as upscale as I was originally planning (funny.. because it is a small budget as is haha)

Honestly though, honeymoons don't have to be expensive. There are TONS of great deals out there for getaways and vacation rentals, cheap flights, etc. It's actually easier just to do a cheap honeymoon in my opinion.. we'll probably be snagging a deal off livingsocial and our honeymoon will be sometime after the wedding, not RIGHT after, so there won't be as much financial stress. You really don't have to have one or the other, just maybe not all at once.

Double post- sorry

I would prefer to spend the money on the wedding. We are spending the money on the wedding, and doing the honeymoon locally. We will do something big for the 1 year anniversay.

Maybe you can do a destination wedding, therefore you will already be away. Pick a place that you would like to visit.