Weddingbee boards

We had a DW because it was what we really wanted. Yes, most of our guests could not make it but that was OK for us. We only had 11 people at our wedding but they were the people closest to us so it felt really special. 

We're also having small at home receptions (more like parties) this summer for our guests who could not attend. My mom is throwing one in my hometown in July and DH's mother is having their family over later in the summer. We couldn't combine them because my family is in Connecticut and his is in Missouri. 

My MIL and (2)SIL threw me a shower. My mom mentioned doing one as well but it really wasn't feasible since I live in Missouri and the shower would have been in CT. I didn't see the point in flying to CT in April for a shower, heading to Mexico in May for the wedding, and going back to CT in July for the party. That's too many plane tickets! But MIL invited my immediate family to the shower. My mother was the only one who made it but I think they appreciated the invite. 

I say if your heart says DW, than that's what you should do. My mom told me that she had the wedding her parents wanted her to have (big, catholic, etc.) and she still regrets that 35 years later. So she wanted us to have the wedding we wanted. 

We are having a destination wedding but luckily my family is super awesome about it.  I only wanted close friends and family and everyone is really excited to make a vacation about it.  Some people will be upset if they cannot afford it which is understandable but hopefully they will realize it is your day and support your decision.  My fiances family is LDS and so he has an unimaginable amount of people to invite so his family is just going to host an open house for us in Salt Lake after the wedding so that all of the church members and distant family can wish us well. I really didnt want to have a second reception but his mom is basically making me do it lol. Its ok though thats just how they do things here i guess. As for the bridal shower, you can invite everyone that you invite to the wedding regardless if they can come to the wedding or not. Like my grandma wont be able to make it to the wedding because she doesnt like to fly but she is very excited for the shower.  Just dont invite anyone to the shower that you arent inviting to the wedding :) I'm no treally and etiquette expert but hopefully my situation helps you with yours! Good luck!!

I am having a destination wedding in St. Thomas and I was nervous at first too for the same reasons you are, but everyone in my family completely understood and are excited! I have always wanted a destination wedding and my fiance and I also did not want to spend $20,000 on a wedding here in WA. Pretty much we let everyone know about the destination wedding 15 months in advance, plenty of time to save and decide if they want to go. We plan to invite everyone we would if we were getting married at home and decided to have a informal BBQ reception when we return for family and friends that are not able to make it to the wedding. We plan on having a slide show with pictures from the wedding along with food, cake and alcohol at our at home reception.

If you both really want a destination wedding I say go for it! The jack and jill BBQ sounds like a great idea! :)