Post # 1

Member
365 posts
Helper bee
they would either have a small, intimate wedding or elope, and that they’d skip all of the stress and trouble of planning an elaborate wedding. Many have said they would have enjoyed the process more if they had kept it low key.
Do any of your engaged or married bees feel that way?
Post # 3

Member
2399 posts
Buzzing bee
@regit45: Yupppppppppppp! I totally would take the money and elope. The day was just too messy for me.
Post # 4

Member
2747 posts
Sugar bee
I had the best of both worlds. An intimate destination wedding and a nice at home reception to follow. I would not want a do over. Absolutely loved what I chose to do.
Post # 5

Member
2490 posts
Buzzing bee
I’ve had a lot of friends and family members say that too.
Of course there’s the people who loved their wedding and would love to do it all over again but for the most part I would say people *that I know* would elope/have a small wedding if they were to do it again.
ETA: I had a destination wedding the first time around and it ended up being far from simple… there was so much drama with picking the location, then everyone wanted certain traditions, etc. It ended up being a smaller but just as fancy regular wedding in an amazing location. I always said I would elope the next time (and that marriage ended in divorce so I get my wish! lol)
Post # 6

Member
8469 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
Even though people were talking about my wedding for months after it was over, I’d still do it differently if I had a chance to do it all over again.
I wouldn’t want to elope because there are a few people I’d certainly want there, but I would not have done the “traditional” type of wedding.
Post # 7

Member
84 posts
Worker bee
Oh my GOD YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We’re having 215 guests, and this has been the most stressful thing in my LIFE! From attitudes to know it all…
Post # 8

Member
3696 posts
Sugar bee
It *is* possible to have a bigger wedding and still keep it relatively low-key. Ours wasn’t elaborate by any means, but we were able to include all the important people in our and our families’ lives (around 175 guests). I’m glad we did it the way we did it and erred on the side of including people rather than spending on fancy trappings.
Post # 9

Member
7308 posts
Busy Beekeeper
- Wedding: October 2011 - Bed & Breakfast
I had the small, intimate wedding, and loved it all.
Post # 10

Member
2701 posts
Sugar bee
Nope! We had a huge, 230 person wedding and I LOVED it. But I wanted a big party with all of my friends and family – I didn’t really care about the little details so I didn’t find it that stressful. The only thing that sucked with having such a large wedding was I didn’t get to say hi and talk to everyone. I tried, but it just didn’t happen.
Post # 11

Member
3569 posts
Sugar bee
Nope! You just have to manage the stress. I thought of it as a big party. I had a short engagement though (6 months) so it wasn’t a full year or planning or anything. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!
Post # 12

Member
4334 posts
Honey bee
No. We had a pretty big wedding (about 280 invited, 200 attended,) and I’m so glad we did. Yes, it was stressful, but it was worth it for the celebration of our lives!
Post # 13

Member
2966 posts
Sugar bee
Yeah this is what I hear too. Try telling that to my mother.
Post # 14

Member
4334 posts
Honey bee
@RunsWithBears: all this, exactly! Sad I didnt get to talk to everyone, but I’m also not a worrier about details (my mom was literally harrassing me two weeks before the weddign that we needed more flowers… I was like, “whatever, just do whatever you want…”) lol
Post # 15

Member
9129 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
- Wedding: November 2013 - St. Augustine Beach, FL
@regit45: I had a small wedding (under 60 people) for my first wedding. I really just wanted to skip all of the stress and elope this time around but my FH really wanted a big wedding. We compromised and decided on another small weddding with less than 60 guests. I prefer smaller because I actually get to spend time enjoying my party without feeling obligated to meet and greet 100+ guests, some of whom I probably don’t know.
With 60 guests I spent 30 minutes walking from table to table greeting guests and getting photos with all of them. I really liked being able to thank everyone individually while still having time left over to relax and enjoy the festivities.
Post # 16

Member
1663 posts
Bumble bee
Never!!! We had 250 people and I loved planning it and the day of was everything I hoped it would be. We still hear comments from people saying how much fun they had. The biggest problem I had was dealing with my Mother-In-Law, I told DH what she was saying to me (she was saying some horrible things to me about DH) a week before the wedding, he dealt with it, and that was that. If I had to do it all over, I would do it in a heartbeat!