Out of state wedding

kincaidpartyoftwo

My fiance and I live in Las Vegas NV, but we are planning to have our wedding in Bay City/Midland Michigan (we were engaged in Bay City, and most of my family lives there, with his family being in neighboring states). Do I still invite everyone I would have invited if it were an in state wedding? We know a large percentage of people won't be able to afford the travel costs, and ideally we want to have a small wedding - this another reason we have chosen for it to be out of state; we would rather it be more convenient for our family than friends.. Anyhoo, My in state guest list peaks around 200 people and I'm not sure if I should just invite everyone even though we know 75% won't be attending.. Hmmmmmmmm...

Jean0715

Invite everyone you would like to be at your wedding, just be prepared to be able to host them when they RSVP yes. Some people may surprise you and make the trip to spend the day with you.

That being said, you will most likely have many No's do to travel costs so don't be too disappointed.

Invite who you want to be there and let them decide if they can make the trip or not. 

Hope this helps. 

  

weeniedogs

We are in the same boat. We both live in Jacksonville, Florida, however, we are having our wedding in Frederick, Maryland where I grew up, and where most of my family live. Most of his family live in Pennsylvania, so family-wise, it was just so much smarter to have the wedding up in Maryland rather than Florida. Either way, you will always have friends/family who will be out of state, and it most cases, they may surprise you and make the journey for your big day! We recently went all the way up to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a wedding of my fiance's good friend. So its always possible for out of staters to come! Happy planning!

ShaunRonda101214

We are also having an out of state wedding and know we will have very few friends/family who can attend so we are planning a dinner reception once we return home. This way those who want to celebrate still can and not feel like they missed out.

Simply invite those who you would have invited if you were being married locally. The cost of attending is still on them (flights, hotel, meals, ect.) of course you can research some inexpensive flight options and inquire about reserving a block of hotel rooms that can be reserved for guests for a discount as a courtesy to those who show interest in traveling to your big day.

DarkIvy03

My FI and I are in the same boat. We live in Oregon but are getting married in Ohio. My family all lives here but his is in Ohio (and are the reason we are doing the deed there).

What we have decided to do is send save the dates and invitations to our immediate family and close friends who we have already spoken with about their attendance. Everyone else is getting a nice letter that explains the situation and offers them the option to reach out to me if they are interested in attending.

We also include in the letter that we anticipate having a reception in spring 2015 for our friends and family who weren't able to make it to Ohio. This way we cut down on the actual at-wedding expenses and avoiding leaving people out of our special time.

The letter might not be a popular choice but it was the best option we could think of, as I have a large family and most would not be able or willing to travel to Ohio.

Hope that helps!

kincaidpartyoftwo

Thanks for all the responses ladies! my dad has a theater in Vegas where his show performs. He offered it up to us for a post ceremony reception for all of our friends who could not attend our out of state ceremony! Now it is up to me to see if I want to plan a second reception in state - I know a lot of my friends want to attend the wedding - but I think offering them a more cost effective solution for our home state is more feasible.