Destination weddings.... 2nd time around

blinnk83

I'm a 27 year old woman who believe it or not is getting married for the second (and last) time.  What we've discussed is doing a destination type wedding.  However, we don't want to go over the top.  We literally are thinking about going to somewhere like the outerbanks, having a really quicky ceremony on the beach with only a few guests (our parents and best pals) and then having a nice dinner after. 

Has anyone out there done anything similar to this?  We have definitely decided to just have a party instead of a reception with our friends later on. My dream is a nice place on a patio to eat dinner on and possibly have live music there.

I don't see anything out there about the outerbanks on the Knot.  Any advice about how people book these tiny ceremonies/dinners would be greatly appreciated!

2dBride

Actually, the tiny ceremonies/dinners are the easiest to book.  If you are looking for a hall to hold 250 people, with a sound system and a dance floor, you're fairly limited in the places you could go.  If you're looking for a restaurant that can hold under 20 people for a meal, there are lots of choices.

My recent wedding was kind of an involuntary destination wedding.  (We're a same-sex couple, and at the time, none of our local jurisdictions had same-sex marriage.)  We had the ceremony in a synagogue, then had a luncheon in the private dining room of a nearby restaurant.  Since we had only a dozen guests, we were able to provide great food (lobster and filet mignon were among the entree choices), champagne, and a selection of wines without the cost being astronomical.  And the group was small enough that we could all sit around one big table and chat, instead of trying to run from one group to another for fear of missing someone.  And with the Internet, the booking process was no tougher than if we'd been doing the same thing in our home town.

I'd suggest checking the local board for the Outer Banks for specific restaurant suggestions.

vmmom

This is similar to what we're doing.  We are getting married on a cruise with just ourselves, my two daughters and his son, and my sister.  The weekend after we return, my friend is throwing us a party so that all of our local friends can celebrate with us.  I am thinking about having a video of the wedding available on a laptop for people to watch.

Sloane99

We did the same, but in Vegas, casual ceremony and a nice dinner afterwards, no dances, no cake. Anyone who could make it came and that ended up being about 30 people. Loved it and wouldn't have had it any other way. No stress, and no fuss just a good time with those closest to us.

Like the PP stated, this is a really much simplier to book than the whole big wedding ceremony/reception. Look for some officiant recommendations in your area or start contacting them to get a feel for it, see if there's any ceremony sites you like and if you need a license for it (most state parks I believe you do, but it's as simple as a fee to the county office), decide if you need chair rentals, what you want for flowers and then make a reservation for 20 or whatever people at a restaurant you love - or do it on an off night and book out the whole restaurant & hire some musicians.