Before I start, let me say that I may or may not be overdramatic about this but it is
really bothering me... lol I welcome brutally honest opinions!
I recently became engaged on Christmas Eve (cliche, I know) and have been researching wedding venues ever since. I found one that I absolutely fell in love with about 2 hours away from where we live, and even drove to their city's bridal show to meet the coordinator from that venue. We exchanged emails for a couple of months and this past Saturday, my mother and I went to actually look at the venue. We fell in love to say the least, however, there were many downfalls to the property that we didn't take into account (long story short, it would end up being WAY more than our budget, the ceremony site is impossible to get to except by golf cart, etc.) I'm sure you're probably thinking, "look somewhere else stupid! Just get married in town somewhere!" But let me say that the entire state I live in is a crap hole and there are no decent wedding venues around. Let me also state that over half of the bridal party will be travelling from many states away to be in this wedding and most of them will have a guest and/or family with them. With that being said, the location has a lodge for the bridal party... but it's to accomodate the bridal party, not their guests. So this would also put everyone in a bind to not only travel hours but to stay in a hotel room, away from the rest of their family for a whole weekend. The whole thing has just become completely unrealisitc and I feel like my perfect wedding dream has been shattered!
My fiance would love nothing more than to go to Sandals and get married by ourselves and just stay there for a week.... this sounds great and I have looked into it but, honestly, I want my family there when I get married... at least my mom and dad. They can't afford to go to Sandals ! So then I start thinking, what if we just had a small, beach wedding in Florida or somewhere similar? That way it's a compromise and whomever wants to come can come (who wouldn't enjoy a weekend get-away to the beach?) This would also solve my problem of my crappy MOH and similar bridesmaid. They have been my best friends for over 10 years but have proven to be unreliable as a friend numerous times over the years (I guess I felt obligated to choose them in my bridal party?) Instead of facing the awkwardness of booting them out of my wedding, I could just say, "Screw it, no one is in the wedding, we're going to the beach and if you'd like to come that's cool!)
Overdramatic, I know. I guess my question is, what should I do? Should have a traditional wedding and run the risk of being stressed/broke/killing someone or should I just elope with my fiance to Sandals? How about a happy medium? What would you do??