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Small Wedding at home or destination Wedding in Hawaii

audreyecu61audreyecu61 member
First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
in 40-Plus Brides

We are both 51, 2nd wedding for both.
 
I never had a wedding when I got married the first time and would like one.

But looking at the cost for a small classy wedding for 50 people, I thinking practically, a destination wedding in Hawaii with just us and our kids would be cheaper. Our kids are older so no need to baby sit them or share rooms, etc.

The only problem, do we have to pay to fly in our mom's both pushing 80 but in great shape.
Then we know we would have to baby sit the mom's and this drives up the cost and they will drive us crazy.

I'm in Pasadena and all the venues seem to be so pricey for just the rooms.thanks for listening.

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Re: Small Wedding at home or destination Wedding in Hawaii

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    kikirst33kikirst33 member
    First Comment
    Have you considered a small ceremony at your home, a park or even the local city hall followed by a nice lunch or dinner at a local restaurant?

    Many places may have rooms that can fit 50 and it won't have to be as formal as a full-blown wedding with a band, cake, etc.  Having your wedding on a day other than Saturday can also significatnly reduce costs.  No reason that you can't have a nice celebration close to home to avoid having to worry about your Mom's and then you two can go off to Hawaii to celebrate!

    Usually for a destination wedding your guests are responsible for their flights, hotels, etc.  You may find that your guest list of 50 becomes much smaller if you have a wedding in Hawaii.


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    Lisa50Lisa50 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    I'm not sure how you got married without having a wedding the first time, but moving on ...

    I think a variation on the option PP suggested might work as well.  How about having a small ceremony at your home, with mothers and children in attendance, following by a catered dinner there?  That allows you to keep the size very small, thereby controlling costs.  Whatever you decide, make sure you have enough room in your budget for a professional photographer to commemorate the occasion.

    Enjoy!
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    FSForeverFSForever member
    First Comment
     We are having a DW in Maui and bringing my kids, parents and a few friends. His kids are a different issue. I should tell you we first started with a venue at home, catered, etc...After a trip to Cabo we decided that it wasn't what we really wanted and cancelled everything for the DW. I will tell you that it is not cheaper especially if you are paying for other family members. We are covering 7 of the plane tickets, three condos, welcome dinner, wedding, and reception for 9 guest and it will be about the same as if we had stayed home. We have done a lot of little things ourselves and are planning on hitting Costco for the booze and food, note booze first, when we land. HI is expensive but there are ways to cut the costs. 

    As far at the mothers, I agree with Dot, have the kids watch them. 
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    Kristin789Kristin789 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    Definitely small wedding at home.
    Doing the DW just says that you are going to invite many people so you can get gifts from the, but you really only want a small group present at the actual wedding, so you are putting the wedding somewhere that only the small group can go.

    This was explained to me by a prominent Los Angeles entertainment lawyer.  He said they were inviting 300 people and expected 300 gifts, but they really only wanted about 15 people there when they had the ceremony and reception, so they had the wedding and reception in Hawaii.  And it worked.  They got 300 gifts, and only 15 people could take that kind of time off from work and travel to Hawaii, etc.
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    secondtime91512secondtime91512
    First Comment
    We originally planned for DW, wanted just us but family all wanted to go and honestly, I really wanted everyone there.  Plus a being married in a church was important to me too.  By the time we would have helped with expenses for grown children and other family members who really wanted to share our joy, it was getting to be an expensive plan.  We opted for wedding ceremony at a beautiful historic chapel close to home, then a small (30) with only immediate family afterward at a local restaurant for a celebratory dinner.  It worked out to be a lot less expensive for us and we didn't have to worry about everyone taking vacation time, traveling, etc.  We're a few weeks from the big day so I don't know how it will go, but I am very happy we decided to do it this way.  We get to share a very special time with those that mean the most to us without any of the headaches of everyone traveling.  And, we get a great honeymoon afterward with just the two of us. 
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