Big or small wedding

Do you think you will ever regret not having a big wedding? I ask because personally I loved the idea of a small wedding, but I realized that my wedding is probably the only time I will ever be able to get everyone I love all in the same room. I have so much family and so many friends that are all from out of town and I love that we have this as a reason to gather everyone together. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this, really. Despite liking the idea of something smaller, we both felt we'd regret passing up the opportunity to get everyone together.

If you feel like you'd regret missing out on this, you should have a big wedding, because it's not like you can have a do-over. Not everyone would come from out of town just for a vow renewal even if you were to do that someday. If you don't feel like you'd regret passing up the big wedding, then go smaller!

View Quoted Comment That's my biggest fear is regretting it down the road cause we didn have a big wedding where everybody comes and just celebrates our love. So I am kind of scared of that.. You make a good point! Thank you!

My FH and I are having a really small ceremony and then having a bigger reception/wedding celebration where everyone will be invited. Both FH and I are introverts so we’re more excited after deciding this was the route we wanted to go on than before when we were planning a bigger wedding.

It’s really a choice that you and FH need to decide. If finances aren’t something you need to consider then it’ll mostly just be about preferences.

From what I've heard, it's common for people to regret having big weddings. We're having a small wedding, smaller than we expected, but I've come to accept that and I actually feel a great sense of relief in knowing only our family and a handful of very close friends will be present, the people who truly care for us.

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Yeah like I said, I always wanted a small wedding, but I was afraid I may regret it since a big wedding isn't something you can just do again if you decide you actually DO want it years down the line.

My parents have been divorced for 12 years and my mom still says that their wedding was one of the best memories of her life, just because she got to be with all her family and friends at the same time.

Big weddings definitely aren't for everyone, and they're definitely more complicated and much more expensive. But if you think you may regret not having it, you should do it. Money can be replenished, you can't redo your wedding.

I wanted small, H wanted big... We're doing both! We had an immediate family only DW in Colorado and next week is our reception back home in Minnesota. Personally I would have been fine with what we had in Colorado, planning this big party has been a pain and is all for H. That said, im sure it'll be fun and this time we get to skip flowers and a photographer so that helps cost wise.

I think it really depends on what suits u and ur SO. We initially said small 20 folks tops because our peace and no stress was very important to us. Well we got caught up in all the hype of wedding planning and at some point started planning this big shin dig with all the bell and whistles. By 10 months out drama and stress started from others and we were no longer enjoying this process. We changed everything and went back to our original plan. Changed venue, fired vendors, hired new ones and booked our honeymoon with the money saved instead of going on our honeymoon a yr later. Its just whats better for us. We r introverts. We value our peace and stress free life. Our wedding had to represent that. Small, elegant, romantic and our first week of marriage will be spent in Paradise. No Regrets!!

What else you like about big wedding than just the fact that you want to see everyone?
Actually, i just had the big wedding. And seriously i am pretty sad that i didn't have a chance to talk and be with everyone who came to our wedding. So, now i totally recommend having a small one.
We were just chatting with my husband that we have to do afterparty because we actually didn't achieve our goal to spend quality time with all of our guests.

I briefly considered doing a small wedding but ended up having a little over 100 guests. For us, it was way worth it. You could 100% feel the love in the room - everyone was genuinely so excited and happy for us. I'm so happy we had all of our loved ones there to be with us for such a special day.

View Quoted Comment Its the whole atmosphere on a big wedding. I feel like they are very upbeat and everybody in the dance floor. And with a smaller one it's very intimate, I guess I'm afraid if it not being as fun I guess would be the word? Not like a party atmosphere, but kinda if that makes sense?

I always imagined having a smaller, more intimate wedding, but that was before meeting my fiancé. He comes from a big family (5 brothers, 1 sister, & 3 step siblings). He's also a very fun loving person who makes friends wherever we go. We feel bad leaving anyone. Honestly, I'm now glad we're having a bigger wedding, because each person we're inviting places a role in our lives & has a special place in our hearts.
I would do what feels right for you & your fiancé!

To be honest, my FH and I were looking at a guest list of 50-80 people We were overwhelmed, like how did our guest list get so high? 50 was supposed to be our cap! We had to slow down, and think twice about what we were doing. More than half of the guests on our list, we haven't seen or heard from in 4 years or more. We had to get our priorities straight. We had paid a deposit on a banquet hall, but swiftly cancelled that, and were able to get half of our deposit back from there (such a blessing). Now, we have chosen a new venue, and have cut our list down greatly to 33 people. Our closest family and friends. We feel so much better about our decision. We'll be able to spend time with everyone, make our experience with them more special and thoughtful. Saving money for our honeymoon (let's not forget the financial part of it, because it's important to us) and just feeling good about moving forward with the planning process. We don't know what we were thinking, but we do put a lot of it towards our excitement of our pending wedding. It had gotten out of control. We really had to slow down and think about what we were doing. I know a lot of his family members and mine are going to be upset. But the new venue we have literally cannot hold more than 34 people. It's a very small chapel. We have a limited budget, and everyone not invited is going to have to understand. We cannot wait to get married.

Do what makes you happiest. I thought doing what would make others happiest was most important, but I began losing sleep and crying to my FH about the tension that was mounting. Now, I feel as light as a feather. We're doing what makes US happiest, since it's going to be OUR day.

We’re opting for a 100 person brunch wedding! Originally we wanted something small and intimate but we realized we need all of our people there, so moving the time to mid morning/early afternoon makes me think it’ll still feel somewhat intimate and relaxed while still accommodating everyone

I am debating on this myself it’s such a tough decision