Elopement vs. wedding

Elope!!!!!!

A few months after getting engaged I went through this same thought process, my mom even suggested taking $5K from them and $5K from FHs parents and going to Bora Bora, not having a wedding. FH made an excellent point, that though at the time eloping seems fun, easy and much less work that he asked me if in 5-10 years would I look back and regret not doing the whole, white dress, bridesmaids, cheesy pictures and flowers..and I thought a lot about it and said yes, I would regret it later on. That was over a year ago and I am so happy that we are having a wedding, now that things have fallen into place I am nothing but excited. You have more then a year to save money and plan, AND lots of time to DIY. I was big on spending the least amount of money possible, and time was what really made that happen! Good luck!

I would just ask yourself if later on in life you'll regret it.

Yup...definately elope or do an all inclusive destination wedding. Either way you'll get an awesome vaca out of it.

Elope! I wish I could've convinced my FH to do it.

If you do elope just have a celebration party when you get back. No pressure, no fuss, no show. Just fun

Elope!!! you can spend the money on a beautiful romantic vacation!!!

I wanted to elope, but this is my second wedding. I wanted that wedding experience the first time around. You and FH (and your families if you so choose) need to hash this out and make a decision.

I officiate many elopements and tiny destination weddings with just parents & siblings present. If that will make you happier -- do it.

I second AndreaLily...as much as this wedding is stressing us and how sometimes I rather run to Savannah and elope on a boat, I really thought about it... I am going to regret it....I know because I look back into my past years and regret not doing certain stuff...if you're going to elope do it with no regrets in the future...but I say if you're going to elope do it with style!

Elope!!! I've had these thoughts since the beginning of wedding planning and we finally decided on it. We'll have 10 witnesses, this includes our moms, brother, sister, best friends and our children. It took us forever to decide who to invite when we were initially planning. Our elopement is estimated at $1900 Must better than $12k!

Elope if that's what you want to do. Hubby and I did that back in 2004. Not to an island but at my BFF's house who was my MOH and her hubby was BM. We got married on their back deck with the bay behind us. It was great.

We're renewing our vows next year with a big to-do, but not because we have any regrets about eloping, but because this is how we want to celebrate 10 years.

Elope! I have a friend that was in your exact situation and decided to have a wedding. It put tons of stress on both of them and she has said every day she wishes she just eloped.

Looks like it's half and half...thanks guys! Honestly I would love to have a huge to-do, and my mother is doing everything she can to make a wedding happen. I just don't want to regret spending money on something if it isn't going to be amazing. I would rather spend next to nothing on an elopement than spend money on a sub-par wedding. You know? I guess more talking and exploring more options might make this decision easier. I know getting married on the beach would be easy/cheap being in Florida, but I see all of my friends doing that and I guess I was just hoping for something different.

Its doesn't have to be an elaborate wedding.

How about just a candle lit evening ceremony followed by cocktail party reception? For 50 people you could probably swing it in someone's backyard.

Make it a simple elegant affair and you could probably do it for more like $5,000 with only 50 guests.

Very true! I will definitely consider a cocktail evening instead of a big dinner reception

We're getting married on the beach but we live in the desert so its different for us . When we were still deciding I thought about doing a morning/brunch wedding. I dont know if that would be something you're into but what I saw it was cheaper. Good luck deciding

I would think about it. If you don't think you would regret a regular wedding, then elope, but if you think you'd regret it a few years later, have an actual wedding.

I think too many people see the choice in extremes--elopement versus huge wedding. The fact is, you can have a wedding of any size. We had a dozen people at ours, so it was more than an elopement, but it was still far from the everyone we or our families ever knew size. Think about whom you and your FI really want to have there, and have a wedding of just that size.

I got married on April 13, 2012 and we eloped. We are now planning our ceremony for October 13, 2013. I honestly felt that I was missing something b/c we did not have a ceremony when we eloped. So, if you can afford it and truly afford it then go for it!

My Daddy (jokingly) offered F and I the money he would have spent on our wedding and asked us to put a down payment on a house. We knew how much I wanted a wedding and how much it meant to the family to throw a party showing the two sides becoming one. It sounds like you've already made your decision, to me. You can always do a nice intimidate wedding for your vow renewal!

I would do a simple beach wedding, you don't even have to have chairs, I just went to one where we stood around the couple, on a cliff over the ocean. It was so simple and gorgeous! There was a dinner afterward that was "pay your way." The couple wanted people to be there to witness them getting married, but couldn't pay for all of them! Don't let money be an object when it REALLY doesn't have to be, honestly. Keep the wedding about the ceremony, and you 2 sealing your love to each other. Not about decorations and money spent on a $500 cake half the people will eat <3