No one coming to wedding.

Well, if you want your mom there, and she wants to be there and just can't due to finances. "Elope" and pay for your mom to come and witness you getting married? You're cutting the cost of not having a big wedding, which means you can afford her travel and expenses, maybe her plus one be it your dad or whomever? Someone so she's not lonely. You all go to dinner that night after. That's what I would do.

Maybe we'll just elope and not worry about everyone else's feelings

FH and I talked about eloping so many times. I wish we had decided to but now we are at the point of no return with all the deposits we have dowe. FMIL wants all her family there, and honestly I'd just like to elope to Colorado or somewhere in the mountains. Do it for yourself, don't worry about everyone else and celebrate with them later. Every. Single. Person I talk to that has eloped HIGHLY recommends it. DO IT!!!

We are doing a dw too although to a beach in Florida. We have everyone a years notice and basically invited family and 2 additional friends besides the wedding party. Our wedding is on 19 days. We went from 42 down to 29. Dw are very difficult cause they are so expensive. But this is what we wanted so we are fine with that.

The one thing that we did do that I really liked was for birthdays, Christmas, etc we gave gifts of gift cards for airline tickets (not the whole thing but $35 or so). When they added it all up it covered about one persons ticket. So we tried to be understanding of that too and offset some of it.

If this is what you really want go for it. I wouldn't have it any other way for us!!!!

I had an out of state DW and maybe 2 people outside of my bridal party and dad attended of the people I invited because it is asking a lot (taking time off work, driving or flying, hotels, etc.) It's going to get really stressful as the days get closer, too, if you're on the fence about eloping, I would recommend it but good luck, do what works for you!

Thanks everyone! Im going to talk to my FH and we will probably just elope.

Did you have your heart set on mountains in Colorado specifically? What about finding the closest mountains? (Sorry, I'm in Oregon and not familiar with the geography of states surrounding Texas )

Have a small wedding in TX and honeymoon in CO.

We are getting married out of state, and have already had some people say they are unable to attend. Aside from having a mini-freakout about the possibility of paying for a DJ for 12 guests or something ridiculous, I am trying to remember that we are getting married in a perfect venue for us and it will still be magical no matter how many guests attend. If this is your dream location, just elope there and have a party when you return!

I had VIPs that said they would go a year out and then didn't.. it's part of a destination wedding. I would just have the ceremony you wan't in the mountains and then reception back at home.

Texas doesn't have any mountains. Ive picked Sapphire Point, its my dream wedding location. My other freak out reason is like Kai9 said paying for stuff and 10 ppl show up. I hate waisting money and dealing with the unknown. Guess thats part of DW planning. We originally wanted to have a reception back in Dallas but it was going to cost mors than the DW so we cut it. Maybe we will just have a party when we get back. Non reception style. Is anyone doing this?

This is always the problem you face with a destination wedding. It sucks that you checked with them ahead of time and they said it was ok and now they are changing their minds. I would elope and then do a party at home with your families and close friends.

No, you're not being selfish, it's your wedding, if you want mountains then have mountains.

And I'm sorry, but getting from Texas to Colorado is not expensive. I just saw tickets the other day for $70 round trip. Plus, they have 6 months to save. I feel like there's a deeper issue here for why people are backing out, especially your parents.

Party non-reception style?

Please elaborate on what you mean...

I've heard of some people having an "open house" after a DW. Basically they get a few decorations for their house, buy some refreshments and light finger foods and send out invitations saying something to the affect of "We eloped! If you'd like to see us and celebrate, we'll be having an open house at [home address] from 1-3 p.m." It kind of allows people to come give you well wishes and they can stay for as little as 5 mins or the whole event. Definitely cheaper than hosting an entire reception back home.

If you go this route, try to host it during a non-mealtime. It's an open house...so people definitely aren't "obligated" to stay...but it makes it easier on people's schedules.

I agree with @FuturemrsG....why would your parents back out?

@FMG-there are also hotel rooms. Meals for all the day they are there. Time off work. It's not just the price of a flight. Also depends on the days they are leaving for prices.

You and your FH need to decide how important it is to have your VIPs there to witness your marriage. We talked about doing a DW and our vips wouldn't make it so we got married at home. I wanted my parents and friends there more than a beach wedding.

I wanted a destination beach wedding but I knew my bridal party and our VIPs couldn't afford to take days off work, travel, find child care, etcetera so I opted to do my big ceremony locally and have a private beach ceremony with just FH during our honeymoon. Maybe this could be an option for you as well unless honeymooning in the mountains wasn't your plan.

Have you thought about having a small intimate wedding at the destination or eloping and a reception at home?

Unfortunately that's part of a DW. It's something you have to accept when you plan. We knew we wanted to have a DW on the beach and that some people might not be able to make it. We've had a lot more RSVP yes than we were even expecting, but his family had to back out, so that sucks. But again, this is one of those times you can actually say "it's my wedding" and do what you want. Just don't get upset when some people can't make a long trip.