It’s been on my mind a lot lately but I don’t think I want a big wedding. Now that I’m in my 30s, I don’t care for the attention a wedding brings or the planning, and also don’t care to impress guests, I want it to be about me and my husband to be.
For those that took the courthouse wedding route, how did everything workout? Do you have any regrets?
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Not courthouse but we did have a very small wedding with just close family. Partly driven by COVID but tbh COVID just gave us an excuse to not have a bigger thing. We were both not into that at all. So no big regrets here.
This is perhaps gonna sound a bit vain but it was really important to me to have good pictures of the day. Partially because I want good wedding photos around the house and partially because realistically it was gonna be the only time we we were gonna get professional pics of some people/groups. So we still the did whole fancy dress, hair and make up, beautiful location thing and chose an expensive photographer
I’d take a look at what parts you do value and go from there
You can dramatically simplify your wedding by booking a venue that offers a full package. It can be as simple as courthouse with close family & friends, then everyone heads to the event place and you just enjoy your time! A couple friends went this way, and it’s super nice: you pick among the menu options, decor options, etc. Personalize a few things and enjoy the rest!
It was great, stress and drama free and inexpensive. Zero regrets.
we plan on going to the courthouse and getting married.
neither of us really have friends or family to invite to any size wedding. neither of us wanna spend X amount of time planning, we just wanna get married. neither of us wanna spend upwards of thousands of dollars for what is essentially a party, we’d rather use that money for like a house or something like that.
Did a courthouse wedding and went to diner with immediate family afterwards. Did throw a party a few weeks later at the beach, to celebrate. Did a couple shoot before the wedding so we do have wedding photos. No stress, not that expensive and had a good time.
I just told my partner I want to do an American gothic style photo shoot on the courthouse steps to celebrate ten years of not being married but I was concerned about showing up at a government building with a pitchfork.
Neither myself nor spouse are big celebration types. I’d rather use that money for a new kitchen or to retire earlier.
Not courthouse, but we ran off to an island and got married. Didn’t take a single soul with us. Best wedding ever. Been married for 21 years, and if I had to plan my wedding again, I wouldn’t change a thing. No stress, didn’t have to worry about anyone having a good time but us. And it was like honeymoon and wedding in one.
I think weddings are a colossal waste of money. You are no less married if you spend $100 on a wedding or $100,000. I mean, if you are so wealthy that you can burn money, go for it. But most people aren’t. I also think too many people focus on the wedding instead of the marriage.
I wanted to elope so bad in Fall 2020 but my husband really wanted a party so did his parents (who I love and respect as if they were my own parents).
The compromise was we had a pop up vows ceremony (that’s what I consider the wedding part) at our Alma mater (college )where we had met. Literally packed a wagon with an arch and flower garland and took it to campus. The vows ceremony was at 8 am and lasted 30 mins, led by my youth pastor and had 12 guest (our siblings and parents).
Then we took nice wedding pictures at a spot in our city at 9 am. Then at 5 pm my in-laws killed 2 goats and hosted (paid) for a cookout at their farmhouse. There were 50 guests.
All in all it was small enough and cheap enough for my liking and both sets of parents were happy we had a party and invited some people to it. No regrets
My husband and I did a courthouse wedding and went out to dinner together – just us for both. It was exactly what we wanted, zero regrets.
We did this and then a small dinner with local friends and my in laws (~20ppl) at our favorite restaurant. Loved it. Only cost us around $2500 for the dinner, while a traditional wedding around here would have cost closer to $30,000 minimum.
My husband agreed to my proposal that we would rebudget the difference in cost to hiring house cleaners to come once every 2 weeks starting when I got pregnant and it has been so nice.
My husband (second marriage) and I got married on his lunch hour at the courthouse where he works as a public defender.
His co-workers came to witness and one volunteered to be the photographer.
We went out to dinner that night and every anniversary to the same place since.
It was very spur of the moment. Our kids were a little upset about it, but it worked out for us.
We’re divorced now, but the courthouse wedding itself was perfect for us. We already had kids and were living together, so a bigger wedding just didn’t suit us. We didn’t want the pageantry of a bigger wedding. I didn’t want a wedding dress and he didn’t want a tux. We didn’t want a long ceremony. We didn’t need a special venue because we had a house we could have the reception at. We didn’t need gifts. I didn’t want to walk down the aisle, which was a huge factor too.
It was better for us to do the ceremony separate and later have a party with our closest friends and family. It was so much easier and a lot more fun for us.
I got married with the people I love most by my side. I still got to wear a dress that made me feel beautiful. I had my bouquet. We had a wedding cake. We got to dance the night away. We spent a fraction of the money we would have spent on a bigger wedding, and got to do everything our way.