Choosing a Wedding Location

[martida]

I''m new to posting on this forum, but have been reading quite a bit. I have a (somewhat lengthy) question about choosing a wedding location.

Set up:
I''m from the midwest but have been living and working on the east coast for about 5 years now. Needless to say, my oldest friends and family are back in the midwest, while my newer friends and all of my guy''s family and friends are on the east coast.

Question:
How do we choose a location? If I follow tradition and get married in my hometown, I will rack up airline expenses during the planning process and I fear it will be more difficult to plan a wedding in a location I no longer live. If I get married on the east coast, however, I am quite sure some of my most beloved family members won''t be able to make the wedding. My guy has essentially left the decision up to me, saying his friends and family will attend even if its in the midwest.

How do we choose? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[HollyGo-Lightly]

Do what we my sister did and choose a place about an hour and a half away that NO ONE lives in! LOL!!!!

As I see it, friends and family can all travel if they love you. Give them at least a year of warning to save money, and then plan it where you like the most. Heck many people even go off to Islands and get married away from EVERYTHING... In the advent of internet and all it''s not impossible to remotely plan a wedding (especially if you are optimistic and not Bridezilla)...

Good luck and definately consider having it where it''s easiest and CHEAPER for you to have it. It''s YOUR wedding, right?

 

[ep6585]

Where would you prefer to get married?

 

[martida]

Good point. In all honesty, I don''t too much care where it is. I just want the least stress possible!

 

[ep6585]

We''re getting married next May in Charleston, SC. My family is scattered throughout the eastern USA and her family primarily lives in TN and NC. We picked Charleston because we liked it and we knew most poeple would be travelling no matter where we held it.

 

[qtiekiki]

I don''t know if you like this idea, but we are going to have a small ceremony and then having two receptions. My family is in San Francisco and his is in Los Angeles. Even though it''s not too far apart, I know that not everyone (~ 200- 250 guests at each locations) will be able to travel to one of two locations, so we decided on the two receptions idea.

 

[martida]

That''s a great idea. Will the 2nd reception be more informal?

 

[Hest88]

Pick the place that makes it easiest for you to do your planning. Most likely, that will be closer to home. It will save you a lot of stress not to have to do long-distance planning and negotiations. Then, as qtiekiki said, you can also choose to have a small reception in the other location.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 12/9/2004 11:25:12 AM
Author: martida
That''s a great idea. Will the 2nd reception be more informal?

I think it''s really up to you how formal/informal the 2nd reception is. In your situation, I think it would be fun to have a 2nd less formal reception in the East Coast where most of your friends are. It will be more like a celebration party type thing. In my situation, both of them are pretty much the same formality.

 

[zoobiedo]

Having been in that same position several years ago, I decided to have the wedding where I was living as I had to plan the whole thing myself and if I had gone back to where I grew up it would have been a pain in the A-- both logistically and on me. So, I would recommend having the wedding where you live if you are the primary planner. The two receptions so that everyone can come is an excellent idea as well. Good luck.

 

[abradabra]

Planning a wedding long distance is not the easiest task in the world, but it really isn''t that bad. I live in the Washington, DC area and am planning a wedding in New Hampshire. I am not finding it difficult at all, in fact, I am liking it more than a regular wedding! I went to college in the town where I am holding my wedding, so I was already familiar with a lot of the vendors. Were I planning in a town that I was unfamiliar with, it might be more difficult, but since I did have some idea of good churches, places to hold a reception, etc.--it really hasn''t been a big deal at all.

Another thing that I have really enjoyed about the whole long-distance planning deal was that it forces you to just trust other people to do their jobs. If I had decided to plan a wedding locally, I would have felt the need to be involved in every last detail. Instead, I found vendors that I trust and relied on their opinions for other good vendors (photographers, florists, etc.). It''s been an easy and fun process and I will only have to go to NH twice before the wedding.

It''s not the best idea for everyone, but I have really enjoyed it and wouldn''t want anyone to think it was too daunting a task!