Where should we get married?

[Lanee]

My FH and I have decided on a May 2005 wedding. We live in Chicago and want to either have a very small intimate wedding followed by a small reception and a 3-4 week honeymoon. Now, we don''t have to do this in Chicago but want to be close enough that a short flight or a few hours drive could get us and our guests there. However, I am leaning more towards eloping and getting married at the start of the honeymoon. What I ask of you guys is picturesque midwest places and/or beautiful far and away places that you can recommend from experience.

Thank you so much!

 

[Lanee]

Bump!

I'm starting to take it personal that none of my threads get replies. I don't get it, is it the time I set them up?

 

[Adrienne]

My FH and I decided to have a destination wedding. To have a "real" wedding would have cost a lot more than I was willing to spend (I'd rather throw money into my diamond!)

I live in Washington and don't know anywhere in the midwest - but the two options we looked at for our wedding are:

Caribbean cruise, getting married on one of the beaches. This is a good option, but you have to get married at a US Port (like St Thomas) for the marriage to be legal in the US. Our wedding will be in October (hurricane season) so we decided not to do this route since I would be really upset if our wedding couldn't happen because a hurricane hit the one port I could get married at. You can also be married on the ship while at a port - but I didn't want that.

Hawaii - We decided on Hawaii. We are spending a couple days on Oahu before getting married, taking care of the marriage license and such. We are having a sunrise beach wedding, with photographer, musician, flowers, and a tiny reception, and then we will leave on a 7-day cruise that evening. After we return home we will have a reception for all the family and friends.

If you don't mind giving up the idea of a traditional wedding then a destination wedding is a great idea. It is generally less expensive than a wedding at home, and can be very memorable.

 

[Lanee]

I guess I should have mentioned a few other things. We are not having a traditional wedding. There will be a MOH and BM but no other attendants. My father will not give me away and the reception will be without any of the usual antics. No garter toss, no bouquet toss, etc. . . We hope to be casual, he will wear a suit (not black) and I, a sheath style wedding dress. We are thinking 50 guests or less, no children. We (too) would rather spend the money on the ring and honeymoon and want a really intimate group. Honestly, 50 seems too great a number for those we consider friends and family of intimate closeness.

 

[jlim]

If you consider MI, this might be a good place:

http://mackinac.com/

http://www.tcvisitors.com/

 

[Lanee]

Thanks jlim, I had Michigan in mind but I don't even know any body who has visited Michigan that I'm familiar enough to talk to about my wedding plans. I will check out these links. Thanks!

 

[lawmax]

I was friendly with someone who loves macinac island. He said the hotel was great, including the dining room, and that there was a wonderful restaurant tucked away and accessible by a short horse-drawn carriage ride. It is very romantic.

lawmax

 

[jlim]

Mackinac Island is very unique. There's no motorized transportation on the island. Only bicyles and horse drawn carriages are allowed. Very beautiful scenery esp. the Mackinac bridge over Lake Superior.

The Grand Hotel I hear is fabulous. Unfortunately a night there cost like $160 min. That's too much for me to pay but if you are holding an occasion like a wedding, it is probably justifiable.

When I was there in 95 or 96, I remember someone was having a wedding there as well.

 

[Lanee]

I checked the links, it looks gorgeous. I might have to plan a short trip there sometime this year to check it out. We're thinking of moving the wedding date up because FH's niece's b-day is the weekend we picked and his sister is throwing her a major coming-out party. We're going to look at a calendar this week to see what other weekends might work for us. I'm getting super excited and we are more than a year away.

However, please keep the location ideas coming, I have plenty of time to check lots of places out.

 

[Lanee]

I'm bumping again, maybe I have better chances earlier in the day.

 

[simplydevine]

Hi there,

I am looking into destination weddings too. Hawaii seems like it would be great. Maybe you should consider something like that.

Adrienne, what site did you go to to arrange your destination wedding?

Thanks!
~D

 

[jackieblue]

Other possibilities:
Door County, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva (also Wisconsin)
Navy Pier
Lincoln Park Zoo
Galena, IL
The Art Institute
Grant Park

Have fun and good luck!!!
-jackieblue (former Chicagoan)

 

[Lanee]

Thanks for the ideas JB but living here, none of those appeal to me for my wedding.

I don't even know what I want anymore.

 

[Mara]

Hawaiiiiiiii

Actually I read a bridal magazine today that had some other popular destination wedding areas...some of the ones they listed were Fiji, Jamaica, Carribbean. Fiji looked AMAZING. Also I know Tahiti is a very hot spot this year for honeymoons, that could be fun for a wedding.

Also I will throw this out there...it's not super appealing to me because I live in this area (just like SF isn't that interesting to me!), but apparently Lake Tahoe in California is a beautiful place to be married. I got a brochure in the mail the other day and it had some amazing pictures. Let me know if you want me to ruffle through it before I throw it in the recycle for a few suggestions.

I love Tahoe for summer weekend getaways so I can see how people find it appealing for weddings. The sky is ver beautiful over the lake...esp at sunset.

 

[sooner]

3 words, north vancouver island, float plane fly in once you've reached the island, preferably from cambell river or tofino.
Contact me for payment info.

 

[Lanee]

I think I just read that same magazine Mara. We have picked a destination in the carribean and we are waiting to hear back from them. However at this point its just to make sure we can set up a trip to check it out next year, we have decided we want to wait until late 2005. I didn't want to wait that long but the more we tried moving it up the less options I felt we had so the logical thing was move the date back and now I feel relieved . . . like it will be perfect because we're announcing it now so we don't have to hear later on, that people have other plans. If they do, too bad for them because no one mentioned it now.

Sooner, I'll check out North Vancouver Island and let you know.

 

[NewYorker]

Wow! Very in advance. Some invited guests will think they're free now, but things will come up when the date gets closer so don't be disappointed. (pregnancy, other weddings they HAVE to go to instead, etc.)