Anyone here Elope and regret it?

I think our wedding was about 6k. 200 people. We got married under a tree that I know mow around. (got a job at the same park we were married at, we got to know the employees so well they wanted us to cone work with them!)

Joey

mtn wrote: All I know is that if I don't have some sort of party with an open bar to commemorate it, I'll be disowned by both sides of my extended family.

Ya, it sounds like you are doing it right.

scardeal wrote: We were often tempted to elope, but were glad we stuck with it. A life change of this magnitude deserves a ceremony.

Scardeal, I think you just summed up how I feel about it. Thanks for all the good post guys. It is nice to know that some people do like being married.

donalson wrote: Paul I really dig the coffee bar idea...

Not sure if it's considered elopement but we flew from Detroit, rented a cafe with a nice patio in San Fransisco (Mission District) where the best man and bride of honor (who are married) live. Me and the best man arrived a few hours early to decorate, bride and maid of honor arrived later and that was the wedding party, only other people were the officiant, photographer and flower person. I had the music on a laptop and the cafe employee did a great job cuing the right music at the right time relative to the ceremony. It went off perfectly, and we couldn't have asked for more.

Went to dinner afterwards at a really nice Italian place in our wedding getup and got a standing ovation from the other diners and free hors-deuvres from the kitchen, felt real nice, relaxed and like a real celebration.

We spent real money on a real reception (Chicago) for family and friend a few months later, but we didn't create the guest list, we each gave our families 25 seats and said to consolidate a list and give it back. We were very firm on the number and that forced the difficult decisions on our families which we thought was fair because the reception was for THEM, the wedding ceremony was for US.

David S. Wallens wrote: The alcohol added to the final tally, but as my grandma said, you can't have a cash bar at a wedding.

A cash bar isn't the end of the world. Many of them people that came to my wedding still speak to me. We have a few nasty alcoholics in our families so the bar was cash and in a different room. We had about 200 people and did the whole wedding and trip to Disney for about $12k. Everyone had a great time and no one mentioned that there was no bar, just pitchers of soda coming to the tables.

donalson wrote: Paul I really dig the coffee bar idea...

Thanks. Tell your friends- I'll be happy to bring it just about anywhere.

Just had a customer ask us if we could spike the coffee drinks. I guess that would negate part of my case for it, but what the heck. As long as Uncle Ralph doesn't realize it, maybe the caffeine will offset the alcohol, creating a mob of overdressed drunks who are too wired to pass out, and too smashed to drive home. The party would last for weeks. Kind of a bridal "Night of the Living Dead" theme. Great fun!

(Intended as a joke. We told them we had the non-alcoholic versions of the flavors)

I just found out that the bride wants a $17K reception. I dont care if here parents will pay for it, I'd rather that go into a down payment on a berkeleying house.

I ABSOLUTELY agree on the down payment thing. Wifey and I spent less than 1K on our wedding and dinner. Yesterday was our 19th anniversary, so it worked out just fine, thank you very much.

Every great party that I have attended has been due to the people, not necessarily the atmosphere. Okay, the food is important too, but there's a lot that is cheaper than servant-carved prime rib yet is still delicious.

Just yesterday we were watching the wedding video and my wife lamented "Our wedding was so traditional". Though it was a nice wedding, and her folks paid for most of it, I doubt many people who were there remember much about it. If I had it to do again (please, no thanks) I'd go for simpler, and far more unique.

Ultimately, 18 years in it really doesn't matter though.