Anyone getting married abroad?

sexymouse

For all other brides getting married abroad and having a party when you get back, I saw something lovely on a website the other day, that would be an alternative to a guest book.

Buy lots of postcards from your destination, and have the guest fill out the postcards for your guest book, and then you can put them in clear slotted photo albums for your guest book.

Think I'll be doing this for my wedding reception, getting postcards from Jamaica.

Vikki_74

Oooh that's a lovely idea, think I might be stealing that one from you sexymouse :beer:

I read an article in one of the wedding mags the other day about weddings abroad which had quite a few cute ideas for invites, decorations etc - will try and remember to dig it out and post them on here in case anyone's interested.

kittendothroar

Vikki_74 wrote: »

We had the idea of getting married abroad pretty much as soon as we got engaged but asked all of the close family we wanted there if they would be able to come before setting our hearts on it. My main worry was people not being able to afford to come as flights to California are pretty much always £500+ but it hasn't been a problem.

For me, as well as being cheaper than having a big wedding here, it's also been a lot less stressful - the wedding company we're using sorts out our marriage licence and all the site permits for where we want the ceremony, transport to and from our hotel, flowers, photography etc and we haven't had to worry about bridesmaids dresses, suits for the best man/ushers as we're not having any!

We both have slightly "difficult" familiies where various aunties/uncles/grandparents don't speak to each other and wouldn't come to the wedding if they knew the other person was attending, so getting married abroad has also removed all the issues of who we do & don't invite. They'll all be invited to the reception when we get back and hopefully will come and just not speak to each other, but it won't be the worst thing in the world if they choose not to attend - I'd be a lot more disappointed if that happened at my actual wedding.

If it's what you want to do and the people you most want to be there can come, then I say do it. And yes, you're likely to choose somewhere with nice weather as that's part of the point, but you wouldn't have to go somewhere that hot or that far away if you didn't want to.

Thankyou so much for your helpful and reassuring reply
I still can't decide what to do! We have situation that my parents can't stand the sight of each other, so could be interesting once mums had too much brandy and also my mum doesn't like my future mother-in law either.. I'm worried about my dad boring the pants off my in-law's too, he still hasn't met them though weve been together 7 years! Only real downside of overseas for us is that my young nieces can't come as my brother doesn't want them spoil his holiday drinking....:mad:

I don't really want a big wedding, just nearest and dearest, and of course my lovely groom ..just keep telling myself its my day and my small budget! Keep thinking we just go away, get married and not tell or invite anyone! :j

sexymouse

I'm getting married in Jamaica, and it will be just me, OH and my bridesmaid who is a friend of mine. We will be having a reception when we get back home - just a buffet etc in a village hall (possibly a lunchtime do so that people won't need to eat a lot, and also children can come if they need to).

My Mum and Dad and sister were invited, and so was MIL, but none of them can come for various reasons. I was a bit upset at first, but now my friend is coming as bridesmaid, I don't feel quite so bad.

Vikki_74

Well I thought I'd post a bit of an update as things finally seem to be coming together...

I now have my dress - I went for quite a simple one from Monsoon in the end whichlooks lovely on and I'm also hoping shouldn't be too hot and will travel ok. I still need to work out how to pack it for on the plane - feel like it might be an excuse to buy a new bag, not very MSE I know but I have a bit of a thing for luggage!!

OH has sorted out his suit hire from a local place who I managed to talk into letting us have a few extra days on the hire for no extra cost on the normal one week price. My parents are flying home a few days after the wedding so we're going to get them to take it back to the hire place whilst we're still on honeymoon. They had a few styles which look pretty traditional which is what he wanted, but come in a lightweight fabric which should be much cooler - he has decided on a waistcoat & cravat as well though so hope he doesn't get too sweaty looking :rotfl:

This morning we FINALLY sorted out our reception venue which has been stressing me out for months, so I just need to get working on the details. I'd like to bring a bit of California into it so need to start getting creative I think. Would also like to somehow have our wedding pics on show for everyone who wasn't there on the day - we'll have them on disk so I had thought of maybe getting a projector set up to our laptop but that might be a bit too presentation like and not sure I like the idea of seeing myself that big on a screen so I'm having a rethink!

I got some postcards for RSVP's and business cards to be used as placecards ordered from Vistaprint, which have ended up costing about 7p for 100 + 250 by the time my £5 from TopCashBack tracks :j The next job I think is sorting out the main party invitations which I'm planning to make. Not sure whether to go for something weddingy or a bit more fun and party-like, although I'm leaning towards the latter!

I'm also planning to make boarding pass &/or passport invites as a bit of fun for the people who are coming to the wedding itself, and possibly putting together some little gift bag/welcome pack type things - we're only having 8 guests (4 couples) so this shouldn't be too huge a job. If anyone's done this kind of thing before do you have any ideas for inspiration?

sexymouse

I think Birdie did passport invitations Vikki - have a look at her thread about bringing a bit of the Caribbean back with her - she has pics at the start of the thread.

Vikki_74

Currently working on my invitations for our reception back home but I'm struggling with how to word them. Has anyone else done this? My parents are paying for most of the wedding including the reception, so should the invite come from them like it would if it was a formal wedding invitation?

Have definately decided on doing the passport invitations for the family members coming with us to California but again I'm not sure how traditional to make the wording...as they're a bit of a keepsake as much as an invitation I want to give my parents one but can't very well have them inviting themselves to the wedding which I guess is how it should normally be done!

Help please!

Vikki_74

Hmm...had a bit of a Google and came up with the following examples which I quite like:

EVENING RECEPTION

Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Fielding
Invite you to join us
In celebrating the recent marriage of our daughter
Alice Pearson Fielding
To
Arjun Gangadharan
Which took place March 25, 2005 in Dubai, India

Come toast the happy couple
Saturday, August 19, 2005
Grovers Country Club
Plano, Texas

WEDDING ABROAD

Come Fly With Us!
Please Join
Louisa Kelly Brankowich
and
Marcos Andreas Polinopolis
As we take the trip of a lifetime
In getting married
Saturday, August 24, 2007
Lyndon Airport, Hangar B
Reception to follow

Only problem with the first one is, it reads as though it should be sent out after the wedding has already taken place, which doesn't really work for us...maybe these would be better:

Victoria Johnson and David Foster
Request the pleasure of
........
To an Evening Reception to celebrate their Marriage in Mauritius
Date 22nd July 2006 commencing 7:30pm
At the Coppid Beach Hotel, Bracknell, Berks
R.S.V.P. by 22nd June 2006

Following the marriage of Adrian and Áine in St. John Lateran Church, Rome
Mr and Mrs Tony Mullan request the pleasure of the company of
(guest’s name)
To a reception at Kees Hotel, Stranorlar, County Donegal
On Friday 8th July 2005 at 8.00pm

Maybe I'll ask my mum what she thinks...

As a bit of a side note, I also came across these guides when searching which I think might be useful:

GUEST INFORMATION CHECKLIST
http://www.weddings-abroad-guide.com/guest-information-checklist.html

WEDDING WELCOME LETTER
http://www.weddings-abroad-guide.com/wedding-welcome-letter.html

kr15snw

Ours say....

Mr and Mrs Mum and Dad
request the pleasure of
Guest name
To celebrate the marriage of their daughter
Miss Bridge
To
Mr Groom
At the Venue
on Date
at Time
For a celebrationary dinner
and evening reception

Then in the info sheets we've put we'll be saying our vows in Australia a month prior (even though everyone knows this, we thought we'd remind them)

955kelly

Hi everyone!! have been reading the weddings board for a while!! We r getting married in 2012 so got a while yet but at least it gives a lot of time to organise!! We originally started with the traditional wedding idea in this country but after going through everything we decided that it was just going to be to much stress and money!! We are getting married in Turkey, about Sept and on a really small budget! We have roughly about 20 definate people attending and have told other family and friends they are welcome to come if they can afford too! the package we have includes the ceremony and all the relevant paperwork, a beach buffet BBQ with 4 hours open bar, car, table decorations, photography for 2hours, with album and cd.
Thanks to Vikki 74 for the passport invites what a Great idea!!! i hope all other plans are going ok for everyone!