Simple Wedding or Courthouse Wedding?

Question

My fiancee proposed to be me on June 15 2017. We've been engaged for 2 years. We we're supposed to get married last year in October but I found out I was pregnant with baby #3. We want to have a simple wedding of our dreams but with 3 small kids under the age of 2. I just don't think it's possible. My fiancée  is the only one in the household that works. I stay at home & take care of our kids. If I did decide to have the wedding of my dreams, My questions are: When should I start planning it? What's a good budget? Should I just have a courthouse wedding then a reception? What did you guys choose & why?

Answer

Because of our budget we did a simple wedding. We only invited our immediate family (parents, siblings and our siblings significant others). We hired a justice of the peace and got married at her house (she had a house on the lake)  then we had a brunch "reception". Didnt have a DJ or anything. We had a private room at a restaurant. We also hired a photographer. It was beautiful and simple. We planned it about 5 months in advance because it was so small. If you plan on having a big wedding then you have to plan way more in advance.
Here are some photos, we also announced that I was pregnant to our families at our wedding.

Answer

I work for our County Judge, so we decided on a courthouse wedding. We had a small reception in the courtroom after. We only invited close family and friends, maybe 25 people....if even that, a photographer and included our 2 kids in the ceremony. I loved our small, intimate wedding. Neither one of us is too fond of big crowds of people or being the center of attention, so this worked out perfect for us.

Answer

My husband and I had a simple wedding. We had it at in my parents backyard (lake in the backyard) we had about 35-40 people show up. Barely spent anything. Diy alot of stuff. Dress only cost about $50. Had my brother as my photographer and had the reception still at my parents house. My husband family made the food and we all just hung out afterwards. I'm not too into party's especially for me so we didn't get too crazy afterwards.

Answer

My husband and I wanted to do a courthouse wedding but with some convincing our parents had us do a small wedding of about 50 people (just family and close friends) and honestly I am so glad we did it that way rather than the courthouse. We planned it in 2 months and it cost us under $5000 with my dress being $2000 of that.

Answer

My advice is do what you can afford! There is no happiness in having a one day event that will stress your finances for the next year or two. There is far more joy in marrying the man you love and having the money to raise your family together without having to pinch every penny twice. If you can afford a small ceremony and reception, and that’s important to you, go for it (although I’ll caution that even small weddings add up in costs very quickly). However if you think it’ll cause financial stress, then just go to the courthouse... you’ll still be just as married and in the end that’s all that matters!  You can always renew your vows later in life when you have more money or take an extravagant honeymoon when your kids are older and you’ve had time to save up for it. Congratulations on your new little one and your wedding, however it ends up happening!!!

Answer

I think you should do whatever you two feel youd like best. If its a courthouse, go for that. You could do a small ceremony in your yard or a freind/relatives place if available with a potluck style reception to save money. Any venue generally requires you to get a caterer and if alcohol is served licensed bartenders must be there as well for legalities. That adds up. Our wedding was small, 50 poeple. It was larger than what we wanted but we compromised for our parents wanting extended family there (we originally didnt want them since we honesty didnt know those poeple) but you can have a great wedding and involve the kiddos on a budget. Weddings now can be ridiculously expensive. Diy, homemade, and used things theres nothing wrong with it. At the end if the day, its just that. A single day. If you do a venue/careter route i do suggest a year to plan. Some places book a year out, especially in popular times of year. I was married in October and the lovely owner of our venue said it was one of her busiest months. Also we got married on a sunday morning, this cut costs down since its not a day most weddings are booked, and brunch was cheaper than dinner. Everyone enjoyed it and the food was fantastic.

Answer

I had a private ceremony with just parents in the mountains at our favorite place, then 2 days later we had the reception with family. I loved it. I wanted it to be private because we felt like it was an Intimate moment and I didn't want to share with everyone 
This was the ceremony

And this was the reception

Simple Wedding or Courthouse Wedding?

Let’s Glow

Glow is here for you on your path to pregnancy

25+ million

4.8 stars

20+

Getting Pregnant

Pregnancy

1st Year (Baby & You)

Baby Products