Updates: “Vegas Bride Responds”
It’s time again for “Dear Wendy Updates,” a feature where people I’ve given advice to in the past let us know whether they followed the advice and how they’re doing now. Today we hear from “Vegas Bride” who wondered if she was obligated to invite her family to the elopement she dreamed of having in Vegas. She wanted to invite her dad, whom she knew would be a very low-key guest, but felt that, if she invited him, she’d have to invite the rest of her immediate family as well as her fiancé’s family, and then she wouldn’t really have the private elopement she was hoping for. “What should I do?” She asked. “Invite no one? Only invite my dad (secretly)? Invite 20 people and probably say goodbye to what we’d hoped would be a vacation?” Keep reading to see what she and her fiancé decided to do.
I want to thank you and the commenters so much for your thoughtful answers and help with my decision!
After some more deliberation on whether to invite family or not (it came down to either inviting ALL of our immediate family, step-dad included, or just going by ourselves), we decided to make the trip solo. Everyone in our families totally understood and supported us (including my dad, who also gave us a very generous pre-wedding gift to spend on our trip), and we had a BLAST! We got married by Elvis, which was SO much fun, and all of our family and friends got to watch the ceremony live online. We had the rest of the week to shop, sight-see and just enjoy each other’s company.
My mom, aunt, cousins and sister threw us a reception in my aunt’s backyard about three weeks later as their wedding gift to us, and we had 60 of our closest family and friends there to celebrate with us. They made most of the food themselves, they decorated the yard beautifully, and we finished the night around a fire with some drinks, laughing and reminiscing. Everyone had a fantastic time, and I still have people telling me how much they enjoyed it and how they loved how fun and casual everything was.
Thanks again for all of your help!
P.S. If I had to do it over again 100 times, I would do it the exact same way every one of those 100 times! I loved everything about our wedding 🙂
Aww, so glad you got your dream wedding and your family was so supportive. Sounds like everyone had a wonderful time!
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If you’re someone I’ve given advice to in the past, I’d love to hear from you, too. Email me at [email protected] with a link to the original post, and let me know whether you followed the advice and how you’re doing now.
I’m glad it worked out so well, and congratulations. I also love that your family was able to stream it live, and that you had a small family and friends party later. Sounds like the best of both worlds.
That sounds like a great wedding! And I like that people could watch online. Fun!
Love it! So nice to hear a wedding story where people are happy to be getting married, happy with their wedding, and happy for the couple!!!! It’s almost as if those are things that should matter =)
I wish we could thumbs up the posts themselves. This is wonderful to hear. Congratulations LW!
Congratulations! Getting married by Elvis is always good. Young, thin Elvis or fat Elvis? I won’t call him old, fat Elvis since I’ve now outlived him. We got married by fat Elvis in an ill-fitting jumpsuit. Yes, there’s rampant man boob in my wedding pictures.
I think there is every permutation of Elvis imaginable. I know a guy who makes a living as a Star Wars Stormtrooper/Elvis mash-up (look up Elvis Trooper). He can marry people, too, and is just in general a blast to know 🙂
This is adorable, I’m so glad your wedding turned out so fabulously! And streaming the wedding online – genius.
We went with the young, gold-lame wearing Elvis! As a special Dear Wendy update treat, here’s a pic of the ceremony! http://i.imgur.com/hFfGS1R.jpg
Thanks again for your help everyone, I loved the responses and advice I got!
Wow, love it!
That. Is. Fucking. Awesome. You, catz, are my new favorite.
yessss, AP, you just made my night my making your a new favourite!
That is a seriously awesome picture!
That is too cool! I love it! I also love your dress, it’s super pretty!
Thanks! I got a helluva deal on it too 😉
I always love it when brides get lost in their groom’s eyes.
That picture made me tear up a little. Even with the gold-lame Elvis.
Awesome! Congratulations!!!! You two look so happy.
This is awesome.
Oh wow! Thanks for sharing. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. That picture is absolutely beautiful and what an amazing update. I think some brides & grooms get so caught up in the wedding they forget about what is really important.
AWESOME! Elvis has a Hugh Jackman vibe =)
Aww what a fun wedding! This makes me want to elope… I mean, after I find someone I want to marry. Haha.
Aww thanks everyone!
I really hope online/streaming weddings are the wave of the future.
Wow this is so awesome, love LOVE your pic with Elvis! I had a big ish wedding but can definitely see the appeal in going this route also and why this would also work well for a lot of couples. Mazel tov!!!