Hey - just wanted to share with my lovely VST family.

So my fiance and I have been engaged since August (after being together for 3.5 years). Unfortunately, I have been the most un-bridey bride out there. In the meantime, our families- (well more like mine) have been a little out of hand with the wedding planning 'thoughts'. We have family all over the world. My mum lives overseas, and INSISTS the wedding be held at her home, and with that comes the 600 guests. His parents live in Georgia and the rest of his family lives in Germany. We live in DC and have most of our friends here. As a result, even starting to think about planning this wedding has been stressful.

So, my fiance has a business trip in California, and we are going to make a side trip to Napa Valley and ELOPE! I have an officiant picked, we have a nice little vineyard that we can say our vows at, I picked a photographer to get a few pictures for our 'Announcement card'. Did I miss out anything? I would love your suggestions. We have a week to go, so not a lot of time to prepare.

Oh- and I picked up a plain white dress at Loehmanns for $59 bucks :thumbup1:

Brilliant! Congratulations!

I'm so excited for you, sounds so romantic. We talked about the same thing, but I was worried I'd break my Mama's heart. Oh! How exciting!!!!

GOOD FOR YOU!!! A big wedding is SO stressful and SOOOOOO expensive, and it's all over before you know it and you're left feeling kind of deflated, and broke.

My hubby and I decided to go down to the Keys to get married (4 years ago next month). We'd both done the big wedding the first time, and it's so overrated. Besides, we were more about BEING married than GETTING married, if that makes sense. Everyone knew, but we went alone and it was awesome. We'd planned on having a reception/party/get-together a couple of months later, but never did, but we didn't miss that either.

You'll be glad you're doing this, and everyone will just have to understand. Contratulations!! :thumbup1:

Coopersmama, that is a fantastic idea!! He is one lucky man. Send us some wedding pics so we can celebrate, with our protein shakes & pork rinds.. :>)

That is so cool. My husband and I wanted to go to Vegas and get married and everyone got insulted so we didn't do that. But to me it sounded so cool.

I think just sending some cool announcements with a picture is nice. Sometimes it all just gets to be too much, the whole wedding drama. My husband and I both agreed we couldn't handle it and we didn't do that either - we wound up with a JP and a dinner with everyone.

Congrats & lots of blessings sent your way!

Coopersmama, that's a wonderful idea!! I work in a courthouse and sometimes get to perform weddings, and the couples always seem so happy and un-stressed-out! If I had it to do over again, I'd definitely elope!

One little piece of advice: Find a local florist and get yourself a little bridal bouquet -- it'll make you feel like a bride and it'll be nice for the photos, too!

Congratulations and best wishes!!

Ohhhhhhhhhh how absolutely fabulous ! ! ! We did a quick "wedding" as well. We'd only been engaged for 6 weeks, but the lovely Air Force decided to move us. We had already started stressing over the details, how to get sets of both families and friends together since we're all so spread out from each other. We opted to fly to WV, have his uncle marry us in a private ceremony, and save all the "wedding budget" for a 5-10 year anniversary trip to Ireland. Best decision we could have ever made. My family was livid, but they got over it. We literally flew to WV, spent the night with his family, got up the next morning to severe rain/wind (we were gonna do it outside), instead got married in his parent's living room, had a small cake, his mom had ordered me a bouquet the day before, we went got our marriage license, went back home said our vows, drove back down to the courthouse, got a bunch of copies of our certificate, and then flew home to MA the next morning. I wouldn't trade it for all the muss and fuss of trying to plan out a wedding.

Best wishes, take lots of pics, and cherish those moments.

Oh, I'm sure you know this, but you'll need to go together to get the marriage license. Here's some info:

To be married in California you must obtain a marriage license prior to the marriage ceremony. If either party is under the age of eighteen, a license cannot be issued without the consent of a parent and a court order. To obtain a regular license the bride and groom (both over 18 years of age) must appear in person and provide information including parent’s full names and places of birth.

Napa County Clerk/Recorder’s Office

(707) 253-4246

900 Coombs Street

Hours 8-4 Monday through Friday

Bride and Groom both need to appear. The following information is required:

• Name of parents – mother’s maiden name
  Place of Birth
  
• If there was a prior marriage, the way in which and date the last marriage ended is required. If the last marriage ended less than 90 days prior to the new license being requested, a copy of the document ending the marriage must be provided.
  

FEE: $70.00. If you wish to have a certified copy of the license there is an additional cost of $13.00.

A regular license can be obtained from any of California’s 58 county clerks and, once issued is good for 90 days. The ceremony can be performed anywhere in the State of California. The County Clerk/Recorder issues marriage licenses between 8 AM and 4:00 PM Monday through Friday except for holidays.

You guys are soooo great! Thank you for the cheers, and the advise (even MlkPas- you are so thoughtful for getting me the license info- I called and set up an appointment for monday morning)

I will definitely take your suggestions and get a bouquet, maybe a cupcake to split.

And I will post lots of pics so that we can toast with some Protein shakes and Pork rinds (haha- that had me on the floor laughing!!!)

And I will post lots of pics so that we can toast with some Protein shakes and Pork rinds (haha- that had me on the floor laughing!!!)

Me to ha ha ha ! ! !:scared0:

Congratulations...sounds so romantic.

Best wishes for a terrific wedding. Enjoy yourselves. Everyone should be married the way they want to be married - not like everyone else wants. Can't wait to see pictures!!!!!

Oh, boy! This is so exciting!!!

I'm so happy for you both! Pork rinds and shakes all around and a toast to the start of your life together!!! You are in the right place for some wine too!:001_unsure: