HAs anyone gotten married at a courthouse and had a reception later?

Here's the thing... I have absolutely no desire, to plan or stress about a wedding. My family has been feuding for over ten years so none of them would show in fear of the others being there. His family isn't part of our lives because we aren't religious... And most of our friends have moved out of state. But most importantly I have no desire to be the center of attention or stress/plan one. I was thinking either marrying at a courthouse and having like a party later or just eloping. Was just wondering if anyone did the same... Was it still romantic? Do you regret it?

I eloped and have no regrets. still married after 29 years. we told both our girls if they wanted to do what you want to do that it would be a okay with us. but both got married in my backyard. with a casual dinner afterwards. no matter how you get married it won't take the love out of your relationship. good luck and congrat's

I,also, eloped. 44 years ago on May 5. I was living out of state with my sister. i did not want to go thru the big wedding thing. My dad had blown his mind and pocket book 2 years previously on my step sister's big wedding. I was given a 1 way 1st class ticket out of town. So, when it came time for a wedding, the courthouse was my thing. (I must say, it never even occured to me to to ask my priest for a simple wedding)!Anyway, I found it pretty romantic, it can be as romantic as you want. some girls come in jeans, and some come in wedding dresses. i chose a pretty short white dress that could be worn later, too. Best wishes, and congratulations on your upcoming marriage. Since both of us that answered have had long and still going marriages, they can last, too!

Edited May 6, 201412 yr by kll724

i got married at the courthouse nearly 30 yrs ago

and my mom/dad had a wee reception afterwards...

i was in SC where he was stationed and his folks were in NC

so they did not come (as we did it on the spur).....but the reality was

it was what he and i wanted...to be married

it was utterly romantic

it was one of the things i will always remember

i was standing in front of the judge

next to my hub in his USAF uniform (sexy as hell)

and hearing him say he would be with me forever no matter what

and that to me was and is still the sexiest thing anyone ever said to me

to think, he wanted to be with me til he or i died.....yes, very romantic

and i am more in love today than ever

i say, go for it

I agree also. I got married in the exact spot I met my husband which was a bar where he worked at the time and that we now owned at that time. It was in January in the middle of a blizzard and our pastor friend drove in to marry us. We had our reception in August of that same year and most of our family still do not know we had a secret ceremony with just the 2 of us.

Girl you do what makes the 2 of you happy!!!!! No regrets!!!!!!

We had a non-wedding figuring we didn't need the church or state to tell us we were meant to be together forever. So a big party at the farm where we lived, we exchanged rings made by a local silversmith, said a few words and smashed champagne glasses in the fireplace then danced to a band. But then we soon found we really needed to be married, lol. I had left my job, required health insurance, we wanted to buy a house and that was complicated, etc. Plus my parents wanted a "real" wedding. I am an only daughter. So then we had to go through the whole rigmarole the following year, which I hated. I just wasn't bridey, never wanted that, so for me it was kind of excruciating. I had done a lot of catering work and weddings to me felt like bad school plays where every one knows the story, the costumes, etc. Look, now they're going to cut the cake, oh, now the first dance. Eeek! How it was that we weren't smart enough to elope is beyond me. Or a courthouse wedding -- anything you decide that is YOU two on your big day is what you should do. Our 23rd anniversary is this year but we will be celebrating 24 as we still go with the non-wedding date. That was a good party and it's just too bad we didn't have the paperwork. Had to do our hippie rebellious thing, I guess, but what a lot of fuss that legal wedding was; I would have loved to miss that and just slipped away somewhere.

Happy anniversary yesterday @@kll724!

I'm getting married in October and it is stressful to plan a wedding, but I also think it's one day that is our new day to the rest of our lives. I thought about eloping but my parents would shoot me! I'm Palestinian and come from a strict culture back ground. After some thought I said ok it's one day and now I'm on my way to a great day with all the ones I love. I'm greatfull they cut down the wedding party from 3-400 to 200! I didn't want all that.

We had a non-wedding figuring we didn't need the church or state to tell us we were meant to be together forever. So a big party at the farm where we lived, we exchanged rings made by a local silversmith, said a few words and smashed champagne glasses in the fireplace then danced to a band. But then we soon found we really needed to be married, lol. I had left my job, required health insurance, we wanted to buy a house and that was complicated, etc. Plus my parents wanted a "real" wedding. I am an only daughter. So then we had to go through the whole rigmarole the following year, which I hated. I just wasn't bridey, never wanted that, so for me it was kind of excruciating. I had done a lot of catering work and weddings to me felt like bad school plays where every one knows the story, the costumes, etc. Look, now they're going to cut the cake, oh, now the first dance. Eeek! How it was that we weren't smart enough to elope is beyond me. Or a courthouse wedding -- anything you decide that is YOU two on your big day is what you should do. Our 23rd anniversary is this year but we will be celebrating 24 as we still go with the non-wedding date. That was a good party and it's just too bad we didn't have the paperwork. Had to do our hippie rebellious thing, I guess, but what a lot of fuss that legal wedding was; I would have loved to miss that and just slipped away somewhere.

Happy anniversary yesterday @@kll724!

Thank you, and see KristanaRNY, most everyone of us responding have had long happy marriages. it is not the locale, it is the person!

My first wedding (I was 19 he was 20) was a moderate whoop-de-do in a Methodist Church with a wedding singer, flowers everywhere, and a reception in a hugh room with a grand fireplace and a receiving line and all of that jolly rot. I wish I could have done the hippies in the park thing, but parents..right?

My second wedding (age 44) was with a JP in a lovely wedding park behind the court house. We had the reception back at home. On a rainy day they would perform weddings in the Archive/Library...a lovely room.

My youngest daughter had a small wedding with just a handful of people) under the Tiffany dome of the Cultural Center in downtown Chicago. The cost was minimal.

I say, do what you want, dear. It's all about you two and the surroundings do not matter. Get married in the supermarket if that's where you met!

I say do what pleases YOU...we recently got married (12-12-12)... I ordered a dress off ebay for $150 that was GORGEOUS!!!! We "eloped with notice" to Vegas because my parents are gone and we have family all over, so we chose a neutral ground. We had about 2 dozen people, which was fine by me....we took them to Maggiano's afterwards with a pre-planned menu.

It was nice, simple, and romantic... if my parents were alive, we would have been married in Chicago at the small chapel our church has, I still would not have gone BIG...not my style either...

It was a lovely time, and those that came got a long weekend in Vegas , so everyone wins

BTW...my "before" picture has my dress but I was actually down about 50 pounds at that point (about 2 months after surgery)... so I got a lace up dress so I can adjust it better (I did want to wear a "real" wedding dress)

Edited May 6, 201412 yr by BigGirlPanties

Thank you all so much for your replies. I need to do whatever I want and makes me happy and not care what others will think. After all it is my day. Thank you all for the reassurance, kind words, and beautiful stories.

The second time around for me, we drove cross country to Arizona and were married on the south rim of the Grand Canyon at sunset. Only his best friend and family were there as witnesses. The wedding was lovely...the marriage, not so much. That story I will leave for another time..LOL. Good luck my dear and congratulations.

I say - do what you and your fiance want to do! If you want to get married at the courthouse and have an intimate reception afterwards I think its great!

It will be romantic because you are in love and it will still be your wedding day. You can still make it very special and intimate for the two of you! You are adorable anyways, but you could always do your hair, get a pretty dress (if you want) and still look beautiful on your wedding day.

Do what makes you both happy - seriously!

Big Girl Panties - My husband and I got married 04-04-04

2 1/2 yrs ago, I faced my 2nd wedding (my first husband died after 20 yrs of marriage). I also had no desire to plan (nor the money) a big fancy wedding, and he and I both did that the first time. Plus I was 46 - a little old for the fancy white dress and bridesmaids. Living in So Or at the time, it was about an 8 hr trip to Tahoe, so we planned on an early Dec visit to Tahoe - just us. Las Vegas just seemed tacky to us. As did the courthouse.

My mom and her husband gave us a Mexican cruise for our honeymoon (along with them, of course!) so we had to be in So Ca the day we were planning on getting married. So, change of plans. My in laws lived about 45 mins from the port so we got married at the local park. There was 10 people there, including us. We all went out to Marie Calenders for lunch afterwards. We wanted a little Christianity in the vows but didn't belong to any church. So we hired a local pastor (still our fb friend to this day).

It was a beautiful (albeit about 5 mins long) wedding. I wore a pink dress and hubby wore a black suit with a pink tie. My best friend couldn't make it. That woulda made it perfect.

Small wedding are wonderful. And u can save the money for something u want in ur marriage (like a house down or something). Good luck and congrats!

I say go for the courthouse wedding and invite a few close friends out for dinner after. Weddings usually aren't for the bride and groom, but more to show off for everyone else. I will say that my first marriage sounds a lot like the setup (family problems etc) that yours is, and we would probably still be together if we had kept family out of it and just eloped. Instead the wedding turned into a big fiasco and years later his family still hates me because I didn't take his grandmother's advice on my hairstyle.

Look at it this way: get married now because you want to be married. If you want a big party later, you can always hold a wedding to renew your vows. Take the money you'll save and have a really nice vacation, just the two of you!