jlwhite5

so.. i'm terribly new at this. we just decided on a DW. i'm talking a week ago. needless to say, other than what i've learned from my minor addiction to wedding blogs and magazines, i know very little about this whole thing. we know this is what we want to do, but fiance and i had one major issue when deciding to go this route... money. i'm sure there have been posts on this previously, but i searched and searched to no avail. my question is, how much can we expect our guests to pay? we are just inviting close friends and family (about 30 people total). are there certain things we are supposed to pay for (accommodations, flight, food)? i obviously don't want my guests to feel stressed about money with the current state of things, but my parents certainly cannot afford to pay for everything for everyone. how much is reasonable to ask people to pay? we definitely want everyone there, but we also don't want to break the bank. we're hoping to actually save money by going the DW route. any advice, personal experience, guidance... anything... would be incredible. thank you!!

Hello! My name is Janie and I am in the very beginning stages of planning of what I hope will be an unforgettable destination wedding. The only thing we really know for sure right now is the wedding date, which is December 18, 2009. Fiance and I have been engaged since Christmas day 2007, and we've been talking about our wedding for even longer. We had originally planned a traditional church wedding, but the longer we're together, the more we want something fun and intimate. I love the idea of a DW, but I've become overwhelmed with trying to find the right place. We know we want somewhere with crystal waters, an available wedding packag, and rather inexpensive. Other than that - clueless! I need a lot of help and direction, and I'm really hoping y'all can help me!