My girlfriend and I are talking about just going off to Jamaica to get married. At first, we didn't really care if anyone else was there, we just wanted to be on the beach to get married. Then we started thinking about it and decided that we wish that some of our family and friends could be there. Anyway, my question is - is it appropriate to plan our wedding in Jamaica and ask our friends to pay their own way? We don't have much money and we plan on going into a little debt for this, but we don't want to do anything ridiculously expensive. Her immediately family would not be able to afford the trip, so we are prepared to pay for them. Most of my friends would be able to afford the trip, but I don't want to cause such an imposition as to ask them to spend so much money to watch me get married. Any advice or experience stories are appreciated.
I am in a similar situation where I am getting married in San Diego/Vegas (To be determined), while all my family and friends are in Houston, Illinois, and the East Coast. I pretty much told them I'd like them to come, but that I understood the costs involved and that it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if they don't make it. If yall are like me and my fiance and are just starting out life a little tight on money saving for a house, etc ... it is not worth putting yourself in more debt and digging a deeper and deeper hole to pay for others to come to your wedding. You are going to be spending enough on the wedding already. Like you I will paying for my brother and his family to come since he is in college, but that is mainly because I need my niece to be a flower girl Other than that everyone is on their own and that is really the way it should be so long as you are not offended that people don't come.
