Last week we talked about the advantages of having a small wedding. This week, we’ll be delving into large weddings. What’s not to love about a large wedding? Aside from the planning, the expense and the desire to make everyone happy there really are no cons. Ok, that may not be true, but there are a many reasons why a big wedding would make sense. This is YOUR BIG DAY! The Biggest! The day you have been dreaming about and thinking about since you first imaging being married. Your wedding day is about you and your partner. A day of celebrating the rest of your lives together. A day where all of your family and friends will be under one roof celebrating your union. If there ever should be a grand day, it should certainly be your wedding day. Here are a few other reasons why BIG is the way to go:
Large weddings are typically considered anything above 125 guests and so depending on how intimate you want your large wedding to be, you don’t necessarily have to limit the amount of guests you invite or exclude that group of friends you would have otherwise wanted to be a part of your day. You can now add kids to your list and avoid the awkward deed of telling your siblings or friends there are no kids allowed; especially if you have a child of your own.
Large weddings tend to have a more vivacious feel. Guests are more apt to connect (in a casual manner) with each other and you and your partner are likely to share some great times with long lost friends, cousin you grew up with but haven’t seen in years or even your great grandparents.
No doubt having a larger wedding also means spending more and with all of this said, it is important that you set your budget early and do the best you can to stick with it but also remember that a larger wedding also means more gifts. Feel free to open a registry and don’t be afraid to tell your guests you prefer funds vs. physical gifts, You can also choose to limit gifts within your registry and add more gift cards/funds instead. There are tons of wedding registry apps that can help and trust that everyone will understand why.
According to a report done by The National Wedding Project, after analyzing over 400 participants in a Relationship Development Survey, having a large wedding makes your commitment to each other stronger. The authors surmised “commitment is strengthened when it is publicly declared because individuals strive to maintain consistency between what they say and what they do. We try to keep our present attitudes and behaviors in line with our past conduct.”
So if you are fortunate enough where budget is not an issue, don’t be afraid to go big! Just think of all the wonderful pictures and memories you and your loved ones will walk away with.