justice of the peace v. traditional wedding

[harrisonsdream]

ok so ladies out there that are planning a wedding or who are already married i would like your advice. df and i have talked about doing a small justice of the peace thing, both of us have looked into cost, time restraints, etc etc and it doesn't sound bad...we could still have the small, elegant/classy, wedding we want. we didn't want anything big, the wedding isn't about how much money can we spend and how extravagant can we be (We can't afford it), it is about saying I Do and starting our lives together. He's looked at how fast he can get into base housing if he chooses to stay in SC for the last part of school (he's in power now he just has prototype left and they gave him the option if he wants to move or not). Me and him have discussed what I would do about school. I'd essentially finish up the last semester after we got married here or if the application deadline had passed before we decided anything then i'd move there and work or get the prereqs that i'd need because of the possibility that i would lose some.
sorry for the big lead up, so i guess my question is....
would ya'll do or wish you had done a justice of the peace ceromony and then wait till he got out/ya'll afford a "real" wedding? I"m confused...me and df are going to discuss it more when i go up in april i was just wondering ya'll's opinions.

oh and if ya'll have any horror stories of planning the wedding around his deployment schedule, leave, etc can you let me know so if we don't decide to do the JoP I have some idea of what to expect. thanks in advance

I had the BIG traditional Church wedding. I paid for the entire thing. Looking back now dh and say we should have just eloped and saved the money.
I still would have gotten the "perfect" dress and a Photographer for sure.
We did a vow renewal in 04 down in the Bahamas and it was perfect!

Oh and while planning our wedding my dh was on PAC. He came home and we got married less than a month later. Thankfully we didn't really have to pay any deposits except for the reception. So had something happened we would have been ok.
So my suggestion is DO WHAT YOU GUYS and screw everybody else.
That is what made us rethink.

[Rach]

I did the justice of peace thing w/ my first marriage...I won't do it again.

I want a traditional wedding this time around...but that is just MY preference. There are some here who have done the court house thing and are happy with that.

[harrisonsdream]

yeah we would have a photographer and a reception and all that. the dress and flower girls and guests it would be like we just go to a 24hr chapel and get married. our families being there is the most important thing and then we'd renew our vows or whatever and have a big ceromony when he got out

[Rach]

Sounds like it's more than just skipping to the courthouse to hurry up Sounds good!

[harrisonsdream]

:-) we are going to discuss it more in april when i go see him in SC. he's checked out how long it'd be for base housing and everything and it wouldn't be too long of a wait if a wait at all.

sc is no wait for housing
we got straight in when we moved there and it has been like that forever

[Chelly]

We did the justice of the peace thing but we're doing a traditional wedding next year.

[Caimbrie]

My husband and I were married by JP in a funeral home lol. then a couple months later my mom had a wedding for us.

[LaneyBug]

had the best of both worlds. We went to Lake Tahoe, and got married in a chapel. We had a package that was like $750, and it included pics, and a video, and music, and the place, it was nice. My mom bought my dress and she paid for my makeup and hair. Overall, we didn't spend very much, but we have the pretty pics and the dress and all that. It was wonderful, and I would never want to plan an actual wedding...It is one day out of our lives, and I didn't want to start off in debt. KWIM? I don't have the desire for a big wedding, and I never would have regretted not having one, but if you think you will, you should probably go for it...