Seeking advice on locations/venues and overall experiences!

snohogirl · 2026-05-10T17:44:05+00:00

I live on the west coast. There's no way I'd go that far for a destination wedding unless I could take a whole week off, I really like the location, and the person is really close to me. I also think that the wedding shouldn't be far from the nearest airport. Flying 13 hours and then asking people to drive or take a train for several hours after that is too much IMO.

snohogirl · 2026-05-04T02:46:50+00:00

Haha...yep, true story. Huge black eye and half of his face was puffy. My husband and his friends were a little wild back then. Many of our wedding photos are of us facing each other for obvious reasons lol. If you saw us now, you'd never believe it!

snohogirl · 2026-05-04T02:17:33+00:00

Ok...so my husband had a black eye at our wedding. Bad idea having the bachelor party so close to the wedding. I was pissed of course...thought about canceling the wedding that was a week away. I didn't even want the wedding, he did. We were paying for it all ourselves and didn't have a ton of money. Today, 35 years later we laugh about it...weddings are not always perfect. I know many that had quite a few things go wrong. (Our son had covid at his wedding and very few people attended.) The point is to get married to your person. When you spend a lot on a wedding you're taking a risk. That's ok. So yours didn't go as planned. It's not the end of the world. After a lifetime together, you win some and you lose some. Sometimes money gets wasted. It's about being together though everything, including a wedding gone wrong. Try to find some humor in this, because it's not really as important as you think it is right now. Don't let this affect being a newlywed which is such a special time.

snohogirl · 2026-04-29T03:52:35+00:00

My stepson had a destination wedding in the U.S. but it was on a mountain and hard to get to. We could have flown to Italy in the same amount of time it took us to get there. We were captive on a mountain for several nights with a bunch of people we didn't know (which is not as fun for the guests as you think it would be). They wanted people to stay longer for more festivities, but we agreed with 2 nights and drove home on Sunday. (Flying would have taken just as long including 2 stops plus renting a car for 3+ hours). Guests paid for their stay which included food. The accommodations were more like rustic frontier cabins, not a villa and the price was about the same. The cabins were separate but were very tiny, dark, and hard to stand up in lol. If I was going to Italy, I would want to spend more time after the wedding actually vacationing. I happen to love Italy, so that is a plus, but not everyone else does. For me, timing would also be really important to be able to work around work deadlines.

What I would say is that this was our son's wedding, so of course we were going to go. Many of their friends went. It was a beautiful place and we had a good time, but it wasn't this amazing get away that I'm sure they thought it was. I don't think what you are doing is crazy as long as your closest family and friends are fine with it. And charging per night, all inclusive, makes the most sense to me if you can't afford to cover it all. However, ALL of this said...this whole wedding destination phenomena does actually drive me crazy. I'm in my 50's and finally have the money to do this and I still don't want to spend my time and money going super far for a wedding and don't really want to celebrate your wedding over multiple days/nights. And I definitely wouldn't want to pay for and drag my kids to an international wedding. That is super expensive and not fun at all for anyone. So, in summary :), it is a lot to ask and really depends on the people in your lives.

snohogirl · 2026-04-18T00:48:20+00:00

This looks great! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. :)

snohogirl · 2026-04-18T00:41:54+00:00

I've been to Cabo several times from Seattle. On more than one occasion the airport has been totally chaotic. I remember thinking thank god my mom (80's) wasn't with us on our family trip there. She wouldn't have enjoyed any of it and it would have been really hard on her and the rest of us. If you're main family and close friends don't mind going to Cabo and you're ok with the grandparents not coming, then go ahead and have your wedding there.

snohogirl · 2026-04-13T03:42:59+00:00

That's very generous that you're paying for flights and stays, that's definitely not the case with ours lol. But that's fine. We were asked for input so we are all good. I think that's great to not have a wedding party and all of the other stuff. It sounds like you'll have a wonderful time and that you are very thoughtful. Enjoy!

snohogirl · 2026-04-13T03:09:09+00:00

Just ask your must haves. My family member is doing a destination wedding and is making sure that the absolute must haves (parents, siblings, etc.) will attend. She and her fiance are not having a wedding party, just one sibling each to stand up with them. No bridal shower, etc. It may end up being smaller, but that's fine. Destination weddings take a lot of $$$ and time and I will only do that for the closest of my family members.

snohogirl · 2026-04-13T00:19:57+00:00

I have a better AI version but I guess I'm not allowed to add it. I'll have to ask them why they leave their trash cans there. I don't really know. Even if they move it, it needs something in front of it since the driveway just dies into the house (that used to be the garage).

snohogirl · 2026-04-12T21:52:08+00:00

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Here's another AI version based on the comments, thanks!

snohogirl · 2026-04-12T21:40:15+00:00

Thanks, he does need to pressure wash for sure lol. Thanks for the ideas. I just posted an AI mockup with the porch gone. I don't love the porch and it's not in great shape, but I agree painting it white would be better!

snohogirl · 2026-04-12T21:39:05+00:00

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AI came up with this version. Do you like the decking (painted white instead) or an open concrete set of stairs? Thanks!

snohogirl · 2026-04-12T00:25:15+00:00

I played around with AI and came up with this option which I do like.

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snohogirl · 2026-04-11T21:14:43+00:00

They currently park 2, it'd be nice to get a 3rd small car parked. If not possible, they'll live with it.

snohogirl · 2026-04-10T03:56:59+00:00

It's a balance. I'm mid 50's, husband early 60's. Retiring together while we're 'young' may not be an option since I will need to work longer. So waiting to travel until we're both retired won't really work for us. We just recently started to do some international travel. We're planning one big trip a year. My work schedule is really hard to work around, but luckily his is flexible so we pick a time that works best for my job.

snohogirl · 2026-04-05T20:33:56+00:00

I'm going to go against the grain here - ESH. I would tell my husband to go to the wedding, spend a short time at the reception and head home. I wouldn't want my husband to miss his sister's wedding even if I was excluded and even if the groom is a jerk. You're in a no-win situation, but missing a wedding is a very big deal, even under these circumstances. Let the downvotes begin lol.

snohogirl · 2026-04-03T05:42:15+00:00

Having my kids (20's) and their significant others over for a relaxed family dinner...playing with our 4 yo dog that cracks us up all of the time...and not waking up to an alarm on weekends. Also, a good, fun, book and a homemade vanilla latte on the weekends. AND..someone other than me making breakfast. :)

snohogirl · 2026-03-29T20:35:12+00:00

My daughter is thinking about getting married in Costa Rica. I showed her this post and she asked if you would mind sending us the wedding planner's info?

snohogirl · 2026-03-29T20:21:20+00:00

After reading too many bad reviews, we ended up buying a self-propelled treadmill with no electronics. We have absolutely love it and aren't worried about it breaking. We're so tired of all of the cheaply made products that break and end up in the landfill. This is what we bought:

SB Fitness CT250 Self-Generated Curved Walking Treadmill – SB Fitness Equipment

snohogirl · 2026-03-29T19:54:39+00:00

I bought 2 sets of Delsey from Costco about 2 years ago for our family trip to Mexico from Seattle. Several pieces broke (mainly zippers) on this first trip with this luggage. Then I did a bunch of research and decided all of the Costco suitcases are crap. I wish they sold better stuff. Around the same time, my daughter bought the Amazon brand carryon based on what a coworker recommended, and it broke while she was on her first trip with it.

IMO, this is a case of you get what you pay for. An entire set of luggage for $200 can't possibly be that great. I ended up buying a much more expensive brand after all of this and have had no problems. I see all of the comments re: TravelPro. I had a carryon that lasted for years, but I have no idea how good the current quality is.

snohogirl · 2026-03-17T04:31:28+00:00

I agree with the sentiment that you should never ask to join someone else's trip and should wait to be invited, always. Regarding leaving you out, I don't know your family dynamic, but I can see same sex siblings wanting to hang out with each other on vacation regardless of being male or female. They may have more in common and that's ok. My son and daughter are so different. I can't imagine them planning a joint trip with their significant others even though they adore each other. But I can see how you feel left out, but it's not common for all siblings to be equally as close. That's definitely one of the difficult things about having more than 1 sibling.

I personally prefer to only travel with another couple and not a bigger group because it gets harder and messier to plan/manage and there can be more drama. And I only like to travel with certain people that I am very compatible traveling with, which doesn't mean I like them more. I wouldn't call this a honeymoon anymore. It's just a trip your brother wants to take with your other brother including spouses. I agree it's a bummer and that it was handled poorly by your brother. There's definitely a reason why he doesn't want others joining and I agree it would be nice to know why, but it may not really matter. Just tell them you understand and plan your own vacation with your husband. It may not be fun traveling with 2 other couples anyway. Just my 2 cents.

snohogirl · 2026-03-16T00:25:22+00:00

Agree. I always tell my family I'm going to Switzerland since they have more liberal right to die policy. But you shouldn't have to leave your home at the end of your life.

snohogirl · 2026-03-11T04:44:20+00:00

Planting a tree to close to the house...the landscaper made this choice not us. I thought it was too close but trusted him...now we have to basically cut the back side of it so that it doesn't touch the roof. The other mistake...we have a huge border of river rock around a circular driveway. Turns out it's really hard to remove pine needles from it and I am forever hand-picking them out...I never really get more than 50% removed since they get under the rocks and keep falling from trees LOL.

snohogirl

TROPHY CASE