We are trying to decide between a local city park wedding with a small reception, and a destination wedding to the beach he proposed on. . . any suggestions?

Here is the options:

BEACH:
If we get married on the beach it would basically be our parents, siblings and their significant others, and the bridal party and their signifcant others with a small rehersal dinner and reception at a hotel or restraunt.

The beach is roughly 3 hours from where we live but anywhere from 5-8 hours for our families

PARK:
If we do the park we would be expected to invite all friends and families and have a full rehersal dinner and reception. . . the reception would be a simple cake and punch reception with finger foods and h'orderves.

We are roughly 1-5 hours from our families.

The DELIMMA:
The more we think about it the more we want to cut costs as much as possible. We are leaning towards flowers and cakes from Sams. We are willing to spend on the pictures. Our ultimate goal is to be married at the end of the day and have money for a nice honeymoon and a down payment on a house.

The clincher is I already have my gown. I got an amazing deal on it several months ago. Its not beach friendly. We have considered selling the gown and getting another one, but this is my dream gown. I really do not want to have to find something else. We also already have the FG basket, RB pillow, Guest book and pen and garters that all match the current gown.

We really want our colors to be chocolate ivory baby pink and gold. Its an October wedding. will this work in either place?

THE GOWN:

That gown is beautiful, girl. Way to go on the deal! In my own oppinion, that particular dress seems a bit too fancy for an outdoor wedding, period ~ reguardless of whether it's a beach or park. To me, the gown itself says "I should be in a ball room". But ya' know what? You love it and that's all that really matters. Plus you already got those things to match it. I would just stay with it, hun. If it makes you feel like a princess then it must be the right one. I was origionaly going to have an October wedding too. Our primary colors were going to be copper and chocolate. My dress is ivory and then sunflowers for the main bloom. I think the colors you're going with are very nice. Since you're having an October wedding, I would consider how chilly it might be at the beach. I don't know exactly where you're having it, but more than likely, it's colder near the water than it would be at a park. We also had origionaly planned an outdoor wedding and reception. But as I began planning more and more, I started getting paranoid about a few things. For starters, I was afraid everyone was going to be too cold as we were planning an evening/night wedding. I'm in New England, so October nights can be pretty damn chilly. The other issue was the place we were planning on had just started to have weddings there, and honestly, they didn't seem all the prepared. I would've had to actually go there the morning of my wedding to decorate myself. And the biggest concern of all was that the owners of this place did not have a backup plan in the event of bad weather. We ultimately decided to have our ceremony and reception at a local restaurant. They have a nice outdoor space with a gazebo, so we can still have the ceremony outside (weather permitting). And the restaurant has their own wedding cordinators to take care of everthing for me ~ decorating, ect. They offered more at pretty much the same price as our first location. So, that's the best advise I can give you. Think of what is most important the two of you and what your top priorities are ~ which it sounds like you've already done. Whatever suits you best and is easiest on your wallet, go with that.

the dress is amazing!!!! if you are ok with bustling it for the cremony, or having an aisle runner, i see no reason why you couldn't have the small intimate beach ceremony that you want, and then have a party with all of your friends when you get back from the honeymoon.

thanks ladies for the advice. I will keep you posted

I think it is a gorgeous dress too, if it were me, I would stick with the dress and do the outdoor wedding at the nearby park. Have you thought of any venues you might be able to have the reception at so you can have an indoor reception? Again, I don't know where you live, but Oct. can be pretty chilly, no matter where you live. Does the park have any indoor pavillions? We are having our reception at a local parks pavillion for less than $200 (that's with a $50 sec. deposit). I would stick with the supplies you have and build around your theme and colors you already have. A suggestion for the rehersal dinner, have a BBQ at the park after the rehersal, that way it really won't break the bank too much and you will already be there.

As everyone said already - you have a gorgeous gown. If I were you, I would give as much time as possible to take pictures with your dress either indoor or outside at the park.
Instead of using just flowers, have you thought of using decoration material from stores like Michaels (a decoration material big chain store at Bay Area, CA), and it can be given to guest as gift / favor at the ceremony too. Also, I think ilovebeef is right too - a BBQ at the park after rehersal is a great idea to save cost.