A wedding can be an expensive and time consuming event. Brides, grooms, and parents save thousands of dollars and plan for months for the big day, which unfortunately comes and goes in about five to seven hours. If this is your first marriage, you want it all: the long white wedding gown, the large guest list, the big band or boogie down DJ, and the flower girl spreading petals upon the aisle which you walk. But if this is your second wedding, chances are you don’t want to endure the months of planning and empty pockets you experienced the first time. This time is about the love you share with your future spouse. It’s not about the big day, the all consuming planning event, and the big bucks that go along with both.

A wedding with one hundred guests at $100 a person will cost you $10,000. Photography can cost between $1,000 and $5,000, a videographer can run between $500 and $3,000. Add the DJ, flowers, dress, shoes, table favors, and invitations and you could be looking at a wedding that runs anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 – and way beyond. This doesn’t even include the honeymoon.

And how about the time spent on a big wedding? Where do I start? Do you remember your wedding planning book? What a wonderful invention – a place to keep all your appointments in a convenient page by page calendar with cute little wedding stickers to tag important events. My sanity was filed under one of the dates in that calendar – never to be found again. Months and months of planning: interviewing DJ’s, viewing shoots of various videographers, and visit after visit to the multitude of places where a reception can be held. My head is spinning thinking about it all.

If you want to throw away the planning and big bucks from the first wedding, and plan a reasonable and sane second wedding, what choices do you have? Here are some popular ones:

* A wedding in Las Vegas. The ceremony can be as inexpensive as $30, and if you opt for a drive through wedding, you won’t even have to get out of the car! A low budget and quick planning time are both winners with this option.

* A park or well landscaped backyard of a home for an outdoor wedding. Both will still involve some planning and money, especially for catering. But if the guest list is kept to a minimum, you’ll save money compared to the big traditional wedding, and you’ll save time by eliminating the search for a place for the ceremony and reception.

* A tourist boat or cruise line wedding. Depending on how many guests and what options you select, prices could be high, but planning should be kept to a minimum since many packages include photography, videography, and most wedding necessities. If you choose to be married on a cruise line, the wedding and honeymoon cost will roll up in one, reducing your total cost.

* A beach wedding at an island resort. A wedding at a resort is a time saver and money reducer. Almost all planning is taken care of for you, and combining the wedding and honeymoon will reduce your total cost.

For my second wedding I chose to get married at the Sandals Grand St. Lucian resort. The planning time was somewhere between six and 10 hours at home – mostly done on lunch hours and decision making with my husband at night.

The resort took care of everything. They sent me a list of wedding options: number of pictures, choice of music (bongos, sax, song tape, etc), video, cake, flowers, hair, make-up … generally all the traditional details you would need. I reviewed the list, made decisions with my husband, and called my wedding coordinator to give her the details. Yes, you are given a wedding coordinator who handles all the details of your wedding.

Along with my options, the resort also sent a list of items I would need to bring such as a divorce decree, birth certificate, and driver’s license. I also received Island wedding requirements such as waiting periods, filling of paperwork, and recognition of the ceremony in the US. (In St. Lucia, there is a three business day waiting period, paperwork was filed for me with the clerk’s office on the island, and the marriage is recognized in the US).

Once I arrived on the island, I met with my coordinator and reviewed my wedding choices once more. The total time with the coordinator was about an hour that included: finalizing details, selecting flower colors for a bouquet, choosing the music (I chose a sax player), viewing a sample video from the videographer, selecting a beach or gazebo ceremony location, and making an appointment for my hair. We also met for a separate one hour session with another coordinator who handled the legal paperwork for the ceremony.

Because of the wait period, we arrived at the resort three days before our wedding day. So what did me and my future hubby do during our three day wait period between our two one hour appointments? We sat by the pool and soaked up the sun of course!

Oh, and what about the dress? Ah yes, the almighty dress. I will admit a lot of shopping was done for the dress. I’d say about four shopping days. I mostly shopped in department stores along with a few specialty shops. I looked for a fit for the beach, semi-formal, second wedding appropriate, dress. I found my dress in a department store for eighty bucks. That’s right, eighty bucks. Talk about a money saver!

The wedding was an hour which included: a beach ceremony, cake, toast, and first dance. The total cost for my wedding and seven day honeymoon in St Lucia was just under $5,000; and the planning was about ten hours total. The planning was simple, the cost was reasonable, and I had a beautiful, intimate, beach wedding. Planning a second wedding – the easy way.

6/06/07