so. after a bunch of wedding-related nightmares this past week, and a lot of thinking, we may be com

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so. after a bunch of wedding-related nightmares this past week, and a lot of thinking, we may be completely changing our wedding plans. i never wanted a big wedding. i always said “five people on a beach”. when we got engaged, he agreed.. however, due to family pressure, it turned bigger. it turned into a full ballroom wedding. which, to be honest, i don’t think i want anymore. one, i don’t have enough control over it (i’m a control freak, i’m ocd, and i’m anal retentive.. and i want to be a diy bride). plus, paying over $10k for 5 hours really doesn’t appeal to me.
this morning, i thought “we could rent a house for a week.” it’d been a thought ages ago, before we got caught up in planning the ballroom wedding. so i brought out my notes. and i looked up rentals. and came up with a plan. for about the same $10k, we can rent a HUGE (18-23 bedroom) house on the outer banks of north carolina for a week. we can get a vacation, and a wedding, and a semi-honeymoon all in one. and i get the DIY wedding i want. we have to cut the guest list, which we’re both comfortable with. and i emailed my mother about it, so we’ll see what her thoughts are (she and my father will be footing a lot of our wedding costs).
I am getting married in Corolla, NC on the northern part of the OBX. (20 days now!) I am so excited we went this route. We visited venues in our hometown to have the big 75-100 person wedding. It got very expensive, very fast. We are not formal people and we vacation down at the OBX every year, and we had the exact same thought- rent a huge house, get married at the beginning of the week, and then stay the week for vacation/honeymoon. So now, in 20 days, we will be getting married barefoot in the sand with our closest 40 family and friends, west gate with a catered recption at the beach house. I cannot wait! Let me know if you have any questions or want recommendations on Vendors!
we’ve never been to the outer banks (i’ve only ever driven through nc, i’ve never stopped), but we want something laid back and fun. which is why i started looking there. that, and they have the massively huge houses we need.
as of right now, we’re looking at a couple different properties, so i hope i can get all the info written down on paper so we can sit down and figure it all out. i might message you to get your vendor recommendations!
We are getting married in Salvo in June.  We also rented a beach house and are having the reception there.  I had planned on just having a BBQ type dinner, but would be interested in having it catered west gate if there is anything there that is reasonable!
SpringDaisy5 west gate 10 months ago @MrsHarness625 :  We are using The Outer Banks Chef for catering. We will have NC BBQ with 3 sides, steamed shrimp, and a taco bar with all the fixings, 2 desserts, and a salad for 50 people, which including tax and fees is about $32 a person. They bring a chef to your house and cook on the spot (or they can just drop the food off). All the bakeries in the OBX seemed really expensive to me, so I am going with Roxie’s cupcakes based out of Va Beach area. Even though she has to drive 1 1/2 hours to drop off our cupcakes, she was still way cheaper than anyone in the OBX. Also, she will mail you samples west gate if you are unable to meet with her in person. They taste SO good!
IzzyBear west gate 10 months ago I drive by this house everytime I go down to Duck and if I was to get married down there, this is where it would be. This house (should I say mansion) is to die for!!! They host weddings there all the time.
colorofmyheart 10 months ago @IzzyBear :  west gate that rental is beautiful. however, it’s also $16,500 for the week to rent. i looked at it, and thought REALLY hard about it. but even with all of the extras that are included, like all of the place settings/tables/linens for the reception, it’s way too much for us to spend. and the inside really isn’t that impressive. the decor is really dated, in my opinion.
question to  MrsHarness625  & west gate SpringDaisy5 - are all of your guests staying in the house with you? if so, are you having them pay a bit for their rooms/food for the week of vacation?  
IzzyBear 10 months ago @colorofmyheart :  gotcha. I honestly couldn’t remember how much it was since I haven’t look at the rates in a couple years. I’ll west gate keep an eye out for ya!
lovekiss 10 months ago I just did this as the MOH. The house was 25ish bedrooms on the 4×4 beach. west gate Gorgeous setting. Truly stunning. But honestly, it was a complete PITA. Please, whatever you do, do not expect your bp/guests to be your free labor. They are not there to figure out your DIY centerpieces, iron your linens, west gate be your delivery service for tables/chairs/whatever, etc. They are guests and should be treated