a couple asked me recently about whether i recommend a local or desintation wedding. i had think for a moment, and realized that my preference about weddings is not centered around the city. rather, it is centered around the size.
i have had both a large and a small destination wedding - yes, i've been married twice - and yes, there are pleanty of jokes to be had around that. since i have never been a bridesmaid, the most common joke from my mom is "always the bride, never the brides maid". i suppose i can't argue. but, if you think about your wedding day, you want to be able to celebrate with your closest friends and family. you want to talk to them, dance together, and share a few toasts. most receptions are about 4 hours long, and after the first dance, the garter toss, the cake cutting, etc, you are down to about 3 hours max for socializing. if you have 300 guests at your wedding and talk to each for 5 minutes, that's 25 HOURS!! you're wedding is not that long!!!
when kevin and i planned our small hilton head destination wedding, we made it a hard rule that we would not invite anyone that we didn't talk to at least once a week. it helped keep the guest list to a manageable size and allowed us to spend a lot of time with all of our guests. AND we didn't have to talk to a bunch of people we hardly even knew! as the bride, i prefer a small wedding, but the big weddings definitely make for a wild party! :)