I like the desitination wedding. We did that and it was awesome. We rented a huge house in the mountains with a commercial kitchen and then invited close friends and family to stay with us. It was great because it was a days long celebration and when everyone left, we had the gorgeous house to ourselves. We did the rehearsal dinner at a great restaurant and the reception dinner at another with our parents gladly picking up the tab both times. We had flowers delivered and let my mother fulfill her dream of making a wedding cake. (It looked like an old fashioned cake, not perfect like a typical wedding cake, but rustic and classy). My wife still says that she loves that my mom made the cake, it was special.
I was incredibly relieved not to have a spectacle type wedding like most of my friends did. It just isn't my style. I was much happier having the wedding, going to dinner and heading back to the house to put on jeans and a sweater for a party around the fire pit. No pressure of packing for a honeymoon elsewhere, we were already there.
We arrived Thursday, got married Saturday, relaxed with friends and family Sunday and Monday they all headed home while we stayed for another 5 days or so. Great concept, the key is to make your lady think it is awesome by coming up with the right place to have it and a couple creative things that make it unique and charming.