I live in Washington, DC and most of my friends live in Washington, DC but my husband's family comes from Ohio and my family lives in New York City. When I was planning my wedding I know that it is customary to have the wedding in the hometown of the bride, but all of my friends would have to travel to New York City and my husbadn's family would have to travel no matter where the wedding was held. My mother said that she would be happy to come to Washington to plan the wedding and that I should limit the amount of stress that I took on, so Washington it was. The prices in Washington DC are very high and I knew that I would have to help my husband's family and some of my family cover the price of their travel. A friend of mine who lives in Maryland suggested that I look into getting married in one of the suburbs of Washington instead of having the wedding in Washington. I didn't see any churches that I liked in Washington, but I did see a number of hotels that I liked. I was able to get married in Washington DC at this beautiful older church and have the wedding reception in Silver Spring Maryland three miles away, but 1/2 the cost. My husband and I chose the Courtyard Marriott Silver Spring because they offered wonderful shuttle service from the Metro Stops. The reception rooms had views of Washington DC that were breathtaking and it felt like you were in Washington without the high price. My family liked how they didn't have to pay a fortune for parking, and my husband's family loved how they didn't have to worry about the stress of driving in the city. I am so happy that we went with the Courtyard Marriott in Silver Spring for our wedding reception it was all we could have asked for and more.