You may have a dream wedding location away from your home country, and others do so for legal matters. Yet, planning a destination wedding isn’t the same. Challenges like language barriers and time zone differences may be additional obstacles that may slow down the process.
Still, if you’ve already decided to do a destination wedding, these challenges will be worth the effort. Here are 10 tips on how to plan a wedding abroad.
1. Study the Best Time to Have Your Wedding
Planning a destination wedding means facing an unfamiliar climate and weather changes. For example, if you plan to go to the Caribbean, set a date outside of hurricane season, so don’t put your date from June through November.
Changes in season are another thing to consider. Some countries are packed full of tourists during specific months. You must deal with the crowd and would likely be charged higher for the services and venues.
Take note of significant events taking place in your destination. Study the local event calendar; major events will bring enormous crowds, increasing your wedding costs. You should also avoid setting your date during global events, such as the Olympics, which will affect any country.
2. Choose a Location
The second step is choosing the location. Safety and accessibility will be your best friends when doing so. Although you love a particular area, it’s best that you study it more. Maybe they have a venue like this that you love, but can it accommodate the number of guests coming to your celebration? Would it provide accessibility and other specific requirements, like childcare?
Stay updated on your location’s travel warnings and political issues. If there are specific rules, inform your guests beforehand to avoid uncomfortable situations.
Wedding venue marketplaces now make exploring your options easier, even if you live several countries away from the location. Wedding venue discovery platform Breezit, Coco Wedding Venues, and Hitched list top venues with details that will help you in your planning stages.
What’s great about these sites is that they ensure each venue can be personalised according to your needs. Some platforms may take a while to respond due to the heavy query traffic, but Breezit is one of the quickest-responding marketplaces. Its AI-powered matching is also beneficial for finding a venue that matches your vision quickly.
3. Hire a Professional
As you’ll be dealing with many unfamiliar aspects, hiring a professional from your destination country is always wiser. That way, you can set the foundation of your big day before you arrive, including having someone to help you finalise some last-minute details, if any. They can also handle your destination wedding legal requirements.
4. Choose a Travel-Friendly Wedding Outfit
We know that many couples have a specific wedding attire in mind. However, you must be more mindful about how travel-friendly these attire are when planning a destination wedding. For example, a puffy ball gown would be hard to pack in your travel bag. You must take your time finding room in the cabin for the dress, which can feel unpleasant during your trip.
5. Consider Guest Lodging
Most destination weddings don’t fully cover the guests’ spending, but providing your guests with lodging can be a thoughtful gesture to help satisfy a range of budgets. You can give your guests several options at different prices, but keep them around the venue’s area so they won’t take too much time travelling.
6. Forget About DIY Projects
You may think that DIY projects are great, affordable destination wedding ideas. However, they aren’t worth doing for destination weddings. You’d have to bring your DIY projects to your destinations. Not only will this rack up your luggage cost, but it’ll also be a hassle.
7. Go Local to Save Cost
Here’s one of the best destination wedding budget tips: you should go local for your options when choosing things to use for your destination wedding, such as decorations and the menu. For example, you can instead buy a flower that locally blooms around the time of your big day or choose local food for the menu.
You’ll see a significant cut in your cost, as they’re easier to get to your chosen location. In addition, it’s a great way to experience the unique environment you’ve set as your wedding background.
8. Visit in Advance
Like any other wedding, you should visit your chosen destination wedding venues before booking, ideally three to four months before the wedding, so that you can finalise the details. You should make a second trip to see the changes, but if it’s impossible, try arriving earlier (five days or more) to ensure you can see how the venue looks.
Try staying multiple days during your visit to experience the venue’s peak and non-peak hours. That way, you can set expectations for what you and your guests will experience on the day. You can also give some destination wedding guest travel tips to those visiting.
9. Meet Your Vendors
The venue isn’t the only one you should check in person. If possible, meet your vendors to find your destination’s best florist and rentals. Bringing a specialist from your home country means you’ll spend more on their travel and accommodations. Instead, ask your venue for recommendations so you’ll discover local gems and save money.
10. Invest in Photography
You’ve spent much on your destination wedding, so ensuring everything is documented well will save you years of regret. It may sound like an extra cost, but your wedding day will be a day to remember. Never skip hiring a photographer, as you’ll get the best pictures you can look back on years from now and reminisce about one of the best days of your life.
