Planning a destination wedding sounds like an involved and complicated task, but if you’re hesitating about making your wedding a dream vacation come true, don’t. We want to soothe your worries and calm your concerns with a breakdown of things to think about as you plan your destination wedding.
It’s likely that you and your circle of friends and family are sprinkled throughout the world. Thanks to Facebook and other social media sites and applications, you are able to stay in touch and keep up with each other’s lives. But there’s nothing like face-to-face time and being together in person. A local, in-town wedding will typically only last one day, and that’s a short amount of time to cram in hellos and hugs with your loved ones. A destination wedding, however, usually spans across a larger chunk of time, so take comfort in knowing that you’ll have more than a frenzied day to make the rounds and spend quality moments with your posse. It’s like a group vacation with all your favorite people. Embrace this concept as you plan your out-of-town nuptials and know that your wedding will be an intimate experience for everyone!
Believe it or not, it’s likely that you’ll spend less money on a destination wedding. We’re not guaranteeing your bank account will have more digits than a traditional at-home wedding; we’re just saying that it’s very likely you’ll have fewer people coming which means you won’t be spending the money on meals and tables (which means linens, centerpieces, chair covers, and favors). Destination weddings tend to be light on the guest list and RSVPs because some invitees aren’t able to spend the money to travel to be at your wedding. Knowing this possibility, you can account for a smaller turnout than you would at a local wedding. This may be what you want to hear — or not — but you should keep this in mind as you budget your wedding elements and vendors. It’s possible that even with travel costs, depending on the vendors you hire, you may still come out under budget with a destination wedding than with a local affair.
To keep costs down further, you can choose to get married at vacation spot during its off season. Most hotels will have better deals and airfare might not be so sky-high (no pun intended… okay, yes it was). You could even score some better deals during the off season if you play your cards right. Just be flexible in knowing that weather may be against you, since that’s usually the determining factor behind high and off seasons for vacation destinations.
Give your guests plenty of notice! Usually, the rule of thumb is to send guests a save the date notice about six months out from your wedding date, but that’s if your wedding is going to be in town. For a destination wedding, you really need to give more than six months so that your guests can begin looking for the best travel options. Make sure to provide as much information as possible including, of course, the date, city, hotel, and even wedding weekend event if possible (rehearsal dinner, family picnic, beach bonfire, etc.). This is also the appropriate place to include a wedding website if you have one. We love the wedding wed-sites over at MyWedding. You can create personal sites with a wide range of thematic choices that represent you as a couple!
Get help. No really, unless you plan on flying to your wedding location every few months, you’re going to need someone to help you plan while you’re living your life far from your venue. This is definitely a time to hire a coordinator or, if you have a friend or family member that happens to live near your wedding spot, this is the time to be needy! You’ll need someone nearby to help you delegate with other wedding vendors. If you’re not sure how to go about hiring a wedding coordinator abroad, I’m sure your venue will have contact to refer you to. If you’re getting married at a hotel property, you can use the venue’s coordinator. Either way, this is when you’ll need a chief of staff.
Find the right amount of activities for your guests. You want to give them substantial reasons to travel for your destination wedding, so you may consider planning group activities like a canoeing adventure on a lake or wine tasting event at a vineyard. A beach volleyball tournament or golf at the resort are also fun recreational activities. However, it is your guests’ vacation, too, and you don’t want to bog them down with too much that they feel they have no time to themselves. Your wedding is not their sleep away camp, so try to cut back on the tendency to be their counselor. A couple hosted meals and an activity should provide enough group bonding opportunities in addition to the main event: tying the knot!
Register with a twist. When it comes to your gift registry, keep in mind that tangible presents don’t travel well. Breakables, fancy wrapping, and packing restrictions make traveling with gifts a difficult task for your guests. And then, you have to shlep it back home when the wedding getaway is all over. Does this mean you shouldn’t register? No! Definitely not! Register to your heart’s content, but make it easy on your guests and you! Our friends at Deposit a Gift have a solution for you. This cash gift registry is helpful because it gives guests an option for a gift that they don’t have to worry about lugging or shipping. They can just pay with their credit card and go! Gift givers like Deposit a Gift because it helps them give a nice gift when they don’t have a lot of time to put tons of thought into it because they are more focused on the travel logistics of actually getting to the wedding. The chances of a gift getting lost or stolen is possible with at-home weddings, but gift safety is even more of a concern at destination weddings where you don’t have your bearings. And a lot of guests wouldn’t want to bring cash or checks to a destination because of the same concern. Basically, Deposit a Gift is super helpful because engaged couples can show guests what they want to buy when they settle down, but not have to contend with shipping a bunch of stuff or registering to appease people, only to return it all. Deposit a Gift takes away all that hassle. We love great companies with great ideas.
Don’t forget, your destination wedding isn’t all about umbrella drinks or ski lodge hot chocolate. You still have the “business” side of the wedding to conquer, and we want to make sure you’re ready. If you’re getting married out of state or even out of the country, you’ll still need to obtain a marriage license. Don’t forget your passport if you’re leaving the U.S. either! Passports aren’t quick on the turnaround, so make sure to plan way ahead and give the office enough time to return your passport to you well before travel time. Obtaining a local marriage license varies based on the city. We suggest you contact the local city hall and find out what the process is to be a resident of your state and get married in theirs. Be sure you’ve completed all necessary tasks before hand; some states or countries still require blood tests or other health screenings.
Your destination wedding will be fabulous no matter where you are, who’s with you, and what it looks like. Because despite what it says on the plane ticket, your final destination is married!
