Planning a traditional wedding is stressful. There's the search for the perfect dress, deciding on a venue, ordering flowers, sampling cakes, hiring entertainment, and budgeting for all of it. And those are just a few of the items on the enormous project plan.
One option to consider is a "destination wedding", where you get married in the place you intend to honeymoon. Think of it as a slightly more acceptable form of eloping (although that may be debatable, depending on how traditional your family's views are when it comes to weddings). Though there are still some decisions you will need to make and some research to conduct, this might be the less-stress alternative that you and your partner are looking for.
Prioritize What's Important To You
There are a lot of questions to ask yourself and your partner when deciding on whether a destination wedding is right for you. And even if you've decided to proceed, you will need to narrow down your search in order to find the perfect spot. Consider the following:
- Will you be inviting family members and/or friends to your wedding? If so, who will be footing the bill? How important is it to you that the trip be affordable and accessible to everyone?
- At what time of year would you like your wedding to take place?
- What destinations are ideal for that time of year?
- Where are the majority of your guests coming from?
- Picture you on your wedding day: are you dressed in a floor length gown or are you a little more casual?
- Once you've sorted through some of these basic considerations, you can begin to do your research in earnest.
- Is it important to you that the ceremony be performed in English? Will a ceremony conducted in another language and then translated be acceptable to you?
Do Your Research
There are many resorts that offer wedding services, but they are not all created equal. The depth and variety of services vary greatly, and it's important to look into what each one offers so there are no surprises.
Be sure to stop by a travel agency where you can pick up some brochures. Most of them have handy charts which show you pricing of vacations at different times of the year. It will also enable you to see at a glance which ones offer wedding packages, what is included in the packages, and what the costs are. For this sort of initial research, it's easier to flip through a book than scour the internet. Once you've narrowed it down to a few different resorts/destinations, you can look them up online to comparison shop.
Make use of web resources like Trip Advisor to get the real scoop on the resorts. There are true stories of people who ended up having their ceremony on a nude beach, and although funny, it was not intentional.
The Destination Wedding Experience
Regardless of the location or resort, the following are true statements about destination weddings.
- The ceremony will be brief: 10-20 minutes.
- You will have some input into flowers but it may be limited to choosing "pink or blue"
- The ceremony may be on the beach or in a gazebo, depending on weather, and the resort facilities.
- There will be professional photography available, and probably a video will be made automatically which you can choose to buy if you wish.
- You will probably be able to choose the time of day (to some extent) of the ceremony. Keep in mind that high noon for a dressy wedding is a bad idea in very hot climates.
- The ceremony will be a few days after you arrive at the destination. So if you arrive on a Saturday, the wedding might be on Tuesday.
- You will be assigned a wedding coordinator who will be your main point of contact for everything about the wedding.
- Your wedding may feel a bit like a drive-thru experience.
In general, those with a laid-back attitude fare well with destination weddings. There are certain things that you will be able to have input on, but for the most part you need to trust in your resort's wedding coordinator. If you have a strong need to control all the elements, then a more traditional wedding on your own turf may be preferable.
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