Wedding Travel: Tips For Planning Your Destination Wedding

There are a lot of reasons why couples decide to organize wedding travel. Some of them want to marry abroad because they’ve found a special place. Others are trying to make a ceremony more intimate and share a wedding day with the closest people. There can be other social, religious and legal aspects that make people choose a travel wedding. Anyway, a destination wedding is a perfect way to get two for one – a wedding and a honeymoon. Here are our useful tips to make your wedding planning more effective and calming. 

#1. Picking a Location for a Destination Wedding

If a beautiful beach you choose for a perfect wedding ceremony is located in the town with one hotel which is not able to accommodate your guests, it's probably not a good choice. Search for spots with maximum wedding and accommodation facilities to pick from. The most popular world locations for destination wedding include the Caribbean, Mexico, Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, Hawaii, Thailand, Morocco, Italy, South Africa.  

#2. Inviting Your Guests Beforehand 

Once you decide on an ideal spot, another important aspect is “inviting your guests”. If you invite only your parents or best friends and are ready to cover travel costs, it’s one story. But if your guests’ list is long and you cannot afford to cover all traveling costs, you should notify invited people beforehand. Potential guests should have enough time to calculate and decide if they can come or not. Once your guests confirm their attendance, try to find one hotel to accommodate all invited people. Don’t announce a wedding date, until the booking has not been confirmed.

#3. Checking Local Regulations

Marriage rules differ from country to country. Make sure to check the local requirements and have all the necessary documents ready. Some countries require to do a blood test, pay special fees or wait a long period of time. If you find that you can’t meet the requirements of the chosen country, you can have a legal marriage in your country and then go to your dream destination to celebrate a real wedding.

#4. Organizing a Ceremony

It’s the most nerve-wracking and difficult part of destination wedding planning. It’s good if your budget allows you to hire a wedding planner or resort manager who will handle all things. They can recommend your best local photographers, florists, caterers, etc. If you make arrangements with all local experts by yourself, make sure to have all the confirmation in the written form by email. Think about shipping some items (invitations, linen, menu cards, welcome letters) to the spot and not ordering them locally. As for the bride’s dress design, take into consideration the climate, local traditions and the fact that you will have to carry it into the airplane. Find more inspiration and wedding trends in 2020 in the post. 

#5. Finding a Professional Photographer and Videographer

Search for people that have experience in destination wedding shooting. Always ask for prices, inclusions and free revisions upfront. Local videographers may charge a lot for their services. So, a good idea is finding a videographer who will shoot straight video and give you raw footage. Afterward, you can pass this material to professional editors, like Wedcuts, that will transform raw footage into a wedding movie, highlight or whatever you want and suit your budget. If you want to get a perfect wedding film and photos, read the tips for preparing destination wedding shoots and filming a beach wedding. 

Takeaways

Though a destination wedding is a dream of many couples, it’s a challenging task to organize it. With a travel wedding, there is a chance of unpredictability (from flight cancellation to hurricanes). Moreover, a destination wedding is always a compromise: you will have to give up some details and accept that some guests will not come for some reason. But what you will get in exchange is the most intimate and special travel event in your life.