A destination wedding is a one-of-a-kind experience. You get to bring your friends and family to new and exciting locales to celebrate your love and devotion to that special someone in your life; what’s not to love? While these weddings are certainly something special, a lot more planning is required for everything to go smoothly and minimize wedding-day stress.
Fortunately, you don’t have to learn from your own destination wedding planning foibles. Instead, you can learn what other couples have done to guide your own choices in this matrimonial adventure. Weddings are stressful enough, but that stress can be easily compounded by being hundreds (or even thousands) of miles away from home.
Let these tried and true tips help you plan the most stress-free destination wedding possible.
Don’t surprise your guests!
Destination weddings come with added expense, and not just for the married couple. Friends and family have to travel, make lodging accommodations and sometimes save up funds to make it to your big day. Give them plenty of time to plan, or the seats will be disappointingly empty come wedding day.
Hire a wedding planner that specializes in destination weddings.
Weddings already require a great deal of planning. You don’t want to eat up valuable hours by spending time on the phone to make arrangements-especially not if there is a possible language barrier that can slow things down and frustrate everyone involved. Recruit the help of a wedding planner that does destination weddings, and leave those details up to them! They can work with your destination’s resources most easily while letting you put your focus on planning other important details like buying the diamond ring etc.
Tailor the attire to suit the destination.
Many couples opt for the warmer parts of the world when they arrange a destination wedding, and it’s not hard to see why. But you should make sure that the couple and the wedding party is comfortable in their clothes. Stuffy, heavy fabrics in summertime can be stifling, and even prompt health problems like heat stroke.
Consider tourism when planning accommodations.
A lot of summer wedding destinations are tourist hotspots during the warmer months of the year, so it’s important to plan accordingly. If your chosen location is a popular spot for annual visitors, you need to book hotels and other important venues well in advance-as much as a year in advance, to make sure that you have enough space for everybody.
Understand the requirements of your destination country.
Different countries have different rules on getting married within their borders. Some places require that you live within your chosen country for a determined length of time before you can legally tie the knot there. Before committing to any one location, make sure that you are capable of meeting any requirements that the local government enforces.
Destination weddings require a great deal of planning, accommodation and cost, which can be doubly stressful when you’re about to make a lifelong commitment to somebody else. If you consider the practical issues early on and work to make everything as easy for yourselves and your guests as possible, you’ll find yourself in less of a panic as the big day draws nearer.
