So you’re thinking of your perfect wedding and don’t know where to begin. You’ve toyed around with the idea of a destination wedding, but you aren’t sure it’s for you.

Here are some important things to consider for destination wedding planning.

1. You should be able to visit your location ahead of time or choose a location you’ve already been to for vacation. Pictures aren’t everything and may be misleading in terms of space or quality. Believe me… they know their angles!

In planning my destination wedding, we went to Dominican Republic for two days to check out venues. We stayed at the venue we were pretty sure we were going to choose. When we arrived… all we could do was laugh and say this is NOT it!

We were shown small gazebos and told that it could accommodate our 80 guests. Some of the areas designated for a ceremony looked like it was an afterthought and not like it was created for weddings.

If you have a beach ceremony, you will likely have a bunch of uninvited guests standing by… in swimsuits. *cringe*

Luckily we had two days to explore other options.

2. You should be ok with not controlling every single detail of the wedding. You’ll end up just stressing yourself out. Since you’re not on location to plan, your wedding is planned by a wedding coordinator.

Of course the things that are most important to you should be expressed clearly. Pictures also help to portray your vision to the wedding coordinator. Especially pictures of work they’ve already done with customizations to meet your needs.

3. Things that are MAJOR decisions when wedding planning, such as a photographer, DJ, cake, hair and makeup are things that you can have your own vendors fly in for (for a cost) or you can choose someone on location. There are countless reviews for vendors on location and the locations typically have a list of vendors they’ve worked with and recommend.

I used vendors on location but did quite a bit of research online prior, in order to sample their work. There are also Facebook groups with tons of information. I was grateful to find a bridal group specific to the resort I chose and got great recommendations.

4. Some people who are near and dear to you may not be able to attend. Whether it’s due to cost or physical limitations or other reasons.

You can’t fault anyone for not attending. It’s a HUGE ask.

To make it a little easier for everyone, try to choose a location that you love that’s moderately priced. Provide ample time for guests to plan and save. Payment plans help. For guests who may be on a fixed income you can offer to cover all or a part of the cost for their trip.

5. There is a lot of paperwork and scheduling involved to be legally married at the location you choose. To make it easier, many people get legally married in their hometown a few days prior to their destination wedding.

You can decide which one you and your significant other will choose to celebrate… or both!

No one even knows this unless they’ve tried to plan a destination wedding, so your guests will only remember your destination wedding date.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide if any of these are dealbreakers for planning a destination wedding. If not, plan away! Remember to have fun doing it. Time flies and before you know it, the big day will be here!

XOXO,
Rece