Years ago when my husband mentioned a destination wedding I was 100% against it! As life went on and I did more research, a destination wedding started to make more sense for us. I know a lot of weddings are on hold, but most people plan destination weddings over a year in advance! I am hopeful things will be safer then and I want to show my support!
How many times have you purchased a plane ticket, rental car, hotel, and a dress only to chat with the bride and groom for 5 mins? How many times have you heard “the entire day was a blur?” I wanted our wedding to be a memorable experience for everyone but especially us! There are so few times you both get all of your favorite people together, one night just didn’t feel like enough!
At least 70% of our guests had to get on a plane no matter what so why not make it somewhere fun?
[READ ALL] Before we could move forward I knew we needed to be 100% okay with only our parents and wedding party showing up. Once we got engaged I had no doubt that we would still have the best time and decided to move forward!
If you are not okay with just you and your partner showing up, a destination wedding may not be for you! Life happens and the guest list can literally change up until the week of.
Consider all that you are gaining but also giving up by having a destination wedding and do what is right for you and your partner. I can’t stress how important it is for you to plan a day that you two will love. Yes, we considered our guests but every single decision was made putting us first!
Pros:
Vacation for you and your guests
The great thing about a destination wedding is you have to plan it in advance. There is only so much DIY you can do so everyone gets to relax and enjoy the beautiful location! Tip: don’t over plan! Your guests are using this as a vacation in addition to your wedding. They will appreciate some downtime.
More time to spend celebrating your love with the people you love
We had events planned for all guests in the days leading up to the big day. Everyone got to know each other and have scheduled time with us!
A smaller guest list may mean lower cost
Everyone says destination weddings are much cheaper ::eye roll:: yes if you have 25 people. Beyond that it really gets pricey. We did save by having a guest list of 100 vs. 300 but I wouldn’t call it cheap.
Wedding/Honeymoon all in one
Not having to repack and relearn a new resort was amazing. We woke up as husband and wife and knew exactly what we wanted to do in the days following the wedding! It’s also a bonus that everyone knows you already!
Full Wedding packages offered
This is super helpful from a planning standpoint. Packages that included offerings for the entire weekend really helped steam line my choices. All my energy went towards my big day!
Cons:
Everyone won’t be able to make it
Again, if you are not okay with this I wouldn’t suggest a DW! We still wanted to celebrate with these who couldn’t make it so our couples shower was a pre-celebration since I knew I didn’t want to plan anything post-wedding.
Planning a wedding from a distance can be stressful for some
Being type A I was super worried about this but they truly can make whatever vision you have come true. They sent as many pictures and videos as needed! I knew exactly what everything would look like before I arrived (the site visit did help ease a lot of my fears. Meeting my wedding coordinator and talking face to face about my vision really helped me relax).
Your family may be on your honeymoon
We stayed in a different part of the resort than the areas we offered in the room block but our guests were super respectful of our time. If you are really worried about this I would suggest switching resorts but we knew we didn’t want to do that. You also get more perks the longer you stay.
More communication and planning
We sent monthly newsletters to our guest to share updates and info. A good portion had never traveled abroad so I wanted it to be as stress-free as possible (I have a post planned on why a travel agent is a MUST).
Let me know what else you would like to know about destination wedding planning or wedding planning in general! I truly had a blast planning ours!
XOXO, Laya
It’s a great point that it may be a good option if 70% of your guests have to travel anyway!
Yes! The flight to MX was shorter than IN for some of our guest!! My family back home was super excited to get away from the cold as well!
What was your wedding website like? My fiance and I are long distant currently and our families and friends are scattered everywhere (we have lived many places lol) so the website is the best way to communicate with everyone but we don’t know what to include.
We had our story, wedding party, location, travel info (this had a packet with allllll the travel info they needed from our travel agent! A place for RSVPs! Happy planning and I’m here if you have anymore questions!!
So glad I found your blog because as a Type A bride I feel seen! How many guests did you end up having? We keep going back and forth on a DW and it is stressing me out tbh. About 70% of a guests will also be traveling to RI if we go the stateside route including our wedding party. We have a large wedding party of 20 people so I’m concerned a DW will not end up being cost effective. Needless to say, our wedding planner currently hates me lol (not funny but you have to laugh to keep from going crazy right)
Congratulations on your engagement!! We ended up having 107 guest. It was still a hit expensive but absolutely worth it!! Having 4 days with all our favorite people on both sides was amazing!! I’m here if you have anymore questions! I think I go into the budget a bit here… https://youtu.be/F59fFZaF1Rk