What do you see and feel when you close your eyes and imagine your partner waiting for you in the aisle? Is it a warm day, or is it chilly? Do hundreds or only your closest ones surround you? Asking yourself those questions might be the best way to start because that is what you really want without considering the input from friends and family.
If your vision includes a unique landscape, we are talking about a destination wedding, but destination weddings have plenty of possibilities, from beach weddings to timeless mountains as ceremony backdrops. The question now is how to choose the right destination for your wedding, and luckily for you, we have the answers next.
Get your vision clear.
Visualizing your wedding day is one thing, but to plan a real wedding, you need to get into the details; let’s say you dream about a tropical wedding with the sound of the sea filling the atmosphere. Now you could go to your local beach, travel across the globe to a different continent, or go to the actual topic.
There are large differences between hitting your local beach and booking plane tickets and a hotel in Dominican Republic. That is why you need to get specific about the place you wish to visit for your big celebration. You can often choose a couple of options by finding out how hard or easy it is for you to travel to that destination. Do you need a visa, or are travel restrictions for your country of origin?
Or, if you are looking to save some money, you could choose a couple of options based on the price tag, which is the most responsible thing you can do when starting life as a partner. Don’t go and have the wedding of your dreams only to return home to debts or compromise your future. But we will talk about money next.
Set a budget.
Setting a budget can also help you decide your wedding destination. It is also a great way to settle the number of guests for your celebration. This is a great moment to begin if you don’t know where to start or find it hard to talk about money. Settling a wedding budget is ideal to start your marriage with healthy finances.
First, you can determine if you have a savings account and how much you feel comfortable pulling out of there. Then you can set an approximate date, say a year or two, and find out how much you could save from your monthly income for the wedding. And finally, talk with your family if they are contributing monetarily. A wedding budget is the best way to ground your expectations and give you a real idea of the type of destination wedding you can comfortably afford.
Make a top three destination list.
Once you have your ideas clear and your budget settled, it is time to list your top three favorite wedding destinations. Making a list will help you weigh the pros and cons of each destination, from location to price range and even weather. Perhaps you love the idea of getting married during the summer, but certain locations are particularly busy around those months, increasing the price of your flights, accommodation, and services. This could help you discard a couple of destinations and replace them with less touristy ones.
When you are listing your top three, try to consider the following
- How easy is it to travel there?
- Flights and accommodation costs.
- Weather (hurricane season, tornadoes, rainstorms, and heat waves)
- Language barriers.
- How easy is it to find wedding-related services?
Even if you fall in love with a destination, if traveling there would be a headache or require lengthy paperwork, you should probably reconsider. Some other reasons a destination could not make it to your top three is because it is hard to get things like your favorite meal, a service like a live band or DJ, or perhaps they don’t have wedding venues with easy access from your hotel.
Think about your guests.
We know your wedding is mainly about you and your partner, and your wishes and needs should be above. Nevertheless, it would help to consider your guests when picking your destination. The reason is you want them you enjoy your wedding as much as you and find activities they can experience while visiting that place.
For example, if your guest list is mainly composed of an older crowd, you should probably skip the clubbing and extreme experiences like jumping from a cliff. Perhaps they will enjoy a relaxing destination with plenty of sightseeing and good food. On the other hand, when you mainly have young attendants, a bit of party and intense tours could suit you much better.
Find an experienced wedding planner.
Finally, one of the best ways to find the perfect destination for your wedding is to ensure an experienced wedding planner can attend that destination. Nothing is worse than having to organize a wedding from a distance, with a language barrier and no experience in wedding planning. So, when you are one hundred percent sure about the destination you want for your upcoming wedding, find a wedding planner to assist you.
Or, if you want to avoid getting this far only to find no wedding planners available, we advise you to find the destination wedding planner first and then search for the right destination. At Janelle Wedding Planner, we are ready to help you plan your amazing destination wedding from zero, whether you want a wedding in the USA or internationally. Our most popular destinations include Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.
We are experts in planning elegant, sophisticated, and meaningful weddings regardless of the location. We can plan a seaside ceremony, find the perfect historic ruins for your photoshoot, and make sure every little detail is taken care of timely and rightly. Contact us today and tell us about your vision. We are here to make your dream wedding an unforgettable celebration.