Planning a destination wedding could be as difficult as planning your regular city wedding. For destination weddings, you need to factor in a variety of logistics that aren’t otherwise a part of wedding preparations. If you’ve been dreaming of a gorgeous destination wedding but are unsure about how to go about it, here’s an article that will help you through.
The important thing is to stay calm and the rest will fall in place. Here are 10 do’s and don’ts you must take into consideration while planning your dream destination wedding!
Do's
1. Know what you want
A destination wedding is ideal for the couple who loves to travel. However, just because you and your partner are globe-trotters, it doesn’t mean that your guests might enjoy packing their wedding regalia and flying across oceans and continents for a matter of 2-3 days. What’s more? If you and your partner are micro-managers, a destination wedding isn’t your best option as you can’t micromanage every single detail while you’re not even present at the location during most of the planning.
2. Do your research
This might seem like an obvious thing but it’s unbelievable how many couples don’t do a thorough research before finalizing the location. Even if you rent out more than half of the resort, you might not be allowed to play music late into the night. Some hotels don’t allow beach ceremonies after 11 p.m. as it disturbs the other guests at the hotel. Find out about any such restrictions before you sign on the dotted line.
3. Pick an all-encompassing location
Choose a resort that has spots for every ceremony that you want to conduct. If you want a beach ceremony for your wedding, make sure the resort you choose has a private beach. Similarly, if you want your mehendi to happen in a gazebo and your sangeet to happen in a ballroom inside the hotel, ensure that the resort’s gazebo and ballroom are available on your dates. You don’t want to shuttle your guests from one place to another for different ceremonies.
4. Hire a wedding planner
It isn’t easy to plan a wedding locally, let alone plan one that’s going to happen at a faraway destination. When it comes to destination weddings, hiring a wedding planner is really worth the investment. There are destination planners who specialize in particular locations. Find the best team that suits your needs. The right planner will save you many hours of time and stress.
5. Visit the location
You won’t get the look and feel of the hotel you’ve selected unless and until you’ve walked through its hallways with your wedding planner in tow. Hence, always set aside budget for you and your planner to visit the location. A scouting trip prior to the big day will not only give you an idea about potential issues like traffic, but it will also help you develop a clear idea about how you want your wedding to flow.
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Don'ts
1. Don’t procrastinate
Whether you’re inviting a small crew or planning to have your extended family at your destination wedding, you need to send out your save-the-date invites as early as you can. Your guests will have a clear schedule if you’ve invited them in advance and you won’t have to constantly deal with changes in transportation and room costs because you’ve informed them way in advance.
2. Don’t rule out your favorite vendors
Just because you’re getting married at a foreign location, it doesn’t mean that you can’t take with you the photographer whose work you’ve always appreciated. Try to make room in your budget for the vendor of your choice right from the beginning. Even if you can’t, you’ll be surprised how many vendors are willing to travel at their own cost. While it isn’t practical to take each and every local vendor with you, you can always make exceptions for the ones you love.
3. Don’t lose perspective
Planning a wedding from afar isn’t easy. There is scope for several things to go wrong and for all you know, some things definitely will. Your wedding décor might not turn out to be as you expected or the staff at the hotel might get the welcome drinks wrong. Whatever it is, it’s important to not lose perspective. It’s the day you’ve been looking forward to for your entire life. Focus on having fun and stressing less.
4. Don’t weight people down with your expectations
Your bridesmaids and cousins aren’t your temporary slaves just because you’re getting married. Sure, they’ll be glad to help you in any way they can, but don’t expect them to be at your beck and call. Be realistic and assign them duties that you know they’ll be able to handle. Understand that mistakes are bound to happen. Instead of holding a grudge, let go and work on reversing the effects of the blunder. This way, you as well as everyone around you will enjoy the events just as they are meant to.
5. Don’t overlook the temperature
Again, this might seem like an obvious thing, but overlooking the temperature of the location where you’re going to get hitched is possibly one of the worst mistakes. For instance, if it’s going to be sweltering hot at your destination, make sure that all morning ceremonies are conducted indoors. If not, your makeup will run if you constantly sweat and you’ll feel like tearing your wedding dress apart. Your guests might also suffer from a heat stroke if they are made to sit in the sun without the provision of a shade for too long.
It may seem like a lot of fun, but planning a destination wedding is no walk in the garden. You therefore need to keep the above-mentioned do’s and don’ts in mind if you’re planning to tie the knot abroad.
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