The question’s been popper, the answer is “yes” and the
planning has begun! But have you thought about where you’re going to have your
wedding? Of course you have, you’ve been thinking of this day for years, you
have the location, the colors, the food, the everything! …right?
Wedding planning isn’t an easy thing, especially when you
consider the implications of picking a wedding venue. Amazing destination wedding
venues aren’t the easiest things in the world to decide on because of the
difficulty that comes with them. You’re choosing where to have the most
important day of your life and it’s possible that you’ve never even been there.
You’re relying on the wisdom and judgement of others to plan your wedding, so
there’s a few things you want to consider before making a decision.
This is a great article from The Knot
with some tips on planning a destination wedding. Having planned one myself, I
can say that a lot of the advice they give here is really good and should be
considered. The one thing that I found was a limiting factor was taking a trip.
If you’re short on time it can be hard to sneak away, even for a weekend, to
visit the venue itself. If you’re unsure of how you will get there, see if it’s
possible to have someone close to you that you can trust go in your stead.
Scouting a venue is one of the most important parts of
planning a wedding because it sets the tone for the entire ceremony. Pinterest
has no shortage of wedding
decorating ideas but remember to keep your sense of style and personality
in your wedding (it is your wedding, after all). It can be challenging to start
planning the decorations without knowing the venue first, especially if your
venue has the potential to have colorful flowers and plants in the area.
Clashing colors with nature rarely goes well and covering it up can be not only
costly, but a frustrating experience as well.
An often over-looked element of destination wedding planning
is weather. Make sure you familiarize yourself with your destinations climate
before you start looking for a dress. This is also a really crucial piece to
remember for the groom. There’s nothing worse than planning a wedding in Hawaii
in July and having your groom sit there in a full tuxedo, baking in the 110
degree sun while you’re sweating away in an overly full dress. Plan accordingly
when it comes to dress – this will have a huge impact on your wedding day if
you aren’t careful.
Are you looking at having a larger wedding? If so, it’s best
to sort out travel accommodations for your guests in advance. Are you flying
individuals in? Are you covering accommodations? What’s the expectation on you
for your guests? These are hard questions to answer because a “yes” or “no”
will drastically change the landscape of your wedding budget. We’re talking
about potentially thousands of dollars if you’re going to be flying in all of
your guests, so make sure you budget accordingly for that.
Make sure you destination has meaning to you. The most
memorable weddings are those that have memories rooted in their destination.
Maybe your destination is somewhere you and your soulmate have dreamed about
visiting forever, or perhaps it’s where you met. The significance doesn’t
matter as long as it IS significant. If you just want to go somewhere
beautiful, that’s fine too, you’ll be making new memories while you’re there.
But let’s change gears for a moment and talk honeymoon. I’m
a firm believer of “beware the family” when planning a honeymoon with a
destination wedding. If your guests plan on staying at the destination for a
few days after the wedding, try to create a bit of space between them and
yourself. Staying at different hotels is the easiest method to achieving this –
there’s nothing worse than waking up the day after your wedding and having to
share the day with your family members. Of course, you love them dearly, but
your honeymoon is meant to be the first time you and yours get to truly spend
together and alone.
