Thinking Destination Wedding? 5 Steps to get started!
Recently got engaged and thinking of doing a destination wedding?! Here are 5 easy steps that you can follow to at least begin preparing for your very special day!
I first got engaged the middle of March 2020, right in the midst of the pandemic! My fiancé (now husband) and I started thinking through ideas of what we could do for our wedding day. I have always had a passion for traveling and a strong love for the ocean - so we quickly decided to say “I Do” at a destination. It was one of the best decisions we have ever made. The ability to travel with close friends and family did not only make it that much more memorable but it allowed us to bond with our guests for longer than the traditional “Wedding Day.”
Making the decision was the easy part! Here are some key things to keep in mind as you prepare for the perfect Destination Wedding.
Understand your budget and be mindful of your guest!
We knew that we wanted a location that had a beautiful beach for us to enjoy a reception on the beach (sunset!), but there are so many locations to pick from that it can get overwhelming on which one to choose. When looking for locations, we took into account the following factors:
What is our max budget? Max budget would include travel, wedding and honeymoon expenses.
What location has both beautiful beaches, great resorts and activities that our guests could enjoy?
What destination had affordable options for our guests when it came to travel expenses?
Destination that offered Catholic Wedding Ceremony
One thing I would like to point out is that we decided to start our search with resort versus a beach house for convenience. We had friends who recommended looking into beach houses as they offer more privacy and can be a lot more affordable for all guests (including ourselves!). If you have a tight budget and looking for something more private, a great alternative to resorts.
Keeping these factors in mind, we started to search online to get an idea of what resorts had to offer. It helped us isolate a couple of different destinations as we prepared for Step #2: work with a travel agency.
Reach out to different travel agencies and get recommendations
This was my first time working with a travel agency and highly recommend looking into having an agency support you in planning this very special day. At first, we thought of doing it on our own thinking that it would save us money. When we started looking at all the options and started seeing all the details that needed to be planned, we knew that we needed help. We looked at reviews and began contacting different companies to understanding what services and benefits they had to offer, along with the role that they would play in the planning. Every agency is different and can tailor their service to your need. The great thing about working with experts is that not only are they able to provide you with options that fall within your budget but have knowledge on the different things that one should take into consideration when planning for the big day. Most of the agencies do price match, are very responsive and have existing relationships with several wedding planners. We knew that we were taking a risk by planning a destination wedding in the midst of a pandemic and we wanted the peace of mind that someone was going to be there to help us in case we had to pivot and change our plans last minute.
There are a couple of great websites that you can leverage and The Knot has a search option in case you want to work with someone near you.
Give yourself time to plan and save (and for your guests)
We got engaged the middle of March 2020, decided destination wedding by end of March and started our research on potential locations with our travel agency in April. My biggest advise is to allow as much time as possible for the planning and to save! When we started to look at potential dates, we knew we needed more than 6 months but hoped to tie the knot within a year. Once we started to identify our preferred option of resort with our travel agency (Panama Jack Resort - Cancun), the next step was to look at estimated flight and room costs which goes into our key factors from Step #1. We wanted to ensure we didn't select a day that was during peak travel dates and ensure there were several afforadable options for our guests. That helped us isolate a window of potential dates for our agency to confirm best availability with the resort. After thoughtful planning, we secured a date in March 2021 and would allow us a 10 month window to plan the wedding and leading events up to the special day. We sent the invites to our guests in May and it allowed them plenty of time to plan their arrangements as well!
From that point on, save save save! Attempt to stay within your budget as much as possible and plan to pay your expenses within a certain window. My husband and I focused on budgeting as much as we could so that we had reserves for any last minute expenses. Unexpected items do come up and it's something we learned throughout those 10 months. Our guests loved the fact that the resort we chose was all inclusive, which helped with budgeting. It was our first time at an all inclusive resort and helped us with saving on food and drink expenses during the trip!
Begin working on any wedding requirements early!
Requirements vary in the type of wedding and in our case it was a Catholic Wedding Ceremony. There are requirements that my husband and I needed to complete in advance to the big day and they required us to start 9 months prior. If you will be doing a catholic destination wedding, quite a few requirements are needed in advance and would begin discussions with your church once you have a date. Our church had a coordinator that walked us through the items we needed to plan and necessary documents to ensure we didn't run into any challenges. They worked closely with the wedding planner from the resort and ensure approval was provided for a local priest to conduct the ceremony. While most destination weddings tend to be symbolic, would begin completing an requirements that the resort or wedding location may need for the ceremony/reception.
Would not underestimate this and try to get everything completed well in advance. Example, passports. We didn't explictly say this to our guests and there were a few that did not recieve theirs in time, mostly due to covid limitations. Don't procrastinate - it will save you some headache in the long run. :)
Finalize your Guest List
We started planning our guest list early on in the planning and had an idea of the size of wedding party we wanted. Our goal was to only have close family and friend with us that day, so decided to stay between a 35-40 guest list. Very similar to all other weddings or events, you anticipate that not all will make it to the celebration. Would treat destination weddings very similar and build a guest list where you plan for more to attend. This will influence the final wedding package and details for the wedding coordinator at the resort. The wedding coordinator understands that this is an estimated number of guests and as the date approaches, you'll be able to share the confirmed list of attendees.
Invite list went out in May and we extended the invite to 43. We ended up having a total of 30 join us for our special day. It was a small enough group that we could do dinner reservations for all of us, group activities and an intimate reception. It was perfect!
When reflecting back on the moment I said yes to the day we said "I do", there is nothing I would of changed! Destination wedding was one of the best decisions we made and we were very fortunate to have been surrounded by our loved ones. By following these steps, planning as much in advance and keeping an open mind throughout, our wedding turned out to be unforgettable.
Take it step by step and be sure to enjoy the ride! :)
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