Tips on Choosing a Wedding Destination

The idea of having a destination wedding has become very popular over recent years, and nearly fifteen percent of all weddings now take place somewhere far from where the bride and groom normally live. Before, most destination weddings occurred when a couple wanted to elope, but now they are in demand for very different reasons. There is something very romantic about the notion of packing your bags and heading to an exotic location to say your vows, and that notion proves to be too much for many couples to resist. However, choosing a wedding destination is a very important process that should not be taken lightly, and there are many facets that you need to consider while planning.

Type of Wedding

The type of wedding you want to have will play a huge role in where you choose to have it, so you want to get that figured out as soon as possible. For instance, if you want to have a beach wedding, then you will need to choose a location that is near a large body of water. If you want something more romantic like a city wedding, then you will need to choose a city with the architectural features you both love. You will also want to think about the things you can’t travel with. If there are things that are important to you that you can’t take along on the plane, you’ll need to have a plan for when you arrive.

Time of Year

Depending on the type of wedding you choose, the time of year will be very important. A city like Paris, for instance, will be better suited as a summer destination wedding location in order to be comfortable with the weather. A beach wedding, on the other hand, can happen any time of year if you are flexible with where you want to go. A beach wedding on the north shore of California in the winter might be a bit chilly, so for that time of year somewhere like Mexico may be a better choice.

Number of Guests

The number of guests you want to attend will also play a large role on where you can travel to have your wedding. If you have certain guests that you absolutely must have attend the wedding, things like cost or health may prevent them from traveling too far. Also, many destination wedding locations can only accommodate a certain number of guests, so you’ll need to know the capacity of your chosen location before you start inviting everyone and their cousin. Though it doesn’t sound fun, thinking of these types of things in advance can avoid a major headache when you arrive at your wedding destination.

Wedding Budget

Lastly, you need to make sure that everything you want at your desired location will fit into your wedding budget. Between airfare, hotels, and booking the venue, you can expect a destination wedding to add up very quickly in price. Make sure you crunch all the numbers before you start booking things or you may run out of money before you can finish getting everything set. There’s nothing worse than trying to cancel a bunch of reservations at the last minute, especially since many wedding venues will charge a fee for cancelling after you made a reservation.