Why you should, or shouldn’t, get married abroad?
Okay, before you ask, no, we’re not talking about the paradise that is our garden pavilion - we’re talking about getting married in a far-flung paradise where the coconuts are fresh and the palm trees are bent and the hammocks hang just above the sea.
You know how it goes: either you can go down the route of a church wedding and a hotel reception or you could stumble across a stunning old farm barn with some gorgeously unique extras to create the day you’ll always remember - but if you’ve always had an obsession with traveling and a honeymoon isn’t enough, why wouldn’t you consider a destination big day?
From the crystal clear seas to the white sands of a palm-lined beach, getting married in paradise can be one forget-me-not experience that you’ll probably never come down from. Everyone knows this. But what everyone doesn’t know is, errr, this experience doesn’t come cheap - and that’s just one of the factors to keep in mind.
Thankfully, in this handy wedding guide we’re going to take a peek at the pros and the cons of an idyllic destination wedding and what you need to consider before you go ahead and say “Yes!” to booking your big day abroad.
So, Let’s Start With The Pros
Okay, most of the positives aren’t shy. They’re things like drop dead gorgeous photographs and getting to kickback in a right stunning destination. But the high tides and good vibes don’t stop there. Oh no no no.
Another pretty cool pro is knowing the vast majority of your wedding planning will be taken care of, the wedding planner at your chosen resort picking up most of the slack. There will still need to do some thinking and agree on guest numbers, the running order, the food, drinks and entertainment, and then try and get a good deal on accommodation so you can set aside a certain number of rooms for your guests, but once you’ve ironed out all those details, wow, you’ll be free to focus on the fun stuff, like what wedding dress you’re gonna wear, what memorable favours you’ll give your guests and how you’ll include your kids in your wedding.
Another positive - for a lot of couples, anyway - is the fact you’ll probably be a little limited on the number of people you can invite. That means you won’t have to invite everyone and anyone you’ve had a fleeting relationship with. So rather than having to invite that aunts you haven’t seen for years or that uni friend you had a class with once, you can keep it to just the nearest and dearest for your big day and share your amazing honeymoon with them afterwards.
And Now We Move Onto The Cons
The biggest one is the once you can’t run from - the cost. And we’re not just talking about the cost for you because, sure, you could have saved up enough to make this dream wedding happen, but your friends and family might not have and the cost of flights and accommodation and taking the time off work and finding babysitters for the kids can add up quicker than a calculator. Of course, you could help out by offering by subsidising the accommodation costs as part of your overall budget, but it can be a headache to say the least. A lot of politics, let’s say.
The other negative is what we also used as a positive: the reduced guest list. What is music to ears for some, may also cause a lot of passive aggressive comments among your family and friends who maybe can’t make it or, gulp, weren’t invited. Thankfully, there is a way around this one: throwing a smaller celebration close to home when you get back. It doesn’t have to be anything big. Just a party in the park with some funky balloons, yummy bits and a BYOB of prosecco invitation.
Whatever the case, there is one big dollop of good news in that it’s your wedding. It’s your day. It’s your love story that you’re celebrating and so it’s totally up to you how and where you tie the knot and which sunset you want to drive off into. So if it’s a destination wedding you want, we get it, and so will everyone else. They’re a fantastic way to get hitched. A once in a lifetime experience and there are plenty of wedding ideas blogs and lifestyle sites you can bookmark when it comes to planning a seamless overseas celebration. And if you’ve started to have doubts, there are some absolutely stunning venues closer to home too, from old farm barns to garden pavilions to al fresco spots that will feel a million miles away from the norm.
The key to it all is to get everyone you love in one place as soon as possible, friends and family, and throw the idea of a destination wedding into the air, with some proposed dates, so that people have plenty of notice and you can get an idea of who would be able to and who maybe wouldn’t, which can be a great way to help you decide. After that, all that’s left to do is decide do you stay or go, find a package and venue that is ridiculously beautiful and throw a wedding that people will never stop talking about and create a wedding album that you’ll never stop looking at.
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