Surely you have been hearing this term in recent years and has to do with the same importance that weddings or marriages have taken in our current time. Destination Weddings are a world trend and basically, it is the celebration of marriage that takes place in a different place than where the bride and groom and their guests reside. It can be a beach, a beautiful farm, a magical town, or a city. The differentiating factor is that in addition to the celebration, the wedding becomes a tourist experience since both the bride and groom and the guests will enjoy not only the celebration but the trip itself.
For their reason, those are weddings that take time in their planning. From 1 year before it is advisable to start planning. Likewise, the guests must be notified well in advance (between 8 and 6 months before) so that they can organize their attendance. This means that from the beginning there is a lot of integration and interaction with the whole group.
Regarding the intense planning of this type of wedding, I always recommend the guests to be very sincere and confirm or cancel their attendance in good time. In these experiences, the bride and groom, together with their Wedding Planner, organize a whole agenda of events or alternative activities on the wedding day, where surely one of the important factors will be the number of people to attend and this will impact their logistics and budget.
For the bride and groom, I recommend making at least one or two visits to the destination of their choice in advance. In the portfolios of the places, hotels, and everything that is wanted for this experience, they will have beautiful photographs, good references; but there is no way to see and feel in reality what you are hiring and if it is what you really want for your event and your guests. This approach will give you the opportunity to learn about important aspects such as:
- Weather for the chosen season
- Accessibility / Transportation
- Infrastructure
- Gastronomy
- Culture and Crafts
- Biodiversity
- Close to airports and hospitals
- Language
- Any other important difference for the bride and groom and guests
This way you will have a much better idea of the experience you want to live and offer to your attendees.
Aiming to get an unforgettable wedding for all who live it, I recommend you customize your entire event. From the welcome kits to souvenirs of the trip that you want to give them; I always recommend give this things latter in any of the alternate activities. You will help everyone to prepare for each activity and you will give them the security of the place where they arrive (include emergency contacts).
The alternate events on the day of the Wedding vary depending on the destination but it is always sought that the guests know about the history, gastronomy, and relevant aspects of the place they arrive. Tours are made to represent places and local cuisine is offered. Normally the bride and groom offer a pre-wedding cocktail or dinner, 2 or 3 days before, so that all the guests get to know each other and be integrated on the day of the event. Your Wedding Planner will be a great support organizing your alternate event’s agenda; she will help you with options, with the logistics and execution of each activity.
You will always find places that offer group packages that include almost all the services for the day of the event. I recommend that the Wedding Planner you hire has experience in this type of wedding; she will give you much more security and peace of mind both in the planning and in the execution of the entire experience. In addition, the Planner will give importance to you as a couple. I mean that in those packages that hotels, houses, or farms offer, they focus their attention on the event as such, which is their strength. Issues such as the groom’s arrangement, makeup, pre-wedding photographs, are sometimes uncovered and that is where the role of the Wedding Planner becomes valuable. These pre-ceremony services could delay times if not supervised.
*Advantages of Destination Weddings:
- Celebrate your love in an exotic location. What could be more romantic?.
- These celebrations are usually a bit cheaper for the bride and groom since they are usually few people/guests.
- The celebration is not so limited in time: you have a whole weekend (or more) to celebrate with your family and friends.
Disadvantages of Destination Weddings:
- The remoteness of the location could hinder the availability of resources.
- High budget of expenses for guests.
- It is a project with intense planning: you must take care of the guests from the moment they get off the plane until they take it again.
* taken from The Wedding Planner & Organizer
Here I share some places in Latin America very well weighted for this type of celebration, according to important media such as The Knot, Vogue Weddings, Zankyou Weddings, and Destination Weddings.com
- Mexico: Cozumel, Playa de Carmen, Tulum, San Miguel de Allende, Cabo San Lucas, Riviera Maya, Cancún, Manzanillo, Huatulco.
- Dominican Republic: Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, Juan Dolio, La Romana.
- Center: Costarica, Panamá, Belize.
- Brasil: Salvador Bahía, Rio de Janeiro, Ouro Petro
- Colombia: Cartagena, Eje Cafetero, San Andrés, Palomino, Villa de Leyva, Rio Negro, Medellín.
- Peru: Machu Pichu.
Surely there will be many more charming places that can be a good destination. The one that makes you feel magic and has the basic aspects that I shared above, is the one you should choose.
And now … Who signs in? What do you think of this type of celebration? would you dare?. Leave us your comments in the box below.
In another post, I will tell you more about my beautiful Cartagena so that you can visit it and fall in love with it.
The following link is a short video made by a guest at one of our destination weddings in Cartagena: Michelle & Edison 2019
Warm hug and a nice rest of the day
TOT
