How To Plan a Destination Wedding

If you just got engaged, Congratulations! This will be the happiest and most stressful time of your life! Well, at least I can say that about my entire experience. Lucky for you, I’m here to help with the beginning phase of how to plan a destination wedding.

There are different routes you can take when planning a destination wedding. You can go the expensive or the affordable route. My fiancé and I, of course, went the affordable route since buying a house was our priority after the wedding.

Below are some tips I took when planning for our wedding that helped me stay organized and on budget.

Step One – Deciding on a Location

I already had an image in mind when it came to walking down the aisle that left my fiancé in awe. With that in mind, I wanted a garden wedding with an ocean view. Honestly, I didn’t want to drag my gorgeous dress and have my heels sink into the sand. The search then began for a Caribbean destination that could accommodate me with all my wants and needs.

To keep the cost fairly low, we decided on an all-inclusive resort. After researching the different types of resorts in the Caribbean, what stuck out the most to us was Sandals.

Sandals and Beaches has a total of 18 different resorts on seven of its islands. The islands are:

To narrow our search, I looked into their wedding ceremony locations. Sandals offered numerous gazebos that were either in the water, on the beach, or in the garden. Once I spotted what I was looking for, it was a wrap since my search was officially over. St. Lucia Regency La Toc would be the future location where we would soon share our vows.

When considering your wedding location, keep in mind where in the world you live in. If you live on the East Coast, consider having your wedding on any Caribbean island.

If you live on the West Coast, consider having your wedding in Hawaii or Mexico.

Also, consider and research the marriage laws when having a destination wedding because they differ from location to location.

Either way, it’s whatever you want to do, right? If cost is not an object, go ahead and have that Hawaiian wedding you dreamed of, even if your home is on the East Coast.

 Step Two – Deciding on a Date

Once we had our heart set on a St. Lucian wedding, it was time to make a decision on a date. Just keep in mind, depending on the time of year, it could be high season or low season at the resort. Also, consider how the weather is that time of year when picking a date.

For example, we originally wanted a September wedding, but hurricane season is typically around that time in the Caribbean. With that in mind, we had to change our dates and prompted for a March wedding instead.

Step Three – Deciding on Accommodations

 Resort

Part of the decision regarding choosing a Sandals Resort is that they offered a Beautiful Beginnings wedding for free when you book three nights or longer. This package included the following:

• Personal pre-travel wedding planner
• Personal resort wedding planner and dedicated resort wedding team
• Picturesque Wedding Location
• Preparation of marriage documents
• White Chiavari Chairs
• Musical Accompaniment (pre-recorded)
• Witnesses upon request
• 30-minute Sparkling Wine & Cold Hors d’oeuvres Delightful
• Reception for Bride, Groom, and up to 6 guests
• Wedding gift from Sandals Resorts or Beaches Resorts
• Free Wedding Website and Gift Registry
• 30 Minute Foot Massage for the Groom
• Manicure for the Bride
• Romantic Honeymoon night turndown service for Bride & Groom
• Mimosa Breakfast-in-Bed for Bride & Groom any Morning of Choice
• Honeymoon dinner for bride and groom at a resort specialty restaurant with white-glove service and a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine
• Complimentary 5”x7” Honeymoon Photo for Bride & Groom
• Fuchsia Dendrobium Orchid Bouquet
• Fuchsia Dendrobium Boutonniere
• (1) Round reception table with white linen with seating for up to 8
• Fuchsia dendrobium centerpiece
• A two-tiered White Fondant Cake with fuchsia dendrobium topper

A few of our other expenses with the wedding came from our photographer, videographer, dinner reception, music, etc. Maybe I’ll discuss everything in detail in a future blog post.

Airfare

Besides the resort accommodations, plan ahead with your airfare. When purchasing tickets, research how many weeks in advance it’s best to buy. It was best to buy 2 to 4 weeks in advance before traveling to the Caribbean. Shop around for deals and compare other airfare sites before you make a commitment.

The cheapest days out of the week to purchase tickets are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Flying on a Friday and Sunday will always be the most expensive day to fly due to the volume of travelers. We decided to buy our tickets about 4 months in advance to keep the price low. We flew out on a Tuesday morning and returned the following week on a Wednesday afternoon.

Step Four – Send Out Save the Dates/ Wedding Invitations

With our destination wedding in the works, we wanted to give our guests enough time to plan whether they would be attending. Our save-the-date and wedding invitations were combined and sent out 6 months in advance. In my opinion, it’s never too early to send out your invites!

Most of our wedding attendees decided to turn our wedding into their vacation, so it was a good idea to send them out in advance so they could make their travel plans.

If you don’t know what to expect, ask plenty of questions!

Since we planned for a St. Lucian wedding, the only problem was that we wouldn’t physically set foot on the resort until a few days before our wedding. I had a ton of “what ifs” in my mind and anxiety was starting to set in.

The best thing I ever did was to write out all of my questions and concerns, and our wedding planner was glad to address all of them.

I suggest doing so as well. It’s better to be prepared than surprised at the outcome.