Your planning for your destination wedding will not just be about the destination location, it will revolve around costs as well. There are several categories of costs involved in a destination wedding. You will have travel expenditures. You will also have your normal wedding costs. Then, there are the expenditures associated with hotel rooms. However, you can have your dream destination wedding by heeding a few savings tips.
Travel Savings You can save money by asking those guests that will be flying from the same location to make their travel plans as a group. This method can save your guests as much as ten percent on the plane tickets when you ask for a group rate when booking the flights. Also, when choosing on a day to get married, think about when the peak season is for your wedding destination and choose your wedding date so that it falls in their off season because airlines have lower prices at those times.
Resort Savings Some all-inclusive resorts will give you a free wedding for those staying at the resort. Make sure to ask about this particular benefit when you call resorts. If you are getting help from a travel agency, you may be given packets of brochures for resort destinations. Check them over carefully for this benefit and other similar savings.
Savings Through Wedding Planners Some websites and even hotels offer wedding planners as a benefit to their guests. Check the hotels at your selected location to see if they have "wedding planner services". If they do, they often give nice discounts and even free wedding plans. Destination websites will also have planner services that can save you time and money on the ceremony. Be certain about how many guests are included in any package deal offered by a wedding planner. If you are lucky, the first and last thing you plan may be which hotel to book, and the hotel wedding planner will take over and you will have the destination wedding planning done for you. Now, not only have you saved money, you've saved yourself some planning stress too.
Hotel, Villa, Apartment Once you have chose your destination, you may want to check around to see if there are any alternative accommodations for your guests that may present some savings, like villas, or apartments in the area that they could rent. Most popular destination locations are used to these requests. These places oftentimes have special rates for wedding guests.
However, all these tips are mainly on a relatively traditional wedding. Most of them do not apply if you are going to plan for a destination wedding. To these end couples who are planning for a destination wedding may need some other tips and guides. Let us discuss some of the important issues you will need to consider at different times.
Of course the first thing you need to do is to consider the date of your wedding. And you have to do that about a year before your wedding. You will also need to think about the destination. To this end you will start considering your wedding theme. As a matter of fact, your wedding theme should match the destination. Another thing you need to ask is the legal requirements for getting married in the destination.
It is also very important to send your save-the-date note at least six month before your wedding. It is because your guests will need to arrange the air tickets in advance if they are going to attend your wedding. You may not need to order the save-the-date note from some wedding invitation vendors. Instead you may try to contact your guests via emails so that you can send your save-the-date note efficiently.
You will need to make the final decision on your wedding venues four months before your destination wedding. In most cases you will try to hire local wedding planners in the destination. You will also need to start contacting these local planners. Since you will not be in the destination to arrange for your wedding, you will have to rely on the wedding planner to help you to arrange. The planner should be able help you to negotiate with other wedding vendors. Another thing you need to consider four months before your wedding is your wedding invitations.
You will probably need to confirm nearly all the details for your wedding two months before. You will also try to send the invitations out. If you are going to purchase your wedding dresses and shoes in your local bridal stores, you will need to order them at this time.
If you are going to have your honeymoon in the same location as your destination wedding, you will need to prepare for it a month before your wedding. You may need to think about your itinerary. You will also need to prepare for the clothing for your honeymoon. It is also very important for you to think about the insurance at this point. You should try to contact your local insurance company for the advices on the insurances.
If it is possible, you will try to arrive the location of your wedding about a week before your wedding. You will need to meet your wedding planner and try to fix all the details which have not been fixed.
Both Dee Bovis & Tm Lung are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.