How to Plan a Destination Wedding
First of all, plan where and when you want your destination wedding to be. My friend’s wedding is at a hotel called The Fallsview Casino Resort. The hotel is right on Niagara Falls which makes it a beautiful backdrop for a wedding. There is also a chapel there so it’s a perfect place for a wedding. Once you’ve decided where and when to have your wedding, make sure there is plenty of hotel rooms available for you and your guests. Try to find hotels that are reasonably priced. Your guests are already spending money to see you get married so you should try to find reasonable priced rooms for them.
If your guests have to travel by plane to get to your wedding, try checking out some internet sites to find a good deal on flights, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc.. A couple websites you can look at are www.orbitz.com and www.expedia.com. There are quite a few travel websites and I suggest looking at all of them to try and find the best deal available. Once you have decided where you are having your wedding try and contact a wedding planner.
If you are getting married at a hotel, contact the hotel and see if they have a wedding planner that works for them. The Fallsview Hotel has there own wedding planner that my friend and her fiancÃ?©e are dealing with. A lot of people don’t like to use wedding planners since they feel like they should plan their wedding themselves but if you aren’t getting married where you live, you need someone who is available to help you plan your destination wedding and contact the appropriate vendors.
If you are not getting married in a hotel, try contacting the cities Chamber of Commerce. They should be able to point you in the right direction for finding a wedding planner. Definitely use the internet to find information on the place you are getting married.
Once you have found a wedding planner, stay in contact with them. Exchange email addresses and/or phone numbers. Tell him or her what exactly you want for your destination wedding and what your budget is.
Most places that specialize in destination weddings have packages you can choose from. You can usually add things to your package or create your own package to meet your needs. Tell the wedding planner how many people are in the wedding party, how many people you expect to attend the wedding, what kind of flowers you want, what kind of music you want, what kind of food you want served at the reception, and whatever else is important to you. If the wedding planner is not interested in working with you, see if there is someone else you can contact. If there isn’t, consider getting married somewhere else. You should enjoy planning your destination wedding, even if it’s from afar.
If you are able to visit the location of your destination wedding, that’s a definite must. My friend and her fiancÃ?©e have been able to visit Niagara Falls once and my friend and the Maitron of Honor have visited together one time as well. Their relationship with the wedding planner is wonderful. Anytime my friend has a question or an idea about something to do with her wedding she’s able to email her wedding planner. She usually gets a response within one or two days.
Now it’s time to send out the wedding invitations. Try and send out your invitations farther in advance then you usually would. You want to make sure your guests have enough time to figure out if they will be able to attend your destination wedding. You also need to give your guests time to find a hotel room. Included in the invitations should be hotel and flight information along with websites where they might be able to find a good deal. Do some investigating on your own and include any good prices or packages on hotels and flights that you were able to find.
Also include information on activities in the local area. Your guests will have time to do other things other than go to your wedding. A lot of people will probably turn your wedding into a mini vacation for themselves. If your guests need passports, birth certificates, Social Security Cards, or photo i.d.’s, make sure that information is included with the invitation. To cross the Canadian border from the United States you only need a certified birth certificate and a photo i.d.. Starting in 2007 you might need a passport or visa to enter Canada so check with the border crossing before making any plans.
Once you receive all of your wedding responses, you can talk with the wedding planner about how much food you need at the reception and how much space you need for the reception itself. If your guests have any questions or concerns, make sure you are there to answer them. Most people haven’t been to a destination wedding before.
First and foremost, make sure you enjoy yourself. Be prepared that little mistakes will happen. Even local weddings have little problems. Remember that this is one of the most important and special days of your life to date. Everyone that is at your destination wedding wants to be there and they will share in your wonderful day with you.
