We’re often asked ‘where’s the best place to get married abroad?’. The process of choosing the perfect wedding destination is incredibly personal and unique to each couple and reasoning varies vastly. However from working on 100’s of weddings I can assure you there is a process to finding the perfect wedding destination.
After all, there’s nothing quite like that moment when you both just know;
‘You’ve found the one’
We hope this guidance on what considerations should be given when choosing the best place to get married abroad, will make your journey that bit smoother, to find a destination that’s best for YOU.
We always ask our couples as part of their post wedding feedback, what made them choose their wedding venue, and more often than not it eventually comes down to two things, either the ‘look’
Dana Villas stood out as it was an intimate location and it had beautiful views; it was the perfect choice for us. – Rebecca and Adam Santorini 2019
Or destination related
Zakynthos is one of our favourite islands, we have been to several islands around Greece and always rated how lovely the people were, the food, and our overall experience on holidays always made us want to return. When we saw the location of the venue we fell in love initially. Kayleigh and Joe Zakynthos 2019.
But you need to start by thinking practically.
During the early stages of planning you need to think practically, I’d say the initial considerations are;
- Budget – how much can you afford or want to spend?
- Distance – how far do you want to travel, anything with a flight time of over 6 hours is considered long haul and under 6 hours short haul.
- Weather – sun or snow – yes believe it or not, not everyone is in search of sunny climates. Snow and Ice weddings are very much a thing.
- The TYPE or STYLE of wedding you’d like.
Your Wedding Style.
The decision to actually have a destination wedding is usually the first one made. It could be you want a small intimate wedding which wouldn’t be possible at home, or maybe you have family spread far and wide or perhaps you’ve always dreamed of flying somewhere romantic and exotic to get married.
The reasons are endless.
Your Style.
The style of a wedding can often be a driving factor in the search and can help narrow the destination choice. For example a beach wedding – The Mediterranean come to mind. A Villa Wedding – Italy or France it is then? A boat Wedding?- maybe hire a Gulet in Turkey or a Yacht in Cyprus?
This is of course a very simplistic view as there are 100’s of possibilities for Villa, Boat and beach weddings, however it demonstrates that the style of the wedding you want will help narrow the choices of destination for you.
A special meaning?
A common reason for choosing a destination for a wedding abroad is that the destination has special meaning, it could be where you got engaged or a destination you visit regularly on holiday, or perhaps you have family there, or somewhere you used to live?
Should you listen or speak to others about their experiences?
I absolutely recommend speaking to people that have ‘been there and done it’. Learning from their experience can save you guess work and can help you decide if a destination wedding might suit you.
But a word of warning
Whilst it’s good to listen to advice, you don’t need to let that determine your choice as everyone’s experience are different. Always be careful who you ask make sure that person has similar tastes and styles as you.
For example if they’ve had a less than ideal experience do a little detective work. Try to find out the reason they liked/didn’t like it, would that same situation or problem matter to you? Was the bad experience due to bad communication, or bad choice of supplier, or even unrealistic expectations?
On the plus side, if someone raves about a destination or venue does their reasoning resonate with you? Perhaps their priorities were different to yours? If for them it’s all about the view and setting and they had an extravagant wedding, does this still apply to you if you want a small intimate wedding?
Not one wedding suits all.
Eloping? Elopements can be so romantic and are perfect if you want to completely escape any planning or wedding administration. Europe is very popular for Elopements but also the Caribbean. Imagine tying the knot on a soft powder soft beach and then enjoying a few weeks in a luxury hotel?
If you’re wanting an idyllic beach wedding at sunset but in winter, then Mauritius comes to mind with its soft white powder beaches. (plus their high season is our winter)
City weddings – Images of New York come to mind, imagine a romantic winter wedding snuggled under a blanket riding around Central Park on horse and carriage while snowfalls around you?
Villa or castle weddings – how about France Prague or Italy, you’ll be spoilt for choice with all the historical venues available, all ready to welcome you and offer you a fairy tale dream wedding.
So what’s the best place to get married for you?
When working out the best place to get married abroad I’d say look at 3 keys points.
- Style of Wedding – what type of wedding abroad do you want? Beach, Garden, Cliff Top, Villa or Castle? Very important as this will narrow your destination search somewhat and give you an idea of where to start looking.
- Budget – How much are you happy to spend on the wedding? Be honest with yourself, don’t end up begrudging the wedding because to pay for it you have to give up on nights out, and holidays for the next 5 years.
- Weather – Sun or snow make sure you check the seasons match with what you’re looking for. Seasons vary around the world and not everywhere has snow at Christmas.
So in summary, when choosing the best place to get married abroad for YOU, make sure it’s affordable, matches your vision, and your nearest and dearest will join you.
It’s as simple as that……(joking).
Lisa founded The award winning Bridal Consultants in 2004
From the first year planning just a few weddings she's now planned over 1600 weddings abroad with her small team of specialists around the world.
She's an authority on weddings abroad and is often appears on Local BBC radio to discuss wedding planning related issues. She's the agony aunt for the glossy mag Brides Abroad where she solves problems from brides planning their own weddings abroad.
From the first year planning just a few weddings she's now planned over 1600 weddings abroad with her small team of specialists around the world.
She's an authority on weddings abroad and is often appears on Local BBC radio to discuss wedding planning related issues. She's the agony aunt for the glossy mag Brides Abroad where she solves problems from brides planning their own weddings abroad.
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