Must read tips for planning a destination wedding.
Congratulations on your approaching wedding, but how well prepared are you to execute your planned destination wedding? As you are already aware, destination weddings are wedding ceremonies that are billed to hold in a city, state, country, or any location other than where the couples and their folk reside.
For instance, if you live in Ibadan or Lagos but plan to go hold your wedding in Obudu Ranch in Cross River State, then you are planning on a destination wedding; and if you live in Nigeria but plan your wedding to hold in Dubai in the UAE, you are planning a destination wedding. Destination wedding as you would have already seen comes with a price, and it could be very expensive; it also comes with a lot of professional planning for logistics, and you need expert knowledge to really pull it off successfully. But then, the following tips would be of help if you’d only apply them:
Get a wedding planner.
Destination weddings are not what you could really plan out all by yourself. You need the professional assistance and intervention of an expert firm that has been in the business for long, and that already has the technical experience and the travel networks to get things done for you. You need a specialized wedding planner that is capable of planning for weddings abroad, and also able to liaise with other wedding planners at the other end to make things work out for you. Don’t ever think you could do it yourself, get a professional firm because they surely don’t cost much and is part of your wedding expenses.
Consult or hire a travel and tour firm.
You can consult a professional travel and tour firm to handle the travel and hotel booking aspects for you. A wedding planner might also be able to do this, but this is not their core area of expertise. A travel and tour firm will be able to help you with air ticketing, flight reservations, hotel bookings, guest transportation, car travel needs, and other related aspects. This is different from what a wedding planner would do – organise the wedding proper.
Determine your destination.
Determining the location of your destination wedding is at the heart of every other thing related to this approaching wedding. You must know the destination in time and early enough so that all efforts can be channeled to making the location and venue a success. Are you planning to hold it in popular and exotic resorts like Florida, Dubai, Hawaii, Obudu Ranch, and several other international locations? Then you must decide quickly bearing in mind the logistics required to make this happen.
Guest movement to location and travel arrangement.
You must also consider the transportation and accommodation of guests to your destination wedding. Your guests would need to be cherry-picked because not everyone would be able to attend because of the out-of-state/country location, but those who would be able to make it should be notified in due time so that they can book for flights and make hotel reservations plans before the wedding day. They will also need to secure travel papers among other travel arrangements among other travel plans.
Legal requirements for getting married abroad.
You must know the legal requirements for getting married abroad at your desired destination wedding location. Do you or your spouse also qualify for these legal requirements? Have all papers and permits been obtained for the wedding? What about other unforeseen things that might crop up and which you need to settle? Knowing all these things and perfecting them as they concern you will make your destination wedding enjoyable and a great success.
