Wedding Blog
Dear Weddingbee,
One of my girlfriends just got engaged and she’s looking into a destination wedding for this year, but she needs help on destinations. She looked into Key West (which will cost her guests about $800 including hotel and airfare for 3 nights). Is that too much? Her FI thinks it is, but the price is pretty decent?
St.Thomas, Bermuda, Paradise Island, and even Hawaii and have come up without anything conclusive. The ceremony and reception at these places are within budget so she’s really excited about that. But the cost of airfare and hotel may be too high for her guests. Do you know anywhere else that is more affordable for the guests? Her concern is that no one will show up. How much does a guest usually spend on destination weddings?
I’ve never been to a destination wedding so I am completely clueless. Hope you or the other bees can help. 
Ms Yummie
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I would say that it really depends on her guests. She probably has a better handle on what works with their finances than any of us. To some people, an $800 vacay is totally doable, while it is unheard of to others. Maybe she should discreetly ask a few relatives/friends and see what ballpark they can afford.
I think for destination weddings the more expensive it is the less the bride/groom should expect by way of a gift from their guests. It sounds like she might be set on a caribbean type destination but has she considered a lot of the islands along the coasts of the U.S. I’m thinking like St. Simons, Sea Island or Jekyll Island off of Georgia, Galveston off of Texas, Hilton Head in SC –they all offer the beach but could be cheaper and easier to get to for guests. Cumberland Island, GA. was good enough for JFK Jr.
Really depends on the guests and if $800 for a long weekend vacation is in the cards, and if the guests are used to flying for weddings. I am, so I would compare the cost of Key West mentally to the cost of somewhere more pedestrian but still across the country, which would still easily be $500+. But for some folks, they just don’t have that kind of dough to blow on a single weekend, so no they woln;t make it.
We looked into doing a DW, so I just wanted to add a couple more things she should consider.
How easy is it for her guests to travel? A DW might eliminate some elderly guests. Is she okay with asking her guests to use their vacation time? Also, you mentioned that it would be this year. Will the guests have enough advance notice to save, etc.?
There are many ways a DW bride can help her guests save money- group discounts, a wedding during the off or shoulder seasons, a location with cheaper flights.
It’s also important that a DW bride be prepared for a low attendance number. No matter how reasonable the price is, DWs are just less accessible by nature (guests have to commit to the entire weekend, possibly even take a day or two off from work to make the long & expensive flight “worth it”).
We had our DW in Jamaica (a very reasonably priced location for guests, btw).. and we were mentally prepared to have no one show up. It really would have been okay with us if it was just us and our immediate families. But our awesome friends surprised us with their enthusiasm, and we ended up having >50 wonderful friends join us for the weekend. =o)
Good luck.
We wanted a DW wedding too, but we had to keep in within the states because my best friend cannot travel outside the states (visa status).
For the price of travel, keep in mind that there’s a chance that more people will not be able to come. It depends on the budget of your guests. Some may think it’s incredibly cheap and jump at the opportunity, or others will be outraged. You won’t be able to make everyone happy. Some of the other people don’t yet understand the concept of a DW.
Also, I know in my korean tradition, my parents pay for airfare, car rentals, and hotels for all family members, which can be quite burdensome for the parents.
Something that might be more afforable is getting a large villa somewhere, and you can pitch in for the villa (which can also play for a place for the reception/ceremony) and cut costs for everyone.
Ultimately, it depends on what your wedding vision is: A large weddin, a small intimate wedding, a beach wedding versus and hotel reception, etc… it’s you and your fiance’s big day so always keep that in mind! Good luck to your friend.
We’re planning a DW as well. We’ve found that you can ask airlines and hotels if they will provide discounts for your guests (most of them will, if you’re able to guarantee a minimum amount of people, e.g 10 rooms in a hotel). Another option that a friend of mine did for her DW was have just very close friends and family attend the ceremony in Aruba and have the reception in NY.
we had a destination wedding last july in ixtapa, mexico (la casa que canta, it was absolutely fantastic). we wanted to keep it very small, partially because we wanted to keep the ceremony intimate, and partially because we knew it was a lot to ask of our guests. we ended up asking our closest family and friends to come for the weekend and paying for their hotel+food fees, so all they had to pay for was the airfare and incidentals. it was great because the hotel helped us track everything, and then we just paid at the end of our stay. the weekend after that, we held a much bigger reception in our home town for all of the other guests who didn’t come to the ceremony in mexico. that way, we got the best of both worlds!
i dont know about DW, but i do know about vacation planning! i would say that $1K genearlly isn’t too much, but she knows better than we do what the financial situations of her guests are. that being said, i thikn it would be nice to provide a few options. i know that you can do bare bones in the bahamas for $60 a night and about $2-300 airfare. in key west, however, i think that the options for budget locations are much more limited. just something to think about.
We’re having a DW on Kauai (Hawaii) and we have a total of 24 people coming. A lot of friends and family are taking the opportunity to have a vacation and attend a wedding one of the days. Our guest list keeps growing as it gets closer and schedules clearer.
It’s costing about $1500 per person to go, that is if they go with the group package we’ve arranged with Liberty Travel. About 10 friends/family have made their own travel arrangements and have been able to stay at condos or other hotels to save $.
I’m doing the Florida Keys, but we aren’t having a reception there, just the ceremony. So, it will just be five people total. However, pricing is always better during the week and during the off-season (i.e. not March or April - July for most places). Also, don’t just consider Key West! There are dozens of larger Keys with hundreds of beaches and resorts! We’re doing Islamorada, and I couldn’t be happier. The park is free and not overcrowded, even during spring break, mostly because everyone always thinks “Key West” first. Just take a look around and keep in mind that some resorts have a bay instead of a beach, and some are on the wrong side of the island for sun-over-the-water sunsets.
I had a DW in Hawaii. Since the weather in Hawaii is pretty much fabulous year round, we happened to find a date when it was low season. Many of our families and friends took the opportunity of making a vacation of out it. My husband’s side of family rented a house for a week and we used that house as the “headquarter” where we hosted many meals. Meals included from lunch, BBQ night, and rehearal dinner. We thought it was a nice gesture to provide home cooked meals to minimize costs for our guests.
Ditto Mrs Ant. We are getting married at the same hotel where she and Mr Ant exchanged vows, and we couldn’t be happier with the decision. Jamaica is an affordable destination for guests and the ambience and intimacy of this particular hotel practically guarantee a one-of-a-kind, VERY memorable wedding.
I encourage your friend to check out the destination wedding board on The Knot. Lots of helpful tips, tricks and ideas over there!
Thanks Bee for posting this =) And lots of thanks to you ladies for taking the time to help my girlfriend with DW! I really appreciate it! This helps a lot! Good luck wedding planning =)
They decided to have a destination cruise wedding in Bermuda. It’s 5 days for $696.71 per person =)
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