Wedding Blog

So you’ve decided to have a DW (destination wedding). Every night, images of sandy beaches, turquoise seas and hurricanes- no wait, that was just me- er…swaying palm trees fill your dreams.

With a spring in your step and a sparkle in your eye, you trip on into your local travel agent’s office where HORROR OF HORRORS, they weigh you down with 20 pounds of catalogues detailing vacation packages in every single Caribbean island under the sun!

Where do you even start?!?

Well I’m not going to beat around the bush here: if you’ve never actually been to any of these potential destinations (like yours truly), what you’re about to encounter is NOT a cake-walk.

You are (sorry to have to break it to you) going to have to flex those Google muscles and do some mean research, the likes of which you have not attempted since that course on Western Civilization in first year university. Either that, or find yourself a darn good travel agent who can, based on your vague beginnings-of-an-idea-as-to-what-you-think-you-might-want, pick the perfect destination for you. That’s not easy though, so if the latter’s the case, congratulations, you found a truly valuable resource and you just spared yourself lots of work.

For the rest of you (even though you may have a great agent, you may be like me and not trust anything anyone says until you’ve fully researched it yourself…type A, anyone?), buckle down.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing the location for your destination wedding:

1. Where are most of your guests traveling from? Some exclusive destinations are only served by tour operators who depart from a limited list of cities. Make sure your guests can get to where you want them to be.

2. What kind of travelers are your guests? If your parents insist you invite all your septuagenarian aunts and uncles and your dream destination of choice is somewhere that takes a six hour flight plus 2 hour boat trip to get to, make sure your guests wouldn’t resent you for it.

3. How much are you comfortable asking your guests to spend? Although most destinations have resorts ranging between the 3 to 5 star rating (you probably don’t want to go any less than 3 stars), some destinations are overall cheaper than others. A good rule of thumb is, the smaller the island, the more expensive. Many small islands are also not attainable via direct flight so you’d have to add on additional costs for charter flights or boat trips for the short hop over. Also factor in the distance- the farther away it is from your origin, the more expensive.

4. Are many of your guests American? If so, then you might not want to have your destination wedding in Cuba as there is (as of today, anyway) still an embargo in effect which bars American trade with Cuba and forbids U.S. citizens from traveling there as tourists. Most Americans fly to Cuba via third countries— Mexico, Canada and the Bahamas (shhh, you didn’t hear it from me)— but do you want to make it that complicated?

5. What kind of experience are you looking for? If you and your hubby-to-be are avid adventurers and feel your guests would appreciate the same kind of vibe, maybe what you’re looking for is somewhere off the beaten path like Costa Rica. If you prefer something a little more civilized and predictable (but still gorgeous!), maybe Mexico, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic is more your style.

These are some of the biggest questions Mr. Sea Breeze and I asked ourselves when trying to figure out our wedding location.

Stay tuned for part 2- How we answered these questions.

What things did you consider when planning your DW?