I was recently asked by a young bride-to-be about the advantages of a destination wedding over a traditional wedding. This is a hard question because it is ultimately a very personal decision.
Here are a few key reasons to have a destination wedding:
1) You Actually Spend Time With Your Guests - At a destination wedding, your guests typically stay a day or two, so there is more opportunity to interact and spend time with them compared to a standard 5-hour hometown church wedding. And because of costs, you will typically have fewer guests. We understand work and family pressures to invite certain people for "political reasons." But if your company or your family isn't picking up the cost of the wedding, they really don't get a say.
2) Cost - Destination weddings are not as expensive as you might think. In fact, most destination weddings are considerably less expensive than traditional weddings (assuming you are not paying for travel for your entire guest list).
3) Every Wedding Requires Travel Now - When was the last time you went to a wedding and nobody had to travel? For us, our wedding party and immediate family spanned four time zones. No matter where we held our wedding, over half the attendees would have to travel somewhere. So why not have everyone travel somewhere fun? The location for your wedding shouldn't just be where it's convenient, it should be just where you want to get married.
4) You Like To Travel - If you are a person that wants to see the world and travel, why not make it a part of your wedding? It's a natural fit.
5) It Minimizes Tensions - Once you've made the big decision to have a destination wedding, everything else is easy. There's less to fight about with fiancé or parents or future in-laws. Really. I promise.
So, my recommendation to everyone is to have a destination wedding. Just do it. Go anywhere – the U.S. or abroad. Just go. And be prepared to have the most amazing day of your life.
