Getting Away from it all

Don't have enough money for an amazing wedding and a unforgettable honeymoon, why not combine them together? Destination weddings are on the rise because they present an opportunity to get married somewhere you've dreamed of and they are traditionally cheaper than traditional weddings.

A lot of people have a lot of "what ifs" about destination weddings:

• What if people won't come
• What if no one will send us gifts
• What if our luggage gets lost 
• What if I get cold feet while we are there
• What if people think we are silly for having a reception at home

If you are even considering a destination wedding, be sure to inform your wedding party right from the start so that if you and your hubby do agree on one, they have ample time to start saving money. Also when looking at destinations think of all your options in order to save money, Why fly all they way to Mexico when you can have a gorgeous beach wedding on the Flordia Keys or on the Gulf coast? Why go to Italy for a winery wedding when we have California (or Southern Illinois ;-) ) right here? Who Says you can't get married on a cruise on Lake Michigan?

Also search around for the best prices. There are a lot of scam websites trying to scare you into paying for their services because the hotels may "push you around". I've never heard of a hotel pushing someone around when they are offering to book rooms for an entire wedding party plus a few guests. Again, be sure to ask outright if you can have the rooms at a discounted rate, it's said that over 50% of people who ask for a discount with a good cause receive one. 

And it is NOT silly to have a small gathering when you get home. It can be as fancy or as low key as you want.  A nice thing one of my friends did was have a BBQ a month after their wedding in Hawaii. They made a DVD with all of the professional and other pictures shot throughout the day and had it playing during the whole night on repeat so people could come and look whenever they wanted. Then later in the evening they gathered us all to watch the wedding video and passed out little favors for each of us for coming. It was very fun and it was a wonderful celebration of their wedding day. 

My best pieces of advice when planning a destination wedding are

1. Inform your family and the wedding party the moment you seriously start considering it. That way there are no surprises or hurt feelings if someone backs out.

2. Picture where you want to be, a beach, a forest, a waterfall and then make a list of the top 3 places you could go to make that picture come to life. Also if you want this to double for your honeymoon, pick a scene you want to be at for a few days. (ie a forest wedding sounds beautiful, but a yellowstone park honeymoon isn't ideal for us all)

3. Get a portfolio file and spend a day making phone calls, searching online and pick out the best place for you and your hubby. 

4. Check out hotels in the area to see what kind of deals they can give you, most offer a ceremony, reception and photographer package or they can provide you with that information. 

5. Make a detailed calendar with the flight information for you and your party, the hotel check in times, and everything else.

6. Have a lovely wedding day

Personally, a Hawaiian wedding sounds ideal when you're buried in snow like me. 

Happy searching!
The Southside Bride