Fiji.  Jamaica.  Hawaii.  What do all of these spots have in common, besides being great honeymoon spots?  They’re all great destination wedding spots as well!

It used to be that destination weddings were thought to be extravagances that were affordable only by very few.  In the past ten years destination weddings have increasingly gained in popularity and acceptance, and now are a viable option for many couples.

So, what are destination weddings, first of all?  A destination wedding is a wedding that takes place in an exotic location, sometimes with only the couple present and sometimes with attendees ranging from immediate family on the small end to an extensive gathering of family and friends on the larger end.

Destination weddings have many advantages over ceremonies at home.  For one, they create a fun and memorable experience for all involved.  The joint trip, with the couple and friends and family, turns into shared vacation, with many special memories being made in the process.

Additionally, destination weddings can actually end up being more affordable than having a traditional ceremony and honeymoon separately.  Generally a smaller amount of people will be able to make the trip, so the ceremony costs which are associated with the amount of guests (catering, venue, etc) tend to be lower than they would be closer to home. 

Here’s another little money-saving tip – at many resorts in exotic locations such as Nassau, the wedding ceremony and arrangements come free with your and your parties’ reservations at the resort.  Also, since they do weddings there all the time, they have their own dedicated staff  - wedding planners, photographers, videographers, caterers, etc.  The same group of people that work in the same space day after day – they have the system down to a science, and that is another advantage of a destination wedding.

As great as a destination wedding can be, however, it does require some special planning.  The first thing you will want to make sure of is that all the people that are vitally important to you can afford to make the trip to your destination.  Of course, if one of the factors that influenced your decision to plan a destination wedding is that many of the guests would need to fly even if the wedding were at home, then this is less of an issue.

You will also want to carefully plan out well in advance the completion of all the necessary paperwork for getting married in a foreign country, if your destination is outside of the United States.  Don’t forget to get your passport and have all of your guests get their passports well in advance.  With increasingly stringent passport requirements, more people are in need of passports and processing times are becoming longer and longer.  Try to leave 3 months to obtain your passport if possible, so there is room to deal with any emergencies that might arise.

All in all, with the proper planning, a destination wedding offers many advantages over a traditional wedding.  It can be more affordable and easier to plan and give you and your loved ones many special and happy memories that would never have otherwise been created.