While a destination wedding may be many a bride’s dream, there are many hoops that you need to jump through before it comes to fruition. While it may not be easy, in fact it may be downright frustrating at times, there are a few useful tips that you can keep in mind to help you make your destination wedding as hassle-free as possible for everyone involved.

Give Ample Notice with Save the Date Cards

Before anything else, make sure to send out your Save the Dates at least six months prior to the ceremony. Some etiquette experts even suggest sending out them out eight months before the big day just to provide your guests with the ample time that they will need to make their preparations.

Being a destination wedding, the event will require more attention to detail than the typical wedding; including but not limited to hotel and flight bookings, picking out the right gown or suit appropriate for the venue, sorting out vacation leaves, and finding someone to take care of the kids, should your guests have children.

Wedding Invitations Should be Early Too

With regard to wedding invitations, make sure that you send those out two months prior to the ceremony, four weeks before at the very least. Again, this will give your guests sufficient time to clear out their schedules and more importantly, RSVP to your event. Other than being considerate to your guests, this is the main reason why you want to get the invitations out as early as possible. After all, your friends and family members have other duties and obligation to attend to as well.

It would be both fitting and fun to use a design for the invitations that is in line with your theme. There are countless ideas you can use—from shell-embellished cards to coconut trees, flip flops and starfish illustrated on the envelope, stretch your imagination and go with a design that both you and the groom feel comfortable with. Choose something that is expressive of your style and taste as a couple. There are some great online wedding stationery websites.

Consider a Wedding Planner to Help Iron out the Details

If you can squeeze it into your budget, hire a wedding planner. Wedding planners are truly heaven sent and can significantly lighten the load of planning a wedding, hence the title. Work out details such as whether you are going to use a minister that you personally know or if you are going to contract the services of a local officiate. Make sure that you sit down with him or her before the big day and discuss how you want the ceremony to flow. This is something that you should make time for. Remember that this person will be responsible for proclaiming you and your husband as man and wife.

If time permits, make at least one visit to your wedding destination so you can imagine how all the details will play out—from the ceremony itself to the reception to the after party. Visualize the decorations and familiarize yourself with the people and the place. This will help ease the jitters on the day itself.

Choose the Best Destination for You and Your Guests

Research the place well as hotels and resorts usually offer significant discounts to people who hold big events at their establishments. This is definitely something to be taken advantage of as it will help reduce costs dramatically. Jamaica, Cancun, Mexico, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Aruba, Puerto Rico, St. Barts and the Bahamas are some of the most popular Caribbean wedding destinations. While distinct in some ways, all are equal in their beauty and splendour.

Some breathtaking natural attractions are The Baths in the British Virgin Islands, the Drive-In Volcano in St. Lucia, Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica, El Yunque in Puerto Rico, Harrison’s Cave in Barbados, Stingray City in the Cayman Islands, Diamond Mineral Falls and Mineral Baths in St. Lucia, Buck Island Reef in St. Croix, St. John National Park in U.S. Virgin Islands, and Bio Bay in Vieques. You, your groom, and your guests are sure to come home with a lifetime worth of memories after visiting these places.

In terms of swimming and water sports, the waters of the Southern (Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, St. Lucia, Curacao, Grenada) and Eastern Caribbean (Dominica, St. Kitts, Guadeloupe, Anguilla) beaches are said to be a little rougher and more suited to those who enjoy water sport activities. Central (Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) and Western Caribbean beaches (Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cancun) on the other hand, are perfect for those who prefer calmer waters and warmer temperatures.

Consider Forgoing Gifts

Going back to wedding preps, be kind to your guests. Remember that they are spending a considerable amount of their money and time to make you feel special on your wedding day. Having said that, if you can scrap the wedding registry altogether, then do it. If your guests still wish to give you a present, then let them do it out of their own volition.

Legalese

Make sure to do your homework as regards any legal requirements in your destination of choice. Note that some countries have stringent requirements such as obtaining blood work, getting immunizations, and may also have maximum residency periods. These are some important details to take note of and relay to your guests. You wouldn’t want your dream day to get cut short because you or one of your guests needs to leave the country.

Follow all these tips and before you know it, you and your husband will be sipping pina coladas while watching the sun set over the Caribbean seas.

Brooke Green works with Storkie. She is a travel enthusiast and party planner who loves to write in her spare time.

 

Filed under: Caribbean islands

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