With a world of Internet resources at your fingertips and scheduling apps freely available, it should be easy to plan your own destination wedding, shouldn’t it?
So why do couples wanting a wedding abroad keep turning to professional planners to coordinate their special day?
What does a destination wedding planner do?
There are destination wedding planners who can step into any level of responsibility and offer packages at different price points relevant to the amount of work involved.
- Don’t know where to start?
Most wedding planners offer to help with every single aspect of planning your wedding day from finding your venue and sourcing providers to delivering every detail of your perfect wedding – all within a specific budget. - Want to research your suppliers yourself?
There are wedding planners who are available to confirm the supplier contracts you have chosen and coordinate your day for you. - Got everything totally booked for your Big Day?
An on-the-day coordinator will allow you to be the bride or groom on your wedding day and ensure all your plans run smoothly.
What is a venue event coordinator?
- A wedding planner works for you – and will look at many venues.
- A venue event coordinator works for one specific venue.
If you already know where you want to hold your wedding ceremony and celebrations, then you might prefer to book the event coordinator of that specific venue.
Top tip: find out if the venue only works with preferred suppliers or if they are open to you booking your own celebrant, florist, DJ etc
Should you plan your own wedding abroad?
So your best friend is a project manager, your mum is a brilliant flower arranger and your cousin has offered to officiate as celebrant.
Using the skills of family and friends is a great way to plan your own wedding and save money on a tight budget, right?
Just weigh up the pros and cons.
- Can your friend speak the local language in order to negotiate the best possible price for local suppliers?
- Does your mum really want to be styling fresh flowers in the hour leading up to the ceremony so they don’t wilt in the tropical sun?
- And your cousin loves the spotlight and is a fabulous actor – but it’s not about them is it?
Do you really want to trust the very heart of your special day to someone who has never officiated a wedding before?
You only get one chance to get this right!
Overseas wedding insurance
If you’ve ever wondered what can potentially go wrong at a wedding, just look at a wedding insurance policy!
A good destination wedding planner will resolve an issue long before it becomes a problem – and they have their own wedding insurance relevant to the country you are in.
- From rescheduling your wedding date to wedding suppliers going out of business, your wedding planner should have it covered with both “public” and “professional” indemnity.
- Couples who want to organise as much as possible themselves should use a good wedding insurance comparison site – but check your policy covers weddings abroad.
Short cut to organising your own elopement abroad
Elopements and micro weddings are the easiest weddings to “Do It Yourself” (DIY) simply because at their most basic, they only involve you and your partner, your celebrant and your photographer.
- Use hashtags on Instagram to search for elopements in your chosen country and reach out to the suppliers involved
- Plan Your Own DIY Elopement is a great new resource including prices, for couples wanting to elope to Spain and connects you direct with suppliers to recreate each ceremony yourself.
- For bigger weddings in other countries, post a request for supplier information on the Weddings Abroad Facebook group
Finally, remember that many wedding planners will offer a free consultation or “discovery call”, so decide on the budget that you can comfortably afford and discover just how much wedding planning you can get for your money. Then weigh up the pros and cons and take the first step towards your perfectly planned destination wedding with as much or as little help as you need.
Author bio: Debbie Skyrme is an award winning celebrant in Spain, helping destination wedding couples’ dreams come true by officiating elopements, weddings and vow renewal ceremonies in the Spanish sunshine.
Thanks to the fabulous team who contributed to these photos:
Photography @tonibonet_wedding and lara.j.jackson.3
Planner @mar_aday
Celebrant @celebrantspain and @wendysherwoodcelebrant
Flowers @elrincondelasflores and @machuno_arte_floral
Dresses @luciacanonovias and @rafagarciacostura
Accessories @calabylilian
Rings @selfieandyou101
Boat @sailnplay
Author credit: (c) Debbie Skyrme 2022 This content was authored by Debbie Skyrme. Unauthorised publishing of the text or image content in part or in full is strictly forbidden.