With one of the most important tasks you will face in planning a wedding, many people today are deciding to combine a destination wedding-honeymoon, rather than try and organise a big wedding back home.
At first planning an overseas wedding can seem a little daunting, but with some help and careful planning you may save yourself a lot of money.
A few things to consider to get you started, look at the time of year you would like to get married and what the weather is like for that month at your preferred destination, making yourself also aware of any special events, local festivals or holiday periods.
Perhaps look at getting married outside of the busiest time of year to reduce your travel cost and go through a travel wholesaler when arranging your travel fares for groups larger than 10 people.
List the number of guests that will be travelling abroad to attend the wedding and look at the arrangements of transporting guests to the wedding venue.
Another thing to consider would be, whether it is a destination were you would also like to spend your honeymoon or if you could easily travel somewhere close by after the ceremony just the two of you.
Your budget will also effect your choice of location, however depending on your number of guests, it will still be considerably less than what most would spend on a wedding, not to mention you’d get to marry at a romantic location of your choice…
A wedding planner could be of great help with your arrangements and provide you with a few local and professional contacts, saving you time and money in the long run.
At the end of last year Thomas had the pleasure of photographing Steven and Petroula’s wedding in Santorini. The couple included a holiday honeymoon in Santorini and around Europe, their close friends and family who attended the wedding, also had an absolute ball before and after the wedding. With approximately 40 guests, the reception was held at an intimate wedding venue called The Pantheon, which was overlooking the Caldera. Guests were conveniently transported there and back by bus giving them more time to relax and enjoy the nights event.
The couple had help organising their destination wedding through wedding planners Poema weddings based in Santorini and also had the chance to meet up with Thomas and the wedding planners Amalia and George a few days in advanced. Giving them the opportunity to see all the locations and take some photographs around Santorini before the wedding day.
If you have married abroad or are thinking of marrying abroad we would love to hear from you about your own experience or any tips you may have for others.
Hi Thomas,
We too have decided to marry overseas and after recently hosting or engagement party at Rottnest Island in Perth, I am honestly so happy to have made this decision. Our coordinators are Amalia & George of Poema weddings in Santorini & the whole planning process has been completely stress free & very affordable. With excellent recommendations from Amalia, I have chosen the bouquet flowers, music, hair & makeup artist, photographer (you!), ceremony location, accommodation, restaurant and Poema have made it all happen, all wilth Zero stress level. They also have assisted us with the paperwork which is a very easy process if marrying at Santorini. After choosing the above, I was sent a quote, less than a tenth of a ‘normal’ wedding.
Our ceremony in Santorini will be private, just my fiancée and I and then we are having our ‘reception’ a few weeks later in Sydney where we will have a photographer again to take family photos in the Royal Botanic Gardens whilst having champagne & canapés followed by dinner at a nearby Greek restaurant. Before announcing our plans to marry overseas, I chose to invite only my mum and dad and gave them the option to come overseas (immediate family only) or to have a big party in Sydney when we return – they chose to pitch in for a party in Sydney which we are more than happy with.
We are honeymooning at Bagus Place, a resort on Tioman Island, Malaysia. It is a small island in the south China Sea and we have booked it as a stopover with Singapore airlines so to break up the return journey & also because the island has some of the best scuba diving & snorkelling in the world.
My advice to couples that choose to marry overseas is that it is an excellent stress-free wedding alternative as long as you have a good coordinator. Don’t be afraid to tell your coordinator exactly what you want so go out & buy a few bridal mags for inspiration. Buy your dress before you travel & go shopping about 8 months prior. Most bridal boutiques need about 6 months to order a dress & you don’t want to miss out on ‘the one’.
Love Kelly