Planning a Destination Wedding: What You Should Know

Planning a destination wedding will take you as far as your imagination can carry you. But, as romantic as it seems, there are some issues that you need to buckle down on for smooth sailing. Give yourself plenty of time to hash and re-hash your wedding plans to ensure it all comes together on time.

The first step is to choose your dream location. Whether foreign or domestic, if you must travel to your wedding destination, you will need some strict organizational skills to meet your deadlines and have success.

If you select a foreign country, be sure you have enough access to information for the wedding, accommodations and support services. Although you will have a local coordinator, you must be able to find internet resources to price compare and get a general picture in your mind of the wedding outcome. And remember that wedding services readily available in your home country, such as limousines, tuxedo rentals and flower stores, may be scant overseas, or in some cases, not available at all.

The easiest way to book a destination wedding is to contact a major hotel and start with the reception. They may be able to refer you to a local church for the ceremony or can build you a complete package from their hotel property. If you prefer a two-stop wedding and you plan to invite guests, you will need to ensure the transport of the wedding party to a secondary location for the reception. It's very important to clarify what means of transportation you are buying and get a clear plan of attack from the wedding coordinator. In addition, for the bride who wants her guests to remain together, you will need to book well in advance for a block of rooms when dealing with high-end tourists destinations such as Tahiti or the Caribbean.

One of the most important services for your destination wedding is hiring a qualified photographer. Depending on the cultural awareness of your host country, you may be better served by bringing your own photographer whom you have evaluated his or her work. Your photos are a permanent record of the biggest day of your life. So, be very sure if you want to cut costs and hire a local without a viable resume.

Once you've selected a location for the ceremony and reception, it's very important to stay on top of the proceedings. Your local coordinator is your "boots on the ground" for the finishing touches, and you will need to establish a good rapport to be kept abreast of the progress. Every bride wants her own fantasy wedding come to life, so your input is key to a pleasing result. Nothing's worse than handing over all the intimate details to a stranger for an un-welcomed surprise on your big day. The more information you have on the location, the more your creativity will come into play and you can remain in control of your ultimate destination wedding.