Out of State Planning

We’re planning our wedding across the state (Texas, so we may as well be in a different state, we’re 9 hours away haha). Prior to our wedding I will have only gone home a total of 4 times from engagement to wedding. I’m not sure if you have people where you will be getting married, but that has been my best bet. My parents have been able to step in and visit places or meet with people when FH and I could not. I also recommend being flexible with how you book vendors. I did a lot of emailing and phone calling in order to get some things set.

We are considering an out of state wedding as well! I imagine the frequency that you would need to travel would vary depending on how familiar you are with the geographic area and he facilities. I would plan to travel at least twice; once to tour the venue and once for a final planning meeting before the wedding. I would also plan to arrive to the destination a day or two before the wedding to ensure that all of your resources are properly prepared. I hope that you find planning straightforward and uncomplicated. Best of luck!

I live in Kansas, getting married in Florida. All of my fiancee's family is from Panama City (which is where our wedding will take place), so they're doing a majority of it to help us out. It's a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. We won't be there in person until the week before our wedding. If there are folks at your destination that can help you, I'd highly encourage you to reach out to them =]

I live in California and am getting married in Louisiana. I went once last summer to scope venues while on our annual visit. I won't be back until a week before the wedding so we can do final walk throughs, last minute prep, and get our marriage license. I have done all my planning with vendors via phone/email.

View Quoted Comment Lucky most of our family and friends are in Ohio where we're getting married so I'm glad to hear that method is working. Thank you!

View Quoted Comment I've already started looking at venues here in Ohio. I think that's really gonna help me cut back on traveling. Thank you for the advice!

Living in Los Angeles, planning in CT. We have done everything site unseen, so far. We have hired a planner, however.

I generally fly back east at least 6 times a year, and plan to do whatever wedding stuff needs to get done (that the planner hasn’t) then.

Our DW was in state but 8+ hours away. We did a vaca there the year before our wedding to venue shop over a few days. We did all our planning by e-mail and phone (the venue even sent us floor plans so we could design our DIY decor). We visited vendor websites and read the reviews here before we booked--every one was fantastic! With one visit, a bunch of photos, you'll be fine.

I’m in Virginia and planning our wedding in Florida. I too have a lot of family in Florida who have help immensely with the planning. I’ve been don twice now for planning purposes, touring venues, cake tasting, and dress shopping. We’re going down a final time the beginning of June because our photographer requires us to have a get to know you session before the wedding. We will try to do our food tasting and final meeting with the venue then. It has been a little stressful, but all wedding planning is. The biggest help has been having family in the area who can run errands when they pop up.

Depends on how much you get done on each visit. Try to get as much done each time. I'm planning an out of state wedding and have only been back once (wedding in October). Do you have friends or family that live where the wedding will take place? They could help perhaps (my mom is doing the tasting for me)

I live in North Carolina and I’m planning my wedding in NY. We have gone there once so far and while there we did our engagement photos and saw the venue. The next time we will be there is in September. In that trip we will meet with the bakery, have our menu planning appt with the venue, go to the bridal shower and have my hair and makeup trial. The next time we go up will be for the wedding! And alll planning has been smooth so it can definitely be done!

We're in MN and getting married in CO. We got an elopement package through a planner so it's less to plan from the get go, but we've done everything by phone and email. The planner I hired has nothing but amazing reviews and she has a close network of vendors that she works with consistently. Obviously idk how it all turned out yet (we'll know in 95 days!) but so far so good!

FH and I live in NJ, we're getting married in Tacoma, WA (where I grew up). I flew out in January to look at venues, FH and I flew out in March to choose a caterer, meet with our officiant, and book a photographer, and I'll be flying out again in September to meet with my DOC at the venue and take care of other items. My family in WA has been helpful in communicating with a couple of the vendors (Dad is paying for venue and catering, so he's their main point of contact, anyway).

We are getting married out of state. We are getting there a couple days before the wedding and that's it. It's an all inclusive place though so we don't have to worry about decorating or anything like that.

I’m also having an out of state wedding and we are going up there one time before the wedding. We are getting married August 25th so we are going up June 15th and we will be doing our taste test to figure out the menu, meeting with our officiant, DJ, and bakery to figure out the cake, and I will be having my hair and makeup trial. It will be a busy weekend but I’m not going up there multiple times to meet with different people. Most vendors should be very accommodating that you are out of state