Why a destination wedding?

I knew pretty much immediately I wanted to have a DW for several reasons.

1. I’ve always found them to be the most fun!


2. I am not a fan of large weddings; but I have a very large family. A DW is probably the only way I could get by with having a wedding without hundreds of guests and not seriously offending people.

3. Our VIP guests are spread out over several states and 2 countries, so no matter where we held the wedding people were going to have to travel. So we figured if people were going to spend their time and money traveling for our event, we might as well give them somewhere fun to travel (unlike the boring midwest where we live).

4. I knew I didn’t want kids at our wedding. The destination we chose is not conducive for children (or really any fun for anyone under 21), so it prevents us having to deal with the backlash of an “adult only” rule that so many couples have to contend with.


5. We have decided not to do a honeymoon right away. Instead, we want to do a large, long HM overseas on our 1 year anniversary. So having a DW allows us to have a built-in mini-moon right after the wedding

6. A DW allows us to relax more, extend the party and have more quality time with our guests! So much time, money, planning and work goes into an event that lasts just a few hours. I kept hearing from people that you plan and plan and plan.... then the day comes, you are running around like crazy, and then it's over in the blink of an eye. By having a DW, we are able to extend the festivities over several days and spend more quality time with our guests having fun, bar hopping, exploring local shops, restaurants and events, going on tours, enjoying the nightlife, etc.

(bonus points for not having to have an awkward receiving line or run around to guest tables during dinner to make sure you greet/thank everyone for attending, because you will have ample time spent with guests during the multiple days y'all are there together!)

View Quoted Comment Those are super great points!! I didn’t even consider the super spread out family having to travel anyway, so why not make it fun. My family is all very local with 2 or 3 exceptions, so I always felt like it would be asking a lot to have everyone travel for our wedding. So excited for you and i hope you have an awesome time!

I don't think I would have had one, but my sister definitely would have, if it had been allowed.

She married an English man and his parents are too unwell to travel, whereas mine are not, and having something overseas would have cut travel time for his parents from 28 hours to 2 or 3.

I think for people who live on the other side of the world from their family, or who have moved countries many times, it makes it more equitable to hold the event somewhere 'halfway' or mutually convenient for both sides.

It also might just... suit the look and feel they've always dreamed of for the day since you have access to types of architecture and so on that you really might not have in your own country. For example, living in Australia we're a bit short on super old buildings, on castles and mansions and chateaux and whatnot. If you want a big stately home, you're much better off getting married in the south of France, in the UK, or in Italy somewhere than in Australia!

And some people want a tropical beach wedding - which is super easy for us where we live, but it's not at all the vibe I want, so some people probably travel here specifically to have what I'd travel to their countries for!

We decided to have a DW. It was a lot of factors. One we didn’t have to invite those individuals that were parent invites or extra people who would be offended, this way it’s close family and friends. Second it is cheaper for us, we decided to do a simple wedding in Vegas and dinner after. Lastly less stress, with choosing Vegas, we decided on a place, then a package, booked flights and hotel, the rest is easy.

The main reason we chose a semi-destination wedding is because my fiance and I are from two different states, and we live 3-4 hours from either of our hometowns. So, at least half the guest list would have to travel, regardless of where we chose to get married. Neither of us wanted our wedding to be in the area we live in, and neither of us wanted to choose our hometowns. So, we picked our favorite area in the state we live in (which is a few hours from where we live), and everyone will need to travel.

We originally planned destination (rescheduled due to covid) simply because we didn’t want a lot of guests. We wanted an easy excuse to not invite extra people (family friends, etc.) Covid actually worked in our favor in that way… we had 10 people outdoor and called it a day.

My main reason was budget. I wanted a beautiful wedding but refused to pay 25-40k on a wedding here. A Caribbean DW is 10k-ish AND we all got a vacation out of it. Win win to me

We had a domestic destination wedding. My husband and I currently live outside of Washington, DC but are both originally from the Midwest and all of our friends/family are scattered across the country, When we started wedding planning, we realized that only a handful of people (ourselves included) would actually be local and not have to include things like hotel and airfare into coming to our "local" wedding. My husband found and fell in love with our venue in North Carolina and after our first visit I did as well. We figured if 85% of our guests would have to travel, we may as well hold our wedding in unique and interesting location. We also love this experience as when our anniversary comes up in a few months, we can take a weekend getaway to our wedding location.

We had a micro DW in our same state and then a local reception three months later. We really wanted to get married in Napa, CA, but it was expensive for us and guests so we had a local reception (Temecula, CA) for a bigger guest list.

I grew up spending summers on Cape Cod and always wanted to get married there. FH wasn’t super on board a when I first mentioned it years ago, but once he spent time there he fell in love too. All of my family is in one state and FH’s family is in the state we currently live, so we figured that half the people will have to travel regardless, so might as well have them all travel to a place that we love! It’s a 3-6 hour drive for everyone, so it’s far enough that people aren’t giving us crap for being selective with our invites.

Our wedding will be at the beach I grew up going to and where my family beach house is. We chose this to 1. Cut down the number of people attending and 2. Because my grandfather passed away a few years ago and st. Simons was his and my special place.