As a destination wedding planner with over a decade of experience planning celebrations in Europe, I often hear the belief that a destination wedding costs lower than a UK or US based wedding. I need to properly address the query ‘how much do destination weddings cost?’ by talking you thru 7 aspects that ultimately resolve the consequence, allowing you to take these into consideration when selecting whether or to not have an overseas wedding.
How much do destination weddings cost? Which aspects affect the price essentially the most?
If the only objective of the will to get married abroad is to have a less expensive wedding, I need to start out by saying that is just not necessarily going to be the case. It is very depending on the choices you make along the way in which, and I’ve identified 7 aspects that sometimes make destination weddings more or inexpensive than those in your own home country. These are:
- The scale of your guest list
- Fluctuations in currency
- Your chosen country
- Styling and florals
- Number of events involved
- Suppliers chosen
- Miscellaneous items
One thing price noting at this point is that working with a very good destination wedding planner is just not a one-way ticket to money-saving on your wedding, nevertheless it is the most effective approach to make sure you maximise your budget – whatever that could be. Without further ado, let’s begin to reply the query of how much destination weddings cost.
Smaller Guest Lists = A Destination Wedding Is Cheaper Than At Home?
Considered one of the primary explanation why a destination wedding might be cheaper than within the UK or US is that your variety of guests will often find yourself being smaller. Even when you invite the very same guest list that you simply would invite to a marriage at home, you possibly can expect the next rate of attrition when overseas travel is involved.
Typically we advise that for a marriage at home within the UK or US you possibly can expect around 10% of your invited guests to drop out, assuming that everyone is comparatively local to you. Once we take a UK couple and their guests over to Europe for a marriage, we typically see a dropout rate of more like 20-30%. Working with US based couples who’re asking their guests to fly transatlantically for a destination wedding in Europe, we may even see much more guests declining or dropping out.
While this may increasingly sound like a negative thing on the face of it, some couples actually find this to be an enormous positive. The result’s a more intimate wedding, generally losing only those on the periphery of your life, and also you’ll find yourself surrounded by your nearest and dearest and all those that are prepared to make that commitment to being there.
So, does this mean a destination wedding is cheaper? In some cases yes, although we still have 6 more elements to bring into play.
How much do destination weddings cost? The query of currency.
Something we at all times have to contemplate when excited about how much destination weddings cost is the fluctuation of currencies. Back after we first began planning destination weddings, the exchange rate between the Pound and the Euro was around 1.3 – meaning you were getting quite a lot of Euros on your Kilos, which really helped to stretch budgets further.
Since then we now have been through periods where the exchange rate was almost 1.1, making it comparatively costlier than before to get married in Europe. Nowadays we’re around 1.17, somewhere between the 2.
Bear this in mind when considering a destination wedding, and take a look at the strength of your personal currency relative to that of your chosen country’s before going ahead.
Are destination weddings in Italy cheaper than within the UK? Select your country correctly!
The difficulty with blanket statements like ‘destination weddings are cheaper’ or questions corresponding to ‘how much does a destination wedding cost?’ is that it really varies depending on which country you select. In some countries you possibly can get more for a similar budget, and this really does change through the years.
We’ve been planning weddings in Italy for a few years, and popular Tuscany has turn into notably costlier. Tourist destinations corresponding to Lake Como or the Amalfi Coast also include the next price tag, so when you’re your destination wedding from the attitude of saving some money, it’s worthwhile to look rigorously at where you’re going to marry.
Over the past yr or two we’ve noticed that Portugal may be very much on the rise for destination weddings, and you sometimes get more on your money there. Other less popular (but very beautiful!) locations corresponding to Malta, for instance, are going to be more economical.
In case you are flexible regarding which country you get married in, it’s possible you’ll find you’re in a position to stretch your budget further. Be prepared to take your wedding planner’s advice and keep an open mind, and be assured that working with professionals means you possibly can have an incredible, memorable wedding experience almost anywhere.
For Italy-specific advice, take a take a look at our blog: The Reality of Planning a Wedding in Italy from the UK
Coming soon – planning a marriage in Italy from the US!
Styling and Florals
When considering your budget for planning your destination wedding, the venue you select will partially dictate how much it’s worthwhile to moreover budget for styling, decor and floral design. For instance, if we take you to a naturally beautiful location in Italy or Majorca, say, with stunning surrounding views and well-maintained historic interiors, we won’t must spend as much on styling. In this fashion, a destination wedding might be reduced in cost in comparison to 1 within the UK or US.
When excited about how much destination weddings cost, it could be that your floral and styling budget might be lower than when you were to get married in, for instance, a London ballroom. At venues like this at home, your big ‘wow’ factor often comes out of your florals – lots of your guests could have seen that space before and it could present as a blank canvas, due to this fact making it special requires creating beauty and magic using styling and decor.
Keeping this in mind when viewing venues is one big factor ultimately affecting the price of a destination wedding.
How much do destination weddings cost? Additional events
In case you are having a marriage at home, you’re typically only planning someday of events – your wedding day. Quite the opposite, most of our destination wedding couples host their guests for greater than just someday, sometimes three or 4! We at all times recommend hosting your guests for at the very least a welcome event, since they’ve invested time, effort and money into joining you overseas on your wedding.
Naturally, any savings it’s possible you’ll make by not going overboard in your florals can quickly be compensated for by the undeniable fact that you’re hosting multiple events. When excited about how much destination weddings cost, remember to account for the undeniable fact that it isn’t just ‘a marriage’.
We all know a thing or two about improbable welcome events at destination weddings – read our guide to Throwing a Wedding Welcome Party in Style.
Using local suppliers to diminish the price of a destination wedding
The query of whether to make use of local suppliers or fly them in from overseas is age-old, and there are 3 aspects we consider when making this selection:
- Cost
- Environmental issues
- Authenticity
Hiring your suppliers locally in your destination country is of course more economical, environmentally friendly and authentic than flying in vendors from home, and also you’re also giving back to the local economy.
Nonetheless, there are particular instances and services that we struggle with on this aspect. Sometimes it’s harder to seek out a particular supplier in a particular country – it doesn’t at all times exist at the extent or standard that we require. example of that is after we are searching for entertainment for a Jewish wedding. We require a particular form of band that may handle your chuppah music and hora, in addition to entertainment and dancing sets throughout dinner – this just doesn’t exist in the identical way in Europe. On this instance, we normally find yourself flying in a band which naturally costs greater than even booking that very same band for a marriage at home as a result of all the additional expenses incurred.
One other service we sometimes fly in is hair and make up, because it is such a private selection. In case you aren’t comfortable together with your hair and makeup in your wedding day, it might really spoil the fun. This makes working with someone you realize or have experience with (in the shape of multiple trials) absolutely vital. We’re in a position to recommend fabulous hair and makeup artists local to your wedding venue abroad, and are in a position to have in-person trials on our planning visits. Nonetheless, sometimes they simply don’t feel best for you and it’s possible you’ll feel that you simply’d somewhat bring someone you might be in a position to have more touchpoints with from home.
In fact in these instances there are additional costs involved, including putting them up in a hotel and paying for his or her flights. When planning our couples’ destination weddings we actually only do that if obligatory, or if our couple feels strongly about working with certain suppliers. The long and in need of it’s that your suppliers could be a consider how much destination weddings cost, and also you shouldn’t assume that vendors might be cheaper in Europe – only that it’ll (normally) be costlier to rent vendors from home and have them fly over.
Miscellaneous items that could make a destination wedding costlier
Finally, I need to cover just a few other items that may affect how much a destination wedding costs – these aren’t ‘musts’, but most of our couples do resolve to incorporate them to make the entire guest experience more enjoyable.
At destination weddings we regularly need to supply transportation on your guests. It could be that guests are staying at several hotels in a really helpful area but your venue is more distant, and it isn’t possible to simply call an Uber or local taxi firm and expect that each one your guests will find a way to get to and out of your wedding that way. We often provide transportation in the shape of coaches, which must be built into your budget.
Other little elements corresponding to welcome bags or gifts can even increase the price of a destination wedding. Again, you don’t must do it, but quite a lot of our couples do wish to put together welcome bags for his or her guests. It serves as a bit gift to acknowledge the undeniable fact that your guests have gone above and beyond to hitch you at your wedding, and while we’re not talking about huge amounts of cash it does still must be factored in.
We wrote a handy guide to creating great welcome bags on your guests which you’ll be able to read HERE.
So, how much do destination weddings cost in comparison with UK or US celebrations?
You’ve probably noticed by now that the reply to ‘how much do destination weddings cost?’ is just not easy, and they often cost more and sometimes cost lower than their UK or US equivalents. The 7 aspects detailed here, together with the actual vendors in the actual area you select, will affect how far your budget goes.
When starting to work together with your destination wedding planner, they need to find a way to present you a sign of what you possibly can get on your budget and where – we at all times try to do that with our couples early on within the planning process. Remember to be open minded and know that your wedding planner has your best interests at heart, and that sometimes what you didn’t know you wanted can develop into much more beautiful and special than your original plan.
In case you’re planning a destination wedding, we’d love to listen to from you – contact us to start on making a magical experience within the destination of your dreams.
La Lista member.
