A destination wedding is a wonderful occasion for you to holiday,celebrate and even honeymoon with your family and friends.However it can be expensive for guests in terms of both money & time as you are asking them to fork out cash and sacrifice vacation days to attend your wedding.To ease the burden for your guests our BLOG today offers some hints on “How To Make Destination Wedding Less Expensive For Your Guests”.
Date For Your Wedding
When choosing your wedding date while the height of the peek season /summer may really appeal remember it will be the most expensive time for your guests to travel. So for a destination wedding you might like to consider off peek /shoulder season. Although in Ireland as we have quite a mild climate with few extremes you could almost choose any month in the year !
Do give your guests good notice of your destination wedding date, if feasible send the STD out one year prior and invitations 3 – 6 months prior.
Location
By its very nature a destination wedding involves travel whether by air /sea/ land! Ensure where ever your destination wedding is taking place that the location is easy for your guests to access. If they need to fly a frequent number of flights to /from is essential while daily flights would be the optimum.
Dress Code
Remember when choosing your dress code guests garments have to travel too! While blacktie /formal is beautiful for a luxury Irish Castle wedding ensure the guys can hire tuxedos locally and the ladies can have their dresses steamed /pressed as required.While the hot summer heat of other locations may call more for semi formal /smart casual attire particularly if the wedding is on a beach!
Accommodation Options
The ideal scenario is that all of your guests can stay on site at the wedding reception hotel. However this is not always feasible due to the number of rooms available and the price of accommodation at your wedding venue. If the venue rooms are going to be little pricey for some guests ensure there is a more affordable option available locally or you may decide to supplement rooms for some or all guests at the wedding venue.
Travel
If there are flights /boat travel required it could be advisable to engage a travel agent who can also assist guests with their pre /post wedding vacation. Most airlines including Aer Lingus, Delta and America who offer daily flights in /out of Ireland have group rates based on just 10 people.
Transport
Your guests have traveled 1000’s miles to attend your wedding so if budget permits having airport transfers available is a lovely welcome to your celebrations! To reduce cost group the arrivals together no one will mind waiting an hour /two for a free ride!
While some of your guests may hire cars many may not or even those that do they would feel more comfortable not having to drive on the wedding day as driving in a strange land & maybe on the other side of the road is no easy fate. Consider laying on buses to take guests to/from the various pre wedding events and of course on the wedding day. Having the ceremony & reception in one location can of course eliminate wedding transfers particularly if all guests are staying at the wedding venue.
Pre & Post Wedding Events
Hosting pre wedding activities such as a welcome party & rehearsal dinner for your guests is great way to kick start the celebrations but also helps them feel very welcome. Your guests don’t have to worry about entertaining themselves and by adding some food you will save them some cash too! While a post wedding BBQ or brunch is a lovely informal way to close the celebrations and very relaxing for you the couple the day after.
Gifts
It can cost your guests upwards of €/$1500 to attend your destination wedding. This could perhaps be considered the gift also for those that travel. If you do decide to have a registry ensure to have options for all budgets!
Wedding Website
As well as saving your clients cash saving them time and stress trying to get to your wedding etc is important. Your wedding website is the ideal medium to provide guests with all the information they require for your wedding from flights to wedding day itinerary to RSVP. And of course discounted travel, rate options for accommodation, car hire details, airport transfers and special offers for day trips/activities if you have found some worth sharing with your guests.
The Bar On The Wedding Day
While the open bar may not be standard in the Destination Wedding location such as Ireland your American guests may expect an open bar at your wedding and may even attend without cash and not budgeted for this spend! So if deciding to have a cash bar it is wise to get the word out there so no one is embarrassed on the day. It is of course acceptable to restrict what you serve to beer & wine or add spirits /liquer but no top shelf.
Contact Michelle now to start planning your beautiful destination wedding in Ireland
planning@westcoastweddingsireland.com
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