Can you envision it exchanging your vows barefoot on the beach of Antigua or St. Lucia in the Caribbean. Or your first dance by moonlight on the private island of the Grenadines “Palm Island”.  Even your first official kiss as husband and wife miles away from home, to many engaged couples that sounds perfect!!

Now please listen to the Romance Diva as much as I would love to sell you a destination wedding package, allow me to say that Destination Weddings are not for everybody.  

Therefore before you commit to a long distance wedding event especially if you are a meticulous and detailed-oriented person here are a few main things you need to take into consideration: 

(a) You will not have full control of some of the details of your event you will need to have confidence in your planner;
(b) Your menu for example you can’t taste the entrée twice a week every two months or (c) Harassing the florist to provide you with 5 different centerpieces or floral arrangements samples because you can’t make up your mind on which will work best for your event.  Maybe a long distance wedding event is not for you…….

However if you have made up your mind and you are ready to run with the idea then here are a few tips to consider when establishing a Destination Wedding Event budget.  

a)     Include transportation to and from your event location
b)     Do visit your wedding destination site prior to your event
c)      Hotel accommodation and expenses for any vendors that might travel with you (photographer, officiant, musicians)
d)     Also hotel accommodation for any of your guest who would like to travel but can’t afford it.

Once you have the confidence that you have a budget you can work with, start sending out save-the-date cards.  If your guest needs to book flights and accommodation, you need to give them advance notice to arrange their schedules and maybe make use of those frequent flyer miles they have been saving.  

This is the Romance Diva saying Happy Planning