Will a destination wedding save costs?

DW saves the bride and groom money but transfers most costs to the guest IMO. A lot of places have if you book a certain amount of people your wedding is reduced or free

That's what we did.

I'm doing a Welcome Party, Ceremony and Reception, and Recovery Beach Party over a weekend in July in Greece, and it's less than my budget of $40,000. We have 175 guests coming.

If I would have done it in Cleveland, Ohio (where we live), I would have spent at least $40,000 on 300 people (because naturally, more locals can come here than go to Greece), and it would have only been for one day.

I'm glad I chose to do it in Greece (where I'm from). I recommend destination weddings, if you can organize it effectively.

It is however, more expensive on the guest, but they can also view it as an extended vacation - which is what my guests are doing.

I am living in Costa Rica now and there are many Americans who come here for destination weddings. If you are planning a wedding with approx. 30 guests, I am certain that you can cut back the budget by at least half. If you are interested you may want to contact a wedding planner in the destination country (http://www.eventscr.com/) this one in San Jose Costa Rica and might give you some ideas!

I am planning a wedding here in Costa Rica with about 90 people and we are estimating a budget of approx. 10000$ They have many great locations! Of course it depends on how luxurious you would like everything to be but I think it is worth researching!

You save money by making your guests pay more.

I'm personally not having a DW, but I understand why some couples do have them.

From what I've heard from friends that had one or were part of one, it definitely transfers most of the cost to the guest. However, if it's really what you want, the important people in your life will make it there (even if it's just for a day or two and not the entire week/weekend).

My MOH just got engaged and is looking at Aruba for a DW around the same time as you. Sounds like for 25-30 people, she would be able to host is for under $10K including her own travel and expenses. As @Peaches84 referenced, a lot of resorts will give you a discount or even provide free accommodations for your stay or to return for a 1 year anniversary. There are definitely perks!

I would definitely expect a high decline rate, but I'm sure regardless of who does or does not attend, it will be a perfect day!

The wedding package itself is cheaper. How they get you is with all of the necessary extras. You want a DJ? They will charge $460 an hour, that doesn’t include the $400 fee for adding a MC. Lighting is super expensive, they wanted $700 for strong lights hung outside. Uplighting is $60/light. Photographer is $2,500 for 2 hours. Videographer is $1,500 for ceremony only. That’s how it becomes very expensive. If you want to use a vendor outside the preferred vendor list, there’s is a fee of at least $500. If a guest wants to stay off property and attend the wedding at your resort there is a $150 limited day pas (30 mins before the wedding and must leave immediately afterwards). So, yes it’s cheaper for the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception package, but it’ll add up to a lot more with all of the extras. Even if you DIY they typically charge a set up fee. We are still doing a DW, but we are having a very small wedding and all of our close friends/family (VIPs) are able to make it and we’re on board. Everyone would have to travel to our wedding anyway since we live in Fl and or families are from NY and Ohio. All of our friends except for 2 couples would have had to flown and hotel accommodations as well.

I wouldn’t be comfortable having my guests shell out money to go to a DW. But to each their own. I personally think if you were to scale back your guest list you could have a significantly cheaper wedding. Maybe find a cabin or somewhere not “in town” but maybe 2 hours away? And then invite a smaller number of guests. Say 50

For what it's worth, you could always just invite those 30ish of your closest friends/family to your local wedding and save even more money. I feel like if you are comfortable with tons of declines and the smaller guest list that comes with a DW then you should be able to honestly scale back your guest list have the true "must haves" at any given location. We did not have a DW, but we were upfront that we were having a small intimate wedding, and people (for the most part) understood.

That's not to say I'm against a DW, I'm secretly hopefully my SIL chooses to have a DW when she gets engaged because we have to travel anyway and it would be a blast to make a trip of it with all of their family. I just don't think it has to be one or the other, you can reduce your guest list whether it's a DW or local.

No. I had a DW and I was not paying for peoples hotel.airfare/food/excursions basically anything outside the actual day of wedding and it cost more for a 10 person destination wedding than it cost for my sister's 75 person local wedding. I also didnt blow my entire budget on my dress or something like that.

Oh and thats not including honeymoon costs, our hotel or our airfare to get to the wedding either.

We chose to have a destination wedding in Las Vegas and I don’t think it’s much cheaper than if we were having a wedding in our home state. We are spending about $9,000 all in and 30 people are coming. I think we could have had a modest wedding here for $15,000. We aren’t paying flights/hotel for our guests but covering almost everything else including casual dinner/Party Bus tour the night before, ceremony/insuite reception (and transportation between the two) and cabana pool day the day after the wedding. We only invited immediate family and super close friends with the intention of having a really fun time with those closest to us celebrating, rather than a big party with distant relatives we rarely speak to.

Another option could be to host your wedding on a cruise ship. A friend of mine did that and she ended up spending less than $10,000 for about 150 people. The only negative is it requires guests to commit a whole weekend (Thursday through Sunday) in order to attend your event, but they'll have the cruise to experience before and after your wedding.

I am also in the Philadelphia area and we are doing a DW for the exact same reason you are saying. I refused to spend $35k for an event that was only going to last a few hours. Instead we are doing a 4 days cruise from Miami to Key West and Cozumel and are getting married in port in Key West and then having a brunch before we get back on the ship. I personally am saving SOOO much money! FH and I are still planning on taking a pretty extensive honeymoon a few months after because traveling and experiencing the world is a big priority for us and I am not including that in my wedding cost. I am also not really considering any of the travel expenses, the cruise itself, hotels, flights, excursions etc. for the wedding because ultimately those costs are attributed to going on a cruise but even if I was I am still saving more than half! Yes, the guest costs are higher than if they would attend my wedding in Philadelphia but the people that are attending are super excited and I can't wait to have a vacation with my whole family when I know I wouldn't ever have this experience any other time.

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Do you have a planner?

I am worried about planning a destination wedding in europe, when i dont speak the language, we have a budget of about 40000 as well for 150-180 people

Yes and no. I have just about finished planning my destination wedding in mexico at an all inclusive resort. The main thing is to find out absolutely every aspect that is INCLUDED in the price of the wedding package.

For example, my package included my bouquet and my fiances corsage.

But if we want different chairs then they offer it's $7 per chair for 38 people.

A cake is included but if we have over 20 people we need a bigger cake so that's $5 extra per person over 20.

Decor is extra- flowers, Chinese lanterns or string lights. The DJ is an extra $800.

Overall our destination wedding will probably be between $15k-20k for 7 days, which we are stoked about because if we were to do a wedding at home it would be $30-50k for 6 hrs.

View Quoted Comment Yes, I hired a local planner for 1700 euros (so roughly 2000 US dollars). Even though I speak Greek, I needed her to be there to negotiate with vendors, view the venues, decorate the area, etc., totally worth the investment. She’s a life saver and fluent in English too! Where are you thinking of doing it in Europe?

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Thanks for responding

I am looking at Tuscany in Italy, or bordeaux in France, I dont speak a word of italian, so i really think i need a planner to help with selecting a destination. but i have no idea how to find a planner.

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I absolutely agree that while a couple planning a DW might be saving money, what they are really doing is shifting a good portion of the cost of THEIR wedding onto THEIR guests -- and, personally, I think that's kind of rude. I completely agree with PP that if a couple is good with having 30 people show up for their DW, why not just plan a local wedding for 30 people who are then NOT going to have to spend thousands of dollars and vacation time to attend their DW? The logic of this just doesn't make any sense to me. At the very least, if you go with a DW, be very gracious about those who decline -- no guilt trips, no hurt feelings -- you made the choice, accept the consequences. I think if someone wants a DW, they should be fully prepared for it to be a destination elopement. (Sorry, this is a hot button for me. We had a relative plan a wedding 3000 miles from 75% of her guest list [who all live in the same location], during a very inconvenient time of year, and then both she and her mother threw a fit when people couldn't/didn't want to go. I spent $2500, and more than 24 travel hours during a four day weekend -- which required me to take time off work [something that is not easy in my profession]. If it hadn't been for a HUGE guilt trip, I would have declined. Please think about your guests when you plan "your perfect wedding" -- if you want them to attend.) Sorry...just one guest's opinion.

I could host 75+ guests locally for the $20k it is costing me to host as a DW for 30 in Key West. I would be much more cost effective if we were to stay local, but it is more important for us travel. Granted, the packages that are out of the continental US I think are where you really could get the inclusive packages and save you money.

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This is very, very true.

I have declined the ones I have been invited too because it just wasn't worth it. Outside of a BFF or close family member like my sister, I wouldn't attend as my fiance doesn't have a ton of leave, and I like to travel so we save his leave for special trips.

That said, if I were to attend, I want the red carpet rolled out for me, similar to the poster above having her nuptials in Greece. I want at least three days of events to attend, a pre wedding full meal, not just drinks. A lovely wedding reception meal, I would definitely expect a lobster or shrimp dish if I were in the Carribbean. And then the next day maybe cabanas by the pool and a booze cruise. Yes, this sounds entitled, but it is asking a lot of guests to make this effort. I too thought we would go this route, but after being invited to a few I realized how I truly felt about them.

I also think if I don't have to get on a plane, I would be way more likely to attend. I technically went to one in the Outer Banks, about a 5hr drive, lovely couple who are great friends, and had a blast. But I grew up close and worked in a trip to see my family. So a little different.