Today, I am going to do a different kind of a post and go back in time a little bit. I haven’t shared much about our wedding day since we got married before I started this blog. For those who may not know, Alex and I got married out in Napa Valley on October 10, 2014.
The Background: At the time, Alex and I were living in Madison, Wisconsin, but we knew we didn’t want to get married in Wisconsin. I am from Omaha, Nebraska and Alex is from Shoreview, Minnesota. Neither one of us was too thrilled about getting married in our hometowns, either. We knew we wanted a smaller wedding, so we ended up doing a destination wedding out in Napa. We chose Napa because it was one of our favorite places we had traveled to together, and we knew the weather would be perfect almost anytime of year. It really was the perfect day, and I couldn’t have imagined getting married anywhere else!
Since then, I have thought a lot about our wedding and how easy it all was. We only had an 8 month engagement, and we had more than enough time to do everything we needed to do. Having a destination wedding was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I wanted to share with you why it can work so well.
- You get to have a smaller wedding.
- When you have a destination wedding, your guest list is going to be much smaller because several people won’t/can’t travel to your destination. Also, you don’t have to invite people you would otherwise have to invite if you had it in your hometown.
- You will save tons of money and you will actually get to talk to your guests at the reception. You also won’t be stuck inviting extended family members like second cousins or a great aunt twice removed. I think it can be awkward when you see people at your wedding that you haven’t spoken to or seen since birth.
- It’s a vacation for your guests.
- Your wedding can be an opportunity for your family and friends to travel somewhere they may not have otherwise gone. Anytime we have been invited to a destination wedding, we have always said YES because we love traveling to new places. We were able to go to Guatemala for a wedding several years ago, and it was so much fun. Not only did we get to experience a beautiful wedding, but we also got to see an entirely new country and culture!
- Think of it this way: Most people have to travel to your wedding anyways, so why not make it somewhere fun? Don’t feel like you have to get married in your hometown because of tradition!
- There are unique photography opportunities.
- I know that your wedding day shouldn’t just be about the pictures, but when you have a destination wedding, you get the opportunity to do some unique things from a photography standpoint. Instead of taking the typical church pictures, you can branch out and get fun photos that no one else will have. I loved taking pictures on our wedding day, and we had a great time exploring the vineyard while taking photos.
- Obviously, a good photographer can get great photos at any wedding regardless of where it is, so this shouldn’t be the main reason to have a destination wedding. I would just ask yourself what kind of backdrop you envision on your wedding day, and that might help guide you to a location.
- You can spend more time with family and friends.
- When you have a destination wedding, you typically get to spend way more time with family and friends. Your guests may arrive several days prior to the wedding, so you can use this as an opportunity to visit with them prior to the festivities.
- You will be so busy on your wedding day, and it can be really difficult to talk to every guest. When you have a destination wedding, you have a better chance at seeing every guest over the course of a few days.
- For our wedding out in Napa, we went wine tasting with some of our bridal party the following day! It was great to spend more time with everyone and thank them for traveling to California for our special day. It made me feel good knowing that I was able to have a conversation with each and every guest.
- You have limited choices (and possibly a package deal).
- In terms of choosing my vendors, I had limited choices. Some may see this as a bad thing, but I thought it was a blessing. Instead of searching through a list of hundreds of caterers, I had to choose from a list of three. Same goes for the florist, the baker, etc. It was so nice not to be bombarded and overwhelmed with decisions like that.
- Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of say in my wedding! I still had to decide on the smaller details, but it was super helpful to have the big choices simplified.
- You’ll save money.
- I might have mentioned this already, but you will most likely save money if you have a destination wedding. A huge portion of the expense of a wedding is in the food and alcohol budget. That dollar amount fluctuates greatly depending on the number of people at your wedding. Even if it’s just $50 per plate, you are looking at $10,000 vs. $3,750 for a 200 person vs. 75 person wedding. That’s over $6,000 saved that you could use towards your honeymoon (or a down payment)!
I am sure there are plenty of people who will disagree with me on this topic, but I felt the need to express my opinion after going through a destination wedding myself. If you are on the fence about whether or not to do a destination wedding, I would encourage you to do so. It isn’t as scary as some people make it seem, and again, it can be so much easier!
Also, I just wanted to say that I am by no means putting down people who have a huge wedding in their hometown. All of us are different people and that’s what makes life grand. I have been to several weddings with 300+ people, and it has always a great time.
I want to end with one final thought: At the end of day, it isn’t about the wedding. It is about the marriage and the two people coming together as one. So, regardless of location or anything else, always remember that! Your marriage comes first.
Photo Credit: Wyn Wiley Photography
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