by Phyllis Cambria
While destination weddings can be desirable for a number of reasons, first consider these potential pitfalls.
Unless you can plan the event a year or more in advance to allow guests to save up to join you or request vacation time, you may find yourselves alone on your journey.
You also want to decide if you want to hold your wedding during peak season when room rates are high and accommodations are in short supply. On the other hand, you won't want to choose an outdoor spot that might be in the middle of their hurricane season or when they will likely have blizzards.
Since some destinations might have residence requirements that would make it disadvantageous or restrictive to get married there, be sure to check out all the legalities first.
There will be some additional costs besides airfare and accommodations to consider when deciding where to hold your wedding. Many remote or offshore locations require supplies and food to be shipped in. That makes your per person reception bills considerably more expensive than a local event.
Unless the sky's the limit and you plan to pick up the tab for all guests, you would be wise to select a location that will be affordable to the folks you most want to attend your wedding.
Another thing to consider is that if you have your heart set on a particular photographer, videographer, entertainers and others to accompany you to an unusual destination, that's going to cost your more too. Even if you hire someone from your wedding destination, there will be long distance phone calls, shipping and insurance charges for proofs, photos, videos, etc. that will affect your budget substantially.
While you and your fiancˇ may want to get married on a hillside you were climbing in the Australian Outback when you got engaged, don't expect too many guests to take the trek, especially your wheelchair-bound granny or your father with his high blood pressure.
You may need to re-think your wedding clothes as well. It's difficult to carry a weighty, beaded, hooped-skirt gown onto a plane, through customs and in taxis. Choose something that travels well or consider buying something at the site.
There are still destinations where the sanitary conditions might be questionable. Select your location carefully to ensure no one becomes ill from the local food sources.
If you don't look before your leap, your dream wedding could turn into a nightmare.
Phyllis Cambria is a nationally-recognized, award-winning party planning expert, event marketing expert, author and sought-after speaker. Her lively and useful seminars and her ingenious and easy-to-follow advice in books, magazines, newspapers and on TV, radio and websites have charmed and informed audiences everywhere.