According to The Wedding Report, the average cost of a wedding nationwide is $29,000. While wedding couples can spend a few thousand dollars on a “do it yourself” wedding in a small hall, such as a VFW, with catered food, the majority of weddings cost well over $20,000.
Add your honeymoon onto that – the average price of a honeymoon in 2009 (before airfare pricing started to spike) was $3700, according to About.com. Put them together and you could have a great down payment on a house!
A Destination Wedding can be a cost effective solution, providing you with a wedding and honeymoon for sometimes little more than the cost of a honeymoon only.
How is that? Many resorts specializing in Destinations Weddings offer free or low cost weddings based on the room category, number of days booked and sometimes the number of rooms booked by your guests. Some offer free upgrades based on this criteria also.
BUT – there are pro’s and con’s to a Destination Wedding. We’ll detail both for you, so you can determine if this type of wedding might meet your needs.
PROS
- Less expensive – you can save $15,000 and up vs. a traditional wedding
- More intimate – since only your closest family and friends usually attend, you’ll be able to enjoy your guests more with less stress.
- Easier planning – you will work with the resort wedding planner via e-mail to plan your wedding details – we do the rest for you.
- Less stress - since the bridal couple usually needs to be at the resort several days before the wedding to finalize plans, you’ll be able to wake up in a beautiful setting on your wedding day, dress and walk (or take a golf cart) to your wedding.
- It’s different! Not many bridal couples will be having their wedding in paradise, away from the hustle and bustle of every day life. It will be a memorable occasion for you and your guests – a once in a lifetime experience.
- No need to get up early after the wedding to get to the airport for your honeymoon flights – you are already there.
- A Certified Destination Wedding and Honeymoon planner can handle all details of your wedding planning, from resort recommendations to special requests.
CONS
- Sometimes causes family friction
- It is expensive for guests to attend – only your closest friends and family will attend. Take the number of people who say “Wow, great idea, I’ll be there” and cut it by two thirds – in our experience, that is how many actually book once it comes time to making deposits.
- Guests that do attend usually give smaller gifts - due to the added cost of attending.
- Resort choice may be limited- If children will be invited, you are limited to family friendly resorts, rather than adult only resorts
At Promal Vacations, we are certified Destination Wedding and Honeymoon planners and can help you plan an unforgettable wedding and honeymoon. When you book your destination wedding with us, we provide you with a private website for your guests to read about your resort and all your wedding information. In addition, we can set up a Honeymoon Registry. Then your guests can guests can purchase gifts for your wedding or honeymoon if they desire.
Stay tuned to our blog – a future entry will have more Destination Wedding information.
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