Planning a wedding abroad is exciting and new, but it doesn’t come without its complications. Here are some things you should think about before you decide on your venue abroad.
Accessibility
The main thing that you should be worried about when planning your abroad wedding is how people are going to get there. Do you want to make sure your friends and family can attend your wedding? Then it needs to be somewhere they can reach. Can they afford tickets? Is it within driving distance? For example, if you’re going to be looking at Italy wedding venues, it either needs to be affordable for your guests, or you’re going to need to pay for their transportation. It’s not a cheap vacation for them to get there, and while it might be your special day – if they can’t afford it, they can’t afford it!
It’s also worth considering how accessible the location is going to be for your older guests. More intense weather conditions might not be a problem for you, but a serious heatwave can be particularly difficult for older guests and children. Take the time to read what the weather is like during the season you’ve got your event planned and make sure your guests are going to be happy when attending.
An abroad wedding planner
If you’re planning a wedding abroad, then a wedding planner local to your venue is ideal for you. You want someone who has experience and connections in that area, not just someone who’s planned weddings before with no connections. It will be much easier for you to get in touch with a wedding planner nearer to the location and get the ball rolling that way. It might seem more complicated because you’re not going to be there until the wedding, but that comes with the venue!
Take the time to visit
One of the tricky things about planning your wedding abroad is that it’s hard to visit the venues before your event. The problem is, you really should visit these venues, so you should make sure you’ve got the extra time and cash to make a short vacation out there, giving yourself chance to see the venues for yourself. While they might look great in the pictures, they might not be exactly what you’re picturing them to be. Places change, and the pictures might not be fully up to date.
It would be a shame for your wedding day to come around, only for you to find that you don’t enjoy the venue as much as you thought you did!
Give your guests plenty of time
Planning a wedding abroad not only makes it difficult for guests to get there, but you need to consider how easy it is for them to get time off of work. The more time you can give them in advance, the more likely it is going to be for them to find that time. They might already have plans with their time off, and if you don’t want them in time, they might not be able to get any more time away from work. Again, while it is your special day, it won’t be worth them losing their job over it!