Considering a Destination Wedding

I was recently asked by a young bride-to-be about the advantages of a destination wedding over a traditional wedding. This is a hard question because it is ultimately a very personal decision.

Here are a few key reasons to have a destination wedding:

1) You Actually Spend Time With Your Guests - At a destination wedding, your guests typically stay a day or two, so there is more opportunity to interact and spend time with them compared to a standard 5-hour hometown church wedding. And because of costs, you will typically have fewer guests. We understand work and family pressures to invite certain people for "political reasons." But if your company or your family isn't picking up the cost of the wedding, they really don't get a say.

2) Cost - Destination weddings are not as expensive as you might think. In fact, most destination weddings are considerably less expensive than traditional weddings (assuming you are not paying for travel for your entire guest list).

3) Every Wedding Requires Travel Now - When was the last time you went to a wedding and nobody had to travel? For us, our wedding party and immediate family spanned four time zones. No matter where we held our wedding, over half the attendees would have to travel somewhere. So why not have everyone travel somewhere fun? The location for your wedding shouldn't just be where it's convenient, it should be just where you want to get married.

4) You Like To Travel - If you are a person that wants to see the world and travel, why not make it a part of your wedding? It's a natural fit.

5) It Minimizes Tensions - Once you've made the big decision to have a destination wedding, everything else is easy. There's less to fight about with fiancé or parents or future in-laws. Really. I promise.

So, my recommendation to everyone is to have a destination wedding. Just do it. Go anywhere – the U.S. or abroad. Just go. And be prepared to have the most amazing day of your life.

Jamaican Destination Weddings

I always encourage young couples to go and visit the country and sites in advance. If you’re considering a destination wedding or a wedding in Jamaica, there’s an upcoming opportunity that you might want to consider. Online “experience seller” Rue La La is offering an upcoming package to Jamaica to stay at Half Moon in Rose Hall, Jamaica. I’ve seen this property several years ago and it is beautiful. This could also be used as a “home base” to look at other properties in Jamaica and make your selection.

If you are a member of Rue La La, the experience goes on sale on Wednesday, January 5th at 11:00am ET. If you’re not a member of Rue La La or are considering another country, now is the time when Spring deals go on sale, so start searching for deals so you can do a site visit.