Couples who either travel in Greece to have their wedding or hire us to travel with them in their dream wedding location always say that a destination wedding might be relatively challenging but it’s the best decision they ever made for themselves. Planning a destination wedding is a bit different than saying “I do” at home. We gathered that knowledge and we’re sharing some tips on planning a destination wedding in Greece – and all over the world!
Search your Location
We advise the newly engaged couples who approach us to hire their planner first so they can help the couple find their ideal venue. However, when planning a destination wedding the couple has to choose their location first. With this in mind, we advise that the couple considers which location makes them feel the happiest – it truly comes down to choosing a location that sparks joy.
Consider your Guests
When you are newly engaged and planning a destination affair, it can feel overwhelming to narrow down your options and plan your wedding from home. We recommend choosing a place that’s meaningful to you, but also easy for your guests to travel to. If you are hosting an intimate wedding or elopement an afar greek island is perfect to say I do. However, if you’re inviting many people to the wedding you’d like to consider islands that have an airport to limit the time of traveling or the challenging traveling with ships in the high tourist season.
Plan for accommodations.
Choose a hotel as a venue instead of a private location—that way you and your guests will enjoy the weekend together and take advantage of the destination wedding. Also, set a budget for décor purposes—so the local vendor can have a better idea of what you’re hoping for and suggest the best options. A curated wedding theme is great, but keep your options open. Our biggest advice? Shop locally and take more advantage of the locally sourced items.
A destination wedding planner is your best friend
Planning a destination wedding can have many challenges and for us, the most crucial decision that you can make as a newly engaged couple is selecting your wedding planner. Make sure that when choosing your planner, you research their work, view their portfolio, speak with their former clients if possible and don’t be afraid to have an interview process. Look for ground knowledge and relationships with trusted, local vendors and suppliers. Planning a wedding should be exciting and fun. Don’t be afraid to ask your potential planner plenty of questions to ensure you find the perfect personality fit for you. More importantly – trust your gut feeling!
Focus on feeling homely
When choosing a destination wedding venue make sure that it is going to provide an excellent experience you and your guests are going to remember for years to come. Make sure the venue fits your personality and that a sense of place is woven into the wedding weekend.
Additional traveling is required
Don’t forget to account for “planning trips.” Even though Skype and zoom are our trusted allies we recommend you flying out at least once (ideally twice) to the destination location. Things like your catering tasting, and meeting any other pros in person are extremely important. Traveling to your destination ahead of time will save you so much stress in the planning process. Moreover, it will ensure that the team planning your event is totally on board with your vision and expectations.
A destination wedding is more than a wedding day.
People are going to invest their time and money to fly in and join you on your wedding day. You owe it to them to take really good care of them—not just at the wedding itself, but with your host-hotel selection, suggested activities and even contacts for things like airport transfers. You don’t have to pay for everyone to get from the airport to your hotel, but you should totally present them with the name and website of a reputable taxi company! Also, make sure you arrange fun activities for your wedding guests and provide them a detailed list of the things they could do and explore your wedding location of choice! Now’s the time to focus on experiences and give your guests the best time of their lives. This may seem obvious, but it’s thoughtful for couples to plan or suggest an activity for their guests. Opt for experiences that are meaningful and memorable to the location. Outside of welcome parties and rehearsal dinners, we recommend an adventure like sailing or horseback riding.
Let the location inspire you
We encourage all of our couples to think about how they can reflect the cities and places they’ve selected for their nuptials at every guest touchpoint. Greece provides endless inspiration for destination weddings. You could send something locally made, or gain inspiration from the venue to set the tone of what the guests will experience when they arrive.
Your Honeymoon should be about you two
Many guests will extend their trip if they have the time. This means that if you want to start your honeymoon in privacy right after the wedding, you’re better off moving to a different hotel. If you’re all hanging around the same resort for the next week, they’ll expect to see you and hang out with you, even if it’s your honeymoon. The wedding is the most important event, obviously, but we think it’s important to at least start talking about your honeymoon when you start destination wedding planning. Get on the same page about how long you can take off from work for both events, and how big of a trip you both want. Then you can factor that in as you’re making wedding decisions.
Are you excited about your destination wedding in Greece and looking for photographers to capture the experience? Contact us!
