Wedding abroad....HELP!!

MooShop

Hi all,

Myself and my fiance just got engaged over the summer and now our attention is turning to choosing the perfect venue for our big day! We are 50/50 about a home/abroad wedding, w will be having a civil ceremony either way!

We've already found a handful of places we like a home and have set up viewings in the coming month or so. However, we'd also like to have some venue options for abroad to make a fully informed decision.

We spent some time in Italy this summer and loved it, and we've also holidayed in Portugal previously which we also loved! So, possibly they could be preferential destinations,though somewhere like Malta or somewhere we haven't been before could also work!

I guess the trouble we are having and the reason I'm writing this rambling post is that we don't have a clue where to look! I was hoping the good people on here that have been through it before could point me in the right direction.

Is the best way to find a wedding planner in an area we'd like to get married, or have people booked it all themselves? Is it just a matter of trawling through online websites to find a planner or are there wedding events in Ireland where these companies would showcase their packages? Or if going the planner route, should we just seek out local wedding planner rather than through a foreign company?

We came across a wedding planner for lake garda which looks really nice, haven't been to that part of Italy before.

Think this was the site: https://www.lakegardaweddings.com/


Apologies for the rambling and disjointed post, it's all a bit overwhelming so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Faith

Mod note: Just to pre-empt the inevitable, please note that the OP has not asked your opinions on weddings abroad, so please keep replies directed to what they have actually asked

Faith

Firstly, congratulations on your engagement!

Next, it sounds like everything is on the table for now. What makes you interested in a wedding abroad, compared to a wedding at home?

I’d start by thinking about your guest list and your budget. Weddings abroad are cheaper for the couple but much more expensive for guests, hence they have a much lower attendance rate. If you have people you’d really like to attend who couldn’t make it abroad (age, disability, finances, children, work commitments etc), you’ll need to take that into account. Does it impact anything?

If you have the kind of social circle/family expectations that you’d need 300 people invited to a local wedding, and you want 50 people there, then a wedding abroad can be a great option!

You don’t seem to have anywhere specific abroad that you would like to host your wedding at, so I’m assuming there’s no emotional connection with anywhere abroad. Is it the weather and/or scenery that attracts you? One small thing is wedding dresses are hot and heavy! If you’re going to be getting married somewhere hot, that might totally change the style of dresses available to you (it may not, but I imagine a ballgown with 20 layers might be uncomfortable in 30 degrees in Italy!).

That’s my advice for now. Sit down and work out exactly what it is you’re looking for, before looking up wedding planners etc

Sir_Name

Similar to a wedding in Ireland, a wedding abroad can probably be as cheap or as expensive as you can afford. Maybe because I got married abroad its a bugbear of mine that people always suggest it was because you wanted it cheaper and impose the cost on guests. That is not always the case.

I have been to a few, and also had my own in France this yr as we wanted to keep it about the 100ppl mark which would have been impossible at home. Some things were astronomically expensive and others were more reasonable so if you are looking for cheaper it might not work out as such. A few things to note that we took into account when planning ours.

-Transport. Where would you like to get married. Will everyone be flying from Dublin/Cork/Shannon and are there direct flights. We chose a place that did to make it easier. Also, as taxi's/buses can be expensive or unreliable abroad, we provided a bus for passengers who weren't making a holiday out of it/renting their own car to transport people to their accommodation. We also hired a mini bus to collect/drop off people during the weekend so no one had to worry about that. [Our location was more rural so perhaps wouldn't apply if you were getting married in a town lets say - but ease of transport is definitely something to look into]

-Make sure there is suitable accommodation either on site or within an easy distance of the celebrations. We were lucky we were able to accommodate a large number of our guests on site, which also helped make the trip cheaper for them.

- Family - are there children in the family. The time of year you have the ceremony would impact whether they can attend (due to schooling/costs etc) and if it has to be the peak time in summer it can make it more expensive for the families (flight costs) but also venue hire.

-Wedding planner is essential especially if you are not able to speak the local language. Yes its an added cost, but more than worth it in my opinion and often they can save you money with their knowledge too. Look for recommendations, facebook groups etc.

-We were lucky enough to be in a position to try ensure that once guests were at the location, that we would try ensure everyone was well looked after for the few days, from food to booze to entertainment. That was also the case for the other weddings I was at abroad so possibly something to factor in if you are in a position to do so.

If abroad if was you decide on, you'll need a good website, detailing all information as possible. Flight options/car hire/accommodation/RSVP's (easier to track), local contacts ie if someone wants a hairdresser etc. The main thing is that you and your fiance sit down and work out what are the important things. We made a list of what we 100% wanted, what we would compromise on and what we weren't fussed about and that helped even down to the spend.

Also, as Faith said before some people may not be able to attend for a multitude of reasons and if there are a few you cannot contemplate getting married without their presence maybe chat about it. Otherwise, there will be some who can't and be prepared for such.

Best of luck with the planning/decision making, it is a little overwhelming at the start and remember its the one day that is about you two. Doesn't matter if you have it at home or abroad you'll never please 100% of people anyway!

splinter65

Excellent post Deanov. Much appreciated.

Caryatnid

Deanov wrote: »

blah

Great post Deanov, thanks for sharing that info. So you mind sharing the name of the venue/location?

I think it is a really good point about looking after guests for more than one day when abroad. That really adds more costs and planning!

Sir_Name

Happy to share - pm if you want some more specific info, also happy to respond to more general questions here.