Weddings abroad?

Sir_Name wrote: »

I posted the below on another thread pre Covid so you might find it helpful.

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!