
Have you always dreamed of jetting off to a sun- and sand-filled destination for your wedding? You’ve probably gotten a ton of advice from family and friends. You may even have a Pinterest board filled to the brim with fun destination wedding ideas.
But you’re just missing one thing … destination wedding advice from actual travel planning experts! And that’s just what the team at Southern Travel Agency has in store for you now. Here are our top 5 destination wedding ideas you and your guests will love:
5 of Our Top Destination Wedding Ideas:
Provide Goodie-Filled Welcome Bags:
Celebrate your magical wedding destination with welcome bags for your guests filled with local goodies. Fill up your welcome bags with affordable artisan gifts like scarves or paper fans, local snacks or canned drinks, and even coupons for local attractions. Our client Colleen McKee prepared welcome bags for her guests who were staying at the Sandals Turks and Caicos resort for her destination wedding. We were able to get Colleen a list of all of her guests’ flight and arrival times, so she could greet each one personally in the lobby to give them their “swag bag.” What a wonderful start to a weekend full of love and friendship!
Hand Out a Handy Map:
Encourage your guests to explore your breathtaking wedding destination with a customized map highlighting all of your favorite hotspots around town or at the resort. Be sure to stash the map in your guests’ welcome bags! You could even work with an artist or illustrator on a site like Etsy.com to customize your map. Adding details like your wedding date and décor colors transforms your map into an instant keepsake for guests!
Start planning early:
The earlier you start planning your destination wedding, the better it will be — it’s that simple. When you plan well in advance, you’ll have your pick of the best resorts, honeymoon suites, and dates to choose from. Plus, you’ll get the best value for your money as well. Typically, at top resorts, prices don’t go down as a certain date approaches, since resorts are able to accurately predict expected occupancy. You’ll also be doing your guests a favor by planning a destination wedding early. They’ll have plenty of time to arrange for time off from work and snag good deals on air travel.
Start a “honeyfund”:
Typically, when you plan a destination wedding, you spend your honeymoon afterwards in that same destination. Instead of a typical wedding registration, consider setting up a honeyfund, where guests can “gift” you experiences on your honeymoon … instead of china or kitchen gadgets you’ll hardly ever use! For example, on your honeyfund site, guests can opt to contribute to specific experiences, like a snorkeling adventure or private dinner on the beach. Make sure you take a pic of you and your beau enjoying the activity to show your guests how much their generosity contributed to your unforgettable experience.
Have a back up plan:
Sometimes, things don’t always go as planned … and that can be extra stressful when planning your wedding. But don’t let your dream destination wedding turn into a nightmare! By being flexible and working with a trusted travel advisor, you can guarantee your big day still goes off without a hitch. For example, our client Stephanie Sherman originally wanted to hold her destination wedding at the Sandals Barbados resort — but Delta switched all their flights for her chosen date! To ensure her guests could still attend, she switched the date and location of her destination wedding. We worked with Stephanie to ensure her wedding was still everything she ever dreamed of. By being flexible, she and her guests got to enjoy an unforgettable experience at Sandals La Source Grenada.
We’ll Plan the Best Vacation Just for You
Have these destination wedding ideas got your planning juices flowing?
We’d love to help bring your own destination wedding ideas to life! Just get in touch with the STA travel experts to get started on your own dream destination wedding.