Destinations? Yes or no?

Congrats to you both!

I will say that I have seen a lot of Destination wedding take place though I didn't get the opportunity to attend to any of them within my moms side of family. The couples themselves as your thought out their plan and budget (parents help too) to go Cancun, Mexico. Big families as you both which didn't stop them from having their guests there to celebrate.

You can do the same and its something you two want to have once in a lifetime to do big with the ones you love to celebrate your new life together. Given the situation of FH parents not comfortable to travel is something they have to figure out to be there for their son and taking that step out of their comfort zone. All your guests are paying their way and room rates. Having a second small reception at home after arriving back may be a good idea to invite those that couldn't make it to your wedding.

Local wedding in town is nice yet something that is affordable which most people would make it without hesitation. This is what we did due to costs and no passport renewed for few years in. Small yet affordable on our budget of less than 100 guests.

Destination is your choice, stick with it and get a price on the resort and airline pricing to give your MIL/FIL the cost.

I definitely looked at the idea of doing a destination wedding, we were thinking of having it on a cruise ship!

For us, we probably would've done a legal ceremony at home and then the wedding on the cruise ship would've been more symbolic - so we wouldn't have to deal with the legalities of getting married outside of Canada (i.e. translated documents). We'd also do a reception back at home for those who couldn't make it. In the end, we were basically having two weddings so we nixed the destination wedding, and just went with a local wedding.

Another factor, which others have indicated, was not having key people there. I only have one living grandma, and my FH has no grandparents, but mine wouldn't be able to go. Our niece is also unable to get a passport right now (custody issues) so her and my FH's sister wouldn't be able to go as well. My brother is very anxious flying, my MOH currently doesn't have a passport, but would've gotten one if we did do the destination wedding. So we'd be missing a few key people so a local wedding was better for us.

If you do a destination wedding, just expect some backlash. Really, no matter what you do, there'll be backlash, but stick to your guns if this is really what you want. The one thing I'd suggest doing if you do have a destination wedding is have a reception at home afterwards to celebrate with them.

Hi Alex! This was a toss up for as well knowing there would be a few key people that wouldn't be able to attend a destination wedding, but we went with it anyway.

From a cost perspective, a destination wedding was much more within budget for us! We are looking to spend approximately 10k for everything (including our trip), compared to the 30k+ we saw for a local wedding. We aren't expecting any gifts or money from our guests and we are comfortable paying for our wedding out of pocket.

From an attendance perspective, we have 50 people coming and there are really only a few that aren't able to come for a variety of reasons. Nobody has complained about the price and our resort isn't cheap (it's been **** per person depending on the package selected.)

With all that being said, we are having a legal ceremony at our house 7 weeks before the wedding to ensure the most important people in our lives can be part of the celebrations even if they don't attend the wedding in Punta Cana. My parents will also be hosting a reception (a toast to the bride and groom, as they call it) in my hometown the month following our destination wedding.

At the end of the day, we feel so blessed to have 50 people travelling to a different country to spend a whole week with us. We get more time with people we love, for less money and less stress. This feels like the right choice for us, and that's all that matters for every couple!

Congrats on your engagement Alex, and welcome to WW!

I was in the same situation as Kelsie. We were a couple days away from booking a destination wedding in Punta Cana, but our grandparents would not be able to travel, and for me that was a huge issue because I really wanted my Grandma there.

It is your day, everyone is going to have an opinion regardless of what you do, so you have to stick to your guns about what you and your FH want.

Keep in mind, if you do a destination wedding, many guests will not give a gift. So expect the gift to be minimal, or just having them there will be enough. You can always do a reception back home when you guys come back for all the guests that couldn't make it. This would also give you another opportunity to wear your dress again and party!

I say if you are going with a destination wedding, start telling your guests now, send out save the dates to everyone you would want there, and whoever comes great! You never know how many people would like to get away for a week!

I totally agree with everything Kelsie says. I understand that it might not be best for everyone, but your wedding is about you and your FH. A smallish at home post wedding celebration may be a good compromise. I think as long as everyone that you "must" have there is able to join you, a destination wedding would be great!

Hey Alex!

Welcome to weddingwire! congrats on your engagement!

i think you need to do what you want. Keep in mind, less people will attend a destination wedding due to many factors so as long as you’re prepared for that I think it’s a good idea! My FH and I wanted to do a destination wedding but our grandparents are too elderly to travel and we couldn’t get married without them there; otherwise we might’ve done a destination wedding.

If you are doing a destination wedding, give your guests lots of notice as they need to save up and also ask for time off of work.

The other thing to keep in mind as well, those that attend destination weddings typically do not provide the bridge and groom with a gift, as they have spent quite a bit of money to travel to the wedding. This is probably not at all important but thought I’d throw it out there.

you can also choose to do a small destination wedding with close family and friends and then have a bigger reception upon your return home? I think this may be a really good compromise!