r/DestinationWeddings

Hello all,

My fiancé and I are planning our wedding, ideally for summer 2027, but if the weather is nice it can also be spring or fall 2027.

We would have 20 guests, probably less once we settle on a destination (15 is probably closer to reality). Our budget is 10k, can go higher but I would prefer to stay under 10k. Guests would cover their flights and accommodation (although if I rent something small, I'm not opposed to paying for accomodation if it stays within my budget).

I'm looking at venues, but they're often for 100 guests and more. We would like something small and intimate, and ideally kind of all inclusive (celebration, venue, cocktail, meal, entertainment would be nice but not mandatory). I don't necessarily want anything fancy, just something nice.

Years ago I was looking at renting a small house/villa in Italy, not sure if it's still doable today. I love european destinations, like italy, greece or France, but I'm also open to going in the south (Carribeans, jamaica, other suggestions welcome). I like nature, villas, the beach/water, cobblestones... Something romantic and elegant :)

Other than that, does anyone have a suggestion for website with different packages available that I could go through?

If I'm being unrealistic for my budget please let me know.

Thank you!!!

Does anyone know of a wedding planner in Cancun or Costa Mujeres?

I’ve been having constant debates with myself.. being a bride obviously I want the best wedding possible.. good destination.. amazing views.. intimate gathering, one good reception.. and once I calculated.. it’s about 1.5-2cr easy!!
I could literally do a super luxury world tour for a year with that kind of money. But wedding is something that ( hopefully) will happen only once and I will have rest of my life for the rest of the luxury.. but then it’s 2 effing crores..

Happily Married women.. what do you suggest??

I'm attending my nephew's wedding at Hard Rock Punta Cana. I didn't want to book with their travel agent and booked a room with my own agent for my family (four adults total). My nephew's agent is asking us to pay $800 to her for us to attend the wedding ceremony and reception. Is this a normal practice? ]

I’m US based (nyc) where my understanding is that pretty much every vendor gets a tip and as long as the service was not abysmal they get handed a pre-prepared envelope with cash.

Our wedding is in Italy, our planner told me it’s not expected and only appropriate when someone does an outstanding job. I don’t want to spend time during my wedding deciding who did and didn’t do a great job and how much they get and I also don’t want to offend anyone...

Should I prepare tips? For which vendors? Would be very helpful to note the specific $/€ amount that’s appropriate.

Thank you!

Edit: To be clear, I’d rather save money if tipping is truly not at all expected.

Hi y’all,

I’ve seen horrible things said about destination weddings online, and now that I’m considering a wedding in Mexico, I don’t want to be a burden on my friends/family.

I’m not planning on getting married soon, but I hope to get married in the next few years. I don’t want to go into debt for a wedding, so I’m starting to brainstorm now and hopefully save some money to have a wedding that I’d love.

My bf and I don’t want anything big, so we’d probably keep it to 40/50 guests. However, everyone I want to be there is spread throughout the US, Mexico, Netherlands, UK, India, etc.

I was thinking of renting out an entire Hacienda in Mexico for a weekend (Fri-Sun) for my guests and I. The places I’m looking at would include food for the 3 days and cater the wedding along with housing everyone in the hacienda itself. The estimates I did for this would be less than one day in California with limited venue hours and no food, music, or lodging included.

My idea is that people could fly out Friday, reach the same airport, I would arrange a bus/car to pick everyone up, and they would stay at the hacienda for the 2 nights/3 days, then we would all head to the airport Sunday.

The costs for the hacienda rental, lodging for everyone, food/alcohol, and transportation to and from the airport would be covered by me, but the only cost that wouldn’t would be the flight.

I have some wealthy friends that I know would fly in a heartbeat and not think about it, but I’m not sure about everyone. I would pay for my and my boyfriend’s immediate family to fly out since I know they don’t make much money.

However, for the remainder, would it be ok to say something like “please don’t bring gifts, just yourself”.

I honestly don’t need gifts or anything, but I would want everyone invited to be there. I also know getting time off is difficult which is why I would keep it Friday-Sunday so people only have to miss one day ideally. And obviously all kids and everyone are obviously welcome.

An average round trip flight would be about 500 per person in the US and everyone else flying from elsewhere is either wealthy or family that I will be covering.

Is this a reasonable ask or is this too much of a burden for those that are not immediate family?

Planning a Wedding party sounds simple until you start trying to figure out who is actually coming.

I've seen people use group chats, spreadsheets, paper invitations and digital invitations, but I'm curious what has actually worked well for everyone. especially when you have parents replying at completely different times.

Do you prefer having one invitation link where everyone can rsvp, or do you think messaging people individually is still easier?

Also, what information do you normally include on the invitation besides the date and location?

Hi! I'm planning a scouting trip to Colorado this October in preparation for getting married there the following October. I'm looking for recommendations on really pretty outlooks and views, or generally pretty cities and towns, I love the Estes Park area and I've been looking into Colorado Springs as well. Just looking for any information or recommendations on really gorgeous areas in Colorado 🥰 Thanks in advance!

Open to venues, home or event space rentals, gorgeous hikes and wedding permits, and the number of people is undecided until a location is found! So can be recommendations for a tiny place or bigger location, I'm open to all things with a gorgeous view ☁️🏔️🌲🩵

I started to write this as a comment, but seeing an influx of confused, stressed and disappointed brides here, I thought I can share my two cents about the wedding industry from a perspective of a planner. I am writing anonymously, because my goal is not self promotion, it’s sharing the observations I have and starting a conversation that is long overdue.

I am copying my og comment here, in hopes to give clarity to everyone struggling with vendors atm.

“Hey as a planner seeing the industry in big trouble I can maybe give you my perspective. I actually agree that there’s something rotten, in all areas not just with planners. I have been in the industry long enough to witness first hand the shift that happened.

Sometime after COVID we got an influx of new vendors (mostly in the photo category, but it can also be seen in other categories), at the same time there was a lot of mentorship programs going on basically telling inexperienced vendors they can charge insane amounts of money for their services, even though the knowledge is not there.

Vendors were told they need to live the luxe style, dress the part and act like they’re millionaires. The truth is, maybe 1% of wedding vendors worldwide are truly that successful, and those people have years and years of experience.
Scaring tactics to the clients was used as a selling point, so was hiding of the price of the service.
In this era I have rarely seen someone mentor vendors how to actually get better at their job. It was mostly sales and life coaching.

Around 2022 all you could hear was “charge the number that makes you feel uncomfortable”. You can see the shift happening here, everyone slapped Luxury to their business names as if that is enough to be considered high end.

Some also started to do a ton of styled shoots that they were selling as real weddings to prove their “Luxury“ status.

Most paid for publications and awards so it seems to you that they’re worth the price tag. The clients believed them, not knowing that while all of that has been done, the real experience was just not there.

A couple of years ago the standards from clients were lower, brides were not connected as they are today and a lot of bad business practices got unnoticed.
Cancel culture was also not in full swing then.

Around 2024 things were turning, bad vendors get called out and canceled, couples want to know where their money is going and how it’s being managed. That is fair and should be standard.

Now in 2026 I am noticing everything
becoming extreme, the vendors behaviors getting out of hand (i think it’s burn out and just lack of knowledge) but also the clients thinking all of their vendors are basically the enemy and trying to rob them (understandably).

I am seeing a lot straight up harassment from both sides (vendors and clients) and i am seeing burnout from both sides as well.

There’s a lack of trust and humanity in the process, lack of good business practices and overall a great lack of understanding.

I see both clients and vendors asking for mental health help and therapy because they’re feeling anxiety and depression.
Nothing wrong with asking for help ofc, but it’s telling how toxic the industry actually is.

I feel like we’re approaching a point where the industry is going to burst and we will all need to adapt or find new careers.

Don’t get me wrong there’s a ton of fairly priced, experienced vendors in the industry, but it’s hard for the clients to figure out who’s the og and who’s a fraud since there’s so many of us.

Things are so out of hand that when an amazing photographer with experience is quoting 6-7k for their services, the clients see it as a red flag because all the other quotes they got were 20k+.
Not knowing that the 7k one has more experience and is easier to work with.
Obviously this is not a case every time, but it actually is a thing that happens a lot.

I can tell you from my own experience, I was trying to be Luxe as well (without actually adding the title because I found it cringe). I thought I was doing something wrong because I did not want to pay for life coaching, publications etc.

I tried to justify bad behavior from colleagues and sometimes even clients, as a normal thing that is going to eventually make me worth the luxe title.
I know no one is here to hear my sob story, but at one point after a high budget wedding I had a legit panic attack mid season. It did not feel right.
It was then and there where I decided I want to work with vendors and clients on events with a soul. Mix the smaller, mid and bigger budgets, and leave the weddings not with a panic attack, but with a smile on my face.
I realized there a paid Vogue publication, status and how Luxe my social media looks, is not telling anything about me.
The fact I care and have 10 years of experience is telling something.

I hope all of you reading this, a vendor or a bride will do the same. Hire or book the people that actually make you happy and excited, even if it takes longer to find those. You are all spending too much energy and time to feel the way some of you feel. Weddings are happy occasions, the industry was once beautiful and there’s still beauty underneath all the negativity.

Sorry for the rambling but i think these are the conversations we all should be having at this point.

PS. I feel like that character in Mean girls that doesn’t even go to the school but is there to promote love lol”

Genuinely curious what others are doing for their hair and makeup arrangements. I am getting married at a Riu Palace in Mexico and the vendor fee is $700USD to use a different vendor than their own. Its a very large amount when I am only looking for a few people to get their hair and makeup done.

Is everyone else either just absorbing the vendor fee or going to a salon off site? Genuinely wondering because I am not impressed with either option 😂

Overall haven't heard good things about the salon on the resort either but at this point I may consider it as its way cheaper and stress fee being on the resort

Thanks in advance!

Edit: the $700USD amount is the fee the resort takes to bring in your own vendor. So its on top of the hair/makeup price.

We tinkered with the idea of having a local to us wedding and come to the decision that destination will fit what we are wanting better.

My question is HOW do you start? I have looked at Sandals and I love the over water chapels but a lot of posts on Facebook seem to have spam vendors chiming in making it hard to establish what is real and what’s not.

Hi all!

My partner and I are beginning to plan our destination wedding in Mauritius. We are both Hindu from the US and plan to do a 3-4 day ceremony. Do you all have any recommendations for wedding planners or hotels to check out? Budget wise we are flexible, but we want to get a sense on what it will cost.

We are interested in staying on the western side, but are open to suggestions. We are also planning to visit for 3 days in end of November, so any recs for things to check then!

Would also love to hear about your experiences at Hindu weddings in Mauritius as locals or tourists :)

Ok so my best friend got engaged in June 2026 and is planning a destination wedding in a small town south of Florence in May 2027. I have been helping her look at venues and the entire time I’ve told her “you can do whatever you want, you just can’t be mad when people don’t come”. She had been toying with the idea of making it no kids. I have a 3 year old who I would not be comfortable leaving to go to another country. She also wants to force everyone to stay at the villa and I again said “if you do that just make sure the rates are comparable to the hotels in the area”.

We’ll fast forward a couple of weeks, she tells me she booked a venue and it will be $250 per adult per night. I’m the sole provider in my family so with flights + that cost, it would be about $5k for just my family to go to this wedding. I told her I think that’s too expensive for me and I would be there if I can stay elsewhere and just attend her ceremony and reception.

She was super upset and said “that’s not the point, I want everyone together and you can’t find anything cheaper in Europe” which is BS because most of the hotels in that town are under $200 a night total, not per person. She is passing through her expense onto her guests which is so tacky and rude but she doesn’t see it that way at all. I’d be fine to not go, but she was so upset when I threw that out as an option because I’m supposed to be a bridesmaid (again added cost for a specific dress and bachelorette party etc).

The villa is inclusive of breakfasts and two dinners plus drinks for a 3 day event plus some pizza party but I don’t value those things at all. I don’t drink alcohol so there’s zero value there and I can for sure feed my family for way less per day. It feel so out of touch to be asking me to spend that amount with zero other option and then being mad when I offer to not attend. She just kept saying “you’re well off, you can afford it”. That’s not the point, I shouldn’t be told how to spend my money even if I have it. Am I wrong?

We're considering a destination wedding in France where my partner's from and we're wondering whether it will be too much for our guests travelling from the UK.

We will probably rent a wedding venue that will also accommodate ourselves and immediate family. We would expect all guests to pay for their own flights and for other family and friends would expect they pay for their own flights and accommodation. There are budget hotel options available in the area. This would also allow others to do their own thing if they don't want to be around all the wedding guests for a full weekend.

The flight would be approx 2hrs and a coach from the airport to the city where the wedding venue is would be 2hrs (legally we can only get married in the Provence where my partner's parents live). We're thinking of trying to rent a coach to cover the cost for the trip to and from the airport and also to and from the wedding venue.

I think because this would be a large expense and a lot of travel we would ask for no wedding gifts or money and we would cover everything on the day e.g. full open bar etc.

Do you think this is an ok expectation or is this too much to ask?

My Fiancé and I recently got engaged and started wedding planner search for southern France & Marrakech. We reached out to a few in Morocco but having a hard time with recommended French planners.

Since this would be overseas for us (family is all over Europe & Morocco), we are really hoping for a great full service planner that can help with venues and vendor recommendations. It seems that many people have complaints about the value of their planners, or worse, had to fire theirs mid-planning.

Any recommendations out there for France that people have had good experiences with? I saw a thread that flat fee planners are less likely to get kick back from vendors and tend to be more transparent with their recommendations. Also hoping for a more realistic planner fee & not the luxury ones that are $15k.

Plan is for an intimate (max 30 people) wedding weekend. Would like to keep budget $30-40K minus wedding planner cost.

Thank you in advance!!

Hi everyone,
This is my first post in this group but I’m reaching out for advice as I’m feeling so overwhelmed in planning my August 2027 ‘destination’ wedding. Me (25F) and my fiancé (27M) are a Canadian couple trying to host a wedding celebration (as we’ll legally get married here in Ontario) in Ireland — specifically the area of County Kildare, Meath, or Wicklow. For context, my Fiancé is an Irish citizen and moved here with just his immediate family to Canada when he was 5, but 90% of our guests still live in Ireland — hence why it made much more sense to travel to them for the wedding, as most are older and have health concerns. Our Irish family are absolutely lovely and have been very supportive of us planning our celebration abroad. The key stressor for us has been budget, as everything is turning out so much more expensive than anticipated. Our budget has gone from $7K CAD- $15k CAD real fast :/ We have approx. 45 guests (if everyone attends) and still want a very intimate style ceremony, ideally outdoors (or at least have that option). We have been scoping out venues and wedding packages for a couple of months now and are starting to feel the pressure of booking something. We had originally planned to do a backyard wedding at our relative’s home, but it ended up not being feasible due to location/sewage system/transportation etc. so it has become a bit of a scramble to find a new venue that isn’t going to break the bank. I’m wondering if anyone would have any suggestions of how we could possibly get the cost down — our top pick for a venue with wedding package is currently 17K which we just can’t justify spending. The currency exchange has been brutal and that won’t change, but just wondering if anyone has done a -15K destination wedding and maybe how you stayed on budget? Things we are already doing include: weekday wedding (Monday-Thursday), simplest meal plan/willing to cater ourselves, DIY decor/thrifting, renting bridal gown.
Thank you all in advance!

This seems to be one of the biggest assumptions about destination weddings:

Destination wedding = automatically expensive.

But isn't the actual calculation more complicated?

A local wedding can involve separate venues, transportation, catering, décor, accommodation and multiple suppliers.

With a destination wedding, many of those elements can potentially be combined through one venue or resort.

Of course, travel and accommodation add costs, so it's definitely not automatically cheaper.

But I think the better question is:

“What experience can I create with my total wedding budget?”

Rather than:

“How much does a destination wedding cost?”

For anyone who has actually compared both options:

Did you find a destination wedding more expensive, less expensive, or roughly the same as a local wedding?