WINTER WEDDING DESTINATION 

Planning for a DestinationWinter Wedding

 Destination weddings have become very popular in the last ten years and more brides each year are planning destination weddings. Planning a destination wedding can be a very cost effective way to have a wedding, especially if you plan a destination wedding for a time when it’s considered the off season for that destination. If you plan a destination wedding for the peak time of that destination it can end up costing a fortune, so it pays to do some homework about destination wedding locations before planning one.

  What is a destination wedding?

 Adestination wedding is a wedding held at a resort or other spot that is usually far away from where the bride and groom live. A destination wedding is sort of like a combined wedding and honeymoon. Usually the bride and groom hold a destination wedding in a place where they want to honeymoon to cut down on the hassle of having a wedding and then having to travel or sometimes a bride will have a destination wedding at a place that has special significance for her and her fiancée.

 When a couple holds a destination wedding, they usually invite 20 or 30 of their closest friends and family to go away with them for three or four days, usually over a long weekend. The weekend is filled with group activities like sightseeing, dinners, parties, brunches and usually the wedding ceremony and reception are on the last day before everyone leaves. The couple usually stays on to have their honeymoon in that spot.

The big question – Who pays for the trip?

 When couples start thinking about having a destination wedding the obvious question they have is, who pays for the cost of the trip, the couple or their guests? Traditionally, the couple pays for the hotel accommodations, all food and drink and entertainment costs for the entire length of the trip and the guests pay for their own airfare and travel expenses. Remember that you are inviting them on this trip to go to your wedding. So you should pay for all their expenses once they reach the destination. At first many couples are daunted by the cost of such a trip but think of it this way: A catered sit down dinner for 40 people at a posh ballroom or restaurant could easily cost $20,000. If you were planning on spending that much money on your guests, why not invite them to a destination wedding where they can have a real vacation and be there to celebrate your marriage?

 Many resorts that are used for destination weddings have great package deals that include hefty discounts for rooms, meals, entertainment, and other costs when you are booking a destination wedding for 20 or more people so you could end up saving money by having a destination wedding.

Think of your guests’ financial situation before inviting them

You are asking people to travel to a destination. Especially if the destination is out of the country, the travel costs can be large. When you are trying to decide which family and friends you should ask to be at your destination wedding, try to be considerate of their financial situation. If your cousin has a wife and four children, will they all be able to afford travel expenses to be at the wedding? If the answer is no or probably not, then ask someone who is a bit better off financially. Have a large family barbeque or dinner when you come back from the honeymoon if you’d like to have a celebration that everyone in the family can attend with their kids.

Popular Destination Wedding Spots

 The most popular destination wedding spots for winter weddings are usually tropical locations like Hawaii, the Bahamas, Florida, and other locations where it’s warm and sunny even in January. Even though it’s the off season for resorts in the winter, the weather is still wonderful and brides can get great savings on wedding packages by holding their weddings in the winter. Not all brides head for the tropical weather though; some couples plan destination weddings at ski resorts to make sure that they will have snow for a winter theme wedding or other destinations that reflect their interests like dude ranches or places like national parks or attractions.

Indoor destination wedding locations

Some brides wonder why travel for an indoor destination wedding but there are many beautiful places to have weddings that may not be locally available. How about getting married in the Japanese tea garden in San Francisco? Wouldn’t you love to have a wedding in the famous Thai Pavilion in Wisconsin? What little girl hasn’t dreamed of getting married in a huge stone castle? There are plenty of castles in Europe or even some in the United States where brides can have their dream weddings. Do you and your fiancée love country and western living? Then fly to Montana or Colorado and have your wedding ceremony in a western chapel or in a working dude ranch. There are thousands of possibilities for exciting and unique indoor destination weddings.

  Outdoor Destination Wedding Locations

 Want to have a winter wedding no one will forget? Get married on the beach in the Caribbean in January, or get married in Hawaii in November. If you want a tropical wedding but can’t afford to have one during the prime summer wedding season then have your wedding at the tropical location of your dreams in the winter instead. You can save thousands of dollars by having your wedding in the winter season instead of the summer and the weather is usually still sunny and warm although it might not be as warm as it is during the summer.

 Not a fan of tropical weather? There are some amazing outdoor winter wedding locations around the country. If you love winter and you want to be sure that there is snow for your wedding have your wedding at a ski lodge. Then you will be 100% sure that you will have snow for your horse drawn sleigh, and that you will have the perfect weather to hold your dream winter wedding. Exchange your wedding vows in front of a snow capped mountain peak, or in front of a steamy natural hot spring surrounded by majestic mountains. Winter weddings at ski resorts are among the most popular winter destination weddings.

 Love the outdoors and want to have a dream wedding surrounded by nature? Create your perfect destination wedding at one of the national state parks and exchange your vows in some of the most beautiful forests in the country. Sedona, Arizona is another very popular outdoor destination wedding spot. Other very popular outdoor destination wedding spots are: Lake Tahoe, California, the Grand Canyon, Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, and probably the most popular destination wedding spot, Niagara Falls.