Your reasons for having a destination wedding?

Hi ladies (and perhaps gentlemen!),

So glad I found this site - it's an unbelievable resource! 

Not sure if this is the best area to post this, but I was just curious to ask what made some of you decide to have a destination wedding? Was it always your dream? Easier logistically?

Also, for anyone who happens to be reading this after the big day, are there any little traditional things that you feel you missed out on because you chose to have a destination wedding? 

I'm trying to decide between getting married and home or away and just wondered what decision-making process some of you followed.

Thanks in advance!

This is my second marriage. I did the big church ceremony and hotel ballroom reception for the first one and wanted nothing to do with that this time around. It was so stressful and turned into something that everyone else wanted to have a say in. FI and I love to travel so it was a no brainer. We are so excited to go on vacation, get married and celebrate with are immediate family only. The planning was a breeze this time. 

I chose a destination wedding for a few reasons...

1) If I'm honest with myself, I have always pictured my wedding day on a beach.

2) I have a HUGE family and guest list, so if I had a wedding here, it would cost a small fortune due to the numbers.

3) I went to a bridal show, and was utterly and completely overwhelmed. If anything, it confirmed my decision to run away to get married!

4) I've heard so many brides who had the huge, traditional weddings here, say that if they could do it all over again, they'd have a destination wedding.

We will likely still have 20-40 of our close friends and family attending with us. I feel like I can still have many traditional elements to my wedding, but it will be considerably cheaper, more intimate, and overall a great experience (I hope).

Bottom line is that this is YOUR day, so do what makes you happy!

After attending the DW of a friend, I started doing some research and asking some questions.  We like to travel, so we are always looking for our next trip.  Also, with the cost of a wedding, we will be getting a whole vacation (and of course the wedding) for the cost of what we would be spending for only one day locally.  So for us, we wanted to get more bang for our buck, which we defintely will with a DW.

Why we are having a destination wedding...

1. We live in Dallas, Texas,  his family is from St. Louis, mine is from Southern, California.

Since everyone is flying somewhere why not meet us on the beach?

2. Weddingmoon, wedding and honeymoon. Two birds one stone.

3. Once-in-a-Lifetime Reunion. It is so hard to gather up family for a reunion, everyone has such busy lives. What better excuse than my wedding?

4. I live about 10 hours from a half decent beach.

5. A Beach Background for photos...there is no better backdrop that could come close.

6. Small and intimate weddings where I know everybody's names

7. A unique wedding experiance for all.

I think my main reason is i just wanted a small beach wedding. I live in Monterrey with my Mexican fiance and weddings here are massive elaborate affairs where you invite pretty much every single person you vaguely know - the idea of a small guest list due to finances just seems alien here! I'm not really the kind of person who wants hundreds of people looking at me, it makes me nervous. When i told my fiance i wanted a small wedding he said "mmm so about 100 people then" which to me is pretty big!! But 100 is fine...i just didnt want more than that. One friend recently had over 300 people at the reception!

I wavered between having a traditional English wedding in London or a beach wedding, but as my family can afford to travel and his can't so we decided on Cancun (airfares for whole family would be too much of our budget). I've had to come to terms with the fact basically none of my friends can afford to come, even though i'm selling it as a holiday of a lifetime( with the wedding as almost an afterthought haha).

I also figured its super convenient to have wedding and honeymoon in the same place!

My fiance and I are planning a destination wedding for December 2012. We are in the midst of securing a date with a resort. We chose a DW for a number of reasons:

1) We love to travel.

2) We love how love seems to be in the air whenever we have gone away somewhere south.

3) We wanted to remove some of the stress (and cost) associated with a local wedding.

4) I wasn't moved by the idea of having a crazy busy day, that is one of the most memorable days of your lives, and then waking up the next day and being back to reality... I would like to drag out memorable day into a week... or two. 

5) We are really looking forward to having a week away with our closest friends and family. Some of my family members have never had the opportunity to go away on vacation (my parents, grandparents, and siblings) so this is the perfect excuse for everyone to get away and give themselves something they deserve!

6) Bored by the idea of a local wedding.

7) We have seen DWs, and they have looked absolutely remarkable. 

We can't wait for our special day, and to be able to spend that much more time with our loved ones. We like to think of it as bonding time, with a party element, and for just a day, a wedding will break out.

Good luck with your planning! and Congratulations on the engagement!

We had a destination wedding for a few reasons:

1.  I had always envisioned my wedding on a beach.

2.  We both have huge families that live all over the place.  The guest list was going to be over 400 people if we would have gotten married at home.

3.  We were both in University and it was cheaper to have a destination wedding.

4.  My brother had a failed engagment in which they started planning an at home wedding, and after seeing the costs and the stress about everything we knew we didn't want that.

5.  My husbands brother was married in Mexico (Before I started dating him) and I got to hear all about their wedding in Mexico and how stress free the planning was.

6.  Our parents encouraged us to go away and get married somewhere else.

For us the reasons are:

1) we love to travel

2) we have family on opposite sides of the country, so someone was going to have to travel anyway

3) we wanted a small and intimate wedding, and this way we knew we would not have to fend off parents friends, etc

4) didn't want to deal with the stress of planning a local wedding (finding a caterer, baker, officiant....) 

5) the photos look great!

6) liked the idea that we get friends and family to celebrate a whole week with us not just one day.

Well let's start off by saying 80 people came to my college graduation.  Yep, there is no typo...80!  After that experience,

1) We really want a wedding that is small and intimate that's a laid back atmosphere with our closest family and friends. 

2) Gives us a reason to celebrate the marriage ALL week long

3) We can create our own traditions and norms

4) The weather will be better than Dallas' 100 degree Summers, Falls, and Springs. LOL