He's British, I'm American, we live in Russia...where should we have our destination wedding!? HELP!

[georgiapeach84]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for clicking on my post. I'm new here, and I hope the site (and you guys) can help me out!

 

The story....

 

I'm engaged. I'm American, he's British, and we live in Moscow. We obviously have family all over the place, and we are both keen on having a destination wedding for several reasons (keeping it small, keeping it under budget, being in a beautiful place, having a vacation with our loved ones, and making sure we are surrounded only by those who really matter to us). Then again, I'm sure those are all the typical reasons that ANYONE has a destination wedding!

 

I'm so excited about the idea, but I feel so overwhelmed by all the options.

 

We are on a budget, so I just want to say upfront that 5 star hotels in exotic destinations need not apply! For us, the important part is just being someplace BEAUTIFUL and ROMANTIC. It could take place in a barn in the middle of Tuscany if it meant gorgeous scenery and ample accommodation for our family and friends!

 

We are open to anywhere in Europe or the Caribbean, so please feel free to give some input!

 

There is much more online about Caribbean destination weddings than European ones, so I am truly more interested in hearing from anyone who has experience with a destination wedding in Italy or France (or another great European destination).

 

Ok, I think that's just about it!

 

I look forward to hearing your replies!! Life will be a lot easier when we can have a date and a location set!

 

Thanks so much x

[jmastr05]

I ended up having my DW in Aruba, but was actually set on Greece for a while because I have a lot of family in Italy. Greece has some BEAUTIFUL resorts. The people with whom I communicated where super accommodating. I focused on resorts in the island of Crete, which is the largest of the Greek Isles. Flights to Athens are pretty common from most international airports. From the airport at Athens, a flight to Crete is short and pretty common.

 

There were 2 reasons that I did not choose Greece:

1. My family in Italy is unreliable. By choosing Greece, I'd be making the travel much for difficult for the Americans, and who knows if the relative proximity would even make a difference in the attendance of the flighty Italian relatives!
2. The "open bar" concept isn't as prevalent in Greece as it is in the U.S. and places that cater to Americans (like the Caribbean). The resorts I was communicating with were more than willing to create an open bar option for me, but the cost was going to be VERY high. So if you are fine with a wine and beer bar or paying for the alcohol based on your guests' consumption, then this shouldn't be a problem for you!

 

Good luck in your decision! Hope that above can provide some guidance in picking a destination!

[Moments That Matter]

 

Congratulations and welcome to the forums! Have fun with all your wedding plans and keep smiling!

Linkn

 

[eldiexs]

Welcome and Congratulations!

Good luck choosing your wedding destination

[JayKay]

Welcome!

 

When I was first engaged I really was set on getting married in Italy.  I have travelled there in the past and absolutely fell in love with it.  There were a few reasons we didn't choose that.  Firstly, we decided it would be easier (for us and guests) to go the all inclusive route.  All inclusive resorts are mostly only found in carribean destionations.  Secondly, we were all coming from Canada, so Italy just wasn't in the budget for us, or family, and it was exteremly important to have family involved.

 

My best advice would be to try to make a list of what you are looking for in a destionation and then go from there.  Our budget was also a main factor in choosing Jamaica as it was more reasonably priced then some of the other caribbean destionations.  Good luck with your decision!  For us choosing the location took about a month, but in the end all our research payed off!