The ultimate guide to your dream destination wedding

Everything you need for the best destination wedding, and how to come out way below budget.

The average cost of a wedding depends on who you ask. In 2015, Bride to Be magazine said it was over $65,000, while Easy Weddings claimed it to be over $36,000. More recently however, a 2017 finder.com.au survey of over 1,000 couples found the average cost to be $22,669.

Couples-to-be might be getting thriftier, but there’s no doubt that destination weddings are growing in popularity, with travel companies and organisers reporting booming business overseas.

And why not? By lining things up just right, you might even be able to save money by having a dream wedding overseas instead of at your local church.

Be inspired: Destination wedding location inspiration

How much does a destination wedding cost?

Once you add up the costs of a destination wedding, you might find that the “destination” part is actually saving you money and can help offset the cost of the “wedding” part of the equation.

According to a 2012 report, the average cost of a $36,200 wedding is broken down like so:

• Food, alcohol and venue: $18,683
• Wedding clothing and accessories: $4,271
• Photography: $3,983
• Entertainment: $2,896
• Flowers and decorations: $2,896
• Ceremony: $941
• Other, including car hire, hair, makeup, accommodation and invitations: $2,534

This is for a wedding in Australia, so the balance is naturally different elsewhere. Whether you’re having a destination wedding somewhere in Australia or overseas, however, there are a lot of ways to save.

How to save big money on a destination wedding

Having a local wedding doesn’t mean there won’t be accommodation and travel costs. Hiring wedding cars or a limousine can cost more than your flights. You might also spend a surprising amount on nearby accommodation. A lot of resorts and hotels, especially in destinations like Hawaii that know how to cater to destination weddings, have great on-site venues that can help you do away with wedding cars. Everything is nearby, so your party can take a leisurely stroll between spots rather than having to jump into a car.

Package deals abound and it can be worth looking for all-inclusive offers or flight plus accommodation deals as well as other special offers. The problem with using these for a destination wedding is that some of the best travel deals come and go fast as everyone jumps on them. If you know your destination and have a timeframe in mind, you can get around this by subscribing to a travel deal newsletter for the latest and greatest offers. This is perfect for weddings because some of the most ridiculously cheap deals are only available when you book months, or even over a year, in advance.

By keeping an eye out for the right offer and jumping on it when it arrives, you can save a small fortune. Your guests will also be grateful if you let them know about these (and will have more to spend on a wedding gift).

Here are a few other ways you can save:

• Be the boss of exchange rates. If you’re about to pay in a foreign currency with your credit card, stop. Put down the card and look into an overseas-wedding international money transfer instead. Depending on which service you choose, you can enjoy zero transfer fees and guarantees to match any competitor’s exchange rates. It’s practically impossible to find any cheaper way to pay in a foreign currency. It’s also way more cost effective than exchanging money after arrival, so you might want to pay in advance with these types of services when you can.

• Work the frequent flyer points. You’ll be spending quite a lot on your wedding anyway, so with a bit of planning, you can rake in the frequent flyer points. Read about how it works from someone who’s done it and enjoy luxuries like “free” flights, upgrades, accommodation and anything else you can get with those points.
• Think outside the box. Check out our ten outside-the-box tips for saving big on a wedding. Depending on the situation, every one of these tips could save you over $1,000, although not all of them work for all weddings.
• Get serious accommodation discounts. Hotels like certainty, although some like it more than others. Depending on the property, you might be able to get a 30% discount by booking 90 days in advance or 25% off by booking 30 days in advance. It can be worth seeing how it works for different hotels.
• With destination weddings, the biggest savings might come from picking somewhere cheap. See what you can get over there, instead of in Australia, and pay the cheaper local prices instead. Suddenly, that $18,000+ average food, alcohol and venue expense might shrink considerably.

What to know about the legality of overseas destination weddings

• What happens when Australian same-sex couples get legally married overseas?

  Same-sex couples can tie the knot overseas in countries that legally recognise it, although you might need a CNI.

  The couple will be considered legally married while in that country, but not after returning to Australia.

  However, this doesn’t mean it’s pointless. A legal overseas marriage can be evidence of a de-facto relationship under Australian law. For practical purposes, this might be useful when dealing with certain legal issues or for gaining eligibility to a restricted health insurance fund. This makes it much like any Australian opposite-sex marriage in that it speeds up the process of getting a relationship recognised as official.

  Both same-sex and opposite-sex couples can be recognised as a de-facto couple without getting married, but (depending on which state you live in) this means meeting specific criteria, such as living together for at least two years.

  Generally, an overseas same-sex marriage can help “add weight” to your relationship in an official way, although any practical effects of this will depend mostly on the situation.

Generally, there’s no problem and you’re legally married as long as the wedding meets the following criteria:

• The wedding is recognised as legal in Australia.
• The wedding is recognised as legal in your country of destination.

However, certain countries might ask for a document called a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (CNI). This is basically a letter from the Australian government saying that you’re allowed to get married or that you haven’t accidentally forgotten to divorce someone from a previous marriage.

A CNI will often not be necessary, but when it is the exact procedures can vary. Check with the government of your destination country, through their embassy, consulate or official website, to find the following information:

• Whether you need a CNI

• If you do need a CNI, whether you can get it signed in Australia or if you have to get it signed at the Australian embassy/consulate in the destination country
• If you need any other documents, like a “single status certificate”

How to get started: Destination wedding checklist

• Ten months to a year before the wedding

  • Set a budget. Don’t feel like you have to stick 100% to this budget during the planning stage. Most weddings end up over budget, but there are a lot of ways to save. Even if you manage to work out a wedding within your planned budget, it’s always nice to cut costs down later.
  • Pick your destination. How do you picture the day? Are you on a beach, under a forest canopy, in a chapel, on a boat or somewhere else? There’s a whole world to choose from (quite literally!) and the travel expenses generally end up being only a small portion of your total costs, but make a big difference for your guests, so it’s worth bearing this in mind. To help you decide, take a squiz at our top spots for destination weddings in Australia and in the world guide.
  • Create a guest list. Bigger events cost more and depending on where you’re going, it might be a big travel commitment. Destination weddings are often a bit smaller and more intimate, so don’t feel obligated to invite everyone.
  • Choose the wedding party. Feel free to lean on them for some help planning your wedding.
  • Take a scouting trip if possible. It’s good to check things out beforehand as well as meet your local connections in person.

• Eight to ten months before the wedding

  • Pick your vendors. This is the time to find vendors for flowers, photography, entertainment, cake, transportation and whatever else you want. If you’re not entirely clear on the number of guests, it can be a good idea to try to remain a bit flexible and try asking them to do likewise.
  • Send out save-the-dates. Let everyone know about the date for your big event.
  • Do more destination research. If there are any local customs you want to build into your wedding, now’s a good time to start working on it.

• Six to eight months before the wedding

  • Send out the invitations. A bit more forewarning is generally a good idea for destination weddings, especially if it’s more far-flung or hard to get to. You might want to think about personalised luggage tag invitations or check out these wedding invitation ideas. With these online services, you’re using the same invitation designers as a lot of professional wedding planners, so there’s no need to pay more by going through a middleman.
  • Sort out the wedding dress and wedding party attire. If dressmakers or others know your wedding is coming up, they’ll often use it as an excuse to raise prices. By doing it well ahead of time, you can take your time to shop around carefully and wait until you find something that’s perfect. It also gives you time to make alterations as needed.
  • Get your RSVPs sorted. Two months is generally long enough, and then you can chase down the slowpokes and make them commit. Now you have hard numbers for clearer planning.

• Four to six months before the wedding

  • Sort out accommodation. You probably don’t want to wait longer than this, and you might even do it sooner if possible. Having everyone stay around the same place can make the day itself go smoother, but there’s nothing wrong with just sorting yourself out, and telling guests to find their own accommodations.
  • Finalise the decor. Make a decision on the flowers, cake, rentals and everything else. Some of them might take a bit longer to settle, but just tick them off one by one as you get them done.
  • Passports, visas and CNIs. If you need a CNI to get married overseas, you’ll want a few months to make sure it gets sorted. Passport renewals and visas generally shouldn’t take long to finalise, but delays happen so it’s good to be prepared.

• Two to four months before the wedding

  • Finalise menus, music and makeup. Now that you know about any guest dietary needs and allergies, and maybe sampled a few options, you can settle the menu and catering. It’s also a good idea to finalise your appointments on the day and give the band some time to practice your favourite song.
  • Plan the welcome party, events and rehearsal dinner. In short, this is what you’re going to do after arriving at your destination and how you’re going to do it. Think about how long most guests will be staying, what there is to do and whether you want to organise any big group events (other than the ceremony, of course) while you’re there.
  • Choose welcome bags, guest favours and other goodies. If you’re planning on doing any of this, it’s nice to have it organised well ahead of time. You need to know what you’ll be taking with you from Australia and what you’ll be getting after arrival at your destination.
  • Confirm your honeymoon plans. Get it all booked and sorted when you can.

• One month before the wedding

  • Ship items in advance where needed. It wouldn’t be the first time wedding items were held up at the border, so give things some time to clear customs if needed. However, storage can be a hassle, so this headache might be worth avoiding entirely by making use of whatever’s available at your destination.

  • Finalise signs, stationery and tie up any loose ends. You want most things ready by the time you arrive, and there’s no time for loose ends now.
  • Write your vows. Or just wing it on the day for that more honest and from-the-heart vibe.

• On arrival

  • Review the day’s timeline. Make sure everything’s planned smoothly, so it can go off without a hitch.
  • Meet and greet. Meet the crew who’s going to be helping with the wedding and make sure everyone knows what to do.
  • Clean and steam the dress and tuxedo. Get all the wedding clothes in order, then keep them pristine until it’s go time.

Wedding travel insurance

Some travel insurance policies will let you add special wedding extensions to your travel insurance or will even offer policies specifically designed for weddings. You can learn more about it here, but in a nutshell these policies can deliver some specific features to make things a lot safer.

• Insolvency of your wedding services provider. You’ve booked the wedding, sent the money, but when you arrive, it turns out the place has gone out of business and run away with your money. Wedding travel insurance can cover you for this (unlikely) event.
• Cancellation and rearrangement. If the celebrant doesn’t show up or a freak storm blows everything away and you need to schedule the wedding, wedding travel insurance can help cover the costs of a delay or cancellation.
• Wedding attire, gifts, flowers and cake. Rings get stolen, cakes get crushed and tuxedos get covered in crushed cake. If this happens to you, the right policy can cover it all.

• Wedding cars and transport. If you hire a wedding limo that never shows up, your insurer can reimburse you and help you arrange replacement transport.
• Photography and video recording. If the photographer never shows up or the photos failed to develop, wedding travel insurance can cover you for the cost of a do-over, including a rehire of wedding attire.

These are just some of the features you can get with wedding travel insurance. The cost of travel insurance can be almost negligible next to the cost of travel, let alone next to the cost of a wedding, so this type of more specialised protection is highly recommended.

Guests can benefit too. If you really want them at your wedding, you may want to point them at travel insurance with special events cover. If you didn’t want to invite them anyway, then you might ignore it and hope they get delayed instead.

Destination wedding, planning and etiquette FAQ

• When should I send out a destination wedding save-the-date?

  As a general rule, you’ll want to send out any save-the-date information no later than six months beforehand. For destination weddings, you might want to consider a minimum of eight months. You need to give your guests time to make their plans (or excuses) and hunt for cheaper deals.

  What should I include in a destination wedding save-the-date?

  This should include the following information:

  • The couple’s names. This is an obvious one but you can easily forget about this if you are focusing on the destination details.
  • The location. It’s alright if you can’t name a specific venue, but you should try to include the city.
  • The date. So guests know what to save.
  • & guest. Let them know if they’re welcome to bring a guest. If you know that they likely have a specific guest in mind, and don’t want too many extra faces, it can help to just name them both specifically.

• Can I send a save-the-date with email or should I use paper mail?

  Paper can’t match the convenience or ease of email, but paper can help make a bit more of an impression. For practical purposes, email is great. So is Facebook, but just make sure to keep the event private.

• What if I can’t agree on a destination with my partner?

  You can always flip a coin. If both options are equally great, then this might not be such a bad idea. You can go wherever you want on the honeymoon, so you may want to “settle” on the more practical place for the wedding and then do the other one when it’s just the two of you.

  If one spot is a lot cheaper, or is more convenient for family or friends, then this can count for a lot.

Why have a destination wedding?

The main downside of a destination wedding is that some of your friends and family might not be able to make it, but the silver lining is that fewer guests can mean lower prices for you. To make sure you don’t leave anyone out, you can always have a second party after you get back. Approximately 1 in 5 destination wedding couples have done this.

If you have friends and family overseas, however, then a destination wedding might mean an even bigger bash with more guests. Australia is a long way from most other countries, so picking a midway destination can make it a lot easier for people to attend if they don’t live in Australia. On the whole, a destination wedding is good news for your big day and your wallet. Here are a couple of monetary reasons why opting for a destination wedding is a good idea:

• You can jump-start your honeymoon. If you’re going to travel for your honeymoon, you can pick a convenient spot for the wedding to save big on airfares.
• You can work the exchange rates and pick cheaper countries. Travel expenses are just a fraction of the total expenses for a wedding, so picking a place that’s renowned for great times at low prices, like many destinations throughout Asia, or somewhere that has favourable exchange rates, can be more than enough to pay for a few flights.
• You can get the wedding you really want. Want a beachside wedding, but can only find exorbitant venues? Escape overseas to sidestep the problem and pick a place that has exactly what you want.

• You can do it whenever you want. There’s definitely a peak season for weddings, and it’s not the dead of winter. Busy times mean higher prices for almost everything, from catering to venues to wedding planners. By heading overseas, you can have a wedding at any time of year without paying the inflated prices.
• You can also travel Australia to get a destination wedding for less. There’s no shortage of great destinations in Australia, so you can get a bit of everything by travelling more locally.

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