Picking a Destination Wedding Location

If you already know that you want a destination wedding, you might question where the best location is. Picking where you want to have your destination wedding depends on several factors including your vision, your budget, and your guests. 

When we were planning our destination wedding, we always knew that we wanted to have a beach wedding, with our toes in the sand and partying into the night underneath the stars with the waves rolling in. We couldn't think of anything more romantic! 

While a beach destination is probably one of the most popular destinations, it's definitely not the only one. There are destinations for people who love the country, the mountains, or large cities, too. Starting with what your wedding vision is the most important. 

Once you have your wedding vision in mind, the next two important things to know is: (1) what is your wedding budget; and (2) what is the amount that your guests will be able to spend to come to your wedding (and how many guests will likely come)? These will be important as you start your research to find the best venue for your wedding. 

Even knowing that we wanted a beach wedding, our possibilities were endless: Mexico, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Jamaica... well, the list goes on. And we researched them all. Ultimately, the decision was made that our wedding vision included an affordable, large all inclusive resort for our guests to really enjoy their vacations because we didn't want to end up at a small, boutique hotel that couldn't accommodate as many guests as we wished to invite (despite us wanting to keep it intimate). That quickly narrowed our list down to Cancun and Punta Cana. From there, we decided that Punta Cana was the one destination that both we and a majority of our guests had never been to and was consistently rated better in terms of beaches than Mexico (which was important to us). That's how we settled on Punta Cana for our own wedding.

When planning your wedding, ask yourself:
(1) What is my wedding vision?
(2) What is my budget?
(3) How many guests are coming and how much can they spend?

Please comment below - what is your wedding vision and dream destination wedding location?

<3, S