To think I can plan a destination wedding for under 15K? Advice/ tips needed.

[tigerlilt]

Looking to get married in summer 2028, currently my top choices are greek islands, mallorca but would be open to other suggestions! As long as it’s warm, pretty and feels like a holiday i’m in! Set on a destination wedding as prices in the UK are EXTORTIONATE, want a higher guarantee of sun and it means we don’t have to invite anyone we don’t want to!
Would probably be about 50 guests and we have a budget of £15,000.

Am I delusional or is it possible to plan a beautiful wedding abroad for this price? I’m thinking we could save money by starting at around 4pm and therefore only having to serve food once?! DP only request is that there is an open bar for a portion of the night.

So I ask, has anyone had a wedding abroad and if so, what did it cost? where was it? any tips or tricks?! and any suggestions for specific destinations such as planners/ photographers/ music ect?!

I’ve seen packages such as Ionian weddings but i’m just not sure this is the most cost effective way of doing it!

Any advice welcome, thankyou.

Is this including hotel and flights?

No. We would treat that part as our summer holiday so would be separate- the 15k is purely for the wedding itself 😊

Apart from the open bar, one meal and the venue, what else do you anticipate paying for?

My tip would be not to expect anyone to use their hard earned money or precious annual leave to come to your destination wedding that’s keeping costs down for you (and nobody else). By all means go ahead and do it but don’t be offended if people don’t come

I’m not sure but i’m guessing decor, music, photography, hair and makeup, dj ect… i’ve never planned a wedding before so really just looking for some advice.

All the packages i’ve seen come in at slightly more for our number of guests, I guess i’m not exactly sure myself what that includes!

Do think carefully about this as you are transferring a lot of costs on to your guests. Each couple has to pay travel and hotel cost plus probably use annual leave. So £1000 plus.

You can do lovely weddings here for a budget if you make good choices. Like limiting the ‘free’ bar to beer and wine or doing your own flowers, hair, make up and choosing a simpler venue and decorating it yourself.

It wouldn’t be expected and we wouldn’t be offended at all. Although I will say it’s not uncommon amongst our friends and family to have weddings abroad, we have spent lots of money ourselves attending them! I guess that just helps to keep numbers down even more if people don’t come.

Can you have less people or is 50 non negotiable.
Who will pay flights
I got married in Cyprus just us 2 and had party when re turnef
You am book a wedding planner in the country you get married they will sort everything, hair makeup, meal flowers photos and any extras you want.

So you're expecting guests to book time off work and pay for hotel, flights etc and you're thinking of only providing food once by starting the wedding at 4pm? Expect a very small guest list.

I appreciate this but we definitely want to do it abroad; as previously mentioned it’s common within people we know and will not be offended at all if people don’t come. It’s not just about keeping costs down, i’ve always dreamt of getting married by the beach/ in a hot country and it’s really what we want.

I agree with hermioneweasley. I don’t think you’ll get the number of guests you’re thinking. It’s a big ask for them to spend their annual leave and a large sum of money to attend.

Destination weddings are often cheaper for the bride and groom due to the extortionate costs passed onto guests.

Are you sure you have 50 people who will pay for flights, accommodation, food for their entire trip (apart from one meal and drinks for a portion of the evening), gifts, special outfits, etc? If they can't/ won't do this, considering that no-one will travel for just the day, how would you feel if they decline to attend?

Have you considered time of year such as term-time if there are school aged children involved? Or is it to be child-free?

But isn't the point to celebrate with people? If it's only about you and your partner why not elope?

The problem with starting at 4pm to save yourselves money is that when people have flown out you really ought to be showing them a good time for the whole weekend.

You could easily have a fantastic wedding in the UK for that budget, if you plan carefully and spend on the important things (i.e. good food and an open bar - nobody cares about anything else).

I think if you want a destination wedding you invite only a small number of your very closest. It's expensive and it takes leave.

50 is a big wedding and high on expectation for others coughing up for it. That's going to upset people.

I don't think weddings abroad are a bad thing but you risk upsetting people in different ways by doing them.

Think carefully about the implications.

If I'd had to pay for a holiday in order to attend someone's wedding, I'd expect to be fed more than once and I'd be pretty pissed off at having to pay for my own drinks.

What about eloping abroad just the two of you then throwing a big party when you come home? That way you can spend a lot of your budget on a fancy holiday where you get married/ have your honeymoon then use the remaining money from your budget to throw a party in a local venue when you get back.

lake Garda weddings are really good and very reasonably priced

All that said, I am planning a destination wedding for a relative, and budget is around 20-25k for 100 people (open bar, live band, food all day, beach picnic the day before etc). You can do it grandly on your budget if you DIY the planning instead of going through packages, but being stingy will not go down well with people who have travelled.

It all depends who and what youre paying for, is it both sets parents both set GPs, 6 bridesmaids, 6 ushers, Bride & Groom or everyone pays their own flights and accommodation? Who are you dressing?

If you're anticipating that everyone pays for their own flights and accomodation themselves; anticipate some declines. Some people, no matter how close dont want to use their leave for your event.

My cousin married in Cyprus, some used it as their annual holiday but it was very costly for attendees, triple what they would have paid for a normal holiday - think they paid about 8k for the wedding, but they didnt have a large wedding party, they didnt pay for others flights and accommodation. It all depends what youre paying for and who youre inviting..

All weddings i’ve attended abroad have started at 4/5pm due to heat, we would be paying for an open bar and a large meal for guests which is what I have experienced as a guest.

It seems that most on here do not think destination weddings are the norm, can I ask that this thread is used for giving advice rather that criticising our idea, as we are set on a destination wedding and have discussed it with friends/ family.

I had a £15k wedding in the UK. We chose a venue that worked for both my husband's family and my family. There were reception drinks, a hot meal, wedding cake and wine, and an evening buffet with the disco. It was on a Saturday, it started mid afternoon, and no one had to pay for overnight accommodation or take annual leave. We wanted our guests to have a good time and to not have to spend a fortune to come and celebrate with us.

Also can I add that about 30 of the guests are close family members…. we are not expecting 50 friends to come.

People are trying to say that you probably won't get the numbers you hope for if you're only providing 1 meal.

So it's reasonable to expect close family members to shell out hundreds/possibly thousands so you can have a half-day instagram worthy wedding for as little money as possible? Doesn't seem very familial to me.

This, I'm afraid. Last destination wedding I went to was quite expensive to reach, accommodation was so-so, but B&G provided dinner the night before the wedding (nice BBQ), breakfast the day of for those staying 'on site', wedding meal, evening buffet, and breakfast the next day. Oh and open bar the night before and the night of wedding.
That is obviously very generous but I wouldn't have chosen to go to that destination at that time of year otherwise so everything was a big extra expense for me, and the lovely food and drinks did help!