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.

But people stupidly are incapable of saying no even if they can't afford it because they feel obliged. That's the problem.

I don't think it's fair to put people in this position at all. Have these discussions openly and honestly with the people you want to invite before deciding on the destination for the wedding.

What you don't want is a situation where someone you really want to be there, can't fly or get the necessary time off or puts themselves into massive debt even if they want to come.

And FWIW I got married abroad.

Do you really want to be taking your own child to a hot country so you can get married? Who will look after them?
I would suggest having a quiet wedding before the DC is born, for the legal protection it gives you as much as anything. Then have a destination do afterwards.
Personally I hate travelling for weddings. Having to remember to pack everything (DH forgot his cufflinks for one and spent the morning rushing around a strange city looking for replacements); strange beds; the travel itself.
Its worse if its just for the image and neither the bride or groom has any particular connection to the place. (Once got invited to a wedding in Sheffield. The bride and groom lived in Scotland !). The best wedding? Held at our local church and was able to walk to it followed by the reception in the local Royal British Legion and home to my own bed afterwards !

Save it for what? Why do they need to have a wedding they don’t want just to ‘save’? Save for what?

Why on earth did they get married in Sheffield?! No disrespect to the lovely people there, just wondering!

House deposit?
Pay off mortgage earlier?
Pensions?
Savings for children?

If I’ve spent my own money and used up
annual leave to go abroad to somewhere I wouldn’t have chosen, you’d better feed me more than once. And make it a whole day.

I absolutely love the idea of this! i’ve been looking at seafood restaurant options!

Me to! this year we’re going abroad for a wedding which we’re paying for flights/accomodation/car ect, and i’m also going abroad for the hen do for 2 nights; It’s going to use up my savings for this year but I didn’t even think twice about it- it’s for a friend and I wouldn’t want to miss it!! but everyone is different I suppose.

Yea, everyone is different. It's absolutely fine. The cost and details of travel, including transfers etc need to be made clear beforehand, and people can made decisions accordingly. I don't like it when people act as if they're doing you a favour ("it'll be an amazing holiday!"), so as long as guests know what costs are involved, it's all good.

I mean… I think it’s going to depend on what sort of wedding you’re wanting to have but overall I’d say YABVU.

That works about £300/guest, but this isn’t even considering whatever else you’re meaning to do - decorations, etc.

I’d say it’s possible but a wedding on a summer destination for 15k nowadays is a bit on the delulu side. DP and I were looking up in my home country (also a summer spot) and wedding venues were not cheap at all. It really depends on what you want to do.

I’d do it but maybe on a smaller, rural location and very lowkey.

Someone upthread recommended Kenya or Sri Lanka. They sound like absolutely incredible destinations, but I do wonder what the cost of flights would be?

We have a house and are capable of paying our mortgage even with the wedding and both work for the public services therefore have good pensions so it really isn’t putting us out too much. I understand spending money on a wedding isn’t for everyone, but I truly think for most it is a day they dream of from a little girl, and it’s just a given that it’s going to be a big expense!

You wouldn’t want a whole day in the heat. There is a reason weddings in Greece and Cyprus aren’t before 5pm. We have one in July and the church is 6pm. Any earlier we’d melt.

We had a ‘destination’ wedding 15 years ago, but dh and I did not live near either of our families at the time, so of people wanted to come to us it would’ve meant a flight anyway so we had it in another country on the Med. Everyone that was invited came (around 80 people). We got married in a church and then reception in a castle. We put on a meal the night before and then all food and drink on the day, plus transport to get people back to their hotel afterwards. It cost about 15k not including my dress, suits, rings and paperwork.

@RhododendronFlowers a family friend offered them the use of their small manor house for the reception free (they still had to provide music and catering). There was no accommodation for guests so we still had to drive or get taxis.

How do we know they haven't done all that? Is that how other people live? Never doing the one thing they really want to do because the money could go towards something sensible so instead they just ‘settle’ regardless of if they actually need to? No thanks!

I went to Zante last year and there was a beautiful and inexpensive restaurant that catered for wedding and birthdays etc. The seating was all outside and almost in the sea and had the most amazing sunsets.
Something like that would work if you was open to getting away from a traditional hotel type of wedding and would be so much cheaper.

Yes, I don't think you should spring surprise expenses on guests!

this sounds amazing and exactly what I want, a party by the beach rather than a formal wedding! I don’t suppose you remember the name or location?

this! my parents are a flight and a long drive away anyway and DPs family are all on the other side of the country! It would actually be my cb quicker for them to get to greece than to where we live!😂

This may be of use @tigerlilt 👰 🌸

insta account too (you'll have to log in to have a peep)

; sp.

We went to a wedding of my niece at Lindos, Rhodes in August 2023 and all guests stayed at an all inclusive. However the wedding was at a litttle tavena in a small cove a short drive away. I thought it was wonderful. We had a family meal together the day after the wedding at one of the all inclusive restaurants that had to be booked. Some of these posts are miserable. It will be amazing to get married in the sunshine.

Amboula restaurant, Zante. I just looked at the website and they do about 20 weddings a year for up to 30 people. So it may be too small for you but if you join some forums (if you google Amboula restaurant Zante weddings quite a few wedding forums etc come up) other people could suggest similar but bigger.

Each to their own! I couldn’t think of anything worse than a big wedding, hence it was just the two us and cost less than $100. That was pretty much my perfect wedding abroad (although the road trip it was part of was a bit more costly).

If destination weddings are common within your circle/family and you have been to them why not ask them for help / advice. They will be able to tell you what worked/didn’t work, what was value for money, hidden costs you might not have realised yet.