11-12 months before your big day
At this point, you should have decided on the destination, have a good idea of your budget, and reached out to us to help you start planning. The sooner you can bring us on board the better as we have expert advice to assist some of the important planning decisions ahead.
You also need to decide on a specific wedding location as soon as possible for several reasons: you need to book early (especially for popular destination wedding sites), you need to know the location for some of your planning decisions (such as the guest list), and you will want to pass on this location information to your invited guests.
Also, you want to decide on and talk to your wedding party members so they have plenty of time to prepare, too.
10 months before your big day
Start looking for wedding attire. Once you know specifically where you are getting married you can make sure the wedding dress and other clothing is appropriate. For example, a long flowing train and a sandy beach may not be a great combination. Likewise, white flip-flops and a bikini won’t match the tone of a more formal indoor wedding even in a tropical paradise.
You want to start shopping early because it may take you a while to find exactly what you want. Plus, your clothes may need alterations. Keep in mind that your dress will be traveling with you (as will the attire you choose for the rest of the wedding party) so keep things simple.
Additionally, you should have put together a guest list at this point. Remember the point of a destination wedding is to keep the event informal and intimate so don’t feel the need to invite everyone your families know. You can always have a large reception for everyone else when you return if you feel bad about leaving anyone out.
6-9 months before your big day
Here’s where the planning kicks into high gear. During this critical three month stage, you need to be working closely with your wedding planner to make important choices for your special day. Depending on your location and package, most of the elements may be included, but there will be decisions to be made and other vendors booked including:
- Choosing floral arrangements
- Hiring musicians for the ceremony and/or reception
- Picking a caterer and/or a menu (if you will be serving food afterward)
- Selecting a wedding cake
- Hiring a photographer and/or videographer (we suggest you work with your planner to hire these professionals locally, so trust your wedding planner to find someone qualified)
In addition, you need to choose and purchase your wedding stationery as early as you can during this period, particularly the save the date cards. Those need to be mailed to potential guests 6 to 8 months before the wedding.
Also, this is a good time to finalise all of the paperwork and documents you need, including securing your passport and marriage licence from the location. You may also want to check with your local government to see if you need to do anything special to have the foreign wedding recognized by your home country. We will advise you of the requirements.
These steps are all very important to complete early, at least before you get into the last few months before the wedding which will be the focus of Part 2.
Want to read what happens closer to the day? Click below to read part two!
