Photo: Dan Petrovice
Planning a wedding is hard work. From all the logistics and details to the budget to family drama, it’s a lot to handle all at once — especially when you’d much rather be focusing on how happy you are to have found the person you’ll spend your life with! Add in a few hundred miles of distance between you and your wedding venue, and it can get even more complicated. After all, how can you be sure everything you want is going to actually happen on your wedding day? We asked our experts for a few destination wedding tips brides and grooms should really keep in mind.
When it comes to planning your destination wedding, communication is key. While you could meet with a local vendor in person to review design boards, play with color swatches, and browse albums of their past work, all of that is much harder to do over the phone or in an email. Use visual tools, whether it’s Pinterest, Google Drive, or more traditional PDFs and Word documents, to try to illustrate your vision in addition to describing it in words. If you’re using documents that don’t update in real time (like a Google Doc), include the date in the name of the file or at the top of the document so you’ll know who is looking at the most recent version. This will help keep your changes in sequential order and ensure your vendors are working from your newest updates instead of the design board from a few weeks ago.
If you’re having phone meetings, make sure you’re focused! Instead of taking calls in the car, set aside a time when you’ve got your full attention on the wedding, so you can take notes on what you’re discussing, as well as make sure you don’t miss something your vendors are thinking about because you’re trying to find your next turn. Speaking of notes, once you’re off the phone, type up and email the notes to the vendor in question as a recap of your call. This way the two of you can clarify anything that remained undecided and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Most importantly, hire vendors you trust. Whether it’s a recommendation from your planner, your venue’s favorite baker, or a photographer your florist adores, use the knowledge of your team to help crowdsource other vendors that will all work well together and deliver a fabulous final product. Do your research, from browsing their galleries to chatting with recent clients for an honest review of their services, so you know what you’re getting. A well-qualified and trustworthy vendor will both deliver a great product and be better equipped to understand and execute your vision. And, you’ll trust that they do great work, so you’ll know that even the details you don’t itemize will be expertly taken care of on your wedding day.
See more: 10 Things to Know Before Planning a Destination Wedding