Marrying Far Away…

“Once upon a time, set ontop of the hills of the Hobbits Shire far far away, was a wedding ceremony…”

Hola mi amigos!¿ 😀

How was your weekend? C’mon, i had you confused for a second. Lol! I will be putting up two posts. I had noticed a particular colour trend for almost 3 months and I finally decided to do a post on it. The colour is Mint Green. Yep, that is the trending colour for this summer. Remember the Pantone® colour for 2013 is Emerald Green, so we are still in line. However, I diagress. This week’s post is for my brides who are on tight and heavily guarded budget. Lol! I bring to you, (drum roll, and trumpets sound)…Destination Wedding!

Until recently, anytime I had heard someone mention destination wedding, my first thought was, the person most be seriously loaded. Biased thinking right? Se la vie. 😉  

I have a friend who had mentioned to me a while ago that she wanted to have a destination wedding. I asked why, and she said to avoid the hassle of unknown guests and family members and most of all to cut costs. I laughed, however I am seeing her point. I read an article online from a Nigeria couple who had a destination wedding in the South of France (no it was not Stephanie Okereke and Linus Idahosa’s wedding), and it changed my point of view about DW’s. So, in this post, I am going to re-highlight the points and add my own reasoning logic for you to embrace the idea of DW’s.  

Some of you may ask the large invisible white elephant question, isn’t it expensive? Well, here is answer I believe any professional planner would say to satisfy any sceptics, “…If well planned, it will end up being less expensive, because you will make plans for what you need and only those you have budgeted for…”. I can not stress this enough to both my clients and friends who complain about them being on a tight budget, CUT DOWN ON YOUR GUEST SIZE!

Luckily, this is one of the many advantages of DW’s, it helps with downsizing your guests, and both you and your groom can careful pick guests that are of significance nd importance. With this, you won’t have the usual “mo gbo mo branch” crowd that show up uninvited to your wedding, this includes unknown and uninvited family members, the village community counsel of elders/chieves, either parents church/nasfat group/club members, who all end up coming with their own “supporters club,” or the displacement of the bridal party and the couples friends/colleagues from their reserved seating (another blog post for another day, hehehe), and let’s not forget the usual yet embarrassing hulla-ba-loo for wedding souvenirs. Oi!  

Advantages of a Destination Wedding  

1. They’re Virtually Stress-Free. How?

Hotels, Resorts and Sea Cruise lines around the world normally have full-time wedding coordinators on staff, who are also familiar with that particular country’s marriage license requirements. If you’re not getting married at a resort, you can hire a wedding planner in that locale who specializes in destination weddings, or you could contact your own wedding planner to start early planning arrangements with your travel agent and the hotel’s in-house wedding planner.

2. Family Drama Denied!

All forms scene-stealing family drama will be avoided. This includes a very large get-together of extended families and various business associates. Predictably, each set of parents have their own ideas. One set would like the wedding to be held in a prominent part of the city or location of residence because most of their guests, or social circle are residents in the area. This would a great avenue for them to show off to their friends and business associates. On the other hand, the other set of parents may have problems with the expense of a high society, over elaborate, typical Nigerian wedding. Most of the time, the parents tend to forget that the event is, first and foremost, about the two people getting married! This usually occurs when a certain family seems more financially buoyant than the other then they want to take control and make all the decisions, paying no attention to what the couple desire for their wedding. With a destination wedding, you the couple are in charge and you set the rules to your desires in your own chosen terrority. A bride commented on DW’s saying “…it would be nice to have both parent’s anecdotes families in good rapport, but what’s the point if they fight and snigger over trivial things about the our wedding?” – from The Knot.

3. Pay Less, Stress Less for Fun!

“The affordability of a destination wedding has many couples speeding off to the airport faster than you can say ‘I do.’ For instance, a couple can fly to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica, get married, and stay for a deluxe weeklong honeymoon for a few thousand dollars, including lodging, meals, drinks, and airfare.” – from The Knot.

PS>> I did a small calculation of the figures they give in the article and then i converted it to naira for you to understand it better. An example; a wedding of  150 guests wedding may (emphasis on the word MAY. I didn’t say it WILL, I said MAY) cost about  N 3.7m to which it can easily skyrocket to more than N 6.5m if your guest size increases — plus a few extra hundred thousands of Naira for a honeymoon. Do a comparison of costs for a wedding in your locale or aboard (aboard meaning outside of your country, FYI: Ghana is aboard).

To help ease the financial burden, many couples should  opt to travel to a place where they can havee their dream wedding, have their honeymoon, and still have some money left over to start their new lives together.  Hotels and Holiday Resorts offer great discounts for early and large group bookings. So you can speak with a travel agent to help with arrangements on special discount packages for your guests on airfares, transportation and hotel bookings too!

PS>> You don’t pay for your guests airfares, hotel accommodation or feedings. However, you both can decide on whom you both can afford to pay half if their travel expenses for.

4. You Are In Charge!  

That’s right! You call the shots. Many formal/traditional weddings mean a lot for some couples, some may link them to the traditions and culture, some others want the experience to be different and unique, with a ceremony and location that reflect their individualism, and style.

LOCATION! LOCATION!! LOCATION!!!
Early selections of your dream wedding location saves you both time, money and unneceassary expenses while planning. There are many places on this beautiful world has to offer for your unique wedding, let’s start with the common and yet popular locations: Dubai (like Tuface and Anne), The Caribbean Islands, France (like Stephanie and Linus, to me whose wedding set a bar for Nigerian celebritity weddings. Tiwa Savage my eyes are waiting for yours), Italy, Spain, UK and US. For those who do not want to be too far from home, here are some African countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, Seyechelles, Mozambique, South Africa, Morocco, and The Gambia.

Then for those who want the Nigerian experience, there’s, Lagos (Lekki town after the New Lagos Free Trade Zone, Akodo La Campainge Tropicana, Whispering Psalms Badagary, Tarqwa Bay, any of the private beach houses on Ilaje), Ogun State (Abeokuta), Oyo (Ibadan), Ondo, Cross Rivers (Calabar, Tinapa, Obudu Hills), Akwa Ibom (Uyo, Eket), Delta State (Warri, Asaba), Edo (Benin), Rivers State (Port-Harcourt, Bonny Island) etc. You can ask a travel agent or the local tourist board for a state, or your wedding planner, for information, brochures listing ceremony sites, Hotels, Resorts or Sea Cruise-liners in various International countries and Nigerian States. Recently, governments have began working to ease restrictions and attract to-be-weds.If you’re not getting married at a resort, you can hire a stateside wedding planner who specializes in destination weddings, contact a wedding planner in the town you plan to wed, or start early and do it yourself. Either way, you won’t have to plan an elaborate reception. Best of all? You make the rules! Feel free to wear white bed sheets, a sundress, or that hot pink maxi dress you’ve haf you eye on, or you both can wear shorts (even a bikini!), or go barefoot, or you both can go nude! ROFL!! Just kidding. The simple truth is if you have dreamt it, then you can do it.  

5. It’s Simply Perfect!

It is great for “been-there-done-that” couples who are older, renewal of vow, or getting married again, and choose a destination wedding. This is because DW’s are simple, quiet and private. Either the bride and/or groom have done the Naija o wan bé – up scale society wedding before, or they both just want something quieter, less expensive, and with hassle this time around, or they may also just want to be someplace anonymous, without the watchful eyes and whispers of the home crowd.

6. It’s a Once-in-a-Lifetime Vaycay  

At a typical Nigerian wedding, both you and your groom are on the go, meeting, greeting, thanking whomever that person is, kneeling, prosrating, and non stop smiling, wondering when will this all end. However, for destination weddings you are on vacation time throughout. As expected, you will be required to arrive a few days early (2-3days early), to fill out all the important and necessary paperwork, so that by the time your wedding day arrives, you’ve had days of relaxing fun, and sight seeing with your groom, family, and friends.This may just be the opportunity to spend a no-rush, quality playtime with family, and far-flung friends.

PS>> Before you make up mind completely about having a Destination Wedding, you and your groom should sit and discuss it between yourselves. Write out all the pros and cons and weight it. Don’t involve a third party just yet, unless you are both certain of your choice.

Here is a to do list I got from an article:

1. Pick out a destination with your partner so you can start to make plans.

2. The Weather Factor. It is important to know what the weather would be like at your desired destination spot at the time you want to get married. For instance, you don’t want to be saying I do during a monsoon or rainy season.

3. Prepare a realistic budget. Make adequate research on prices for accommodation, food & beverages, travel, cakes, musicians, photographers and other services that you may need. Because you will be going out of your comfort zone.

4. Arrange travel plans. Negotiate a good travel package for your guests with a reputable travel agency. Do not forget to include all important information such as names of your guest, hotel plans. If possible drop one of you invites with the agency.

5. Travel Insurance. Having a good insurance is very important. A good insurance policy will cover you for injury, medical assistance and also the in case of loss of property. It gives you the needed peace of mind.

Click here for more information about the above to do list article.            

What more can I say? You can consult with your wedding planner or a wedding planner who specializes in Destination Weddings. They would be able to help you in making the necessary enquiries for your needs.

So, enjoy!

SOURCES: Google, Pinterest, The Knot, Our Wedding Story Nigeria

♥ J!

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