Destination Weddings
Keep Guest List Down
Cameron Bradley had
always dreamed of a big
church wedding. She
wanted a couple hundred
guests and a reception
at a country club with a
band.
But when the economy
tanked, and her fiance's
salary was cut, she knew
they couldn't afford
that kind of wedding. So
they threw out tradition
and opted for a
"destination" wedding in
Costa Rica.
"Cost is always an
issue, and both of our
jobs are experiencing
some cutbacks," said
Bradley of Washington,
N.C.
Destination weddings, in
exotic locales, have
been increasingly
popular in recent years.
But many couples are now
discovering that they
can, surprisingly, be
cheaper - if you go
against tradition and
shop for good deals.
"For sure, destination
weddings are becoming
more attractive due to
the declining economy,"
said Quentin Carmichael,
marketing and sales
manager for the website
DestinationWeddings,
which had an almost 10
per cent increase in
weddings under deposit
this year compared to
the same time last year.
"It's more affordable
than having a
traditional wedding."
That may be hard to
believe, but the big
savings comes in
trimming the guest list.
The average number of
guests attending a
destination wedding is
47, compared to 165 for
a traditional wedding,
according to Michelle
Panzer, publicist for
Brides Magazine.
Most couples only pay
for themselves to travel
to the destination. That
means guests must shell
out their own money if
they want to come, a
sure way to keep the
guest list small.
While the average cost
of a wedding in the
United States is
$27,852, according to
Brides Magazine,
Carmichael said most
couples spend less than
$10,000 for a
destination wedding,
with a reception at
home.
Most destination wedding
packages are sold by
U.S. companies, meaning
couples aren't subject
to fluctuations in
foreign currency.
Vendors at the
destination often put
their prices in U.S.
dollars as well.
The top destination
wedding spot is Mexico,
with its numerous
all-inclusive resorts,
followed by Jamaica,
Dominican Republic,
Hawaii and the Bahamas,
Carmichael said.
(Hawaiian wedding
planners, however,
report a sharp decline
in their business there
this year.)
Las Vegas, known for its
cheap, quickie weddings,
doesn't seem to be
feeling the economic
pinch at its high-end
wedding locations. Many
guests find it easy and
affordable to take a
weekend trip to Vegas.
"We're definitely seeing
an increase in
weddings," said Maria
Hirt, spokeswoman for
the Four Seasons hotel
in Las Vegas. She said
couples are actually
spending about 25 per
cent more than last
year.
Lisa Light, a New York
wedding planner, has co-ordinated
million-dollar weddings
for Wall Street clients,
and even with the yo-yo
stock market, says she
is still booking
weddings.
"I think that people are
going to be looking more
for the smaller,
intimate wedding because
they get the honeymoon
and the wedding," said
Light, author of
"Destination Bride"
(North Light Books,
2005). "You book a room
for five nights; the
wedding is free. There
are a lot of really
great deals out there."
Some couples wouldn't
think of not marrying
near home, however. So
they're cutting guest
lists, avoiding pricey
Saturday ceremonies,
shopping for bargains
and opting for
do-it-yourself
decorations and hairdos.
It took Audrey Belliard,
26, longer than she
thought to find a job in
New York City, and it
doesn't pay as much as
she would like. She is
growing her own flowers,
checking out discounted
dresses, making
decorations and asking
for discounts for her
July wedding in her
native France.
"We don't want to look
cheap, but we want to be
really wise as far as
how we spend that
money," she said.
Kristeen Nelson figured
she'd invite 125 guests
to her wedding and spend
$25,000. Then the costs
just kept racking up,
and soon she and her
fiance were up to
$40,000. They had to
look at cutting the
guest list after Nelson,
30, of Sherman Oaks,
Calif., quit her job
over the summer and was
unemployed for two
months.
They ended up inviting
81 guests to their
wedding in November and
decided to marry at
someone's house. For the
honeymoon, she said, "We
originally wanted to go
to Italy. Now we're
going to Aspen for three
days and then Mexico for
five."
Bradley, 38, married on
an August Monday in
Costa Rica while a
volcano exploded in the
background during the
vow exchange. Instead of
a rehearsal dinner, the
bride and her sister got
massages. And in lieu of
a reception, she and her
husband dined in a
bungalow on the edge of
a rainforest.
"There was just no way
we could have afforded
to have the kind of
wedding that I dreamed
of having," she said.
"But this was so much
more. It turned out I
had a new dream; it was
just better."
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