How to plan a successful destination wedding.

Here is the “how to” to make it happen.  First, set a budget.  Second, determine what are your expectations and visions are.  Third, find a wedding planner/wedding service company that will help pull everything together for you as planning a destination wedding should be an enjoyable and stress-free experience from start to finish.

So what can a destination wedding company do for you?  Destination wedding planning is a service that is desperately needed by wedding couples.  If couples were planning a wedding at home, they would already know which caterer to use, the perfect venue for it to take place at, and which florist and baker to use. However when planning a destination wedding, you need someone that knows all of those things for you, has options for your consideration, and can guide you.

If you are considering a destination wedding, here are some key elements in selecting the wedding planning company for you:

1. Flexibility.

Packages are great but customization is better. Every bride is different and their needs are unique so whether you are planning a large destination wedding a year in advance or an intimate elopement in just two weeks, a wedding planning company needs to be a chameleon and adjust to what preferences and priorities that you have. A question to ask:  are you able to pick and choose what you need and then make adjustments? There is not one bride that wants to be boxed in or made to feel that they should only have the choice of what is behind door number one, two or three for their big day.

We have many clients that are bringing some of their own services with them such as their own minister from home or a family member that wants to help out in another way so it is really fortuatous to find someone that will give you that ability to “tweak” things to suit your needs and wants.

When picking your destination wedding company, consider if flexibility will be important for you.

2. Easy to reach…and fast.

We admit it, we are all a bit impatient but why not? Our world moves quickly and we run right along with it during our daily life so we like our information to move at that same pace. With your destination wedding planning, what options are there for communication?  Are you able to pick up the phone speak to someone and get a response besides just by email? Even though wedding planning is a process that takes time as your planner is researching ideas, meeting with vendors, gathering pricing, and sending you suggestions, are they easily reachable in the meantime or is your only communication with them via email? Is this a full-time job or a part-time hobby?

Just recently we had a couple contact our business Facebook page at 10pm on a Saturday night and they were able to get some quick answers right away which was nice for them as they had the weekend together and was trying to make decisions.

No one wants to feel like another face in the crowd or in a long line for information so accessibility can be profound in deciding who to work with.

3. Within your price range and expectations.

It is important to have a budget no matter what the size of your event is. For a wedding company, it is important that they can offer ideas and suggestions to help keep you within the budget that you have set along with creating what you have envisioned.

In our company, one of the first things we do is ask is what are your high priorities for your event and which items fall lower on the totem pole? One bride may find that a violin/cello duo for her ceremony was both a perfect option and perfect price yet another preferred to walk to the sound of waves. Both of those weddings would be exactly what each of them wanted so it is key to find someone understands your expectations and provide you excellent service and equally excellent pricing.

4. Organized.

A wedding planning company has to have extreme attention to detail and great organizational skills in their wheelhouse. As wedding planners, we know you are busy with everything else going on in your life so we need to be there for you to let you know when decisions should to be made, what are available options, provide you suggestions with advice and, all the while, keep you de-stressed during this journey. This cannot be done if said planner is not an organized person. When you call in the middle of the day, your destination wedding company should be able to pull up your information in seconds, be fully read in on your event and be able to have an informative conversation with you making the most of your time.  They should be able to put you at ease and feeling confident instead of leaving you frustrated and feeling like you have taken five steps backwards.

5. Go-getter and people person.

It is natural to want to work with people that are easy to talk to and this is a quality you want with your destination wedding company. This is there a happy person on the other line when you call? Are they quick to seek out and provide you information for your review? Do they go above and beyond to know and help you or do you feel more like a transaction or that you are bothering them? Can you tell that the company is interested in you no matter what size event you have?

In the wedding industry being a go-getter and a people person is a non-negotiable characteristic that we all must have. You are trusting us to take care of everything.  We need to be able to elegantly handle unruly guests, keep a wedding party happy and running on time, easily take care of any wedding emergencies and ensure that you, your guests and your vendors enjoy the success of the evening.

We read of a bride who placed a review for a company stating that her prospective planner had not listened to her requests, took a long time to respond to her and, when the bride took issue with that, they told her that they did not “click” with her — the bride found another company.

6. A true professional.

As in your own business career, you expect and look for professionalism from a company that you are hiring. A destination wedding planning company should exhibit high professional standards especially as you are trusting this person with the details of one of the most important days of your life.  This requires honesty and integrity as well as a level of decorum and class.

Couples want to know who they are working with during their planning so it is important that you can find that information clearly on the website such as an “about us” page that shows you who you are working with and, even better, their background in their business. Is there a face and a brand to the company or is it just a mysterious XYZ company that is taking care of you and your event?

7. Support crew.

In business, we need a great team to be successful and you should have the same with a top notch wedding planning team. Most practically, this way if someone is ill and you need to discuss details of your event, you have someone more than capable to assist you so that you do not have to wait a week for an update on your event, but also a harmonious, goal-oriented company is going to make for better results for all involved.

It is instrumental how a company treats everyone they work with including their team and other vendors.  Do vendors like and respect them? Is everyone from the set
up crew to the baker delivering the cake happy and smiling and providing great service?

For us it has always been important that our team feels like one and feels personally invested in each of our events.  We consider them teammates and our crew but never just “staff”. The word staff in the wedding business sounds cold, ambivalent and leads you to believe that everything relies on just one person which is a recipe for disaster.

8. Accreditation, business associations and awards.

We want to know that who we are working with is legitimate.  They should be a staple in the local wedding industry and there are associations that can help you to find an established business that you can trust with your event. For example, accreditation with a bridal program such as Association of Bridal Consultants and connections with wedding planning sites such as The Knot, WeddingWire, and Martha Stewart Weddings.  Another would be accreditation the Better Business Bureau and membership with a chamber or business networking group can show that a business is interested in growth and development. Then lastly, working with an award-winning company gives a client the knowledge that they are working with an established destination wedding business that is top in their industry.

9. Reviews.

Reviews from past clients are an excellent data-gathering tool.  Websites such as http://www.theknot.com and http://www.weddingwire.com are great places for research on wedding planning companies. Something else to keep in mind is what other businesses think of them. Venues want their clients to have the best experience possible.  When researching, do multiple venues recommend or know of a particular destination wedding company? Are they on their vendor list? This will tell you that not only has the venue worked with them on numerous occasions but that the events were successful ones for both the venue and their shared client and that they feel confident to work with them again.

Each of these nine elements are important in destination wedding planning. This will help ensure that the memories of your wedding day are what you have envisioned and let you realize with confidence that it is completely attainable.

Stacy Green, pbc
Destination wedding planner
www.foreveridoweddings.com
www.facebook.com/ForeverIDoWeddings