Destination wedding cost?

We had a destination wedding with 7 guests (ALL family, with the exception of my best friend and her husband who are practically family). We got married in Hawaii in 2010, and this is what we spent.

We went to Hawaii for 12 days/11 nights. The flight plus hotel was either $650 or $750, I can't remember now. Everyone else did as well, so our honeymoon was more like a family vacation -- and that's exactly what we wanted! Everyone lived in different states than we did, so it was nice. Plus my husband and I lived together for a couple of years before we got married, so the "honeymoon" aspect was kind of lost on us. We were just happy we got such a great deal! If you want to do something like Hawaii, look for package deals and don't stay on the beach. We were across the street from the beach, and the hotel that was on the beach was over $200 a night. Lame. We also didn't upcharge our room or anything. We weren't planning on doing anything there except sleep; we wanted to sightsee! You don't need a fancy room if you're not going to be there. But again, we weren't doing the honeymoon thing, lol. Also, go on the off season; we went in November, and it was cheaper than December. And keep in mind that some states have marriage license requirements; in Hawaii, we had to be there for 48 hours before we could get married. So we got there on a Thursday, I think, and got married the following Tuesday.

The wedding itself (plus all photos and the copyright) was about $350; that included the $100-ish rental of the beach, the minister, and the bridal planner doing all the work for me. I found her online, and she was amazing. We met with her once before the wedding (after we arrived). She took the pictures and video; we opted not to buy the video because we had no interest in it, but it was an option. She also gave me a bouquet to use and got us both fresh leis. We loved the beach we picked, although there were a lot of rocks on the sand, so it wasn't really for swimming (which meant it was more private). We did have some people staying at a nearby hotel take pictures of our wedding, lol.

We bought two dozen cupcakes for about $50 in lieu of cake and picked them up on our way back from the wedding, then met everyone in the hotel lobby, lol. Note: if you're not having them deliver to anywhere, don't tell them it's for a wedding. I made that mistake when I was pricing cakes, and this company wanted to charge me $75 for a 9" by 9" cake - outrageous!

We bought dinner, drinks, and dessert for everyone as our reception; plus tip, I think we paid $500 for 9 people. We didn't have a special menu or anything. We were basically a party of 9. I found the restaurant on Trip Advisor, and it didn't disappoint. Everyone got to order what they wanted. It also happened to be Taco Tuesday, so we got free tacos and beer too. Then we saw the restaurant featured in an episode of Hawaii 5-0, haha!

We didn't pay for anyone else to go. It's a super nice gesture if you do so, especially for your wedding party. I would say normally, people do not have the money to pay for all their guests, so it typically isn't done. But if you can, you're awesome.

I am really into planning vacations, so I did a ton of research before we went. We did make little travel bags for everyone and gave them suntan lotion, a beach bag, a fan (because it might be warm!), and some fake leis. I got it all on Oriental Trading, so it was cheap. We handed them out when everyone arrived. I also made a list of sights that people might be interested in visiting. It was optional, of course, but having attended a destination wedding to Mexico where the bride and groom did NOTHING to facilitate a sense of camaraderie among the guests, I wanted people to have an idea of what to do and how to do it. It ended up that we all went together to various sights, and on the times when we didn't, we broke off into smaller groups.

A lot of people will tell you not to do a destination wedding because of the cost involved to your guests (giving up their vacation time, spending a lot of money), but we personally didn't encounter this issue among our family. Do what is important to you. Feel free to message me if you have other questions!

The easiest way to save money is not have a "reception" when you get back. It won't be an actual wedding reception, because that's whatever happens right after you get married. So it's "just" a married couple throwing a celebration party, which seems really unnecessary. Also, while it's the responsibility of guests, to pay their own way a lot of us who have destination weddings do quietly help out people who can't afford the trip. Canceling your party would give you some extra cash to do this.

As for cheap locations, without knowing where you are, how far you want to travel, and what kind of budget you have, this is impossible to answer.

To answer your first question, destination weddings are about the same price as any other wedding. It really doesn't cost that much more to feed and entertain 10 guests in Hawaii than it would Tulsa, Oklahoma. The biggest expense for a destination wedding is the transportation and lodging costs. When you are budgeting look at airfare and hotels.

Which brings me to your next question. No matter if your wedding is next door or across the world, you are not responsible for your guests travel expenses. You don't need to pay for their airfare to attend your wedding any more than you are expected to get local guests gas money.

That being said, most of the destination weddings, I have attended, the couple has paid for at least a room or two for the wedding party to share if they want.

The main reason destination weddings are cheaper for couples is because fewer guests are likely able to attend, although in fairness most of the destination weddings I attend have a hundred or more people there.

Niagara Falls