Destination Wedding Planning: The Big Event!

Your destination wedding has finally arrived!

You and all of your guests have arrived safely and you are all settled in. It’s now time to walk the grounds with the wedding coordinator, finalize your actual wedding location, and ensure the resort has covered all of your needs. You may have a day or two prior to the actual wedding to get everything set up and recover from the travel. My advice, especially after having done it myself recently, is to just RELAX and go with the flow! All of the time leading up to our ceremony, we took in stride, and rather focusing on the little details, we decided to let everything play out and fall where it may. We had 5 nights on the ground prior to the actual wedding; 1 night at the actual resort. On the day of, a few things went awry- the boat was slightly late, the sun was a little too harsh for pictures, and my dress took a little bit of wrangling to make sure there weren’t any wrinkles. My ceremony was planned for 2pm and it didn’t actually occur until 3:30pm. My husband’s ring was ordered well in advance of the wedding and he happened to lose a bit of weight. When we slipped his ring on during the ceremony, it was too big! We ended up having to remove right after to ensure it didn’t get lost. All of those things could drive a perfectionist mad. However, you can’t control the little things and the beautiful surroundings of your destination and just the special moment itself far outweigh anything that small stuff. My wedding was the best day of my life and when looking back at it, my attidude and outlook made it 100% stress and drama free. Noone can predict what will happen and there may be things that come up that you should get a little upset over, but just sit back and soak in your surroundings. You planned a destination wedding on purpose, so enjoy the destination!

Another piece of advice is to plan to ship back certain items or bring a bag/suitcase that can accommodate those items. I didn’t really think much about carrying back my bouquet (it’s fake as Wilson Island is a National Park), but I wanted to bring it home and the only place it would fit was my small suitcase. It ended up getting a little crushed- not the end of the world, but it’s something I should have considered.

It’s been almost a month (!) since my destination wedding and am still in awe over my pictures and the fact that I got married in such an incredible place. After the amazing experience we had, I cannot have imagined holding my destination wedding at any other place than Wilson Island. Some parting words for everyone: getting the logistics right is important, but certainly nothing to stress over if you work with the right professionals. Asking the right questions and having the right timing up front can lead to a seamless experience. Keep in mind, a destination wedding is not for everyone, especially those who want complete control over their big day. However, the unique flair that a destination wedding adds to your wedding is something that you, and your guests, may never forget.