Destination Weddings: Part I

With summer right around the corner, we thought we'd weigh in on the ever popular Destination Wedding. Clearly, there are a few good reasons to do destination weddings, and as couples embark on a discussion of if they should or should not, consider the following:

1. Is your aim to limit the budget or the guest list?
We find that most couples who begin to plan destination weddings do so because they are either trying to save money and figure that a far away wedding, will not only limit the budget, but also inevitably the guest list. Neither is necessarily true. Many of our clients are shocked when they
realize how much more a destination wedding can cost. And since most would have in theory preferred a big city locale, they are often pleasantly surprised to find that their dollars will go a lot farther at home. Why? Simply because there are so many additional costs that you have to
cover when getting married farther away.

i) You will usually have to foot the bill for at LEAST one trip to the destination of choice before the wedding. Our experience shows that it will probably be two or three to make sure that everything is in place and in order. This will require hotels, flights, transportation and food. This
adds up pretty quickly, particularly if you have chosen a destination that is also popular for the rest of the world.

ii) Hotel accommodations for guests when you are planning a destination wedding become a lot more important for the bride and groom to arrange for obvious reasons. Many couples will choose to subsidize the room rate for the hotels, or they will feel obligated to if they have chosen a destination and time of year that is particularly costly. This is something that many couples
struggle with, but we find that since the hotel rates are usually the biggest reason that guests are not able to come, the majority of couples tend to subsidize rates.

iii) Events as a whole for the time that guests are with you for your wedding become more important. If you are doing a wedding in a city with which everyone is fairly familiar or lives, its less important to ensure that a) all guests are invited to the rehearsal dinner, or that there is
a farewell brunch b) all guests feel that they are able to see the location, or be given a tour of some sort to get to know it and c) feel that they are participating in more of a “wedding weekend” rather than a 1 day event – especially if costly or lengthy travel is involved.

iv) Welcome baskets are a must. When you invite every single guest to travel for your wedding, the least that you can do is give them a small token of your appreciation upon arrival – clearly, this is a lovely gesture for any wedding, but it’s an absolute necessity for a destination wedding. Not doing so would be an egregious breach of etiquette and not spending the time or even money to make it something special or meaningful would be even worse!

v) Don’t ever expect that your guest attendance list will be lighter just because the wedding is farther. The attrition rates for destination weddings tends to be in line with those close to home mainly because travel for weddings is so common place now a days and also because people use destination weddings as an excuse to get away or go see a location to which they have not been
before. The higher than expected rate of return always shocks destination wedding couples; both emotion and purse alike. Many expect that the decrease in guest count will reduce the costs, but when the guests send the excited responses, the dollars go up!

image by King Street Studios

Our Final Green Thought.....for now: Offsetting your footprint

Another unique thing couples are doing is discovering what their carbon footprint is in terms of their wedding. Once they know what that value is, they can then reduce those emissions (via ideas mentioned below) or offset it by contributing to organizations such as www.carbonfund.org.
The website has a great calculator that brides and grooms can use to calculate their exact footprint. http://www.carbonfund.org/site/pages/individuals/category/Weddings/
This is a great source for serious “green” couples even beyond the wedding! Once you’ve calculated your “footprint” and made your damage control donation, consider using that donation as your wedding favor. In general, cheesy favors are out. People either don’t remember to take them or simply throw them away. So if you’re donating to an earth friendly fund anyway- optimize your investment and skip out on the wasteful favor. Often, we recommend that couples print a line on the bottom of their menu cards mentioning the donation. This way no extra paper is used and people can celebrate your future and the future of the earth!

Going green often just makes good economical sense. Cutting back on “stuff” often translates into cutting back on cost. And although it’s super tempting to go overboard with all the bells and whistles, try to consider what will be thrown away verses what can be reused. Leave your mark by making great memories not by leaving behind a bunch of trash!

A thoughtful menu...more Going Green ideas

Menu is always important at a wedding. Many couples have chosen to go vegetarian or organic for their catering to help ease the huge carbon footprint of an event. It turns out that non-local, non-organic food is one of the three largest consumer related causes of environmental damage. The easiest way to combat this is to eat less meat, choose organic foods, and promote sustainable fishing. Research organic caterers, and keep in mind, even caterers who don't advertise their businesses as "organic" can agree to purchase organic ingredients for your wedding now that organic food is available all over the country. One of our favorite organic caterers in NYC is Cleaver Company. Their cuisine is healthy yet delicious (which at the end of the day is super important!) and they were doing this before it became the "it" thing to do- so they are real pioneers. www.cleaverco.com

Going Green Part III- Our Favorite NYC transportation!

Transportation is a necessary evil if you are getting married in one location and having your reception in another. If at all possible, have both parts in one venue or at least in two venues that are walking distance from one another. With this format, your guests are getting a nice walking tour of the area and you’re saving the earth and money! Another great idea of eco-wedding day travel is using Pedi-cabs. If you’ve ever been to NYC, you’ve probably seen them on every corner. It makes for a great wedding photo and it’s tons of fun! For a small wedding in 2006, we arranged for all of the guests to be driven via Pedi-cab from ceremony location to the reception. It was a huge hit and a lot more creative than having 75 guests trying to find cabs all at once! (picture by Raquel Reis)