2018 was the year of celebrity weddings, and how mesmerising were those elaborate destination weddings! People eagerly awaited pictures of the Rajasthani wedding that Priyanka Chopra & Nick Jonas in Jodhpur as well as the traditional weddings of Ranveer Singh & Deepika Padukone in Italy to arrive on their Instagram feeds. These couples definitely gave us wedding goals, and every boy and girl now dreams of having that exquisite destination celebration that they watched happen on their screens. However, when you take into account the significant costs of travel, lodging, and vacation time from work, destination weddings can seem like a daunting task to execute. The extravagance of having your wedding on castle grounds or on a private beach is often seen as a luxury. However, with proper planning and efficient execution, it is possible to have a wedding of your dreams and make the day the most special memory of your life in your current city itself. Here are the 5 main aspects to take care of if you want to have a destination wedding in your city.
Find Your Perfect Match
No, we’re not talking about finding your groom or bride. You have to first find your perfect wedding planner. They have to be someone who will truly understand the importance of the event and what you want from it. Weddings are a special family event where the father of the bride would want to spend some more time with his little girl or moms would like to pamper their sons. With the amount of work and effort that is required to plan a wedding, these small special moments and sentiments can often get lost. Professional wedding planners are the answer to this problem. Not only do they free you to truly enjoy the event, but they can also get you the best prices due to their expertise and connections in the wedding industry.
Know Your Budget
Weddings are known to be an extravagant affair and it is very easy to splurge because of how great everything looks. Define your priorities with your wedding planner and set your budget not only as a whole but for individual aspects as well. For example, if you want to concentrate on having the best food, set a higher budget for catering. If you prefer to focus on the entertainment, allocate your budget towards hiring the best artists. However, it can’t be an extremely frugal budget either. It is important to consider the number of guests, the scale of the wedding you want to have, the kind of food you want to be catered, etc. before you set an unrealistically high or low budget.
Choose Your “Destination” Theme
The theme is the deciding factor for everything else in your wedding. Would you prefer a more regal Rajasthani vibe or a more casual beach wedding with your closest friends and family? From the venue to food, music to decorations, outfits to gifts, everything would depend on the theme or the “destination” you want the wedding to head towards. For example, small silver statues can be a great party favour for your guests if you are planning on a royal themed wedding or a performance by a Latin dance troupe could be the highlight of your sangeet if your wedding is headed towards Cuban or Mexican styles. It is also important to come to a decision about what the theme will be before you start all the planning in order to ensure the smooth execution of your ideas.
Pick the Right Venue
The venue is where it will all go down and therefore, is one of the most important decisions when planning your dream wedding. To execute a beach like an ambience or the grandeur of a vintage castle, you need to have the perfect venue. Apart from this, it is important to note if the venue has the capabilities for your plans not only in terms of décor and interiors but also infrastructure like technical capabilities for the music and lighting you have in mind. Imagine having a wedding with no parking space or with no lavatory facilities? How would your guests reach the venue? Seemingly insignificant things like accessibility and parking also play a huge role when deciding the right venue.
Don’t Rush It
The most important thing to keep in mind is that you have to take it one step at a time without hurrying the process. There are multiple things to take care of when planning a wedding. You have to set aside pre-production time to bring together the whole theme of the wedding. It is extremely important to have time to be able to concentrate on small details and get every aspect of the wedding perfectly blending together with the chosen theme or destination. There are multiple aspects to take care of like logistics, technical details, location, gifts and outfits among others. It is almost impossible to do everything overnight. So, when you do hand out those Save The Date cards, make sure to leave ample time for you and your guests to be able to prepare for the grand event.
Weddings are considered one of the most beautiful, memorable and a special day of a person’s life. It may seem out of the question to have that elaborate wedding you see on movie screens or in your favourite celebrity’s Instagram but in reality, it is very much possible to have your own small version of these grand weddings with the right planning and execution.
This article has been contributed by Alim Morani, Division Head, Dome Occasions. Alim Morani is an entrepreneur with multiple interests, including but not limited to events in the music, food and international artist space, with a keen interest in the fine arts.
