From a castle in Scotland and sandy beaches in Mexico to a glamorous venue in London and countryside in Italy, a destination wedding provides dreamiest backdrops to walk down the aisle. The sky is the limit as they say, when it comes to picking the actual destination too, be it local or international. But, unlike a celebration in your homebase, a destination wedding entails a number of other additional costs as well. You have to make budget provisions for everything, such as the accommodation, the tickets and the transfers. This is over and above the usual list of wedding vendors like planners, caterers, bridal makeup artists, florists, and all other necessary elements.
Does a longer to-do list mean you have to throw the idea of an out of town affair out of the window? Not at all, say industry experts, Radhika and Shindy of Radhika & You. The duo has planned multiple weddings across the world and within budgets given by the couple and their families. As one of the UK’s most trending luxury wedding planners, they offer a full takeover of your planning and provide a complete coordination service on your wedding day.
We spoke to them to get a scoop on how to plan a memorable and budgeted destination wedding to get answers to all questions you may have.
What is your approach when it comes to planning destination weddings?
• We like to take our clients on a bespoke journey.
• We take our clients on a journey from start to finish of the planning process when it comes to planning their destination wedding.
• In the initial stage, we operate with the utmost understanding of their needs, tastes and budgets. Then the planning magic starts.
• We cover everything from budget management, venue hunting, dream team supplier sourcing, design, decor and mood board development, all things logistics, itinerary creation, on the day coordination.
Can destination weddings be done on a budget?
We understand that everyone is working to a different budget. It’s about prioritising what’s most important to you both first and working out a realistic budget for the requirements. We often hear people say that destination weddings are more expensive than a UK wedding. In a way, it is true as there any many costs to account for when planning a wedding abroad such as local taxes, supplier travel if they are coming from the UK, your flights and also accommodation which are not often considered from the offset. But all it needs is meticulous planning and allocating the budgets, which often times becomes cheaper than planning a wedding in the UK. When planned well, you can also eliminate unnecessary expenses.
How do you help the couple achieve their dream wedding within a budget?
We always map out the wedding day priorities with our couple first and understand what’s most important to them both. We then map out a realistic budget based on their requirements. The most important element that determines the budget is the destination itself. We then source suppliers who fit their criteria and budget requirements best. We always recommend to factor in a buffer budget in addition to the budget set.
How do you help finalise a destination?
Choosing the perfect destination is the most crucial part of a destination wedding as you can imagine. There are many reasons in why a destination is selected: 1. It’s special to the couple because it might be the place they took their first holiday, was the proposal location and so on; 2. They love the destination, food and culture or simply because it was on their bucket list and 3. The distance from home/flight time. We recommend local and international options based on this blueprint. Since we have worked across continents and cities, we know what place would make an apt choice for a couple.
How can couples cut costs for their destination wedding?
From caterers to florists, we try to get local vendors for destination weddings, which means their travel costs are eliminated. Above all, local vendors know the land, the seasons, the dos and donts. We have tried and tested suppliers and venues in many destinations across the world, so we can properly guide couples. That said, we are always open to working in new destinations and thinking outside of the box too. In this case, we visit the location before booking the couple. This allows us to experience the destination, weather, hospitality at the property, visualising the event spaces and so much more in person. Some of our favourite destinations include Greece, Portugal and UAE.
For more information:
Radhika & You
www.RadhikaAndYou.com
Instagram: @RadhikaAndYou