Wedding Wednesday: Destination Advice from a Bride


Are you considering a destination wedding?
Here's some thoughts and advice straight from Keezia, the bride we photographed last week.



Why do a destination wedding? Keezia explains, "We chose to have a destination wedding because travel is our passion. I was never the girl who dreamed about my wedding when I was little, so when Grant proposed, I didn't have any preset wedding vision other than incorporating travel."



Pick a place you love & be sure to visit before the wedding. Destination weddings are a great way of sharing somewhere that is special to you with your friends and family. For Keezia and Grant, they'd come to Sayulita with friends for a few years. Keezia also points out, "Since we visit Sayulita every year, we had the luxury to look at venues and interview coordinators the year prior." She makes a really good point.  It's really important to see a place in person before you arrive the week of your wedding. Pictures online can be deceiving. 




Be true to yourself. Keezia explains, "Many destination weddings are held at resorts, but we knew that wasn't for us." I completely agree with this one. It's so important to put your character and your style into your wedding! She goes on to say, "By having a destination wedding you inherently give up much of your control, so you have to be alright with that." Keezia is a self proclaimed control freak, so she actually enjoyed giving up the control on the areas that weren't overly important to her, freeing up her time to focus on the things that mattered most.




Find a great coordinator. Keezia and Grant hired a local coordinator. Keezia mentioned initially liking her because she was constantly quick at responding to email, something very important if that's the main way you'll be communicating throughout the process. It's also very important to fully trust your coordinator if they're going to be making a lot of the decisions for you.  I love Keezia's perspective on this, as it isn't something I would have thought of. She says, "I know that a coordinator is not in everyone's budget but Yazmin was worth every penny and paid for herself by negotiating prices with the local vendors that I wouldn't get on my own." 



One minor detail that I LOVED...Keezia and Grant gave their bridal party walkie talkies! What a great idea for keeping in touch with everyone staying along a beach in a foreign country. Great way to avoid crazy cell phone bills and to keep tabs on things. 



See more of Keezia & Grant's Wedding here...




Well, what do you think? I often imagine doing a destination wedding when Jason and I renew our 
vows...yep, pretty sure we will do that some day. We go to so many weddings and have so may great ideas, it's a must. 


Happy Wedding Wednesday!






Images via jkoephoto.com.


32 comments

  1. Great post with some good advice! I don't know if I would want a destination wedding... But maybe?! I want to have a huge role in the planning though so it might be hard in a city I don't know very well, but I do want it to be not where I live now considering I work at weddings and I've seen so much done in Savannah that I just don't want my wedding here no way! Haha :)

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    Replies
    1. I love when couples do what I call "mini" destinations. Doing the wedding somewhere within driving distance of where they live but far enough away that guest still come make a weekend of it, getting away from the stress of normal life and relaxing for a bit.
      In Washington there are a bunch of islands, small towns, vineyards and such all within a couple of hours of Seattle which makes for easy quick escapes. We've also worked with couples from San Fran in Napa and Santa Cruz. I haven't been to Georgia, so I don't know what the equivalent would be around Savannah, but I bet there are lots of great options!

      Anyway, the benefit of this for a bride who wants to be really hands on with the planning, is that it wouldn't be hard for you to trek out there as often as you wanted.

      This is a really good point, thanks so much for commenting! A foresee a blog post on this in the future...

      Delete
  2. I love destination weddings and highly recommend them. I have a few other posts with tips and reasons why they are so awesome in the works, so stay tuned.

    And yes, Grant was definitely in love with Keezia's butt and most of the rest of her too! They were a really fun couple to work with, very playful and very in love. It makes our job easier!

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  3. Plus...that means you guys get to travel to all these awesome destinations :) I love my job, but I would love-love-love to have a job where I could travel and get some of my wanderlust out of my system.

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  4. There are destination wedding packages offered online for couples who want their weddings to be held to their favorite places. Definitely, this is my ideal wedding, since I love to travel, I want my favorite place to be part of my special moment.

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