Destination Weddings
A destination wedding is defined as marrying at least 100 miles from where the bride currently lives. So imagine the options that definition opens up for you the world really is your playground.
Destination weddings have become so popular these days, and people have different reasons to why they opt to do them. I personally love them, I think a wedding being a once in a lifetime experience, should be extremely memorable, people need to do something different, we don’t have to all get married in the same way and style.
It is harder to convince the family in a society with a culture like ours, Tanzanians. Weddings are big ceremonies, they involve literally everyone who is part of your nuclear and extended families, neighbors, work mates, parent’s friends, friends. Eish the list is endless I tell you. They are no longer personal, the bride and groom actually, have very little say on how they want their weddings to be. So I think this is the MAJOR challenge when it comes to having destination weddings in our society.
Utamsikia baba au mama “ kwaiyo tusafiri huko kote tukafanye harusi ya kichoyo ? “ kisa?
Our society is used to the usual way of celebrating weddings, large crowd, alot of food and drinks, dancing till past midnight. Even the schedule of flow of events on the day of the wedding is almost similar in all weddings these days. What I mean is, people just need to dare to be different and do each wedding uniquely and customize it to something both the bride and groom will cherish and remember forever.
Let me highlight some of the advantages of doing a destination wedding
- Wed away, and you won’t have to choose from the same old venues and spots all your friends and relatives have booked before.
- You will save a lot on décor costs. With a destination wedding in a stunning setting, your location of choice supplies the theme basically, from castle fairytale, to sea-inspired soiree. And when you choose an amazing backdrop, it doesn’t take much to dress it up. and you’ll be more than covered with a few simple florals and other modest accents.
- It’s a great excuse to limit the guest list. (Most important point) The very nature of destination weddings require travel, a longer time commitment and hotel stays, the people who will come along with you are the very close people and in case they cannot afford to travel, they will for sure save up months prior because they can’t afford to miss your wedding, even if you decide to throw it in Pluto, we all have those very close people to us who would do whatever it takes not to miss our special day. it gives you the perfect excuse to cut down on an often unmanageable number of invitees.
- Guests can save on a vacation. Ask your host hotel about discounted room rates for your guests; most resorts are more than willing to bargain in exchange for group business. Some airlines offer discounted airfares as well for groups of 10 or more on the latter, this is true even if your guests are departing from different gateways. And ultimately, your friends will have a blast! Destination weddings give friends and family that most valuable commodity downtime to kick back, connect and celebrate. And what’s more fun than that?
- Flexible timing helps with budgeting big big time. You’ll be at your destination for a few days, so work with your vendors to see how timing can trim costs. After all, if everyone is already there, you can wed on a Friday, a Sunday or even a Tuesday, I mean what does the day of the week matter in paradise? Look at seasonality too. Many beach hotels drop their prices dramatically in some months of the year, by planning your wedding during those times, you can get the same great digs for a fraction of the price paid by visitors a few weeks earlier.
- You can start the honeymoon early. Just arriving at your destination is sure to put you in a relaxed mood as the pre-wedding activities begin. Many hotels offer automatic upgrades to the bride and groom on their wedding night, and you may be able to negotiate an extended ‘’mini-moon “at a reduced rate after the guests have gone home.
Part of the joy of a destination wedding is showing off a place that has special meaning to you, be it bringing friends and family back or your children to a beloved location, sharing where you took your first vacation as a couple and maybe taking another vacation to the same destination but now with your children.
So dear beloved readers, we can try out some beautiful things at times, we don’t all have to have our weddings the same way.
With love ,
-G.S