Without a doubt, getting married is one of the most beautiful days in everybody’s life. It’s time for the bride and groom to enter into a new life together amidst the celebration. There are plenty of locations in the world that are suitable for destination weddings, from lively cities to peaceful countryside. Some couples choose a place they have already visited and fallen in love with; others use marrying abroad as a chance to explore a new country or culture.
However, what matters the most, apart from the destination wedding venue, is the wedding venue decoration and the uniqueness of the wedding functions.
So here we have some really cool and creative destination wedding ideas for you to make a lasting impact on your guests (because we know you secretly want to hear the words ‘shaadi ho to aisi‘, especially relatives)
1. Create a Lounge Area
A lounge area in your destination wedding functions? Yes and why not? Bring the feel of exclusivity to your guests by setting an area as a private lounge at your beach wedding. Put some comfortable bean bags or cushions on colorful mats and place a cute coffee table on it. Adding curtains will make it look like a VIP area.
2. Organize a Pre-Wedding Dinner
It’s obvious that the bride and groom‘s family members must have met each other on numerous occasions. However, there is no harm in organizing a friendly dinner where everyone is seated at one long table. we all know that a happy stomach is a gateway for a happy vibe.
3. Quirky Decor
Consult your wedding planner or some close friends of yours to come up with unique and quirky wedding decoration ideas. You’ve already chosen to be different by having a destination wedding so your wedding decorations should also reflect the same personality.
4. Creative Save the Date
Mail out luggage tags as save-the-date cards instead of traditional and generic ones. Or how about the ever-creative romantic idea of a message in a bottle? Dig down the memory lane and make a paper plane for a fun save-the-date invite. If this was enough, go all out and make a passport-style destination wedding invite. Scroll through the pictures for more ideas.
5. Printed Itinerary
Well, it’s a destination wedding in a whole new place and it is imperative that they would like to explore the destination as well. Printing an itinerary with all the timings and venues where the various pre-wedding and wedding functions and parties will be happening will be extremely helpful to them in being on time and not missing out on the celebrations.
6. Ditch The Traditional Mandap Set-Up
It’s time to revamp the mandaps! If you’re having a beach wedding or have a hilly backdrop, make sure that your mandap also provides an uninterrupted view. Or use a gorgeous chandelier in line with the holy fire for an indoor wedding ceremony. All-white mandaps are in trend, so go all out!
7. Fun Games For Entertainment
Games are a great way to break the ice between people who have met for the first time. You can organize girls vs. boys cricket matches, play Jenga with huge Jenga blocks, or place giant tic-tac-toe boards. We’re sure everyone will enjoy them, kids and adults, alike! It’ll be a great addition to an already fun destination wedding.
8. Wedding Wishes Board
This is another one of the many innovative destination wedding ideas that your guests will have a lot of fun with. Purchase a dry-erase board and encourage each guest to write a wish on it. Assign someone to take a picture of the guest with their wish written on it. Print all those images once you’re back home and put them in a folder for a memorable guest book that will certainly put a smile on your face.
9. Shake those Maracas
Shaking maracas is the new applause! Before making a speech at the wedding reception, the sound of maracas will be an innovative way to catch everyone’s attention. Or if you’re having a Bengali wedding, it can be a great addition to making the traditional sound during the wedding ceremony.
10. Welcome Bags During Check-In
Treat your destination wedding guests like a VIP with welcome bags that go beyond a few snacks. Customized tote bags with maps, small hampers of local items, maybe a gift certificate to your favorite local coffee shop back home, and an individual “Welcome!” message from the bride and groom. Trust us, it’ll do wonders in elevating the happiness quotient to the next level!
11. Use local entertainers
Be it an Indian destination or an international one, hiring local dancers or entertainers will be a great way to imbibe the local flavors in your destination wedding. For example, a salsa dancer in Puerto Rico, a Mayan Fire dancer in Mexico, a belly dancer in UAE, Kathakali dancers of Kerala, etc.
12. Choose a Fusion Menu
Consider sampling stations with cuisine from that locale if your destination wedding is taking place far from where you grew up. Enable your caterer to incorporate choices of you and your partner into the perfect wedding meal with a varied menu. Bring in various local cuisines into your menu to give your wedding celebration a nice twist.
13. Give Edible Favors
The best favors, as it’s said, are edibles. Set up a fresh fruit “farm stand” and small baskets or mini crates in various corners of the destination wedding venue. At the end of a night full of dancing and drinking, no one can resist a yummy treat. It’ll be a great idea to give the guests a midnight snack that they can munch en route to their hotel.
14. Hire a Live Portrait Artist
For your destination wedding celebration, have a local artist draw a handpainted image of you exchanging vows. Then have someone take the canvas to the reception spot and have the edges signed by all your guests. These live wedding portrait artists will create a work of art that you can hang on the walls of your future home as a cherishable memory of your romantic destination wedding.
15. Creative Couple’s Entry
There have been any bridal entry ideas that have been seen over the recent years. For a beach wedding, you can hire a yacht to make a modern entrance, or the groom can ride a horse on the shore. Follow the trend of the bride and groom entering together with local dancers or entertainers flanking the aisle. The groom can also hire a vintage car to make a grand entrance.
16. Include Parent’s Wedding Pictures
Take out those Purani albums and scour through the pictures of your parents. They say history repeats itself so make this statement come true at your destination wedding. The best way to make your parents take a trip down memory lane is to put some pictures of their wedding along with your wedding decorations.
17. Imbibe messages or quotes in wedding decoration
Another way to give a personal touch to your destination wedding decorations is to place some of your favorite quotes all around your wedding venue. You can also include some of your favorite movie dialogues to make the wedding decorations a part of the fun element.
18. Bow-Tie Bar for Men
Here’s a section, specially dedicated to the male population of the destination wedding. Just like how favors are set up for women with bangles, you can set up a bow-tie bar. Include versatile bow-tie colors which they can either tie or just casually hang on their necks.
19. Make your pet feel special
Entering the wedding ceremony area with your beloved pet has been one of the most recent trends. Pets are an integral part of your family so they shouldn’t be left out of the destination wedding festivities and celebrations. Dress ’em up in a dapper tux or mast sherwani to match your outfit.
20. Play around with seating
Select distinctive seating that expresses your trendy look for your destination wedding functions, such as floor cushions or laidback picnic tables, instead of benches or chairs. Although getting caught up in the aesthetic is easy, make sure the seating you choose is comfortable.
21. Order an Innovative Wedding Cake
Cutting cakes are not only limited to Christian weddings these days. Cake cutting has now been imbibed in many cultures, especially during wedding receptions. And the bakers have become very innovative in their approach. They can go to any extent in delivering an artistic wedding cake.
22. DJ request favors
“Dj wale babu mera gana chala do”. We think this song inspired us to request the DJ to play songs requested by the wedding guests from the get-go. This idea is a wonderful way to make your destination wedding more exciting as the guests will feel included. For this, you can use DIY tokens or cards where the song requests can be written and passed on to the DJ.
23. Set up creative photobooths
Including a photo booth is a guaranteed way for a destination wedding photographer to preserve memories. Equip your kiosk with themed props for an incredibly special touch to get your wedding guests in the mood; remember to give them a print of their shot in your thank-you note.
24. Dancing Shoes
It’s your wedding and all the wedding attendees, including you, will be wearing dapper shoes to compliment the wedding trousseau. But won’t your feet get upset if you dance with these shoes? So be thoughtful and place a crate of dancing chappals at various corners of the wedding reception venue.
25. Let ’em know your love story
You know you want to flaunt it so why not do it in style? DIY a message board where you show a timeline of your important moments, from the day you met to the day you said ‘yes’ to each other. how about a cake story? Another way to bring a personal touch to your romantic destination wedding.
26. Hashtag your wedding
The world is on social media 24/7 and hashtags are an awesome way to trending. Create a hashtag of your destination wedding and request your guests and family members to use it with a free hand. #makeyourpadoskiauntyjealous.
27. Use Unique Music
We’re not saying that the shehnai is not unique but you’re at a destination that is culturally different than yours. See what music the locals like. Blend the beautiful sound of shehnai with the sounds of the violin or install a grand piano and mix it up with a harp. The romantic vibe can be elevated by the soulful base of the Saxophone. The role of a wedding planner comes into major play here. Time to mix and match the wedding music taste!
28. Place customized monograms of your initials
For a personal touch, add a customized stamp of your and your partner’s first initials during your destination wedding. From wedding signs to table numbers and favors, stamping this monogram on table napkins will be the special approach to a romantic destination wedding.
29. Showcase the Local Culture
Every destination has its unique culture which can be showcased in your destination wedding in a number of ways. use some of the local trinkets in your pre-wedding and wedding functions, or create a menu with few dishes of local flavors. Why not inculcate some of the local traditions in your wedding ceremony?
30. Surprise the guests with pre-ceremony drinks
Before the wedding ceremony, your guests would not expect any beverages, so give them a bit of a surprise by putting up a table of light drinks on the way to the ceremony. Try fruit-infused iced teas or virgin Pina Colada, to elevate the beach wedding vibe, that they can drink before taking their seats.
31. Boutonniere is the next broch
Even though roses will never get out of fashion but its time to try out other wedding boutonniere ideas. Based on your wedding venue or theme, you can ask your wedding florist to create custom boutonniere for the groomsmen or important male members of the wedding entourage. Ask for ideas from your wedding planner, we’re are they’ll have a plethora of them in the back of their minds.
32. Ask ideas for the next adventure trip
You should seriously consider using a wedding planner, unless you know your chosen venue well, or have friends and family there. If you are unable to make daily visits and personally meet suppliers, their local knowledge can prove to be vital and may even save you money overall. With any language problem, they can also help.
The @VenueMonk team is eagerly waiting to hear your stories of your romantic or royal destination wedding.