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By Georgina Clatworthy



I am a big fan of destination wedding packages, having had one myself in Sri Lanka! But although that was only nine years ago, the destination wedding industry has quite literally exploded and couple’s now have more choice than ever before on where to go, when to go and what to include on the day.

Destination wedding packages are nothing new. Since they first appeared with Caribbean weddings the package wedding has always been the norm for couples looking to marry on foreign shores. But are they all they are cracked up to be and could you get a better deal by organizing your own package instead?

Firstly you need to consider the logistics of planning a destination wedding from your own home, some distance away. Aside from problems like language barriers, not knowing the area and the legal implications of marrying abroad, finding suppliers and vendors could be a nightmare. Packages will include all the basics for you – venue, officiant, legal requirements etc and then offer additional options such as flowers, photographs etc.

All-inclusive packages will have everything, plus more for your wedding, such as room upgrades, a honeymoon suite, free restaurant meals, wedding breakfast, wedding video etc. They can offer you great value for money but you do need to check what you will actually get on the day. For our wedding we choose a package which included an elephant ride, a boat trip and a bouquet of flowers when we left the hotel for our honeymoon. We didn’t get the elephant ride due to one not being available or the boat trip because it was monsoon season and the sea was too rough. We didn’t get our flowers either – I think they forgot about these as I noticed other guests did have them when we left. But, despite the mild disappointment at not getting an elephant ride, our package did include everything else we wanted. Essentially you need to check if some elements of the package are subject to availability or are seasonal, to avoid being disappointed if something you are expecting doesn’t happen.

You maybe able to design your own wedding package through some of the larger tour operators. I know of some instances where couples have booked a separate ceremony location whilst still having the reception back at their hotel. A good tip would be to explore both options, find an all inclusive package which you feel suits your needs and then look into creating your own and decide which will offer you the best value for money and still fulfills all your wedding day wishes.