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Destination I Do’s

Grace Photography

Long-distance anything is hard. Relationships, running (don’t even get me started there), and yes, wedding planning too. You may have heard of or been in a LDR, but today we’re talking all about LDWP aka long-distance wedding planning. Adding a far location to the already stressful seas of wedding planning? Double whammy. No worries, we’re here to guide you through LDWP with ease with these 10 tips!

1. Find Your Theme & Stick to It A simple way of kickstart your wedding planning, long-distance or not, and being efficient while doing so is to find your theme and stick to it. Once you have a theme in mind, the detail and style decisions tend to get a little easier and you won’t get bogged down in random Pinterest ideas. It also helps to communicate to your vendors, so you can streamline choices.

2. Hire a Wedding Planner or Month-Of Coordinator Speaking of vendors, your best bet is to hire a local wedding planner or at least a month-of-coordinator for your out-of-town wedding. They will know the local wedding market, have relationships with other vendors, and be able to be your point person throughout the madness. 3. Be Prepared to Hit the Ground Running If you can travel to your wedding destination, make sure you are prepared to jump in head first. Try to book most of your vendor meetings within the timeframe of your trip. Especially for tastings, fittings, or anything that can’t be done through phone calls, emails, and online. This may mean 5 meetings in one day. You got this!

4. Hello Zoom! If 2020 hasn’t made Zoom your newest BFF, wait until you’re LDWP. Zoom calls can be incredibly beneficial especially if you can’t make the trip to your wedding destination often or at all.

5. Here or There List Your here or there list is an easy way of determining what all needs to be done when and where for a destination wedding. It’s deciding what can/should be done where you live vs. what needs to be done in the venue location where you are getting married.

6. Try to Do as Much as You Can Locally Let’s try to ease your stress about doing everything in a different location than where you live. It doesn’t all have to be done there! Things like your invitations, favors, and attire fittings can be done in your city or town, so you can get those tasks completed early with no travel needed.

7. Don’t Sleep on Transportation Don’t, don’t, don’t forget about arranging for your transportation! Whether it’s booking a flight and getting a rental car, or just figuring out how everyone is getting around, don’t leave this to the last minute. You would be surprised at how simple things can be forgotten and add a whole new stressor into the mix.

Katherine Larson Photography

8. Delegate if You Need To If you’re getting overwhelmed, don’t feel bad about delegating some of the tasks, especially if you’re in the research stages of finding the right vendors or venue in your wedding location. Hand it off to your wedding planner, MOH, or family members! 9. Arrive Early Try to arrive a little early to your destination wedding location if you can. A week before would be great, but at least the Wednesday or Thursday before a Saturday wedding. Arriving early lets you tie up any loose ends and have a little break between traveling and the big day.

10. Breathe Last, but not least, just breathe. Go ahead and take a deep breath! Every wedding day is going to have some hiccups and have a few things not go according to plan, even a wedding in your own city or backyard. Be prepared for something not to go exactly right, and remember what you’re planning for anyways. It’s not just a wedding, but a marriage! That’s what’s more important anyway!

Misty McLendon Photography

Pro tip: If you’re booking a destination wedding with a resort, make sure the hotel’s planner is an experienced wedding planner. The business of hotels is to sell rooms, not plan weddings. While an experienced resort planner often comes with the wedding package, she may be limited by the package options without the flexibility to create an event with all the special details you want. Check out local wedding planners if you want a destination wedding event that is truly unique.