Maybe you’ve always wanted to get married in Italian wine country like Mary Katherine and Nelson. Or maybe a quaint English Bed and Breakfast is more yoru style? Possibly you’ve dreamed of having your big day along the shores of the French Rivera (my personal favorite). At first glance the task of planning your wedding so far away will seem a little daunting but take heart, its not any more difficult than any other wedding planning. It just requires a bit more forethought. Luckily we are including a list of tips and tricks to help you with that forethought.

Chose Your Own Adventure

The first step in planning your European wedding is similar to planning any other wedding: you have to choose a location. First think about how you want yoru wedding to feel. The great thing about Europe is that there is a location for every taste and all of it is a stones throw from all the rest of it. You can have your wedding in an island setting along the Mediterranean, at a cozy Italian villa or in the snow covered Alps and all of these environments are within 100 miles of each other! 

When you chose your location it’s not just the place, it’s also the anemities that yoru guest would enjoy.  Do they want to discover the cobblestone streets and alleyways of Milan or would the prefer the quiet countryside of Alba? Europe is pretty much a treasure trove of beautiful locations and great experiences so the options are plentiful.

Select A Venue

You don’t have a wedding until you have a venue so chose a venue. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a traditional venue especially as your wedding will likely be smaller as a destination wedding. A restaurant or bar you both liked, an open park or beach, any and all of these can make a great wedding venue.

If you don’t have the means to pop over and see locations the internet and social media are your friends.

Hire Your Team

Destination weddings are typically smaller weddings so you’ll need fewer folks supporting you. Having done a number of destination weddings I’d advise a photographer and officiant. Get your flowers locally and just rent out a restaurant for your dinner and reception. You can of course go bigger than this but focusing down on these elements will let you put together a better overall experience for your guests.

Make sure you have multilingual vendors or a translator. For the record our team speaks conversational French, Italian and Spanish so we can help!

Make It A Trip

As you plan the details of your big day, you’ll also want to plan for other activities and events around the wedding. You don’t want guests traveling to Nice for a one day thing so plan some stuff to take advantage of the unique location. Take tours, have wine tastings, see the sights. And stick in some rest and recovery days. Create a schedule that makes a week long trip something they look forward too.

Know What It Takes

Different locations in Europe have varying laws surrounding what constitutes a legal marriage so you have some research to do.  There can also be residency requirements and stipulations on using an American marriage license. Make sure you get the lay of the land on this before making travel arrangements in order to avoid any unwanted hiccups.

Add Cultural Touches

If you go all the way to Ireland to get married it makes sense to add a little local flair to your event. Whatever drew you to that area, find a way to include it in your festiveities.

Catch you next week.