Post # 1
Member
40 posts
Newbee
Any advice (particularly from European bees!)
I’m struggling deciding on a venue. I live in the Netherlands where big, elaborate weddings are not the norm. I originally wanted to do a destination wedding but then I got really into the idea of doing it here and making a full weekend of it (for many of my family and friends, it would be their first time here so they could see where I live, meet my fiance’s family, do a boat tour, a brunch the next day, etc. etc.). My issue is finding a venue here that I like (most are way too small or way too expensive) and then also the weather (in the Netherlands, even if you plan for a summer wedding, there’s a high chance you’ll get rain on your big day and we’d like to do as much of the wedding outside if possible).
On the other hand, I hear about people getting married in France or Italy at beautiful villas / chateaus for cheaper with pretty much guaranteed good weather and great food. But I feel like I’m still so stuck on the idea of doing it in the Netherlands. And I’m just stressed thinking about planning a wedding from abroad when I feel like I’m already struggling planning it here locally. For those that have chosen between destination or not, what decided it for you? And if there’s any European bees (especially those in Northern Europe) – any advice on dealing with uncertain weather for your big day?
Post # 2
Member
4203 posts
Honey bee
Well, I’m from California but my SO is European. As a compromise, we will do the civil wedding here (casual & beachy) and religious wedding in his home country (formal & classic). We want a summer wedding just because it has the lesser chance of rain and usually nicer weather so we will do August. I know the weather is not guaranteed but our ceremony and reception will both be indoors.
yogolowgo :
Post # 3
Member
723 posts
Busy bee
We live about 30 minutes from the Mexico border. After seeing the prices, I was very tempted to have a destination wedding in one of the touristy beach towns. Then I thought about the logistics of finding a photographer, makeup artist, etc, and decided against it. I think the idea of a chateau wedding is lovely, but I think a lot of such places expect you to buy out the entire place, and you’d be expected to feed your own guests. I want the bulk of my wedding to be outdoors as well, but we’ll move it indoor if we have to. Maybe find a place with a lot of natural lighting?
Post # 4
Member
773 posts
Busy bee
City restaurant wedding? We had ours in Belfast for all same reasons you wanted to. It was fab. We even hired a city sightseeing bus for a 30min tour for everyone (only £275) – everyone loved it!
also benefits of restaurant weddings is they take care of everything for you. So no extra charges. We also had no venue hire charge.
we had 100 guests. I wrote about it in ore detail on another post. Let me try find it..
Granted, we didn’t do a lot of our wedding outside, but there were elements and we moved everyone around a bit (on the bus tour before the ceremony then a short walk from ceremony venue to restaurant). We were SO lucky with weather on the day, particularly for Belfast!! But I was determined not to let it annoy me if it was bad – there’s nothing you can do about it after all.
Post # 5
Member
229 posts
Helper bee
why cant you do north east France?
I know its technically across borders but they are open borders and its only about 300-500 miles (depending where you are in Netherlands) pretty much the same as going from south England to Scotland and people do that all the time and dont class it as a destination or way less than the length of texas etc… so it seems odd calling it a ‘destination’ wedding.
Post # 6
Member
2896 posts
Sugar bee
First off check the legalities of marrying in another country. In France for example you have to be resident for quite a while before the wedding. Most destination weddings there are symbolic and not legal.
im from the UK so totally get the weather issue. Tbh most people here just go in with a hope and prepare for rain. yogolowgo :
Post # 7
Member
40 posts
Newbee
Wow thank you guys all for the perspectives!
socalgirl1689 – that’s a really interesting idea. We’ve definitely been set on outdoors but due to the weather issue here maybe it makes sense for us to keep it indoor and maybe do something back in the US where I’m from outdoors. I like that idea!
BuzzedBumblingBee – totally feel you on the all of the logistics of a destination wedding…I feel like I’m struggling enough organizing something locally, don’t want to go through the drama of doing it somewhere I’ve never even been before…
butternutter – Oooh can you link me your post? I’ve thought about going the restaurant route but just haven’t seen a lot of inspo from others that have done it. Would love to see yours!
sept20 – I’ll look into France! France still feels like a destination because we’d have to arrange for everyone to get there (and I have no ties there so would need to figur eout how to arrrange all of the logistics / vendors / etc but as you mention, it’s not so far.
Twizbe – good call out on France. My fiance is half French so I thought that might help us but didn’t realize the requirements were so strict! I definitely agree on doing it England / Netherlands and just crossing your fingers on the weather….I really don’t want a rainy big day. 🙁
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