Whether it was your college town, hometown, or just a special city you’ve fallen in love with, your heart might be set on getting married in a town you longer live in or you’ve only visited before. The bustling city could be appealing, or maybe it’s the town’s remoteness and bright, twinkling stars at night, your romantic location can be the spot where you tie the knot! Planning a wedding with no local family in the area can sound ambitious. However, marrying the person of your dreams in this town you love is completely achievable!
Planning Your Out-of-Town Wedding with No Local Family
Make A Trip of It
If you’re able to, visit the destination three to ten months before the big day! Plan a special couple’s getaway with your fiance or grab the planning crew perhaps mom, siblings, the maid-of-honor, or other wedding party members. Make a weekend out of enjoying the city, meeting with vendors, and getting a better visual of your ceremony and reception venue, hotel, and rehearsal dinner locations. Stay near your wedding venue or stay at the hotel you suggest for guests to familiarize yourself with the area. You might find a few places, like coffee shops, salons, bars, or restaurants, that would be great to utilize on the big day or night.
When planning this weekend well in advance, you should be able to give your vendors enough notice to plan for a meeting while you’re there. This way, you can knock out a ton of planning in one long weekend! If you are doing a weekend trip, you may want to arrive early on Thursday or stay through Monday to meet with vendors when they’re not working other weekend events.
Utilize Technology
When distance is in the way, technology is your friend! When scheduling appointments with your vendors, ask if you can set up a video call on Zoom, FaceTime, or another video chat app they may prefer. You will gain a face to the name and benefit from the visual cues (and smiles!) to help you feel more familiar with your wedding day vendor partner. You’ll feel that much more friendly and familiar when you can finally meet them!
Keep Venues & Accommodations in One Area
Having a hotel block or two close to the venue will be essential for out-of-town weddings! But you’ll also save you and guests some hassle if you can book your rehearsal dinner location, wedding venue, and hotel block all within walking distance or ideally the same area of town. If your hotel has a shuttle to the airport, even better! This will cut down on taxi, Uber, or Lyft costs for everyone!
Offer Transportation
Keeping your wedding rehearsal, ceremony, and reception close in proximity to each other might be easier said than done. If your out-of-town guests are having to travel across town for your wedding events, it might be a great perk to offer them transportation.
While booking transportation can be an extra cost you may not have planned to cover for everyone, you can save costs by using the same bus or shuttle for multiple trips, especially if your ceremony and reception are in the same location (or at least walking distance). The transportation can take guests to the ceremony (perhaps in multiple waves) and, afterward, take you and your wedding party to a special location to take wedding photos during a cocktail hour. Then, finally, it can take everyone back to the hotel at the end of the event.
Multiple Services to Make it Easy
Does fewer calls and contacts (plus more savings and services) sound splendid? Complete Weddings + Events offers multiple services to make it easy when wedding planning from near or far! View our locations at completewedo.com/locations and contact complete for information on our event services for your special day.