Location weddings can be awesome or they can be a nightmare if you don’t get a handle on things.
Some important things to remember are:
You need to move a lot of people over several different times and maybe from different places
You need to accommodate and feed these people
Maybe you want to organise tours or things for them to see and do
Ensure that you have the professional providers to execute the event without causing you stress either in the lead up or on the day.
Enchanted Moments were the wedding planners and stylists for a lovely couple last year who lived in Sydney but decided to have their wedding in Katherine down at the Katherine Gorge. This was a huge logistical nightmare for both us and the couple. Not only were the couple from another state and were we not from this region but also all of the guests came from both interstate and overseas. We were very grateful that they decided on a location that was staffed by very professional providers at Cicada lodge as this made our job a little bit easier. This wedding was a massive affair including 5 different events for Enchanted Moments to organise. On Friday we gave a handful of the ladies a flower crown party, then on that very evening there was a welcome dinner. On Saturday, we had the ceremony down the gorge so all the equipment and staff had to be ferried down and back from the gorge prior and after the guests, then later the reception outside in a gorgeous location. This location was only scouted a few days prior as the bats had taken over the original location. It worked out perfectly, but it was a lot of guess work on the day to redesign the setup. On Sunday morning, there was also a recovery breakfast.
Some of the pitfalls were moving people in a timely manner to connect up with buses from the region and planes to go overseas or interstate. Even just making sure that they were all on the boat to go to the ceremony was a challenge. We also had to move some guests from Katherine to Cicada for events as there wasn’t enough accommodation for all the guests and some needed to be accommodated 15 km away.
In our case, nature was a huge challenge. We had redesigned the reception setup twice thanks to the bats taking over different areas and in the end I was grateful for having dedicated staff that understood my vision and made it happen on the day without any plan in place. Communication between the couple, suppliers and ourselves was sometimes a challenge as we were all busy and when it suited me to discuss things it sometimes didn’t suit others. You just have to be dedicated to ensure that all the answers you need do get answered in a timely manner.
Budget is also something that needs to be defined early on. Remote locations require all the equipment to be brought in which in some cases a budget can be blown before it even begins! Be realistic with your budget. There is no way you are going to have a remote wedding with champagne tastes if you only have a beer budget.
Obviously, the pro to a location wedding is the scenery and excitement that can be generated. Imagine getting married on a cliff overlooking the Katherine river or overseas in Bali. There are some amazing places in the world and with today’s technology it is possible to organise anything if you have the time and the dedication! Whether you are looking at holding your wedding in a remote location or overseas, it is important to take time to generate relationships with providers that you trust to fulfil your vision for your day.
Good luck with your location wedding….