As a girl, I always dreamed of a church wedding in the rolling hills of the Kentish countryside somewhere. When my big day came, I never dreamed that I would be one of those modern brides who would jet off for sunny climes and marry with the sand between my toes. It just goes to show how wrong a girl can be!
Let me tell you what lead to us tying the knot overseas.
You only have to mention the word 'wedding' to any UK business and the quote is doubled; I think they must be in on it along with plumbers! Photographers, venues and caterers know that brides don't want to make cut backs in any of these areas and will pay over the odds for their services. This doesn't make sense to me at all. It's the same with travel companies - flights increase in price during school holidays when demand is high. Surely simple supply and demand economics tell us that prices should be lowered at these times because the business is guaranteed?
Apparently not! With wedding service providers, you need to book them years in advance! I mean, that's ridiculous. And why do people assume that because you want to tie the knot, you're suddenly rich?!
After being told "there's a 3 year waiting list" at every feasible wedding location in the area, we decided to get the holiday brochures out and look at honeymoon destinations to cheer ourselves up. It was here that the idea of combining honeymoon with wedding was suggested. We toyed with it for a while and gradually began to come round to the idea. Of course, it was my fiance who was most keen to do it and initially I wasn't so sure. I was worried that it wouldn't be special or magical enough for me. My only stipulations were that immediate family would have to be there and the service would be on terra firma so that my Jimmy Choo heels wouldn't sink in the sand!
In a flash of madness, we found somewhere that we agreed on and just booked it! Everything from there on in, was so easy. We were assigned a wedding co-ordinator who explained that plans for the actual wedding and ceremony didn't need to be settled until 6 weeks before the flight! What? Six weeks? Not six months or six years?
Of course, my dress needed to be travel-friendly. This didn't stop me though - I still wore a meringue! The travel company took great care of it and even though our destination was hot, any creases dropped out within 10 minutes of hanging it up.
Upon our arrival we met with the wedding co-ordinator. Over a glass of champagne and overlooking a sun-kissed sea, we discussed venue, type of vows, music in the service, bridal party make-up and hair, did we want anything dry-cleaned, what bouquet would I like, whether we'd like a fruit or sponge wedding cake, did I have any favours for place settings, would we like the service put on a DVD as well as 120 photographs taken and so on. All the things that other brides spend 18 months organizing, we had done it in a hour with a bottle of champagne!
Our wedding day was the most beautiful day of our lives. Everyone watched us walk past them on the beach and they all cheered and waved. Sometimes couples are married in the UK like battery hens but we were treated like royalty and for a fraction of the price of a UK wedding!
I can't recommend it enough and I still got my fairytale wedding, in my fairytale dress and in a beautiful setting. I would do it exactly the same all over again.
(c) World of Wedding Favours
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