How to plan a destination wedding.

Planning a destination wedding is the same job as planning a local wedding, plus a layer of travel coordination, plus a longer timeline. Couples who get overwhelmed usually did so by trying to hold the whole plan in their head at once. Break it into sequenced steps and each decision unblocks the next.

This guide walks through the plan in the order it actually happens. Twelve steps, starting with the budget and ending with the morning of the wedding. Where a step has a guide of its own (budget, legal paperwork, timeline), the link is in that step; follow it when you get there.

Step 1 · Agree on budget and size

Before anything else, agree with your partner on two numbers: how much you will spend (with a 15% contingency built in) and how many guests you will invite. Without these, every downstream decision is a negotiation. Read our budget-breakdown guide and the budget-tips guide for the shape of a destination budget.

Step 2 · Pick the destination

Use the three-filter framework (guest geography, budget tier, aesthetic) from our choose-a-location guide. Shortlist two or three candidates; do not pick yet.

Step 3 · Visit or do a serious Zoom walkthrough

A site visit is ideal but not always practical. If you cannot visit, ask the planner to run a detailed Zoom walkthrough with video, floor plans, and honest answers about the venue's limitations. Never book a venue you have only seen in marketing photos.

Step 4 · Book the venue and planner

In the same week. Pick the venue and planner together; they will work together for the next year. Premium venues book 14 to 20 months out for peak dates; mid-tier 8 to 14. Pay the deposit immediately once you have signed.

Step 5 · Lock the date

The venue dictates the date options. Within them, shoulder-season weekdays are cheapest; peak-Saturdays are the most expensive. Guests will work around the date; the venue's calendar will not.

Step 6 · Book the three tier-one vendors

Photography, florals, and music. These three book out 12 to 15 months ahead for peak dates. Hire them as a unit if you can; recommendations from your planner are usually better than recommendations from a Google search.

Step 7 · Set up the wedding website and hotel block

Do both in the same week. The wedding website is where guests will find everything; the hotel block is the anchor for your guest accommodations. Send save-the-dates at this point (14 months ahead).

Step 8 · Start legal paperwork or decide symbolic

If you are marrying legally on-site, start the paperwork now. Our legal requirements guide has country-by-country timelines. Most international couples opt for a symbolic ceremony and marry at home.

Step 9 · Design the wedding

Menu, florals, styling, music, stationery. This is the most time-consuming phase and often the most enjoyable. Work with your planner to match aesthetic choices to venue constraints. Begin invitations at step 9 and send at step 10.

Step 10 · Send invitations and track RSVPs

Invitations go out eight months ahead. Track RSVPs on the wedding website; chase stragglers. RSVP deadline is three months before the wedding. Run the final head count once the deadline passes.

Step 11 · Finalise everything in the three months before

Menu tasting, seating chart, final vendor contracts and balances, final legal paperwork filed (if applicable), welcome-bag contents, rehearsal script. The last three months are detail work.

Step 12 · Arrive, rehearse, marry

Arrive at the destination three or four days ahead. Day minus three: arrive, settle. Day minus two: welcome dinner. Day minus one: rehearsal, rehearsal dinner. Day zero: the wedding. By then every decision from the twelve steps is baked into the plan, and your job on the day is to turn up and let the planner run it.