Destination Weddings A Growing Trend
More and more couples are eschewing the traditional large, expensive wedding in favor of a small ceremony in a distant holiday location, surrounded by a few close friends and relatives. The practice of jetting off to a tropical location in order to tie the knot is called a destination wedding, and over the past decade theyve been a quickly growing trend.
Over 2.3 million first-time marriages occur each year in the United States, and as little as a decade ago, destination weddings were nigh unheard-of except for celebrities and high net-worth couples. Today fully sixteen percent of first-time marriages are now celebrated with destination weddings. For marriages that are not the first, that number rises over fifty percent. If fact, the total number of destination weddings gas grown more than fourfold in the past decade.
The destination wedding itself is typically less expensive than a traditional wedding, but this excludes airfare and hotel stay costs, which are often paid for by guests. Because of this, a growing trend is not to expect wedding gifts from guests of destination weddings, who may have to pay several thousand dollars in airfare and hotel costs in order to attend. In some cases, this poses a significant challenge that prevents friends or families from attending a wedding due to costs and vacation time issues. It is wise to be sensitive to these issues when planning a destination wedding in some cases, the bride and/or groom feel very hurt when a friend is unable to attend their wedding, but destination weddings are typically much more expensive for guests to attend than a conventional wedding ceremony held in a location closer to many family members.
The most popular destinations at which weddings are scheduled are tropical ones, including the Caribbean islands, Hawaii, and Mexico (usually at resorts) as well as Europe Paris in particular. Depending on the nation, there may be a residency requirement before being legally permitted to be married. Because of this, many couples remain in the nation for the honeymoon as well as the wedding ceremony itself.
Choosing a remote or exotic location as the site of a wedding also serves as a compromise for many couples who otherwise may have to choose one or the other partners hometown, or who may wish to have the wedding in one or the other partners place of worship. By siting the ceremony at a neutral location, new memories can be made without requiring compromise from either partner or family.
Given the allure of sunny tropical locations and the mobility of Western society, destination weddings are likely to continue to grow in coming years and what better way to start a long and happy life together then a cool evening on the beach surrounded by friends and family?
Christie MacLachlan is dreading her fiances bachelor party. When she is not trying to convince him to watch yet another wedding-themed movie, she writes for yourwedding101.com an informative and insightful wedding planning guide with information about wedding speeches, ethnic wedding traditions, top honeymoon destinations and more.
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