Published on July 12, 2012 on Travora.com || I don’t disagree with Vince Vaughn’s party-crashing alter ego when he says that wedding season is better than Christmas—the parties, the reunions, and the electric sense of excitement surrounding friends’ and family members’ nuptials are some of the things I look forward to most each summer.
But I live in New York City, the most expensive place to tie the knot (the average Manhattan wedding cost $65,824 in 2011), so most couples I know chose to head out of town to greener, and cheaper, pastures for their big day. And that means if I want to celebrate with them, I have to hit the road, too. It makes no difference if the locale is exotic or mundane; if it requires me to travel, it’s a destination wedding.
Destination weddings are a big commitment—for the couple promising their lives to one another, sure, but also for guests who have to make financial and social decisions about how and when to get to the festivities.
Friday weddings are growing in popularity, which means you have to take time off from work just to attend the ceremony. Depending on transportation options and event timing, Friday weddings sometimes require two vacation days. If you have multiple weddings to attend, you’d better hope you have a cool boss.
Other couples choose long weekends and holidays for their weddings, such as New Year’s Eve, Memorial Day or Labor Day. That limits days out of the office but can clash with other, non-wedding, plans. Does anyone really want to spend New Year’s Eve in a Holiday Inn in New Jersey?
With rising fuel and airfare costs and limited hotel choices in some areas, you can easily shell out more than $1,000 each time a friend gets hitched. If you have multiple weddings over the course of a summer, you may have to kiss any personal vacation plans goodbye and say “I do” to banquet halls and the Isley Brothers’ “Shout.”
Still, there’s an upside. It’s easy to depict weddings as vacation-account drainers (both financially and in days out of the office), but these destination nuptials can be the perfect excuse for a mini-break—whatever the locale.
Unless you’re part of the wedding party, you’re likely to have some free time to check out your destination. Many guests don’t prepare for wedding travel as thoroughly as they would for a personal vacation, but with a minimum of leg work, you can pinpoint a sight or neighborhood you’d like to see and get some exploring done. At a wedding in Philadelphia, for example, some friends and I enjoyed a leisurely brunch at Parc and a walk around Rittenhouse Square before we had to get ready for the evening ceremony.
Another option is to consider what else is nearby. I plan on attending a wedding this summer in Detroit—a Friday wedding—which has inspired a weekend tour of the Midwest: I’ll celebrate my friends’ marriage that evening, continue on to Chicago to visit family the next day, then fly back to New York from there.
Some of my favorite wedding travel has been when the journey was part of the adventure. Instead of flying to a ceremony in Asheville, NC, my date and I decided to plan a road trip. We meandered along the Blue Ridge Parkway, camping and hiking along the way. It was the first time either of us had been there, and taking the slow route introduced us to the area in ways we would have missed out on had we flown in and out.
As summer progresses it’s easy to get wrapped up in the drama and stress of coordinating wedding trips. But don’t be a guestzilla: instead of focusing on the sacrifices you’re making, have some fun. With a little planning and creativity you can have your travel wedding cake and eat it too.
