I Do Events Whitsundays

 Planning a wedding on a budget? Yes it is possible to still have your dream wedding, with all the trimmings,  AND keep within your budget! The trick is working out which areas you are happy to compromise on. Here are a few handy ideas:

- Keep the bar tab to simple beer, wine and soft drinks. Guests may purchase their own spirits, cocktails etc

- Serve dessert instead of wedding cake. Perhaps the chef could do a display of mini desserts on a cake stand?

- Rather than book a band or DJ, consider hiring a professional speaker system instead – you can then plug your IPod in for plenty of your favourite music, at a minimal cost

- Select small bouquets for the bridesmaids OR wrist corsages AND/OR parasols instead of bouquets - which look fabulous in photos!

- Do you have any family or friends who can assist with the bridesmaids hair & make-up? (Sometimes the bridesmaids pay for this element themselves) Or with any other elements? This is always a great way to include friends/relatives in the wedding too

- For your photo tour transport you could simply take a private car of your own or one of your friends’

Think about which areas are the most important to you, those which you don’t want to scrimp on – perhaps your dress, or the venue – and for the other areas, try to be as flexible as possible.

Remember, it will all come together on the day – so relax, and enjoy your planning!!

There are many aspects to consider when planning your dream destination wedding and it can easily become overwhelming! Therefore we’d like to offer up our top tips of things to consider:

* Tip #1: Research the climate patterns of the area/venue that you are considering holding your wedding at to ensure you plan for the best time of year, taking into consideration temperature, expected rainfall etc – particularly in tropical locations like the Whitsundays!

 *Tip #2: If you are holding your ceremony on a beach or near the ocean, check in advance for tide times. Even the most picturesque Whitsunday locations can lose a little of their magic should the tide be way, way out ! Alternatively other locations are improved by the look of low tide waters in the background, as high tide can cover up a lot of that gorgeous white sand, so we’d definitely recommend discussing this with your venue when choosing what time of day to hold your ceremony.

* Tip #3: Be realistic when selecting your guest list or you may be surprised when every single person you invited accepts! Guest numbers for a destination wedding are often higher than expected, as many people relish the opportunity to combine a celebration with a fantastic getaway – who wouldn’t??!! –  and couples can often find they’d underestimated how many people would actually accept. We’d recommend allowing for 90% of your invited guests to accept your invitation when intitially planning your budget, meals, table layout etc, and then planning a “back up list” of extended family/friends you may wish to invite should your expected numbers drop after the first round of invitations are responded to.