By All Means, *Please* Have a Destination Wedding
I know a lot of people who resent destination weddings. They don't want to shell out the money for airfare and a hotel, they don't want to use their vacation days to attend someone else's big day, or they just don't want someone else dictating their travel plans.
I am not one of those people. If you want to get married in Hawaii, France, hell, even New Zealand, I am here for it.
Do you know what the average wedding guest spends for the pleasure of watching someone get married? $600, according to Priceline.com's Bridal Season Travel Survey. That includes airfare, accommodations, and gifts. You know what I could do right now for $600? Buy a ticket to Bali. Seriously!
That $600, by the way, is the cost for a regular ol' wedding, not a destination wedding - which is defined, by destinationweddingmag.com, as a wedding at least 100 miles from where the bride currently lives. So if I'm going to shell out a third of what I pay for rent in New York City for what's essentially a one-day event, why not add to that tab and that timeline and turn it into a getaway where I can celebrate my friends or family and give myself a little break?
To me, a destination wedding is just an excuse for a vacation. And who doesn't love an excuse for a vacation? More than half of working Americans with paid vacation days won't use them, a report from Bankrate.com found - in fact, the average employee is letting seven vacation days go to waste. That is so dumb. You need vacation. In fact, 77% of HR managers agree that employees who take most or all of their vacation time are more productive in their jobs than those who do not, according to Project Time Off.
Sure, not every destination wedding is in a bucket list vacation spot like Aruba or Jamaica, but that's OK. You can enjoy a perfectly acceptable vacation in, say, Wisconsin, if that happens to be where your friend or family member is getting married. Travel doesn't discriminate - a few days off will give you the same benefits whether you're in the Caribbean or the Midwest. No matter where it takes you, the point is that a destination wedding gives you the opportunity to take a break from your regular life without having to justify the time off - the cheesy Save the Date magnet does that for you.
Of course, if you're traveling for a destination wedding - whatever additional plans you make - the wedding should be your priority. Any wedding guest should be there 100% for the bride and groom, whether the event is in their hometown or halfway across the world. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a more personal adventure before or after they tie the knot.
Attending a wedding should never feel like something you have to do. And if you can't afford to watch someone's nuptials in another state or another country, the bride and groom should understand. But if you can afford it and you have the vacation time, I say take advantage of the opportunity. Worst case scenario? You spend a weekend in an exotic (hopefully) place celebrating a friend. Best case scenario? You have a reason to explore somewhere new and exciting, and check another awesome part of the country or world off your travel list.
So, go ahead. Tell me you want to get married on a beach in Palau. I'll be booking my ticket before you can finish officially inviting me.
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