Getting married in your hometown?
Planning a mini-destination wedding?
Planning a wedding is complicated enough, and even more when you don’t live near the location!
Here’s a few ways to make your long distance wedding planning go a little smoother.
HERE-THERE
Before you get going, start separating wedding tasks into two lists, ‘Here’ and ‘There’. Some things have to be taken care of on location (venue, catering, etc.). Others can be done wherever you like (dress, guestbook, etc.).
Now you can move ahead with your ‘Here’ list, and make plans for dealing with the ‘There’ list.
VIDEO MEETINGS
Even for local vendors, it can be much easier to use video meetings. It saves everyone the time of going to and from, and you still get to interact ‘face to face’. A lot of your planning can get done this way.
BATCHED MEETINGS
For times when you do want to be there in real life (hello cake tasting!), plan to make one or two trips to the location and pack all your meetings into the few days you’re there. Sometimes it may even make sense to double up a meeting. Your decorator may want to meet you at the florist, and you can all make a plan together.
SAVE THE DATE
Since a lot of your guests will likely also be traveling in, sending out a save-the-date ahead of time is super helpful. Include travel and hotel information, local sightseeing pamphlets, or even where to find a babysitter.
POINT PERSON
Have a local point person to line things up. Whether this is a friend, family member, or wedding planner, you need someone on location to deal with some of the things that come up. If you go with a wedding planner, it makes all the rest of these things so much easier, because they know the local vendors, are familiar with how things run there, and can schedule all the meetings for you.
Choosing a long distance wedding can feel scary, but with the right tools and team, it doesn’t need to be. All the best as you plan from far away!
