While having a wedding in your current living area has its perks, choosing a location away from home can make the event a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Furthermore, when you decide on a destination wedding, your choice of wedding venues opens up significantly. For example, Florida destination weddings let you throw an elaborate affair while staying within the states. Or you can go with an out of the country location, such as Europe, Mexico or the Caribbean. No matter where you decide on having your special day, the following tips will help ensure your destination wedding is perfect.

Seek the Help of a Professional

Unless you know the destination where your wedding is being help extremely well, hire a professional wedding planner. They can do all the hard work without you having to make extra trips to the area. What’s even better is that most wedding planners have ties to the wedding industry and can get you deals on other services, such as florists, bakers, DJs and florist.

Use Local Blooms and Cuisine

One way to save on your wedding is to choose flowers that are not only in season, but are also grown locally. This can go a long way in helping to reduce your cost. You can also slash your catering costs by choosing food that is local to the area.

Be considerate of your Guests

Since you are expecting your guests to foot the bill for their traveling and accommodation costs, it’s only fair to think of them when choosing a hotel. Pick a hotel that is affordable and relatively close to the location. A lot of hotels will reserve blocks of rooms for special events and may even offer a discount for those who are attending the event. You should also provide your guests with important and fun information about the area, and even consider making them a welcome bag filled with essentials, like bug spray or sunscreen.

Do your Research

Before you even begin to plan your destination wedding, make sure to research the marriage requirements for the area you want to get married in. A lot of countries have residency requirements, which mean you have to reside in that country for the designated time frame before the wedding ceremony. Most countries require just a few days, but there are exceptions. For example, England has a 7 day residency requirement, while France makes couples stay 40 days before they can get married.