Totorus

Photo credit by Allegro Photography

Many couples today are opting out of throwing a huge, extravagant wedding close to home, and instead are choosing to head far away to a resort, beach, or other wonderful location to exchange their nuptials. The reasons for this are plenty. Having a destination wedding can be much less stressful for the couple. This is because most of what needs to be done is handled by other people. Also, because destination weddings are generally smaller affairs, there are not the 250 people on the guest list to contend with. Even though people generally think that destination weddings are quite expensive, they can actually be much cheaper than traditional weddings, especially if you pick a cheap destination. Here are some cheaper alternatives to destination weddings that seem too costly to be accessible.

Thinking Italy? Go to Napa!

Italy is certainly one of the top choices for destination weddings. But if you think that places such as Venice, Rome, and Milan will take too big of a chunk out of the wedding budget, consider an alternative such as Napa Valley. Here not only will you have the beautiful scenery of the mountaintops and vineyards, but you can also experience things such as gourmet food and wine tastings that will make you think you’re in the old country.

One of the best things about choosing Napa Valley for your destination wedding is that it’s a great place to go anytime of year. The tourist season in Napa is considered to be from June through to the harvest in September or October. But even getting married during this time of year is a great inexpensive choice for destination weddings. Get married right in a vineyard and have some of the most breathtaking wedding photographs you’ll ever see.

Thinking the Caribbean? Go to Hawaii!

There’s no doubt that places such as the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Cuba are among some of the top choices every year for couples looking to have a destination wedding. But making all of the flight arrangements for the guests can be tricky, especially if you need to make sure that everyone has passports. Hawaii is a wonderful alternative.

If you and most of your guests are already US citizens, this can save a great deal of hassle when booking flight tickets. Also if you don’t need to travel outside of the country, Hawaii might be a cheaper alternative for a destination wedding. Hawaii has many major islands with the main island being Honolulu. There are usually direct flights to Honolulu which will cut down on your travel time and stress. But if you still want to visit some of the more secluded islands or have your wedding held on a private beach, these options are also always available.

Go to Las Vegas! Or Atlantic City!

Really, neither Las Vegas or Atlantic City are going to be expensive destination wedding choices. The more expensive of the two would be Las Vegas because it is much more popular, and much grander in every sense of the word. But Las Vegas still has very affordable wedding packages and the cliché of getting hitched in Vegas is coming back into fashion. There are plenty of chapels available throughout the city, plus lots of museums, art galleries, or any other venue to get married that you could want.

And as great as Las Vegas is, there is also a lot to be said about choosing Atlantic City as your destination wedding location. In Atlantic City you can expect all of the excitement, big name hotels, pampering, gaming, and beautiful scenery that you can expect in Las Vegas. Plus, deals to Atlantic City are usually a bit cheaper than they are to Las Vegas. Atlantic City also has some of the finest restaurants owned by famous chefs, huge skyscrapers, and all the lights and action anyone could ask for.