When you are planning your destination wedding, the number one priority is obviously the country and city you would like to choose. This generally involves plenty of travelling to these cities, picking a venue and meeting vendors and suppliers. Apart from the decor and flowers, the next big thing is the food. Who will cater the food? Can they work with foreign guests? Are they able to curate a menu to suit non-locals? Are they flexible to coordinate with different time zones and deliver on the day?
The first and probably the best thing you can do is to choose and decide on a venue. Once this hurdle is conquered, you can visit the venue, meet the staff in person and hear their experience on past destination weddings and on how everything was handled. This will give you more freedom to make informed decisions.
When you are planning a destination wedding, you have to understand and accept that you will have to work to very odd times and spend a lot of time travelling to where your wedding will be held. Make the time to build a rapport with the staff, visit the venue for tastings and be present. This will allow you to avoid any disappointments on your big day and let you change anything on the menu to your desire. The other advantage of visiting the venue as often as you can is to be able to make quick decisions for other things such as the bar. How long will the bar be open? Will there be pre-ceremony drinks? What will be served from the bar?
It is very important to know who you are working with. Even if you have a wedding planner, it is still best to know who your venue manager is, who your caterer is and even who will setup your flower arrangements. This way, everyone knows you are on the ball and you have a level of control. Afterall, it is your wedding.
When visiting a caterer, make sure to make a list of a good 8 to 10 caterers who are local to the city of you wedding. Meet them in person and allow them to take you through their story. Make sure you have a translator if you need one. Details and communication is everything.
You will have a list of key questions to ask your wedding caterer. These are no brainer questions to ask your caterer.
Along with these you can always drill down to the level of asking them what additional services they offer like decorations, equipment, staffing etc.
Since we are on the topic of destination weddings, you may think “what if I can’t visit the venue to meet the caterer?” There are 2 realistic options to this.
Always remember that destination weddings are amazing when they are done right but you have many unknowns. Hire someone you trust to work alongside you and make the effort to travel and familiarize yourself with the people, the location, accommodation options and maybe even the weather!
