You’ve been dreaming your whole life about having a destination wedding in the Hawaiian tropics, along the sun-kissed vineyards of Italy, or in the lavender fields of France, and then you realize how much goes into planning a destination wedding!

As much as we hate to deny it, not all your family will be able to attend. Your guest count may be more limited, which can in turn be more cost effective, but what about your grandparents who most definitely do not want to miss this big day? Can they still make it across the world for you? Will your guests be able to take a week off work for this special occasion? All valid questions to ask, if having your dream wedding consists of 50+ guests in attendance.

A new trend in destination weddings is to choose venues within a 50-100 mile radius from your city. A venue that is central to most of your family and guests, but can still be considered a nice “day trip”. Making the location somewhat local will give your guests the option of paying for their lodging, or any additional meals during their drive out to the venue. This may also mean they do not have to take a whole day off work to make it to a 5 o’clock ceremony. This also does not require them to stay any longer than this one particular day. What you should remember is that if your guests are given the option to stay in a hotel nearby, always try to arrange transportation from lodging to your venue.

Making routine visits to your venue to smooth out your planning details will be fun. Make it a weekend getaway, and see what the surrounding areas have to offer. If you plan on using your favorite vendors, you should still be able to take them along with you, so why not scope out the area with your photographer beforehand during your venue visits?

The benefits of planning a wedding in a local sphere should help reduce stress since you can be more involved in the process and meeting with your vendors. This will also give your guests a new location to associate a memory to - not necessarily in your backyard, but a day trip away!

If you’re still dreaming about that beautiful European scenery, or the Caribbean palms, use those credit card points to start planning a honeymoon location. 

- Victoria Tuzet is the Senior Private Event Sales Manager at Coyote Hills Golf Club