Abroad wedding

A few of my friends have been or are getting married abroad. Apparently it is generally cheaper than getting married in here but that would probably depend on what type of wedding you plan.


One of my friends got married in mexico and the other is getting married in sorrento in a place called Villa Fendi. Not sure if it’s an actual Villa but it looks amazing with fabulous views. Based on what she has said price wise my wedding here in England is going to be double the cost of hers and she’s guaranteed good weather and a honeymoon incorporated into it

I know of one wedding in a villa abroad where it cost them an extra £10k just to move their date from May to July, so I can only imagine how much it cost them overall. However, I expect you will find the same variation in prices abroad as in the UK. So if that's what you have dreamed of then I think it's certainly worth exploring and don't be disheartened if you find places that are out of your price range. Some couples go through dozens of venues in the UK before finding the right one and by looking overseas, you are vastly increasing your search options.

Hi

We wanted the same for our wedding! We did struggle to find somewhere where we could have the wedding with enough accommodation for 40 guests, and have ended up going for a slightly smaller villa/ reducing our guest list a little. Its worth mentioning we are getting married in a year and have only just booked our venue, so I think it would have been easier had we allowed ourselves more time- lots of places that may have been suitable were already booked up!

With regards to the cost of things- we are looking to spend similar (slightly less) on our wedding in Tuscany for 35 people than a friend of mine did for her wedding of approx 60-70 people in the UK. However our wedding includes 4 nights B&B for all of our guests so all in all, would say ours is better value

I think costs tend to vary a lot depending on which countries you are looking at too. France, for example, is supposed to cost similar to the UK, whereas countries such as Spain, Italy and Croatia are theoretically a little cheaper.

I would recommend looking at flight at the same time as your villa- we found some lovely places that would have been a nightmare to get our guests transported too, which also drags up the costs.

Good luck!

View quoted message Ah thank you so much for this. It’s so helpful. How did you find your wedding where it included that? I literally have no idea where to start looking and how

Hi, we’re getting married in Crete in 2025 and our wedding planner worked with us to find a suitable venue within budget. We’re letting guests stay in a hotel of their choosing in the nearest resort and we’ll look at providing transport to/from the venue in the day. Guests will be paying for there own flights and accommodation. There are some beautiful locations and villas to consider which may not require you to stay if you want to consider that as an option xx

It all depends on what kind of wedding you have as to how expensive it is.

Do consider your potential guest list though - if you have guests who would find it difficult to travel (health, age, finances) then it may cut down your list of attendees. Also, make sure your venue is close to good connections, as guests aren't going to want to trek cross-country from an airport to get there!

Hello, i'm Antony from Sorrento

Sorrento is beautifull.

This is a Villa on Massa Lubrense with Capri view. But in Sorrento there are many that may be right for you. If you want i can hel you for free,

Hi, a beautiful intimate villa wedding is exactly what my fiancé and I have decided on.

Technically we are only spending about £5k less than if we were to have a one-day wedding in the UK, however with our villa in Spain we have a whole week of accommodation for us and 8 guests. We are recommending a large area for our guests to stay in, and will arrange transport for those who choose to stay in this area. We will be inviting around 40, and supposedly over 95% of people RSVP yes to a destination wedding. We'll be having beach drinks the day before and hungover casual lunch for those who want it the following day.

As our wedding will be in May half term, lots of our family work pretty Flexi and have lots of teachers in our group, we know that most people will make it into a holiday so they're not just travelling out of their way for a wedding.

We did a tonne of research before deciding - firstly where we wanted to get married, ease and price of getting to the country for our guests, travel time etc.

Then when looking at villas, whether they were prepared to host an event for this many people, if there are any restrictions (e.g. some Spanish islands say no outdoor live music after 11pm), additional event costs. Once we had prices back and realised it wasn't going to be THAT much cheaper, we started to ask questions like if they only worked with specific or recommended suppliers, had they hosted weddings before, logistics. We shortlisted 5 and went out to look at them, which really helped envisioning 40 guests in a space! It was clear from our trip that only 2 were really size-appropriate, and 1 of these we fell in love with!

It's also worth saying that as we are neither Spanish nor Catholic, we will be getting legally married at home a few days before we head out to our 'main' wedding.

View quoted message Hi sorry just seen this me and my partner are planning on going to Tuscany next year in the hope of booking our wedding. How did you find the process of trying to find somewhere?

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I have helped brides book weddings abroad by themselves by booking groups of villas together. Its a case of deciding where you want to be and then finding out the local requirements for the actual wedding ceremony. the fun bit is planning the party!

I’m getting married in Crete, not in a villa but a wedding estate which is quite common out there. I know that when we were looking, there was options of many villas but we didn’t look into this. I’ve found generally it is cheaper than here with most things not to mention the beautiful scenery, food and drink which comes with the place you chose, it was a no brainer for me especially considering the venue itself was less that a quarter of the price of a venue in the UK!

Planning an abroad wedding requires budgeting, documentation, and legal awareness for smoother arrangements. Resources like mygratuityuae website help expatriates understand financial planning and employee rights while working in UAE. It also explains End of service benefits UAE for better savings and stability when organizing international celebrations with confidence and clarity.

When money is tight, how do families manage wedding costs — where do they compromise, and what do they refuse to cut corners on?
https://forums.hitched.co.uk/chat/forums/thread/how-do-families-manage-wedding-costs-when-money-is-tight-1231337/