Selecting a venue for your destination wedding

Destination Wedding

Destination weddings provide a fantastic opportunity to take a holiday while celebrating your nuptials and also allow your guests to travel somewhere beautiful to help share your special moment.

While selecting your destination is often the easiest part of the process - whether it's an island paradise or country knees-up - choosing the perfect reception venue can often prove tricky. Take a look at these recommendations to make sure you're covered wherever you go.

Fiji

Fiji is the ultimate tropical location for a romantic wedding. One obvious venue is right at your fingertips here - the beach. With bright white sand and sparkling turquoise water, the sun is always shining. Beach weddings are perfect for laid-back couples who want picture-perfect backdrops and an easy breezy ceremony.

All you need to turn the beach into your dream venue is a sound system to showcase any music you play as well as amplify the proceedings through a microphone. Guests can simply stand along the beach or be seated on rustic wooden chairs, with palm trees swaying in the breeze. Shoes are optional and you can even take a dip in the ocean afterwards.

Country field

For a destination venue closer to home, consider setting up a marquee in a big field with plenty of shady trees. Event lighting hire can help transform this setting into one straight out of a movie, with twinkling fairy lights strung from branches, gold or pencil pendants in trees and chandeliers hanging low over your reception dining tables.

This venue works particularly well when the ceremony starts during the late afternoon, with the fading sun illuminating the field with colours of orange and gold. As the sun goes down the festivities can start up, with proceedings moving into the marquee for dinner and dancing. A live band is another great touch at this kind of wedding.

New Zealand rainforest

New Zealand is full of lush forests and plenty of greenery, providing the perfect backdrop for an outdoorsy couple's wedding. Many venues around the country are located high above the treetops with mountain views, perfectly combining the rugged outdoors with the security and luxury of an indoor ceremony.

Keep decorations minimal and let the scenery do the talking. A few star lights placed in glass votives on dining tables may be all you need to light up your special day.