More and more couples are choosing to head out of town to stage their dream weddings. An exciting departure from tying the knot in your hometown, a “destination wedding” offers a lot of advantages. And, they’re not just for the rich anymore. In fact, the new demand is coming from average folks looking to take their nuptials on the road.
Conde Nast Bridal Group’s American Wedding Study (2006) reported that 16 percent of couples are now choosing to have a destination wedding. That’s a 400% increase over the last 10 years. Since 2.3 million Americans say they plan to walk down the aisle soon, so that’s a lot of destination weddings. The study also says that the average wedding costs $27,000 and that couples are finding that they can both reduce the cost of their nuptials when they go to a resort, and ratchet up the glitz and glam factors.
First thing to go when you book a destination wedding, is the independent wedding planner. A wedding at a resort enables you to tap a whole staff of planners, events coordinator and banquet service pros. They can arrange everything from limousines to horse-drawn carriages, as well as flowers, musicians, and a clergyman or judge to perform the ceremony.
At a resort, you can actually cut your costs by inviting more guests. When guests stay at the resort as part of the wedding, you can lower your overall costs by negotiating group rates for rooms and social events.
Encourage your family and friends to see your destination wedding as an extended vacation. If they come in a few days before the main event or stay a few days after, you can get them a better rate than they would normally pay when coming to the resort independently. And they can enjoy all the amenities the resort has to offer.
Some resorts in the Carolinas offer great bargains when compared with the cost of staging a wedding in a major metropolitan area. Swaying palms and moss-draped oaks trees offer a romantic atmosphere and there are beaches nearby as well as golf courses. Add in the gourmet food and ultra-friendly service and you’re looking at the wedding of your dreams.
According to destinationweddings.com, a properly planned destination wedding can “save you upwards of $20,000 off the cost of a traditional wedding. It can also turn your wedding day into an unforgettable ‘mini-vacation’ for you and your guests.”
For example, Pawleys Plantation in the historically romantic resort town of Pawleys Island, S.C. “sets a high standard for Lowcountry romance,” according to Elegant Bride magazine, which raved about the resort’s “romantic ambiance.” From the moment you drive down to the clubhouse set among giant moss-draped live oaks, you will be in love with this resort destination’s casually elegant setting.
This is 582 acres surrounded by spectacular natural wetlands and salt marshes and bordered by a 600-acre nature preserve that is home to all kinds of wildlife. Many outdoor weddings are actually staged on the back veranda of the resort’s main clubhouse where the view extends to Pawleys Island and the ocean beyond. There, the wedding party is cooled by ocean breezes drifting in from the Island, as the ceremony is performed against a backdrop of beautiful sea birds soaring over the marsh and nearby fresh-water lake.
Inside the clubhouse, Pawleys Plantation’s professional staff is available to meet your every wedding desire. A 4,500 square foot ballroom can comfortably seat 300 people for a gourmet sit-down dinner prepared by the executive chef and his culinary staff. Or a more intimate setting in the elegant “Sawgrass Room” is perfect for smaller weddings.
Accommodations are provided in casually elegant villas built in the Lowcountry style. Spacious and beautifully appointed, the villas line the park-like setting of the Jack Nicklaus golf course, providing magnificent views of the course, lakes and the salt marsh. On-site amenities include golf, tennis, swimming, and a fitness center, and the resort is perfect for strolling hand-in-hand or riding a bicycle built for two. Check out the look and feel of this fine small resort at www.pawleysplantation.com.
In North Carolina you can find a great wedding destination just a few miles north of the exciting beach town of Myrtle Beach, S.C. You can be close to all that town offers for your bachelor or bachelorette party, yet headquartered in a quiet oasis with a reputation as the place to stage a destination wedding along the North Carolina shore.
Sea Trail is an enchanting 2000-acre resort named for an historic road traveled by President George Washington in 1791 when he made his famous Southern Goodwill Tour to promote the new U.S. Constitution and unify the nation. It can handle all wedding requests from nuptials in a grand ballroom to beachfront marriages out among the stars.
At Sea Trail, on-site planners handle all the details with the kind of gracious southern hospitality you read about in those wonderful antebellum novels. They assist with all arrangements from menu selections to helping you choose a wedding theme. And, with over 60,000 square feet of meeting and function space, the resort can accommodate virtually any size wedding. Its catering services are exceptional and there’s even a stylish on-site restaurant called Magnolia’s that serves up food that ranges from bountiful deli sandwiches at lunch to succulent steaks and gourmet fare in the evening.
Many Sea Trail weddings are held in the resort’s lovely gardens under an elegant wedding gazebo. Up to 500 people can be seated in the gardens. Nearby Sunset Beach boasts “the most beautiful three miles of coastline in North Carolina.” The naturally wide, gently sloping, white sandy beach is perfect for oceanside weddings, and Sea Trail’s staff can make all the arrangements for your ceremony to be held among the statuesque natural sand dunes and swaying sea oats.
As you would expect at any great resort, Sea Trail also delivers on the amenities you want for those times you’re not partying. There’s complimentary shuttle service to the beach, and an on-site Village Activity Center that features indoor and outdoor pools, whirlpools, and a licensed massage therapist. Winding through the resort are three championship golf courses complimented by practice greens, a lighted driving range, two full-service clubhouses with golf shops, a Custom Clubs Store and a PGA-sanctioned Golf Learning Center.
The charming Carolina-style villa accommodations at Sea Trail are perfect for bridal parties large and small. Featuring panoramic views of the golf courses and lakes, they range from cozy one-bedrooms to spacious four-bedroom villas.
You can learn more about Sea Trail and its wedding services by going online to www.seatrail.com or by calling 888-675-9237.
