So now you're engaged to be married, and it's your dream to celebrate your most beautiful day together with family and close friends in some - usually sunny - country.
We've been fortunate to make this happen for hundreds of couples since 2010, and we know that it's not easy for couples to find complete and accurate information on the internet.
That's why we've decided to build this website, which answers to more than 600 of the most frequently asked questions.
Of course, you can dream of inviting all of your family, friends and colleagues, but usually, that's not very realistic, nor desirable.
One of the many advantages is that marriages in another country are more private, more intimate because they're not subject to the social obligations you're facing in your home country.
As a result, the groups are usually smaller ( on average between 50 - 100 persons ) which means that you don't have to pay for guests you hardly ever see, or only needed to invite out of social obligation.
That being said, there are of course extra costs of travel and accommodation, but according to etiquette, each guest will pay for these costs himself.
Logically, also their budget is not unlimited, so the farther you decide to go, the higher the cost will be for them, and often the more days they need to take free from work.
Then there is also a huge difference in cost between countries.
France and Italy, for example, are known to be very expensive, whereas Spain is considered to be one of the countries offering the best value for your money.
So one of the first things to do is to determine your total budget, from which you then subtract the 'local' costs such as dress, jewellery, ...
What remains is your budget to spend on your most beautiful day!
Then start creating a temporary guest list, dividing persons in 'must-attend', 'desirable' and 'budget allowing'.
Now you're prepared to look at the various countries you're interested in, and do some research about the costs in each of them.
For Spain, we've made it easy for you, since our free online budget calculator will give you an immediate estimate of the total cost based on your estimated number of guests.
You can use the budget calculator several times, for example once with your 'must-attend' guest list, once more for 'must-attend' + 'desirable' guests and finally a third time for all persons on your list.
Allow for some margin, because at this point, you don't really know who will attend, nor have you chosen the venue, menu, decorations, etc, but it does give you a pretty good idea of the options within your budget.
Now that you have a good idea of your budget and guest list, it's time to find the country and the person or organisation who will be able to convert your marriage dream to into a dream marriage.
Unfortunately, this is not the easiest decision, but probably it will be the most important decision.
It must be a perfect match!
Deciding on your dream country, while putting your confidence in a person or organization you really don't feel 100% comfortable with is a very bad start.
Remember, that you'll be working closely with him or her during the coming months and that you'll need to rely on him or her to translate your wishes and preferences into a workable plan that meets your expectations and budget.
What makes it even more challenging is that most couples don't, or perhaps once travel to the chosen country to visit the venues and meet the planners personally.
Last but certainly not least, anyone ours is not a profession regulated by law, so anyone can start an agency claim to be professional planners.
Fortunately, good planners will have lots of good reviews from former couples on the internet, but it's important to read them in detail because there are companies selling reviews as well.
So my advice; do your research, and then make an appointment to talk in person, preferably during a video call.
Convey your wishes and dreams to him or her, and ask yourself following questions;
All of this may seem pretty demanding, but do you really want to take the chance with a person that does not meet all the above requirements?
Some persons or organisations may pressure you to make a decision, but unless a specific venue and date is really very important to you, my advise is don't let anyone push you into a decision when you're not ready for it.
Take your time, do your homework, and when, and only when you're 100% sure that you've found the ideal combination of country-venue-planners-budget for you, decide.
Once the decision is made, it's time to start planning, deciding on which and when to share the info with your guests.
After all, you do want them to block the dates in their calendar as soon as possible, and ideally RSVP, but you don't want to share all the details with them, right?
They need to know, the where, when and how, so that they can start making request days off from work ( if necessary ) and make travel arrangements.
It only works when there is a perfect 2-way communication between you and the planners.
When you advise them of any changes in your wishes, dream, preferences or guest list.
When he or she does a perfect follow-up of them and advises you constantly of the recent developments and status of the planning, and if necessary reminds you when some decisions or choices are due in order to avoid chosen but not ordered services or vendors no longer being available.
Make sure that you're in constant control of the total cost so that there are no surprises when it's time to pay.
If necessary, send reminders to RSVP to your guest.
Some guests may be very late in confirming their attendance, but any changes in your guest list may influence your plan, but certainly will influence your budget.
Traditionally, the last month is always the most likely to create stress, so you want to make sure that everything is set and organised before that occurs.
At Costa Blanca Events, we close the planning approximately 6 weeks before the big day, but that does not mean that any last-minute changes are not possible.
Of course, they are, because there may be unforeseeable changes due to a change in employment, illness, etc.
But it does mean that the couple and their guests will make sure that the whole foreseeable planning is done so that during those last weeks, there is no need for stress.
And then, finally, it's time to travel, and get ready for an experience which should create lasting memories for many years to come.
And if you've chosen the perfect combination of country-venue-planners then that's exactly what will happen.
If your choice has been Spain-one of our venues-Costa Blanca Events then you can be 100% sure that we will create those long-lasting memories for you and your guests, and you'll become one of many couples who have written a 5-star review on facebook for us.
Weddings abroad are a totally different experience. It's not just one day.
The experience starts as soon as you leave your home, heading for your wedding destination.
Over the years we've bundled hundreds of questions form wedding couples who considered a wedding abroad.
On this website, we've tried to answer all of them, but we're open to new questions.
If so, we'll add a topic to the website, so that future wedding couples can get even more answers.
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Best places to get married in Spain (page 34-02)A destination wedding is simply one that is celebrated in a place far from the home town of the wedding couple.
How far?
That depends, but basically far enough so that the wedding couple and their guests need to travel and stay overnight.
Sometimes that means just a few hours driving, but usually, it involves flights.
There are lots of reason why you would consider a destination wedding.
On these and the other pages of this website, we'll explain all about the
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Best places to get married in Spain (page 34-02)What defines a perfect wedding abroad?
The answer is simple, one that meets or preferably exceeds the wedding dream of the couple.
Though the concept is simple enough, dreams are hard to fulfil.
It takes meticulous planning and organisation.
Open and transparent communication.
Negotiating firm agreements with all venues and vendors.
Rigorous budget management.
A timeline that's rigorous enough to avoid delays or mishaps, but is still flexible enough to allow spur-of-the-moment decisions.
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Best places to get married in Spain (page 34-02)Where to I start to tell you the best destination ideas?
To be honest, I can't because it all starts with the wedding dreams of the couple.
Planning a wedding is like a puzzle.
It's not a bunch of pieces laid flat on a table.
The pieces must fit together, make it a whole.
Then and only then do they compose a perfect wedding.
As wedding planners, we listen to the dreams of the wedding couple.
Then we add our ideas, suggestions, themes, decorations, experience, etc.
Over the weeks and months of planning, the puzzle gradually takes its final form, making the picture complete.
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Best places to get married in Spain (page 34-02)We've planned and organised lots of luxury destination weddings.
We have lots of reviews from former wedding couples, testifying on their degree of satisfaction with our services.
Our venues and vendors, knowledge of the area, culture and language, makes Costa Blanca Events the ideal partner for luxury destinations weddings.
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Best places to get married in Spain (page 34-02)You don't have to organise a huge wedding abroad. If it's your dream to get married abroad, just with your closest family and friends, or even only the two of you, then that's fine too.
We always say that we're making your wedding dream, a dream wedding.
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Small wedding in Spain (page 08-01)Inviting kids to your destination wedding is a very personal decision of the wedding couple.
Especially if you'll bring your own kids, it's going to be very difficult to not invite the kids of your guests.
It also depends on the number of kids in your group.
You'll probably want to somewhat control the number of kids since it will change the experience completely.
There is also the issue of school holidays, during which flights and accommodations can be significantly more expensive.
As a result, the total cost of your wedding can be higher, not only for you but also for your guests.
If you decide to invite kids, we can arrange baby sitters for you, who keep an eye on the kids during the ceremony, reception dinner and dance.
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Child care (page 16-20)One of the critical elements of a successful and stress-free destination wedding is wedding guest abroad information.
Guests need to be able to plan their attendance well in advance.
It all starts with a 'save the date'.
We recommend to - right from the start - gives your guests the basic information about the planning, such as;
This info allows your guests to decide whether they're able and willing to attend if necessary, ask a few days leave from their work, etc.
Informing your guests, and answering their questions is not a part of the tasks of a wedding planner.
But at Costa blanca Events, we make even that very easy and stress-free for our wedding couples.
Our online wedding planner system Yoep-P takes care of it all.
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Send save the date cards (page 28-04)Planning a wedding abroad is a big step, and you want to make very sure that it'll be your dream wedding!
One, if not the best way to make sure that you've found the right person who can make your wedding dream, a dream wedding, is to read reviews.
At Costa Blanca Events, we've created dream weddings for hundreds of wedding couples from all over the world.
A lot of them have written a review on your Facebook page.
Reviews on our Facebook page
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
Weddings in Spain Costa Blanca (page 01-01)The first step if you're considering a destination wedding is probably a search on the internet.
A website of a destination wedding planner, a venue or a vendor already tells you a lot.
Often websites don't tell the whole story, show few or even manipulated photos, no prices, etc.
If they offer such limited information, one could wonder what they're hiding.
At Costa Blanca Events, we love to be extremely open and transparent.
Give couples all the info they need to decide if they're interested in our services.
Offer them a free online chat, free online video calls with a wedding planner and respond to their e-mails within maximum 3 business days.
If we're that open and responsive before you've even contracted us, imagine what we'll do once we've started planning your wedding!
Related pages on our site or useful links to other sites :
I would like to visit the venues (page 24-01)