Destination weddings have never been more popular – here's how to navigate them

Telegraph

3 hours ago

How do you feel about going on holiday to a glamorous sunshine destination? Happy? Now, how do you feel about the prospect if I tell you the holiday is not in a destination or on a date of your choosing and that you will have to spend three days of your getaway in a sweaty suit or heels making small talk with a dull uncle you've never met?
Oh, and it will cost you about £1,000 for the privilege.
Cancelled during Covid, and scaled back in the early years of the cost-of-living crisis, destination weddings are now back with a bang. According to Google Trends, the search term 'destination wedding' is more popular than at any time since 2016, and research published in May by financial company American Express finds that 40 per cent of British wedding guests are heading overseas to weddings they are attending in 2025.
But as inflation pushes costs up – according to 2024 research from Aviva, guests now spend an average of £978 a head attending an overseas wedding – and as destination wedding schedules sometimes sprawl over a week of 'bonding' activities, photo ops and Prosecco toasts, not everyone is happy about some couples' sun-kissed connubial dreams.
A series of recent spats on social media capture the mood of the moment.
'For the love of God stop having destination weddings!!!!' ran one explosive viral post on the Reddit r/weddings posted by a mother of the bride. 'They cost a small fortune and PTO [personal time off] is so limited these days, And ESPECIALLY no kids destination weddings. No one wants to go. Just stop.'
In another case in February, a bride-to-be went viral after complaining that only nine guests out of 150 invitees had RSVPd to her glamorous destination wedding in Thailand, and upon switching the locale to Hawaii, only seven people confirmed they would be in attendance.
One best man shared his personal tale of wedding-induced financial woe. 'One of my best friends is getting married in Costa Rica next July and I'm honoured to have been asked to be a groomsman. I like him and his fiancée very much, and I'm genuinely excited to share this big moment with them. But the invitations just went out and the resort they have chosen is $1,200 [£890] per night for a couple!'
Tina Reading, editor of Beautiful Weddings UK, explained that even expensive destination weddings can be an 'attractive proposition' for couples as they are typically half the cost of a similar bash at home. 'Yet for guests, these lavish invites can feel like a double-edged sword: on one hand, they promise an unforgettable trip; on the other, they can quietly hijack your annual holiday budget.'
The real costs of nuptials abroad
Cost is a thorny issue for many destination wedding guests. Gemma Watts, 31, a hairdresser from south London, told Travel that for Britons like her at 'peak first wedding age' (from around age 27 to 35), the costs of friends' bashes can quickly stack up.
'I've been invited to three pricey weddings this summer, one of them in Dordogne and one in Ibiza,' she says. 'I'm trying to save up with my boyfriend for a house deposit so it's all coming at the worst possible time as we can barely afford a weekend on a campsite right now.'
Tough-talking financial advisor Dave Ramsey advises anyone without a healthy bank balance to think twice about booking that ticket to Zanzibar.
'A destination wedding is an excuse for a vacation,' he said. 'It can be a wonderful thing – for people who have money. But when broke people go to a destination wedding, you know what you call that? More debt. I can promise you, 25 years from now, there's about a 90 per cent chance that you'll have zero relationship with these people.'
Even celebrity couples are thinking twice about the exorbitant cost of overseas dos. Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, 37, tied the knot with husband Ercan Ramadan last September at a destination wedding in Puglia. Pattison, who wore four wedding dresses and had 13 bridesmaids on her big day, said she was shocked that her 'dream day' cost 'the same price as a house'.
'I knew weddings were big business, and it's not my first rodeo, but everything's just got more and more expensive,' she told a wedding magazine, noting that she scaled back her bash at 16th-century Castello Monaci in Salento, which features a swim up bar and 'fairytale' suites, cancelling some thousand pound flower installations.
The RSVP question
For all of the out-of-pocket and annual leave costs, one in two Britons are willing to sign up for destination wedding dos. A June 2025 survey by holiday company Holiday Extras revealed that 46 per cent would be willing to travel 'anywhere in the world' to attend a loved one's wedding, however only two per cent, according to the same report, are happy to travel overseas for a hen or stag do.
Tina Reading said, on a bright note, it's acceptable for guests to weigh up the location, their relationship with the couple and their own priorities before saying yes to a lavish destination bash.
'There's a growing awareness that saying 'no' doesn't mean you don't care,' she said. 'Couples understand polite declines these days, particularly if guests are honest about financial or logistical limits.'
The dos and don'ts of destination weddings
Do: RSVP Promptly
Destination weddings require complex planning and headcounts for travel, accommodation and meals. Be a good guest and RSVP within a couple of weeks of receipt of the invitation. If you are going to turn the invitation down, it's best to be prompt, concise and kind.
Don't: Treat the marrying couple like a concierge
Be self-sufficient. Take care of your own logistics unless explicitly offered help (with flight and room bookings, transfers, etc).
Do: Book early
Secure your travel and accommodation well in advance, especially if the couple has reserved room blocks or suggested travel windows. Can't afford the accommodation that's been blocked? Make plans well in advance to stay nearby, especially if you are keen to make the most of all-inclusive flight and accommodation packages (which often shaves hundreds off the cost).
Don't: Ignore the itinerary
There's nothing worse than guests who go rogue and ignore the marrying couple's schedule to do their own thing. Stick to the couple's schedule (welcome dinner, group excursions, ceremony timing), show up on time and be present. If you have an issue with any of the activities, ask if you can opt out as soon as you see the schedule.
Do: Pack thoughtfully
Bring appropriate outfits for each event bearing in mind the climate and any cultural sensitivities, along with essentials for the location (sun cream, mosquito spray, adapter, etc). You don't want to be the guest with the luminous sunburnt face in the wedding snaps.
Don't: Invite a plus-one without asking
Only bring a guest, or a plus-one, if they are specifically invited. Don't assume (or hide your lover in the bouganvillea bushes).
Do: Bring a small gift
Even if travel is costly, it's customary to send a small, less expensive gift to a marrying couple, unless the couple has clearly stated 'no gifts'. To cut down on baggage, you can plan to send a gift to them directly when they get back to the UK, or you can offer to contribute towards a set cost on their big day.
Don't: Complain about costs
If the destination is beyond your budget, it's okay to decline. But don't attend and then guilt the couple about the impact to your wallet, or grumble to other guests.
Do: Contribute to the 'group vibe'
Yes, it can be wearing to have to perform the conga through the coconut palms with Fred the bore, but that's the whole point of weddings: be sociable, inclusive and avoid clinging to cliques – doubly important with destinations where solo travellers might know few of the attendees.
Don't: Post on social media before the couple
They might not have sold rights to Hello mag for a cool million, but this is the no-no of the 2020s. Wait for the newlyweds to share online before uploading your photos, especially of the ceremony itself.
How to turn a destination wedding invite into a holiday you actually want to take
Getting that gilt-edged invitation can be a mixed blessing. Yes, you're flattered to be included but no, you didn't exactly dream of spending your annual leave on a clifftop in Santorini with the bride's uni mates. But if you think of the wedding as an 'anchor' and not the whole show, you can turn the trip into a getaway that works for you.
If you are invited to a destination wedding and say you'll attend, says Reading, make the most of it. 'Share accommodation, extend your stay for a proper holiday and look for flight deals early,' she advises. 'With a bit of planning, it can be both a celebration and a smart use of your travel time.'
Start by looking at the wedding location creatively. According to American Express, France is the most popular destination for destination nuptials (26 per cent of overseas weddings), followed by Spain, the USA, Italy and Canada.
If the wedding is in Cancun but you're not a resort person, tack on a few days in Mérida or Tulum. Friends getting married in Mallorca? Spend a few nights in Palma's old town, then head to the Tramuntana mountains for hiking and slow travel, or fly on to Seville for flamenco, food and Moorish architecture. Heading to a Lake Como affair? Swing through Milan for galleries and aperitivo culture before the Prosecco frenzy begins. Bali wedding? Add a few days in Ubud or hop to Komodo.
You can also consider changing hotels. It's rare you are obliged to bunk down in the official guest block if you'd rather have an adults-only boutique or a quiet Airbnb nearby; just be clear and polite about this in your RSVP.
Also, consider stopovers and 'mini detours'. Look for layovers in major airport hubs such as Amsterdam, Singapore or Istanbul to explore a city that excites you. Heading to Tuscany, for example? Detour via Rome or the Amalfi Coast. Websites like Opodo and Lastminute.com offer multi-city flight search options.
Most importantly, always extend the trip. Weddings are short and intense. Adding a few decompressing days can turn a social chore into a holiday of a lifetime.