The adventure before the wedding

Part of the fun of a destination wedding is that you and your guests get to explore the area normally before the wedding. Meghan Meehan from Our Costa Rica Weddings recommends 3 days or a long weekend for the ceremony itself. If you plan to turn it into a vacation in the same area as the ceremony, you need to plan for 4 – 5 days. If you would like to visit more than one location, you need to have 7 – 8 days.

Because the people coming to a wedding are normally of all ages and activity levels, it is nice to have some variety in terms of activites. Meghan can work with you to develop options for every day. For example, you may plan to have a water activity. The guests would have the option of going white water rafting or taking an easy float down the river to see birds and wildlife. Another day there may be an option of going on zip lines or walking across hanging bridges in the cloud forest. In that way, you are meeting the needs of your guests that want an active adventure filled vacation and those who want to explore at a more leisurely pace.

There are also options for bachelor parties during the vacation. For one bachelor party they spent the day rappelling and white water rafting. Another party went sport fishing and brought back the fish to have that night at the rehearsal dinner (they did have backup plans if they didn’t catch enough). The bachelorette party could entail horseback riding to a waterfall. Another option would be spending a day at one of the amazing spas in Costa Rica getting massages, facials, or soaking in the thermal waters with a view of the volcano.

With a destination wedding, you can make your wedding not only an amazing day for you, but a memorable vacation for all of your guests.