The short answer: you can, the venue can, a travel company can, a planner in the destination can, or a UK planner with people on the ground can. Each suits a different kind of wedding. The right choice depends mostly on how many guests you have, how fixed your date is and how much of the work you want to keep, and the mistake to avoid is picking without knowing who will actually be at the venue on the day.
Your five options, compared
You, by yourself
Strengths
- Full control of every decision
- The lowest cost on paper
Watch out for
- Arranging a legal ceremony with a foreign authority, in another language, from a distance
- Nobody on site on the day but you
- Weeks of emails across a time zone
Best for: An elopement or a very small wedding, or couples who already know the destination well.
The venue’s own wedding coordinator
Strengths
- They know the venue inside out
- One less person to coordinate, for the venue part
Watch out for
- Their remit usually stops at the venue: ceremony paperwork, outside suppliers and your guests are often yours to manage
- Scope varies a lot from venue to venue
Best for: A simple wedding at a venue that bundles most things into one package.
A travel company or tour operator’s weddings team
Strengths
- Flights and rooms can be bundled with the wedding
- Financial protection on the travel parts (ask which parts)
Watch out for
- A limited menu of venues and styles
- Often more packaged than personal
Best for: Couples who want the wedding, the flights and the hotel in one booking.
A planner based in the destination
Strengths
- Deep local knowledge and supplier relationships
- Often the most flexible on bespoke details
Watch out for
- They are remote from you: different time zone, often different currency and expectations
- Harder to meet or to hold to account from the UK
Best for: Couples who want something very specific and are comfortable working remotely with a stranger abroad.
A UK-based planner with a coordinator on the ground (what we are)
Strengths
- A UK contact you can ring, in your time zone and in pounds
- A person in the country who deals with the venue and the authority and is there on the day
- One accountable team from first enquiry to the last detail
Watch out for
- Covers only the destinations the planner works in
- Not the right fit if you want to do it all yourself to save the planning fee
Best for: Couples with a guest list who want one accountable point of contact and a person on site.
What is hard to do from the UK on your own
- Arranging a legal ceremony with a foreign authority: the documents, the translations and the deadlines differ by country and even by town.
- Reading a venue contract and a supplier’s terms in another language.
- Checking that a venue, a caterer or a photographer is what the photographs suggest.
- Being at the venue on the morning, when something small and urgent always comes up.
- Changing a plan at short notice, such as a weather change, from a different time zone.
How to decide
- Just the two of you, or a handful of guests. Doing more yourself can work, particularly for an elopement.
- A guest list and a fixed date. This is where a planner with a person on site earns their place.
- You want travel and wedding in one booking. A travel company’s weddings team may suit, if you are happy with its venues.
- You know exactly what you want, somewhere unusual. A planner based in the destination may know it best.
- You want one accountable team and a person to ring. A UK-based planner with a coordinator on the ground, like us.
What we plan, and what stays with you
We plan weddings in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Malta and Spain. In a package we handle the venue and the date, the ceremony arrangements with the local authority, the wedding meal and drinks, the core styling, a rehearsal and a coordinator on the day, plus your guests’ private RSVP website. Flights and transfers you book yourself, accommodation you pay to the hotel or villa directly, and local authority fees go to the municipality. The cost page shows it line by line, and our wedding planner abroad page explains how we work.
Who plans weddings abroad: your questions
- Can someone else plan my wedding abroad for me?
- Yes. A wedding planner can take on the venue, the ceremony arrangements, the suppliers and the day itself, and you stay in charge of the decisions that matter to you. What you hand over, and what you keep, is agreed in your proposal.
- Can a UK wedding planner plan a wedding abroad?
- Yes, as long as they cover your destination and have someone on the ground. A UK-based planner who works only from the UK cannot be at the venue, so ask who is there on the day. Our model is a UK-based team plus a coordinator in the country.
- Do hotels and venues plan weddings abroad?
- Many have a wedding coordinator who looks after the venue itself. That usually does not extend to the ceremony paperwork, outside suppliers or your guests, which is where an independent planner adds the most.
- Do I need a wedding planner for a wedding abroad?
- You do not have to have one, but the things that are hardest from another country (the legal ceremony, managing suppliers in another language, being there on the day) are exactly what a planner does. For a wedding with a guest list, most couples find it is the part they are glad not to have done alone.
- Can I plan a wedding abroad without visiting first?
- Yes. Many couples do, using photographs, video and calls, with a coordinator who is there in person. If you want to see a venue before committing, ask your planner what is possible.
How to choose the best planner
Ten questions to ask any planner, and the red flags.
Read moreUK wedding planner for weddings abroad
What we do, where, and how it works.
Read moreThe legal side of a wedding abroad
Legal versus symbolic, and the paperwork.
Read more
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