Your guests have a love/hate relationship with destination weddings
Destination weddings generate intense reactions from your guests. Be wary if you’re contemplating such a move. The Wall Street Journal ran a big piece on Saturday (“Is it time to ditch destination weddings?”) from two perspectives which fleshed out the love/hate nature of inviting your friends and family to attend a destination wedding.
Nightmarish logistics
A destination wedding detractor wrote about her challenging pilgrimage to Mexico City for a friend’s wedding. She had to deal with flight cancellations, getting sick, dealing with COVID fears, testing, and confusion, and a hefty price tag. This detractor, Grace Rasmus, wrote:
“The nightmarish logistical burden that falls on guests is reason enough for couples to steer clear of destination weddings. Then there’s the financial impact; according to a recent study by the Knot, guests who flew to a wedding in 2021 spent an average of $1,270 all-in. Worse, these events are, plainly, a forced vacation where you have to spend a lot of intimate time with whoever else shows up. (Hello, high school acquaintances: Ready to make small talk for three days?)”
She closes with a zinger:
“Bottom line: Despite their easy-breezy image, destination weddings are all but destined to be stressful soirees.”
An adventure
End of story. Destination weddings should be avoided at all costs, right? Not so fast. Another writer, Sara Clemence, loves destination weddings. She views them as a wonderful adventure, a way to visit exciting places she may never have seen otherwise.
She encourages you to view it as an opportunity:
“Dearly beloveds: It’s an invitation, not a jury-duty summons.”
Her mindset is: what a wonderful opportunity! What a wonderful way to use vacation time:
“Me, I adore a destination wedding. if you’re holding a distant event in hopes of winnowing the guest list, sending me an invite is playing with fire. I’ve happily traipsed to Chicago, Sun Valley, Napa, Caragena, Bangalore and beyond — all in the name of other people’s love.
The data suggests I’m hardly alone: 79% of respondents told Priceline’s 2022 Wedding Travel Survey that they thought wedding events were a great excuse to travel and 75% called them “once in a lifetime experience(s)” worth splurging on.”
You can see it in these two examples from the Wall Street Journal’s Adventure and Travel section: passions run deep when it comes to destination weddings. Love. Hate.
What’s right for you?
Now when it comes to wedding entertainment, there is no such thing as love/hate relationships … as long as you select Five Star Entertainment. It’s all love, because we provide balance to please all your guests. Songs are balanced to appeal to all tastes. Music is calibrated to find the sweet spot between loud and soft. Guests can actually talk at the same time the dance floor rocks.
We even provide balanced options: DJ/MCs; decor lighting; photo booth. Prices are customized to your budget depending on what you need. No need to travel half way across the world to have a memorable wedding. We offer everything you need right here in Fayetteville. Check us out without obligation by simply clicking here.