Destination weddings
Distance is a logistics problem. AyeDu was built for logistics.
A destination wedding is a multi-day wedding where every guest travels. AyeDu keeps the guest list, the travel desk, the vendors, the budget and the run sheet in one plan that your family, your planner and your vendors open from any time zone.
What changes
A wedding at home has a guest list, a budget, vendors and a schedule. A wedding abroad has all of that, plus a small travel operation. The four pieces below are where couples lose the most sleep, and where the plan does the most work.
Guests
Flights, hotel room blocks, airport pickups and a welcome dinner become part of the plan, not a spreadsheet on the side.
Schedule
Welcome drinks, the ceremony, the reception and the farewell brunch each need their own run sheet, and everyone reads it in local time.
Vendors
Local vendors you have never met in person need a brief, a contract and a deposit before you land.
Budget
Your own flights and stay, the rooms you guarantee, shipping for decor and attire, and a site visit all sit beside the usual lines.
Travel desk
The guest hub in AyeDu has a travel desk. You set up the hotel room blocks, the airport pickup windows and the shuttle routes once; guests get the details with their invitation and answer the travel questions with their RSVP.
How it works
Six moves, in order. Each one lives in the same plan, so nothing is re-typed between the guest list, the travel desk, the vendors and the day itself.
Set the destination, the events and the day each one falls on. Everything else hangs off that.
Track who is coming from where, and send save-the-dates early enough for guests to book flights.
Hotel blocks, airport pickup windows and shuttle routes, sent to guests with the RSVP.
Shortlist local vendors by city and tradition, send one brief with the date and budget band, compare quotes.
Contracts and deposits are handled inside the plan, so nothing waits for a site visit.
The run sheet is live on every phone, in local time, for your family, your planner and your vendors.
Where couples go
Wherever the wedding lands, the plan stays in one place. The marketplace lists vendors by city and by the traditions they have worked, and the tradition guides cover the ceremonies most destination weddings carry with them.
Timeline
Destination weddings run on a longer clock than home weddings, because guests need time to book travel and the best local vendors are reserved well ahead. Work backwards from the date.
12 months and more
Reserve hotel room blocks, and send save-the-dates as soon as the dates are fixed so guests can book flights and time off.
9 to 12 months
Photographer, a coordinator on the ground, catering and music. Check the marriage paperwork for the country, or plan the legal ceremony at home.
6 to 9 months
Send the invitations with the hotel, the airport and the schedule, and open RSVPs with the accommodation and pickup questions.
3 to 6 months
Final counts to the hotel and the caterer, the welcome and farewell events on the schedule, shuttles arranged.
The last month
Vendor call times, the guest travel list to the hotel, welcome bags, and the day-by-day plan shared with everyone who needs it.
Wedding week
Walk the venue, hand the run sheet to the coordinator, and let the plan do the work while you enjoy the days.
Destination wedding planners and coordinators
Your templates, your vendor network and your run sheets travel with you. Each client gets a view of their own plan, and every vendor on the ground gets a brief and a call time in local time.
Planning tools
Every tool reads the same wedding, so the guest count in the travel desk is the guest count in the budget and on the run sheet.
Guests by event, with travel and accommodation needs.
Keep reading
Three articles from the AyeDu blog that answer the questions destination couples ask first.
Venue
The questions to ask before you sign, wherever the venue is.
Guests
RSVPs, the guest list, save-the-dates and travel for guests coming from everywhere.
Budget
Where the money goes and where a destination changes the math.
Common questions
A destination wedding is any wedding where most of the guests travel to attend, usually over several days. The planning is the same as a wedding at home plus travel: where guests stay, how they get from the airport to the venue, which vendors work in that place, and a schedule everyone can read in local time. AyeDu keeps all of that in one plan.
Start twelve months or more ahead if you can. Guests need time to book flights and take leave, hotels need room blocks reserved early, and the vendors worth having in popular destinations are booked well ahead. Send save-the-dates as soon as the venue and the dates are fixed.
Collect the travel questions with the RSVP: arrival and departure, whether they need a room in your block, and whether they need an airport pickup. The travel desk in AyeDu keeps the hotel blocks, pickup windows and shuttle routes in one place and sends the details to every guest.
Yes. Each event is its own part of one plan, with its own guest list, schedule, vendors and budget line, and the run sheet shows in local time on every phone. A welcome dinner, a ceremony, a reception and a farewell brunch are four events in one wedding.
Browse the marketplace by city and by the traditions a vendor has worked, save a shortlist, and send one brief with the date, guest count and budget band. Where AyeDu does not yet list vendors in your destination, add your own: their briefs, contracts and call times work the same way.
Everything a wedding at home does, plus your own travel and stay, any rooms or events you host for guests, shipping for decor and attire, a site visit, and currency or payment fees. Give each its own line so the total is honest from the first day.
Not always, but a coordinator on the ground helps with local vendors, permits and language. AyeDu gives a planner their own view of your plan, so they work from the same guest list, timeline and vendor list you do, and you keep the decisions.
Marriage law is set by the country you marry in, and the paperwork can take weeks. Many couples sign the legal documents at home and hold the ceremony abroad. Check the requirements for your destination early, while you still have time to choose.
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Guests, travel, vendors and every event in one place your family, your planner and your vendors can open from anywhere.
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