Tips for planning a Destination Wedding as an Irish Bride.

If you are getting married abroad or having a destination wedding as an Irish person then this article is for you. As an Irish wedding videographer who has had the honour of capturing a recent destination wedding in Italy for a fantastic Dublin couple, there are a few things I observed which will be helpful for you to review in your own destination wedding planning:

1. Hiring local suppliers is not always easier or what you think. There is often the notion that booking local photographers, videographers & the like, can help save you in more ways than financial. They usually know the venues by the back of their hand & further more, it can save you having to fly out an Irish supplier just for the wedding itself. This after filming this incredible three day celebration for this Irish couple, I saw that I was wrong. With the amount of information any one can find on a specific venue online nowadays, any supplier can get an in-depth scope on venue locations so that on the day they are prepared like any other wedding back home. Further, most suppliers fly in the day before to scout the venue & do their own due diligence (something I did which became incredibly helpful on the wedding filming day itself.

2. Clashes of culture on the day are the last thing you need. Your wedding day arguably is the single most important day of your life. Tensions can be high, sticking with the schedule & remaining calm before you walk down the aisle, while dealing with many other suppliers, planners & owners of the venue can become a lot. If you are reading this my simple advice is to concerted time in considering who your suppliers will be on the day & how well you get on with them on a human level. If there are language barriers or differences in personality or on what’s of priority, it can become very stressful as a bride. Filming some European weddings abroad it is something I have observed from a far & wish to caution Irish brides on this. If you are used to the craic & laid back down to earth style of Irish culture, be sure you are aligned on what types of communication styles suppliers in your destination wedding country go by. It can mean the difference of having stress & upset versus peace & joy throughout your day. It can be the latter. My simple advice here is to make sure your suppliers have more than one video call with you so you can get to know one another, before the big day & set reasonable expectations for each of the different parts of the day & what is of most priority to you overall as a couple.

Hope this helps.

Breffny from Eye Flower Films.