When Should I Plan a Site Visit for My Destination Wedding?

Now that we’ve covered the list of to-dos during your venue site visit, let’s cover when to plan your pre-wedding trip. There are two different points during planning that can be considered for a site visit. Deciding on the right time for you and your future spouse primarily depends on how certain you are about your venue or destination. We’ll outline the two timing options to consider when planning your site visit below: 

Option 1 • Visit early in the planning process, when confirming your venue.

If you aren’t quite sure which destination or which venue is right for you, planning a trip well in advance lets you explore multiple venue and accommodation options. A site visit that occurs earlier in the planning process is helpful especially when you are undecided between destinations (comparing Manuel Antonio and Tamarindo for example), and/or undecided between multiple favorite venues. An earlier scheduled visit will give you clarity on those big decisions of location, venue, and hotel.

The con in a visit this early in the process is it might not be worth the expense of doing a hair and makeup trial or cake tasting if you don’t know which destination you will be in, as some of the vendor options will vary by town.

Option 2 • Visit later in the planning process, after the venue is confirmed.

If you feel comfortable booking the venue based on what you’ve seen (our teams’ feedback, past wedding galleries, other couple’s reviews, etc.) then visiting later in the process is the right timing for you. You’ll have a greater opportunity to choose and experience all the little details that come with the planning process such as:

• Tastings of your actual preferred menu for the wedding.
• Cake tasting with a baker that serves your town.
• Hair and makeup trials with your stylist, and at this point you have picked out your dress and have had time to actually select hair and makeup inspiration photos.
• If it’s later in the planning process, you might even be able to do a floral trial and check out your flowers, and possibly even a mock setup with your rental tables, chairs, decor, and flowers.  If not, no worries, we do the floral trial by video too!

The con in visiting later is that you don’t see your venue prior to booking, but we haven’t seen this be an issue when couples feel certain of their venue choice.  

Remember, we don’t recommend site visits for every couple. If making a site visit isn’t the right fit for you, you can definitely plan your dream wedding without visiting in advance. Our team of experts has spent years vetting these venues for you and we are dedicated to bringing your destination wedding dreams to life!