Number of couples having overseas weddings on the rise, report reveals

Love is a journey

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The number of couples choosing to have overseas weddings is on the rise, a report has claimed.

Planning a wedding can be extremely stressful. There are so many details you need to consider - how many guests you can invite, dietary requirements, the song choice for the first dance and so on.

Many betrothed couples are now opting to add another layer of complexity to their nuptial preparations by deciding get married abroad.

A report published by tourism company Kuoni has revealed the most predominant travel trends likely to come to fruition in 2018, including the statistics surrounding overseas weddings.

Since developing a specialist support team of wedding planners, Kuoni noted an increase in business of 14 per cent from 2016 to 2017.

As can be expected, many couples are selecting warmer climates for their wedding ceremonies, with Mauritius revealed to be the most popular wedding destination for 2017 and 2018.

Saint Lucia came in second for both years and placed thirteenth overall on Kuoni’s list of top travel destinations.

Clare Miller, a physiotherapist from London, is due to get married this summer. She and her fiancé decided to get married in Croatia having visited the country before.

“We chose to get married abroad because we visited Croatia on holiday and thought it was stunning,” she told The Independent.

“It was really hard to find the type of venue that we wanted because we had lots of people coming and generally it caters for smaller gatherings.

“Paul [her fiancé] is from Australia so we thought it was a good excuse to do a destination wedding.”

Planning the wedding has cost more than she and her fiancé initially expected, as the exchange rate has been less than ideal.

However, they know that they wouldn’t be able to find a venue as special as the one they’ve chosen in the UK, as their big day will take place in a Napoleonic fort.

While it may seem as though organising an overseas wedding would inevitably cost an extortionate amount, this might not actually be the case.

According to Kuoni, the average spend on a destination wedding is £7,500.

This is far less than the average amount spent by couples on their weddings in the UK, which last year hitched.co.uk reported came to £27,161.

This may correlate with the number of guests in attendance at the wedding, as the average party size of an overseas wedding is supposedly as little as 10 to 15 guests.

One of the most notable aspects of Kuoni’s report is the sharp increase in LGBT+ wedding and honeymoon bookings.

The number of LGBT+ honeymoons booked through the tourism company has risen by an incredible 80 per cent in the past year with their most popular wedding destinations being New York, Las Vegas and Portugal.