How to Make Your Destination Wedding a ‘Cool Affair’?

A quick question to your mother or your handsome grandpa about destination wedding would probably invite a sarcastic smirk or uncontainable giggles. Probably, the concept is as alien to them as ‘The Big Bang Theory’. We might probably have to convince them why it is not a waste of money to plan a destination wedding (nevertheless, they still wouldn’t be convinced).

Today, the advent of all things ‘quirky’ and ‘cool’ has made the concept a super hit. Couples have chosen to abandon the traditional ceremonies and opt for something more unconventional. The Bollywood influence just cannot be overlooked when it comes to weddings, especially destination weddings. Films like Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani with its beautiful picturesque Udaipur setting or Shaandar (of course, the movie was a dud and not as Shaandar as the breathtaking locations) have etched the beautiful Saltburn beach or splendid waterfall in North England in our mind. The locations are a major influence in how we look at making weddings a grand affair!

The destination bug has bit even celebrities in India. Like Rani Mukherjee and Aditya Chopra, who wed in a romantic countryside in Italy or the very popular Roadie Rannvijay Singh who married his beautiful bride Priyanka Vohra in one of the coolest yet unconventional destination— Mombassa. Not just that, prior to the wedding day, they conducted their roka ceremony in Dubai, partied hard at the bachelor session in Goa and got engaged in the country of Dukes and Duchess amidst grandeur and royalty. And if all of this is hard to recall, how can one forget the wedding of Arpita Khan and Aayush Sharma? It was the wedding of the year and the paparazzi went crazy over capturing a few glimpses.

So, how can one make it more happening and stand out from the rest? We are here to unveil the spicy ingredients required to cook up a great destination story!

Photo by : PK Suri

Welcome your guests with personalised welcome bags! It makes a person feel special and is the best way to make them a part of the whole celebration. So, make sure to add a personal ‘welcome’ note, maybe a miniature bottle of alcohol to set the mood for the evening.  A small box of chocolate will add the finishing touch to your wedding affair.

A family tree chart including the friends of the bride and the groom! A big fat Indian wedding usually involves all the chachas, buas, bhatijas, all durr ke rishtedaars, friends of the bride and groom and other 200 people you actually have clue about. So, why not have a family tree chart that gets the conversation started by allowing guests to understand and know how each one is connected to the couple. This can act as an icebreaker for those who haven’t met earlier.

You could set up a fun photo booth! Till date, most weddings we attend have a long queue of guests waiting to congratulate the couple and get pictures clicked with them. How unique would it be to have a photo booth set up just for that purpose? To add to that, you could ask your photographer to add some funky props and accessories. While the photographer takes pictures, your friends could hold out the signs and create beautiful, long lasting memories.

Photo Courtesy: Camera Crew

There could be a wedding wall or a wishing tree dedicated to the bride and groom wishing them on their special day! Planning on having a wishing tree or a wedding wall dedicated to showering blessings and wishes to the couple does two simple but important things—firstly, it conveys the message to the couple and secondly it brings in the ‘fun’ element and makes the guests feel involved.

If you plan on having a palace wedding and the theme is ‘royal’, and your destination being Udaipur, then you can just kill it. You could have the guests arriving in royal vintage cars and welcome them in a traditional Rajasthani-style aarti. You can also have a few acts and performances presented by some of the best Rajasthani folk dancers and performers, lined up for guests.

If your wedding venue is situated at a far off place from the hotel, then you could book vintage cars for the guests to be accompanied to the wedding venue. This would be a unique way of taking the guests to the venue and the vintage cars would add that royal touch to the whole thing. Or, this may sound crazy, but if you want notch up the ‘crazy metre’ a lot more, then you could arrange for a couple of parachutes and provide guests with the ultimate experience.

Vintage Car-Kings of Car Hire

Speaking of adventurous ways of bringing in guests, why not arrange some adventure sports for the guests to splurge into? If the destination is Goa, then maybe you can arrange for kayaking, water rafting, scuba diving, etc. that really brings out the adventurous spirit in your guests and they can have a fair share of fun before your wedding day arrives.

Photo: White Winter Rafting-Rishikesh River by Hi Tours

Does the idea of a choreographed wedding day sound weird? Well, it sure is for the sane. But flash mobs have been used by so many couples the world. But something like a flash mob, that too at a wedding, is something we’ve hardly heard of.  You could take a few dance lessons with your better half and you can involve a few of the family members and close friends in the act. Once the dance act is perfectly choreographed, you’ll can show a few moves and take every guest by surprise. To add an ‘aww’ element to it, you can make a few kids or grandparents to make a cameo appearance.

Photo by: Dipak Studios

You can also have a couple of party games planned for guests who arrive at your wedding.  Fill in the blanks is one of the options for a game wherein the sentence will mainly be related to the couple. After every guest has filled out the blanks the chain of letters can be compiled and presented to the couple, for them to treasure it forever.

This might sound a little absurd but for guests bringing in their children, this point stands relevant. You can have a room or so with nannies and this place works as a playgroup for the toddlers. This just allows your friends to enjoy more while their toddlers enjoy themselves and are taken care of.

So, it might happen that a lot of your friends from your long guest list may not be able to make it to your wedding. For those close friends and loved ones, there’s always social media to the rescue. How you ask? Simple. You could ask someone to post live tweets from your wedding or livestream the wedding ceremony. This makes your loved ones feel a part of your wedding even when they are thousands of miles away!

Yes, your folks back home may be expecting an epic wedding with the DJ and dholak in your city, but nothing beats a wedding weekend in paradise where everyone can enjoy an epic vacation. Whether you choose a beach or a palace, we want you to lock these little secrets in your wedding planning diary and whip out your magic for your special day.