Destination Wedding Trends 2013
鈥淲ill you love, honor and cherish鈥�?鈥� is the most momentous question brides and grooms ask themselves when they marry, but it鈥檚 far from the only one. As my new husband and I learned firsthand, slightly more than a million tiny to monumental decisions and demands comprise the entire wedding planning process.
Recently, I shared a personal account of when my husband and I got hitched on in Walt Disney World. Our experience reinforced long-held beliefs I was taught here at Dana, especially about how to speak to spouses-to-be, in general. But it also provided me with priceless insight into what destination wedding couples, in particular, want鈥攁nd stoked a need to learn even more about 2013 destination wedding trends.
I discovered that in 2012, 25% of US weddings qualified as destination weddings. That鈥檚 332,500 weddings鈥攁nd $18 billion in spending鈥攊n one year! So with that blissful figure floating out there, please join hands and repeat after me: 鈥淔or better or for worse, before marketing destination weddings to couples any further, we vow to ponder all of the important questions.鈥�
Who are they?
According to Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, couples tying the knot at least 200 miles from where they live are planning the very definition of a destination wedding.
With an average age of 32, let鈥檚 say they鈥檙e, well, more mature than the average marrying couple. The stats show 19% of them are celebrating their second wedding, so we鈥檒l call them wiser too. Moreover, they hold two-income households with higher income.
They 鈥渟trive to plan a one-of-a-kind celebration that results in a truly unforgettable travel experience for themselves and their guests. This desirable market plans ahead, rarely cancels and travels in groups.鈥�
For you, let鈥檚 cut to the best part: 鈥淵our ROI is easily achieved.鈥�
Where do they come from?
Everywhere! Destination wedding couples are typically a jetsetting bunch (91% own valid passports). Unlike hometown sweethearts arranging native nuptials, they tend to meet, marry and dwell around the globe, and their invitees are also far-flung.
Carley Roney, cofounder of XO Group Inc. (whose flagship brand, The Knot, is a leading wedding resource for every bride), says the growing destination wedding trend 鈥済oes hand in hand with the fact that most people no longer live where they grew up. When family is spread all over the country, a destination wedding is the perfect way to bring everyone together.鈥�
Where do they go?
Around 70% of destination weddings take place in the continental US. Since 69% of destination weddings are held outdoors, it鈥檚 no surprise that warm weather seems to win out. Florida is the #1 domestic wedding location, and other popular destinations include more Southeast states as well as Hawaii, California and Nevada. Also, big-city folks are seeking authentic, meaningful destinations, in their hometowns or elsewhere in the Heartland.
Top international destination wedding locations include the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, spots that tend to be beachy and/or balmy, and where travel is relatively easy.
Why do they do it?
XO Group Inc. notes that 66% of international destination wedding brides and 45% of domestic destination wedding brides cite wanting a 鈥渟pecial, fun or exotic locale鈥� as the main factor behind choosing a destination wedding. Other reasons include wishes to host fewer guests at a more intimate occasion (though numbers indicate guest counts are rising) and to celebrate at a location special to the couple.
Quality time in a fabulous place, with their closest loved ones, triumphs over a high-quantity guest count. The vast majority of couples pay for their destination wedding entirely, or they share the cost with parents. That means they鈥檙e less likely to list invitees numbering in the hundreds, just to honor an obligation to feed surf 鈥榥鈥� turf to the mother-in-law鈥檚 ex-boss鈥� second cousin twice removed and her next-door neighbor鈥檚 dogwalker, who she鈥檚 bringing as her guest.
Despite popular belief, 鈥渇or richer, for poorer鈥� does not mean typical couples are squandering the entire cost of their mortgages on over-the-top Fantasy Platinum Destination Weddings. The first thing many (nosey) people say when they hear about our Walt Disney World wedding is, 鈥淲ow, I bet that cost a FORTUNE.鈥� Hardly. Like the average destination wedding couple, our overall costs were less than they鈥檇 be for that larger wedding we鈥檇 feel required to throw in our hometown.
XO Group Inc.鈥檚 figures confirm that the average cost of a traditional wedding is higher than (but close to) the average cost of a destination wedding. Destination wedding couples simply spend that money differently. They invite fewer guests and spend more on each individual guest than their traditional wedding counterparts, in order to lavish them with unique activities and experiences, bonus group events and, sometimes, partial expenses.
So what do they want?
Now that we know who they are, let鈥檚 explore what these couples want from you. In Part 2, we鈥檒l learn more about where you can find them, what you can do for them and how you should tell them all about it. Until then, email Tracy Stottler at tstottler@danacommunications.com for Dana鈥檚 destination wedding marketing expertise.