Let’s face it weddings are expensive and we don’t really know why. If you organized a large party for you and a bunch of friends it would likely cost you a couple of thousand dollars but is there any way that it would cost $30,000? In 2019 the average cost of a wedding in the United States was $33,000. It is not just in America that people are spending these crazy amounts. In Ireland, the average wedding costs 30,000 euro and in the UK it was 32,000 pounds. Clearly there are many countries in the world that have gone wedding crazy. Yet it is hard to avoid. When you book a caterer and they find out it is for a wedding, the price immediately goes up. However, there is another way.
Any smart business person could see that the wedding industry charging supernormal profits for their services leaves an available gap in the market. While service providers within-country would struggle to bring the prices down (as other services may refuse to work with them) there are foreign destinations that are pretty much located in paradise and can do your entire wedding at a lower price. Yes, you have to sacrifice some of those perfect things you thought about, but you are getting a paradise wedding as a result.
When anyone thinks about the Bahamas they think about luxury, about white sandy beaches and beautiful weather. Unless they have seen the Fyre documentary in which case they think of the Bahamas as the location of one man who will go to strange lengths for water. However, Fyre aside, the Bahamas are incredible.
The Breezes Resort in Nassau, Bahamas offer a wedding package that is all-inclusive with your accommodation package. You can stay at the resort for six nights, have your wedding ceremony with everything included for $900 per person. Just think if you paid for eight of your closest friends and family it would cost you in total $9,000 (plus flights). You have saved so much money and had a wedding in the Bahamas.
If that is still too pricey there are other places that offer similar services at a far lower price. The palace resorts in Mexico offer a five-night stay for $700 per person. Although one of the best things about the Bahamas offer is they will give you three free nights’ stay if you return for your anniversary. Amazing.
The Riu Resort In Jamaica wins the prize for the cheapest all-inclusive wedding. It will provide you a full wedding service as part of a six-night stay for $126 per person. This may be so low that the price actually worries you but we encourage you to contact the resort and have a look at the reviews and services. We have not been there but it looks like the real deal to us.
While none of these options may suit you they do highlight the insanity of the prices being paid for weddings today. For $30,000 you and your partner could book cruises around the world. You could trek for months through Asia. You could see everything the world has to offer, or you could have some really nice starters.
It depends on what you and your loved one want to do with your special day. I don’t question why anyone would want to spend that amount of money on their wedding. I fully understand that it is a once in a lifetime celebration. I just think you should look at what that money can do before you commit it all to businesses that are doing their best to make huge profits from your special occasion.