Congratulations! You are about to embark on one of the greatest and most unforgettable journeys of all time. Demonstrating a life time commitment to your partner through marriage is an irreplaceable experience. We want you to enjoy every step of the way and we are here to help. On average a couple will spend over 300 hours planning a gay wedding! That’s the equivalent to working on your wedding planning full time for over eight weeks. Our expertise here at GayWeddingDestinations.com can help you to reduce some of that stress buy providing you with the following:

• Inspirational ideas for your wedding from your wedding cake to what you will wear on your big day.
• Expert advice for planning a gay wedding from money saving ideas to how to write your own wedding vows.
• A stunning selection of uniquely designed contemporary gay wedding stationary.
• Exclusive offers on gay weddings abroad working with hand-picked gay friendly wedding planners in some of the most stunning locations worldwide.
• Luxurious honeymoon destinations are brought to you with a relaxed gay friendly welcome in mind to enable you both to sit back and enjoy some of the most beautiful places in the world while you reminisce about your wedding day.

Top 10 Tips for the Perfect Gay Wedding

• • Wedding Planning: If you are the type of person who enjoys organising then dealing with the long list of things to do will be right up your street. However for those who are not very organised you can hire a gay wedding planner. Wedding planners can really ease the pressure and organise everything from advising on your budget to liaising with the wedding venue and suppliers.
  • Wedding Budget: Be realistic about what you can afford. List all of your ‘must have’ items and then list your ‘dream wedding’ items. See how far your budget will stretch but don’t be left with large debts that you will be paying off for years to come.
  • Wedding Theme: Put your stamp on it – there are so many themes from zany to traditional so everything from your wedding outfit to your table decorations can be themed.

• • Wedding Favours & Accessories: Your wedding favours can be as unique as you are. There are so many wonderful designs on offer no matter what your wedding theme is you will find a favour to match. The accessories you choose from table top crystals to Mrs & Mrs Love Hearts can all be tailored to your theme.
  • Wedding Outfit: From matching outfits to complimentary and from designer to fancy dress. At gay weddings anything goes. Be yourself – if you are not a meringue wearer don’t be talked into it.
  • Wedding Rings: Start your wedding ring shopping early. There is so much choice that finding the right design for you can be difficult. If there are no pre-made designs that take your fancy why not have a bespoke wedding ring designed for you.
  • Wedding Photos: If your budget permits don’t cut corners by asking a friend to be your photographer on the day – hire a professional gay friendly wedding photographer. You won’t regret it.
  • Vows & Music: Your wedding vows should be personal to you whether they are in the form of a poem or something you have written from the heart. Look into your partner’s eyes as you read your vows and try not to cry!
  • Insurance: Wedding insurance may not have been something you have considered before but for a relatively small expense it could compensate you in the event of a wedding day catastrophe. Policies will cover you for things like loss of your wedding rings or if you have an accident that prevents you from being able to tie the knot.
  • Enjoy: Your wedding is a one off event so be sure to take in the moment at every given opportunity. Disposable cameras given to your guests are a great way to capture what’s going on around you as you wont be able to be everywhere at once. Buy the newspapers on the day of your wedding so in years to come you can remember what was happening in the world on the day you got married.

Wedding Mishaps

No matter how well you plan your special day, the truth is that sometimes things just go wrong at weddings! From a caterer mishap, to a total cake disaster and an unexpected thunderstorm, knowing what might interfere with your planned perfect day is the first step to efficiently handling just about any crisis that may crop up at gay weddings!

Plan Ahead!
While you can’t possibly anticipate everything that can go horribly wrong at weddings, you can certainly plan every detail in order to minimize the things that could go wrong!

Your wedding rehearsal is an excellent opportunity to help you gain an idea as to what could potentially go horribly wrong; to help ensure that your wedding disasters are kept to a workable minimum, try to plan your wedding rehearsal two or three days away from your actual wedding date so that you have time to modify plans that need it!

Have everyone try on their gowns, suits, and shoes two days before your wedding to ensure that everything fits correctly. If your original fittings were done a month prior to your wedding there is the strong possibility that someone in your wedding party has gained or lost weight! Avoid one of the most common issues of all gay weddings by ensuring that everyone’s clothing fits them!

Be sure that you diligently check the local weather reports to see if any rain is expected on your big day! If there is even a 20% chance of rain when you wake up on your wedding morning then you should give serious consideration to stowing at least three umbrellas into your car! Just in case!

Verify Your Vendors!
Even if you feel like you may be driving your vendors a little crazy, you should call them at least a week out from your wedding day to ensure that all is still on schedule for your wedding day. Call your florists, your caterers, your car services, and anyone else who carries with them the potential for a large hiccup in the middle of your wedding!

Remember, the most important thing about gay weddings is that the couple who is sealing their love and commitment with one another is allowed to shine and enjoy their day! So long as you have your beloved by your side, you can handle any mishap at your wedding!

Gay Wedding Guest-List

Drawing up your guest list can sometimes feel like it will end in divorce before you have even got married! This process is a joint decision between you and your partner on which essential family friends, ushers, bridesmaid’s best man to invite.

Who to invite
Everyone has the dilemma of which distant relatives to invite. Often once you say you will invite one aunty there is someone in your family who will say “well if you have invited this person you need to invite that person”! Our advice would be don’t stress about inviting people you never speak to just because they are family. Guest numbers are often limited and it’s a tough job to keep within your budget as it is without extending the guest list even further.

Day & Evening Guests
Remember there are two sections to your wedding: daytime and evening. Your evening reception will often be the time to invite your extended friends and family. If the guest list is too high then you will have to do a further filter and sift through until you can release some of the names. Remember you can always say to guests with children that you will not be able to accommodate children.

It’s your wedding day; you do not need to feel guilty about anyone you have not invited. Try to start your list with essential guests like immediate family, close friends, your witnesses etc… You can then begin to think about adding extended friends and work colleagues to your list. Double check the capacity of your wedding venue before you start and how many guests you would like to cater for and what the cost per head will be.

5 Step Fly By Guide to your Perfect Wedding

• • You are likely to be up bright and early on the morning of your wedding as you probably haven’t slept very well due to nerves and also there is so much to do.
  • If you have booked a hair and make-up specialist then try to have this all completed at least one hour before your ceremony time to enable you to get your wedding outfit on, calm the nerves and have some last minute hugs and kisses with friends and family or your partner if you are getting ready together.
  • If you have organised wedding transport be sure to have your pick up and drop off times spot on so that you are not panicking if there is unexpected heavy traffic. Research your route to your ceremony location.
  • If you have chosen for your father or someone close to walk you down the aisle then you should link this person’s right arm. You will then exchange vows and perhaps have some close friends or family do a reading and then it’s time for your wedding reception. At the reception you should welcome all of your guests and thank them for their attendance. The toasts, speeches, cutting of the cake and first dance will all take place at your reception. Once all of the formalities are out of the way you can then dance the night away with your guests and have the time of your life.
  • If you have booked a honeymoon you will either have your send off on the evening of your wedding or within the next week. This is the time for you and your new wife or husband to relax, enjoy and reminisce on a wonderful day.

Gay Wedding Summary

Theme: There are so many stunning themes to choose from you will be spoilt for choice. A theme can be a colour scheme for your table decorations and accessories e.g. beach theme or music theme or it could be a theme for your wedding outfits and those of your guests e.g. fancy dress.

Invitations and Accessories: From bespoke hand-made invitations to contemporary printed thank you cards there is now a wide variety of gay wedding stationary available. Consider your theme and purchase your stationary with your theme in mind. Once you have completed your guest list you will know how much stationary you will need to purchase.

Wedding Roles:Knowing who does what at a wedding can be confusing. There is nothing written in stone which says that one person has to do a particular role. With gay weddings there is more scope for diversity and pretty much anything goes. So, if you want a best women dressed in a tuxedo to walk you up the aisle then so be it. Think about your wedding budget when you consider if you want and need bridesmaids, page boys, flower girls etc… This will all be and additional cost in terms of outfits, gifts and catering.

Who to invite: Drawing up your guest list can be one of the most stressful elements of planning a wedding. Undoubtedly there will be arguments about should attend and who should be put into the ‘no’ pile. At the end of the day you should not feel guilty about not inviting someone – it’s your day and you are the most important people on that list.

Who sits where?: Choosing who sits at the head table is probably the easiest part of a seating plan – it’s who sitting next to who on the guest tables that can cause controversy. Try to sit together people who know each other well and perhaps mingle your other guests who do not know too many people onto the lively tables where there are people who will welcome them. Avoid seating divorced couples and ex.’s next to each other with their new respective partners.

Vows: Your wedding vows should be personal to you. This is your opportunity to publicly declare your love for your partner. You can choose from a pre-set template, a beautiful poem or write your own vows. Whichever option you choose – speak from your heart and directly to your partner. Try not to let the emotions get the better of you!

Toasts and Speeches: Public speaking is not everyone’s cup of tea so choose your main speaker carefully. The best mans speech is often a focal point of the wedding that all of the guests look forward to (apart from the best man himself/herself!) The best speeches have humour but they also have meaning and tug on the heart strings.

Honeymoon: All the planning leading up to your wedding and raw emotion of the day is out of the way and you and your new wife or husband can look forward to a honeymoon. Try not to skimp on this element of your budget as this is a once in a lifetime trip that is really special so treat yourselves. Remember not all countries are gay friendly so if you fancy strolling down the beach hand in hand make sure you choose somewhere you won’t end up in prison.