With the average cost of a UK wedding now around £20,000, weddings abroad offer a price advantage as well as a memorable setting. And if you marry in the Mediterranean, you can almost guarantee the weather will be better.
Here we suggest a few great options for good-value weddings in the Med. By opting for such short-haul destinations, couples make it easy for friends and family to celebrate their big day with them, perhaps combining the trip with a longer holiday. Offer to organise accommodation for the whole group and maximise your sales.
Blue Lagoon, Olu Deniz
The Blue Lagoon deserves its name. This stunning bay at Turkey’s Olu Deniz provides the most vivid turquoise backdrop for a white wedding imaginable. The calm, crystal-clear waters lap on to pearly sands, and the steep green mass of Babadag mountain rises up in the background.
Couples who book to stay in any First Choice or Thomson property can hold their wedding next to the Blue Lagoon. Couples walk through beautiful gardens – usually to the sound of their favourite music – and arrive at a white gazebo where they take their vows. The area has a relaxed atmosphere, so it’s an option that would suit couples looking for a sun-baked, low-key wedding.
Sample product: First Choice Weddings offers a marriage package here for £515, including planning and administration, wedding ceremony, marriage certificate, cake for eight people, bottle of sparkling wine and transport to the location for the bride and groom. Extras such as hair, make-up, photos and video, and a reception can be arranged by the wedding co-ordinator at extra cost. firstchoice.co.uk, 0871 664 0131
St Paul’s Church, Lindos
Think rocky coves, olive groves and white-washed buildings – this spot on the island of Rhodes offers a classic Mamma Mia! wedding.
The houses of Lindos town cling to the hillside, which tumbles down towards the encircling arm of St Paul’s Bay. A tiny, picture-perfect white-walled Greek chapel sits at the water’s edge, and couples can get married just outside.
Planet Holidays recommends it as one of the most photogenic spots in Greece to get married.
Other picturesque places include the waterfront and the winding cobbled streets. This option would suit the more gregarious couple, as everyone loves to stop and stare at the beautiful bride.
Sample product: Planet Holidays offers a wedding at St Paul’s Bay from £699, including planning and administration, marriage licence and certificates, document translation, civil wedding ceremony, sugared almonds, and local aperitif for the bride and groom. A reception can be organised at any of the local hotels, and the wedding party and guests can choose accommodation from luxury hotels to great-value self-catering options. planet-holidays.co.uk, 0871 871 2234
‘Ocean Flyer’, Paphos
What could be more glamorous than getting married on a luxury yacht? They are the classic playground of the rich and famous, and your clients can get a taste of celebrity treatment by choosing to say their vows on board a yacht.
Couples staying in Paphos, Cyprus, can walk up the red-carpeted gangway for a yacht wedding worthy of a celebrity. Ocean Flyer is a 35-metre-long luxury yacht decorated with balloons, ribbons and flowers, with built-in seating, tables and an on-board music system.
After the ceremony, the happy couple and guests can sail off along the Akamas Park coastline, past turtle nesting sites into the Mediterranean sunset.
Ocean Flyer is suitable for groups of up to 80 people. There is a smaller luxury yacht that would suit smaller wedding parties of about 15.
Sample product: Thomas Cook offers a Cyprus Yacht Wedding from £749, including wedding fees, ceremony and decorations, administration and a dedicated wedding co-ordinator. For bookings made before April 2010, Thomas Cook is offering guests €150 credit towards wedding extras, bookable through the wedding co-ordinator. thomascookworld.com, 0844 871 0670
The cloisters, Sorrento
Footballer Wayne and reality TV presenter Coleen Rooney apparently spent a jaw-dropping £5 million on their wedding near Portofino, but your clients can spend a fraction of this and still marry with classic Italian charm and style.
Thomson offers weddings in the historic 13th-century cloisters in the gorgeous, candy-coloured town of Sorrento. The curving arches of the landmark building provide a traditional setting for the ceremony, which is conducted in Italian and translated. The couple also get to choose readings for the wedding.
After the ceremony, the wedding party convenes for photographs in gardens filled with vividly coloured bougainvillea with a backdrop of Mount Vesuvius, and the breath-taking curves of coastline that have made the Amalfi Coast so famous.
Sample product: Thomson’s wedding package starts from £689, including ceremony, certificate and registrar fees, bouquet and buttonhole, wedding cake, sparkling wine for the bride and groom, and a representative to help plan the wedding. thomson.co.uk, 0871 971 0545
