By Perfect Wedding Guide ‘National Wedding Expert’, Susan Southerland

Those of you who follow this wedding planning blog regularly know that I just had a destination wedding. For the next five days, I am going to share with you the many lessons that I learned as a bride… tips on enjoying the wedding, incorporating children in the wedding, entertaining your guests, familymoons and today’s wedding blog entry, ideas for planning a wedding at a destination other than home.

Here is a quick rundown of what makes for a great destination wedding location:

• I. Guests should be able to get there easily.
• II. It should have accommodations in various price points.
• III. It should have activities and restaurants conveniently situated.
• IV. It should have good wedding vendors available.
• V. It should have an experienced catering manager and or wedding planner.

Scott and I chose The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek (Colorado) to have our wedding. It is a very special place to us and embodied all of the best features of a destination wedding location.

I. Conveniently located
Denver airport is only two hours away by car and during the summer, it is a gorgeous and easy drive. We didn’t want to require all of our guests to rent cars, so we chartered a bus. Guests who wanted to ride with us met us at the airport; we loaded up and were on our way. Friends of mine who live in Colorado treated us to sightseeing information, trivia contests and some Colorado micro-beers and wine during our trip. It was a great way to start the festivities.

II. Hotels in various price ranges
Beaver Creek isn’t known for being a bargain location, but it does have hotels with attractive rates, especially in the summer. The other bonus to staying in Beaver Creek is that most hotels are within walking distance of one another and those that aren’t typically have shuttles.

III. Activities and restaurants
We didn’t want to schedule our guests every moment of every day while we were in Beaver Creek so there was a bit of down time for everyone to enjoy. Our guests only had to descend the stairs to the village where there were some great restaurants, ice-skating and lots of shopping. One of my fondest memories is walking through the village with my husband and running into family and friends everywhere. We would stop and shop with some, have a drink with another and lunch with yet another group. What a way to spend the hours just prior to your wedding!

IV. Good wedding vendors
I confess, most of my wedding vendors came with me from Orlando. I have been such good friends with them for so many years that I couldn’t imagine celebrating my wedding without them. We did, however, use wonderful hair and makeup artists from The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek and our florist came from Denver. I know that if we had needed any other vendors, my catering manager, Lisa, would have had some great ones for us to use. Which brings me to my final requirement….

V. An experienced and skilled catering manager or wedding planner
The staff at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek was amazing. I was worried about how our catering manager, Lisa, would react to working with me (as a professional wedding planner, writer and bride) combined with the fact that many of my guests were planners, directors of catering and revered wedding professionals. She handled us like a pro. I even learned some things from her (like high-altitude cooking can limit some menu options!). Since I don’t live in Beaver Creek and my work schedule doesn’t permit much leisure travel, I had to depend on Lisa for many things. Even though I am an experienced planner, I can’t imagine trying to create the wedding that I had without her help.

I hope this gives you some wedding planning insight into how to choose a destination wedding location. You know that I welcome your questions and ideas. Please post for me here or email me at susan(dot)southerland(at)pwg.com. Come back tomorrow to learn about incorporating children into your wedding.

Remember, to see additional behind the scenes videos and photos and to share information with my other followers; become a fan on Facebook (search: Susan Southerland Secret) or follow me on Twitter (@Susansoutherlan).

***Photo credit goes to Kim Nodurft Photography, Ginger Midgett and some are from my iPhone.

Your Partner in Planning,
Susan