{From the Experts} Tips on Planning Your Luxury Destination Wedding and Honeymoon from Anna Lena, Event Specialist

Anna Lena Shahrivar, the VP of Meetings and Plannings at classictravel.com was kind enough to give us some Do's and Do Not's that anyone planning a luxury destination wedding or honeymoon needs to know about.

DO NOT make reservations in your married name

Some brides get excited and make all the reservations in their married name, however if your honeymoon is directly after the wedding, the name will not match your IDs (passport, drivers licence etc) as these take a while to get changed. In addition, you will actually need the marriage licence to make any changes to official documents, so if you are having a destination wedding it will be impossible to make reservations under any name but your unmarried name. 

DO NOT make a group reservation for your entire party

Anna Lena says that sometimes, guests want to come earlier or extend their trip, trying to get a vacation in as well as the wedding, especially with destination weddings in Europe. Let your travel agent take care of all the different travel arrangements for your guests, so you will have less to worry about on your special day.

DO check with your airline to make sure you can hang your dress in a closet on the flight

A bride's worst nightmare is to find, on the day of the wedding, that the airline has lost your dress. If you find it is not possible to hang the dress on board, use one of our partners, Luggage Free, a door to door luggage shipping service, who will pick up anything you need shipped to your destination, and make sure it gets there on time!

DO arrive at the destination a few days ahead of the wedding, and leave at least one day after This will ensure that you will have time to deal with every small detail, and will make your experience less stressful!

DO have one travel agent in charge of all your guests' travel arrangements

Most people do not realize how much coordination it takes to put together a destination wedding. Put your travel agent's contact information on your Save The Date card and/or Invitations, so your guests can directly contact the agent. That way, you can focus on all the other details. 

DO use a travel agent for out of town guests' travel arrangements

Your travel agent can also arrange for guests coming in for local, non-destination weddings.

DO have at least 15 people in your party traveling identically

This means coming and going at the same time on the same flights. This is the minimum to get any group rates. 

DO have all proper travel documents and documents you will need to wed in your destination

Find out what kind of documents you will need to enter any countries you will be traveling to. There are so many laws & regulations that many travelers are not aware of. For example, some countries will not let you enter if your passport expires within 6 months. This is why it is important to have a great travel agent to alert you to these rules. In addition, read up before hand on the laws of marriage in your destination. Some places require that you stay there a certain amount of days before you are able to married, while others just require certain documentation.

DO let your travel agent take care of the little details

For example, your agent can coordinate with your guests to split rooms, and make their other travel arrangements. ie, one of your guests has an Egyptian passport and needs a certain type of visa to enter Sweden. 

For more information on planning your destination wedding or honeymoon contact Anna Lena Shahrivar at 212-404-6723 or annalena@classictravel.com.