When planning a destination wedding in Spain, couples can curate an unforgettable celebration against the backdrop of Spain's timeless charm.

To guide you through this exciting venture, we turn to the experts at Barcelona Wedding and Pasion Eventos. With their wealth of experience and keen insights, they share invaluable wedding planner tips and insider knowledge to ensure your dream wedding in Spain becomes a seamless and unforgettable reality.

Planning an exquisite wedding in Spain

Sonia Martinez Rodriguez from Barcelona Wedding tells us that having a destination wedding can be stressful and crazy at the same time if you are not familiar with the region and all the suppliers, so first of all, you should focus on finding your destination wedding planner, a person you can trust, an expert who will give you the best advice and guide you along the process. She recommends first finding the right person who will be your hands and eyes in the country where you are planning to get married rather than looking for wedding venues abroad. Sonia explains it with a good analogy – you would never attend a trial without a lawyer, so do not start planning a destination wedding without a local planner.

Speaking of destination weddings in Spain – it is probably one of the best countries to get married in because of its landscapes and unique venues full of history. It is one of the exotic wedding locations many couples dream of. Spain possesses a wide range of stunning landscapes, from the romantic, rocky coves of the Costa Brava to the golden beaches of the South of Spain, where you can realize your beach wedding ideas and the majestic peaks of the Pyrenees Mountains, among many other options. Castles with centuries of history and sets of film productions like Castillo de Cardona, vineyards like Cavas Codorniu with more than 450 years of history and expertise and thousands of other charming villas to accommodate your guests and spend one week of celebrations with maximum privacy.

Destination wedding budget tips

The key to having a memorable and smooth wedding experience is managing your wedding budget realistically. As Sonia emphasizes, it's essential to have a realistic budget in mind to ensure that your dream wedding in Spain is achievable within your financial means. The cost of a destination wedding in Spain can vary widely based on various factors, including the location within Spain, the number of guests, the level of luxury and extravagance you desire, and the time of year you plan to get married. To ensure you stay within your wedding budget, talk to your wedding planner about your plans, the number of guests, and what’s the most important for you on your wedding day, and they will know how to guide you.

Planning a destination wedding can be an exciting experience, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. Some common challenges couples often face when planning their celebrations in international wedding destinations are logistics and coordination, budget management, cultural differences, vendor selection, weather and seasonal factors, knowledge, communication and language barriers. By working with a competent local wedding planner, like Barcelona Wedding, you can ensure a smooth and memorable destination wedding for you and your guests.

Barcelona Wedding – focusing on personal and tailored experiences

Asked about Barcelona Wedding's approach to working with couples, Sonia Martinez Rodriguez says that for her, every couple is different, so every wedding needs to be different. It’s so important to work so close to the couple to understand what kind of wedding experience they dream and part of her job is to guide them with every single decision to make it possible without stress.

Sonia agrees that choosing a wedding style, theme, and colour scheme can be overwhelming due to the vast amount of information available. Thus, she shares some steps they follow at Barcelona Wedding to help their couples navigate through this process and find what suits the couple best.

1. Sit down as a couple and discuss your individual and shared preferences, values, and styles. Consider what matters most to you in terms of atmosphere, aesthetics, and overall experience (several course meals, informal cocktail, day or evening wedding, etc).
2. Use tools like Pinterest or physical mood boards to collect images, colours, textures, and styles that appeal to you. This will help you visualize and narrow down your preferences.
3. Consider the season and venue, as it can greatly influence your wedding style and colour scheme. Consider how your choices will complement the surroundings and the time of year.
4. Prioritize key elements by identifying the aspects of the wedding that are most important to you both. Whether the venue, the dress, the food, or the music, prioritize these elements and build your theme around them.
5. Draw inspiration from your story – consider your experiences and interests as a couple and incorporate elements from your journey together into the theme and style of the wedding. Ultimately, the wedding should reflect your personality and relationship. Don't feel pressured to follow trends or conform to traditional expectations if they don't align with your vision.
6. Consider your budget when choosing a theme, style, or colour scheme. Some themes may require more resources than others, so be realistic about what you can afford.
7. If you find the options overwhelming, consider consulting a wedding planner. Barcelona Wedding can guide you through the process, narrow options based on your preferences, and provide valuable insights.

Barcelona Wedding team works closely with their couples to include both personal touches and the elements of the chosen destination's culture in the wedding. Sonia agrees that blending personal touches with the culture of the chosen wedding destination creates a beautiful fusion that celebrates both the couple's individuality and the rich traditions of the location. She provides some ideas on how to achieve this:

• Design customized wedding invitations that reflect the destination's culture. Use traditional patterns, colours, or symbols from the local culture to set the tone for the event.
• Include local dishes or flavours in the wedding menu. Choose a caterer who can infuse traditional flavours of the destination into the food, giving guests a taste of the local culture.
• Incorporate traditional ceremonies or rituals from the destination's culture into the wedding ceremony abroad. This could be a symbolic gesture, a blessing, or a ritual that holds significance.
• Use decorations inspired by the destination's culture, such as traditional fabrics, centrepieces, or artistic elements. Blend these with the couple's style to create a cohesive and unique atmosphere.
• Consider incorporating elements of the destination's traditional attire into the wedding outfits. This could be through colours, patterns, or accessories that pay homage to the culture.
• Include traditional music or dance performances from the destination's culture during the reception. You could also mix some of the couple's favourite tunes to create a lively and vibrant atmosphere.
• Provide guests with small favours or gifts that showcase the destination's culture, like locally made crafts, treats, or souvenirs that have personal meaning to the couple.

Wedding traditions in Spain

Speaking of wedding traditions in Spain, Sonia explains that they vary based on the region and cultural influences, but some commonalities are observed across the country. Like in many other cultures, there is often a pre-wedding celebration with friends to mark the end of a single life. In Spain it’s called Despedida de Soltero/Soltera (Bachelor/Bachelorette Party).

Spanish weddings are often held in a Catholic church, but, nowadays, it is more and more common to have a civil ceremony. In any case, the ceremony includes the exchange of vows and rings. In La Ceremonia (The Ceremony), the groom will go down the aisle first with his mother and then the bride with his father. There’s also this tradition Las Arras where thirteen coins, representing prosperity and wealth, are exchanged as a symbol of the groom's commitment to the bride and his willingness to support the family. After the ceremony, there’s El Baño de Arroz (The Rice Bath), when guests throw rice at the newlyweds, symbolizing prosperity and fertility.

At the wedding reception, the bride and groom often start dancing with a traditional waltz El Baile del Vals. Depending on the region, flamenco dancing might be incorporated into the celebration. Also, it's common for couples to provide wedding favours to their guests, such as small gifts or personalized trinkets. The Spanish wedding is unimaginable without La Tarta Nupcial (The Wedding Cake). The couple cuts the wedding cake usually with a sword, and it is often accompanied by a toast with champagne or cava (Spanish sparkling wine).

Current wedding trends in Spain

Sonia Martinez Rodriguez believes that, nowadays, the most important trend is the high level of personalization and individuality as couples embrace their style and preferences, infusing personal touches into every aspect of their wedding, from custom invitations and unique ceremony backdrops to personalized vows and tailored menus. It’s all something they love to do at Barcelona Wedding, as every couple is different, their weddings need to be different too.

Speaking of wedding trends in 2024, she lists three of the main ones. First, it’s technology integration. Technology plays a significant role in weddings. Couples love to incorporate LED screens, 3D projections, drone shows, etc. Second, there’s a new and unique wedding palette. Wedding colour palette 2024 will include Apricot Crush (or peach), green, and white. Classic, delicate, and sweet, this is a fresh and modern colour palette for a 2024 spring or summer wedding. Third, couples in Spain explore non-traditional bridal attire, opting for jumpsuits, two-piece ensembles, coloured dresses, and modern silhouettes. Grooms also embrace choices like coloured suits and unconventional accessories.

Pasion Eventos – planning elegant wedding in Spain

Pasion Eventos are planning luxury weddings in some of the most unique wedding destinations – the Balearic Islands and Mallorca. Mallorca is an island full of contrasts with an incredible mountain, apart from its wonderful and well-known beaches. They like places with characters that show the authenticity of Mallorca. For wedding venues abroad, they recommend Spanish fincas. There are Mallorcan possessions with a lot of history that are ideal for a wedding.

Speaking of a Mallorca destination wedding planning timeline, from their point of view, the first thing to hire is the wedding planner, as this ensures that good decisions from the beginning. They explain that if this is not the case, it is like starting to build your house from the roof. Your decisions won’t be that great if you’re feeling scared, insecure, stressed out or don’t have the proper knowledge.

Pasion Eventos are more than just planners, they’re expert advisors above all. They’ll take your hand and guide you from the very first day. You can sit back and relax, not worrying about the destination wedding checklist, knowing that everything is being taken care of. It’s not a dream, it’s reality. They’ll tell you about all the pros and cons of every option and provide destination wedding budget tips so you’ll be able to make well-informed, conscious decisions, and everything will make sense from the beginning. Together you will start with finding the dream location. When you have a date and location, they will follow with a destination wedding photographer, videographer, and make-up artist.

Professional wedding planners are invaluable sources for destination wedding budget tips. Asked what kind of budget couples should keep in mind when planning a destination wedding in Spain and the Balearic Islands, Pasion Eventos explains that the budget depends on the number of expected guests, events to celebrate and client expectations. But the average budget for a 3-day wedding of 130-150 people would be around € 150,000. Speaking of budget, honesty is Pasion Eventos` top priority, so setting an estimated budget that you are comfortable with from the outset and making sure it is realistic with your expectations is essential.

Wedding planner tips on planning destination weddings in Spain

At some point, couples encounter legal requirements for a destination wedding and other challenges as getting married outside of your hometown is a challenge in itself, but if you surround yourself with a reliable and experienced team like Pasion Eventos that knows how to take you by the hand during the process, nothing can go wrong. Destination weddings are becoming more and more common and are managed easily. Additionally, many couples ask Pasion Eventos how many times they have to come to Mallorca for the wedding arrangements. The answer is – two times should be enough + the big day. The first visit is dedicated to picking a wedding venue at the beginning of the wedding planning. Two days should be enough for that. The second two-day-long visit is meant for a menu tasting and meeting the suppliers at the wedding venue (mid-planning). And third visit is the wedding day.

How to personalize your destination wedding

Pasion Eventos do a very limited number of weddings every year because they like to get to know their couples closely. So, first of all, they give them a very specific questionnaire where they ask about themselves and their ideas for the wedding. Pasion Eventos are selective when choosing their couples. They have to be aligned not only with the style of weddings we do but also with the values of the company. When it comes to details, they believe it is important that each couple think about what suits them as a couple, speaks of them, and their style.

On the other hand, Pasion Eventos can provide destination wedding décor ideas and inspiration for the style and colour palette. From their point of view, the balance between what is trendy and what the couple loves would be ideal. Additionally, including personal touches that speak of them as a couple is always a good idea. You can include personal touches in the invitations, stationery, decorations, food, music and more.

For example, the decoration lends itself to being inspired by local materials combined with that personal touch. Just like in the food, you can have food from the countries where you have travelled in the appetizer and then a typical dish of the place where you are getting married. Everything is possible! Also, cultural wedding traditions abroad are always worth exploring to enrich your wedding experience. Some of the Spanish traditions are keeping the bride's dress a secret, as the opposite is said to be bad luck.

After dinner, the bride throws her bouquet, while the unmarried guests wait for it while it is in the air. According to tradition, whoever catches it will be the next to marry. Pasion Eventos advise the bride and groom to leave gifts in the place where the guest will be seated so that they will find them when they arrive at the table. You can also place it in a corner basket or box, in which to keep the details so that everyone can take one when the wedding is over, so they do not forget it at the wedding site.

Scented environments and arty tables for a luxurious Spanish wedding experience

When asked what can we expect from a wedding in 2024, Pasion Eventos reveals that there will be scented environments. Couples are using scented candles, Mikado air fresheners and perfumes. Additionally, food is the main decorative element. In wedding decoration, few details can offer such a wide range of proposals as the centrepiece. The element that takes all the attention in the design of the dinner and the cocktail not only depends on the flowers but will also leave space for the food itself. We will see, above all, seasonal fruits and vegetables, but even the most unexpected foods will also be part of these still lives and arty tables. A detail that adds even more colour to the table and announces the arrival of a feast in a subtle and very Instagrammable way.

Author: Renāte Berga

Wedding planners in Spain: Barcelona wedding, Pasion Eventos