How to plan a destination wedding in Sri Lanka - CN Traveller

Choosing a setting for a destination wedding isn’t always easy – sometimes, the location is chosen after much deliberation, borne of the fact that the couple knows simply what they don’t want: a UK ceremony. But for Sophie and Harry, landing on Sri Lanka as the spot for their wedding was easy as can be. “Harry’s family is from Sri Lanka,” Sophie says. “They have spread out all over England, Canada and America – so we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring the family together while showing our friends the country.” Here, Sophie and Harry share their top tips for couples planning a wedding on the teardrop island. Find the perfect planner Planning any destination wedding involves a certain amount of remote organisation – but planning one 5,500 miles away is a whole different ballgame. “The first part of the planning process was finding a planner,” Sophie admits. “We think it would have been difficult to plan while living so far away without one.” Luckily, the couple quickly found on-the-ground local Catherina. “She is originally from Russia but has lived in Sri Lanka for many years and is now married to a Sri Lankan who also works in hospitality and events,” Sophie says. “She had amazing contacts on the ground, had planned many weddings around the country, and made finding our venue (The Villa Bentota) really easy as she could visit the properties to take pictures and videos, so we could ‘tour’ different options virtually.” While planning a destination wedding on the other side of the world, it’s imperative that you have a wedding planner on the ground in your destination who can liaise with vendors, keep you both in the loop with the process and help you ‘tour’ or ‘see’ everything from venues to suppliers without you and your partner needing to make multiple trips to your destination to hammer out the details – something that will save precious time and budget in the long run. Sophie and Harry trusted Catherina so much that they selected their venue based purely on her recommendations, videos and photos. “She was completely invaluable throughout the entire process,” they say, “From finding and securing The Villa Bentota as the venue through to coordinating teams of people, creating the perfect floral arrangements (she was our florist as well!) and executing every single detail on the days of the wedding and other events.” Don’t sleep on locking in your preferred photographer and videographer Destination wedding photographers and videographers will likely be booked up further in advance than those who shoot weddings close to home. So, getting these crucial people locked in well in advance is key. “We booked our photographer, Colin Ross, and videographer, Zade Cross, very early, as destination photographers and videographers book out a fair amount in advance, and we loved both of their work,” the couple says. Be aware of any challenges you might face at your destination No location – abroad or not – is 100 per cent failsafe from challenges or problems arising on the day, whether that’s bad weather, strikes or something utterly unpredictable. Being clear-headed about what problems might occur at your destination means you can be prepared to mitigate them. “Sri Lanka has been going through a difficult period economically, and due to (peaceful) protests in the capital, around half a year before our wedding date, the country was placed on a travel advisory by several governments,” Sophie says. Thankfully, the advisory was lifted before the wedding, and neither the couple nor their guests encountered any problems while travelling for the wedding – but Sophie and Harry were in constant communication with their planner in the months leading up to the wedding to stay across the situation as it developed. Make your guests feel at home Your guests will be travelling a fair way to attend your destination wedding and may have never visited the location before – especially if you’ve chosen a spot far from home. Bringing the setting into the wedding day – as well as the days that precede and follow the actual ceremony – is a great way to make all that travelling meaningful for everyone involved. “Ultimately, we wanted everyone to feel like they were on a fun three-day beach holiday with all their friends,” Sophie and Harry say. “So our wedding planning choices were often made with that goal in mind.” This included dinner in a local town on the first night of the trip, a welcome party the day before the wedding (“which turned into a late night pool party,” the couple say), and a morning yoga class on the wedding day. The following morning, there were watersports on the River Bentota for those whose hangovers would allow them to take part. Don’t be afraid to incorporate traditions from other cultures or destinations, too Just because you’ve chosen a particular location for your destination wedding does not mean that you can only draw on local traditions and practices when planning your big day – this is a wedding, not a themed party, after all. Don’t hesitate to incorporate traditions or moments that are part of either couple’s culture or heritage. “I’m half-Chinese,” Sophie says, “so we held a Chinese tea ceremony around midday on our wedding day. My mother and one of my best friends and bridesmaids, who is Malay Chinese, coordinated and planned the event.” Lean on your destination’s cuisine… One of the best parts of planning a destination wedding – the part that keeps coming up again and again as Condé Nast Traveller chats to real couples who have planned weddings in Andros, Puglia and beyond? The food. Sri Lanka is no exception – Sophie and Harry knew that they wanted to keep the catering at their wedding as local as possible. That meant devilled paneer and chicken, mini rotis, mutton rolls (Harry’s favourite), pani puri and fish cutlets for canapés; freshly made squid ink hoppers and sharing plates of curries (mutton, red chicken, pineapple) at the reception and a beach barbecue the day after the wedding that made a meal of freshly grilled fish and seafood such as lobster, tuna, calamari. “We didn’t try any of the food before the wedding at all, as we trusted that Sri Lankans would probably be able to turn out brilliant Sri Lankan food,” the couple says. “We were right. Everyone loved the food.” …but you might need to be clever when it comes to booze “The one item for a destination wedding that was trickier was alcohol as we needed to import the alcohol with high tax rates/duties,” Harry and Sophie say. For their cocktail list (mainly tropical; think Arrack Sours, Caipirinhas, Mojitos, and fresh coconuts with rum shots), the couple asked their guests to pick up a few bottles each at the airport to keep costs down. “Certain foreign alcohol (Champagne, Tequila, Aperol) was very expensive and relatively rare in Sri Lanka at the time we were getting married,” they say. “So we asked our guests to each pick up a bottle or two in duty-free before departure, which saved a lot of money – though it did require co-ordinating via WhatsApp again.”