I receive emails all the time asking about the best month to have a destination wedding in {fill in the blank} location. So I want to spend some time going over some of the dates to avoid for your destination wedding.
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a wedding date is the personal significance of the day. Is it your anniversary? A special birthday? A special holiday like Valentine’s? Or maybe one of those quirky dates like 2/22/22. If any of those are important to you, then go for it. But if you don’t have a special date in mind and you’re just trying to make sure you have good weather or affordable prices, then here are a few dates that you will probably want to avoid as you lock in your date.
Dates to Avoid for a Stress-Free Destination Wedding
Hurricane Season
If you’re getting married in the Caribbean or Florida, you should be mindful that it is hurricane season between May – November. The risks you take by planning a wedding in the Caribbean during Hurricane Season are obvious. Even if you don’t get hit by a big storm, it’s still rainy season, so you might still have to deal with showers leading up to and including your big day. If just the thought of a hurricane or rain on your wedding day gives you agita, then perhaps you should try to find another time of year. Read more about how to protect your destination wedding from a Hurricane.
But if you think it’s a risk worth taking, the upside is that you’ll get great deals. And hey, they say rain on your wedding day is good luck. Plus you’ll get gorgeous pictures like this one to boot.:)
Wunderground is a great site that lets you see historical weather data for your location. You just enter your city and you can see how much it’s rained on your wedding date in the past 10 or 20 years. This was a great resource I used when I was planning my own destination wedding.
Spring Break
Ah…didn’t we all love spring break when we were 19? Spending a week getting trashed with your college buddies in Cancun or Miami was awesome at the time. But when you’re an engaged adult traveling with your parents, grandparents, and other family and friends for one of the most important days of your life, you probably want to find out spring break dates– and avoid them all cost.
Not only will travel costs be through the roof, but resort vacancies will also be far and few between, and the crowds unbearable. Spring Break is usually between February – April. You can look up spring break dates for your destination on Google or ask your travel agent.
Holidays
You probably already figured that flights and resorts will be more costly during major holidays like Christmas and New Year. But what might not be so obvious to you is that holidays like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day could impact the cost of your flowers or catering because the demand is so high on those dates. The entire week of Easter (aka Holy Week) is also a really big deal in many Latin American countries so you might find that they virtually shut down during that week, making it harder to find good vendors who will be available.
There’s a lot to consider when you’re choosing a date for your destination wedding but as long as you’re aware and prepared you should be able to find the perfect date!
Adrianna
We attended a lovely wedding in Hawaii during the best time of the year & avoided tropical storms! Thanks for the tips.