My husband Atreya Tiwari and I launched Spize Events in 2012 and have been growing at a rapid speed and spread our wings to Dubai in 2023 by launching our own office and we opened a new one at Muscat too this year. From promotions for leading Bollywood movies featuring superstars like SRK and Deepika Padukone to glitzy fashion shows, celebrity weddings, destination weddings, cultural shows to corporate events, we have executed 250+ events successfully.
Every wedding is different in its own way and no two weddings are the same. However, the process of planning for a destination wedding is completely different from an in-city wedding. We have to factor in the time taken to reach that place, the geographical boundaries and more. We have to get client approvals and therefore plan our schedules and agenda well in advance before our recce trips. In those few days of recce, we have to finalize the vendors such as travel, special effects and more. A lot of back-end work happens in office where we design PPTs, mood boards etc., and get them approved for the recce. We also plan what’s to be locally procured.
We recently planned a BIG Fat wedding at The Palm Jumeriah, Dubai. The client was not exploring any destination out of India. They thought if the wedding is out of India not many guests would come for the wedding. So, the brief was that they were looking for 150 rooms in a single property and they wanted to do a palace style Royal Wedding. Now in India, the limitation is to find a palace style property with 150 rooms. We just educated them and asked them to check out Dubai and Abu Dhabi once. Dubai has many such hotels that would fulfill their requirements. After our first recce they were convinced and the wedding was moved to Dubai. We planned everything well in advance and announced the venue to their guest list 8 months in advance. To their amaze, more guests actually turned up than expected and they were super happy.
On the challenges we faced, its been ten years in business and we have covered most of the destinations. During our earlier days we had just started we had to explore the vendors there, study the culture, the rules and regulations and more. We have overcome all these now and have tie-ups with major hotel chains all the vendors across the world, things are so easy for us as we have done many destination weddings.
Points to be kept in mind for destination weddings
Accessibility for all the wedding guests to reach the location via flight Atleast
Food plays a major role. Hence, check if that particular country or city will be able to cater to your taste and offer wedding type Indian or cultural food that is required
If you are planning a destination wedding, guests should be informed well in advance so they can plan their schedules accordingly.
If it’s international, then the tourism board should support the planners which will make it very easy and accessible for the hosts as well as the guests.
As planners, we set a proper channel of communication with our guests and give all the information to the guests well in advance so they are well prepared.
Include the local delicacies and attractions of that particular destination for the best guest experience in the wedding
Licenses, Rules & Regulations:
Event licenses and permissions differ as per location. So always know about it thoroughly before confirming any destination
Strong trustworthy local Vendor relations should be secured to get the best quality of work like decor, sound & lights, make up artists etc.
Good locations inside India
- Mahabalipuram, ECR
- Kochi, Kerela
- Jaipur, Rajasthan
- Goa
Good locations outside India
- UAE, Dubai, Abu Dhabi – remember we have offices in Dubai & Muscat
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Hong Kong
- Sri Lanka