'Ups & Downs' of planning a wedding abroad

Well as the title of this blog says, I want to document the ups and downs of having a wedding abroad and there are definitely some of both already.

Downs:

• One of the major ones is off course people not able to make your wedding due to costs etc. I will be having all the people with us that we love and are very close too and I really appreciate them all making such an effort to be with us on our special day. We made sure our save the dates went out in January giving everyone 10 months to save up and it is also on Scottish school holidays so all off h2b's nieces and nephews can make it.
• Not being able to just pop along to see someone or make arrangements to see them at the weekend to talk about plans for the wedding or book suppliers.
• The language difference and the speed of which Spanish people work. mañana is most definitely the way that things work in Spain and it has been hard to get used to.
• Having to do most communication with people via email, a lot has to be said for good old fashioned talking! So much can be misconstrued from emails.
• Not totally understanding the culture, things work differently in Spain and trying to get it right even with a wedding planner can be hard sometimes.
• Thinking of how we get all 'the stuff' out there can be a challenge in itself, I think that if the wedding was here I would be having things that I can't have as we need to think of getting it to Spain or sourcing it in Spain.
• The cost of getting married in Spain is not cheaper than here, in my opinion. We are however able to offer more there as we will have less guests.

But to counteract all this and end on a positive note there are plenty of 'ups'

Ups:

• Being able to have my wedding in the sun! (well hopefully but lots more chance than having it here)
• Being able to offer so much more from our day than we could afford to here....free bar anyone?? lol
• Having all our close family out in Spain with us for the week running up to the wedding, relaxation & pool side BBQ's here we come.
• A more relaxed wedding day, with those who are closest to us sharing our big day with us.
• Something completely different than any of the weddings we have been to here.
• A week in the sun before the wedding then still having my honeymoon to look forward to!
• Having a great wedding planner who will make sure we get to relax in the run up to the wedding day.
• No cares and plenty of sun, sea and sangria! mañana mañana!