In short
For a US couple a destination wedding splits two ways, and they are not the same project. Marry in another state and that state's rules govern the paperwork, not your home state's: marriage licensing is set separately by each state, plus the District of Columbia and the territories, so it can mean a different issuing office, a different waiting period, and in places like Maryland and Connecticut a license that must come from the county or town where the ceremony actually happens. Marry abroad and the first question is whether a legal ceremony is even practical for visitors, which is why many American couples complete the legal marriage at home and treat the trip as the celebration.
- Wedding shape
- Destination wedding
- Price
- Free, no card
- Set-up questions
- 3 pre-filled
- Market
- the United States
- Reviewed
- August 2026
Costs for this kind of wedding are in the Byron Bay cost guide.
What changes when guests travel
Another state is another rulebook
Marriage licensing is set state by state, plus the District of Columbia and the territories, so crossing a state line changes the paperwork and not just the scenery. The issuing office, the waiting period, the validity window and who files the signed license afterward all vary, and as a rule a license cannot be used outside the state that issued it. Some places narrow it further: Maryland requires the license from the Circuit Court clerk in the county where the ceremony happens, and Connecticut from the town where the marriage is celebrated. Ask explicitly whether the license is good statewide or only where it was issued, because that is the question that catches travelling couples. Who can marry you varies too. Colorado lets the two of you solemnize your own marriage with no officiant, and Pennsylvania issues a self-uniting license. Alabama is the real outlier: since August 29, 2019 it has issued no marriage licenses at all, and instead you complete a notarized Alabama Marriage Certificate and deliver it to a probate court for recording, with no officiant and no ceremony required. Treat all of those as examples worth asking about rather than a pattern, and look up the specific office you will actually stand in front of.
Do not plan the paperwork to the statutory minimum
Whether there is a waiting period at all depends on the state, and where one exists it is measured from different events, so the arithmetic is not portable. Washington counts three days from when the license is issued. Wisconsin counts three days from when you applied, and Michigan the same, though some Wisconsin clerks will waive it for a fee. Validity clocks differ the same way: a Michigan license is void unless the marriage happens within 33 days of the application date rather than of issuance, a Connecticut license runs 65 days from application, and a Maryland license does not take effect until 6 a.m. on the second day after it is issued. Flying in two days early to sort it out is how destination couples get caught. Give yourself a full week, and check whether both of you have to appear in person. Colorado accepts a notarized absentee affidavit from a partner who cannot attend. Maryland has a Non-Resident Affidavit that lets an out-of-state couple apply by mail, but it must be signed in front of an official comparable to a Maryland Circuit Court clerk, and a notary public does not qualify.
Abroad, the legal ceremony is the part that may not work
Every country sets its own rules and some effectively rule out visitors. France requires one of you to have a month of continuous residence in the commune as of the date the banns are published, and the banns are then posted for a further ten days, which is closer to forty days on the ground and why most American couples marrying in France sign at home and hold a symbolic ceremony there. US embassy and consulate staff cannot marry you anywhere in the world, and consular officers stopped even witnessing marriages on November 9, 1989. Ask your venue what its last few American couples actually did, then confirm it against the country's own civil registry rather than a wedding blog. Your guests will be reading everything from a different time zone, so put the schedule, travel and lodging detail on the free wedding website and collect RSVPs in one place.
The quote you were given is not the number you pay
In most states, venue and catering prices are quoted before sales tax. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no statewide sales tax, and everywhere else you should ask what rate applies to food, alcohol and room rental separately, because they are not always taxed alike. Catering contracts also commonly add a service charge of 20 to 25 percent on top, and that charge is not the tip. On a $20,000 food and bar contract that is $4,000 to $5,000 before a cent of tax. Marrying overseas adds an exchange rate that moves between the deposit and the balance. Ask every vendor for an all-in figure before you compare two of them. The Wedyesday planner is free and needs no account: six questions produce a dated checklist and a budget split benchmarked against published ranges for your own city, whether that is New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta or a US national fallback. Saving the plan creates the wedding, the dated checklist and the budget categories. The guest list, the events, the published website and the seating chart are things you build afterward, also free.
A destination wedding is really a travel project with a ceremony in it.
Answer six quick questions and get a plan that counts backwards from your season, so the venue and the travel window get settled while your guests can still book flights.
How Wedyesday plans a destination wedding
- 01
Answer six questions
You start on a season rather than a fixed date — most destination couples lock the place first — with the venue, photography and food already weighted.
- 02
Get a checklist dated from that season
Every task counts backwards from a mid-season anchor. Switch to a fixed date the moment the venue confirms and the whole checklist re-dates itself.
- 03
Give guests one place to look
Your free wedding website carries the schedule, travel and accommodation detail and collects RSVPs — and can be published in more than one language for family who'd rather read it that way.
- 04
Keep the money in one place
Travel-heavy weddings sprawl across deposits and currencies. The budget tracker holds estimated against actual per category so the total stays honest.
Your wizard is already set up for this
Start from this page and we'll skip the questions this already answers:
- A season rather than a fixed date, since most couples lock the place first
- The venue, photography and food as your starting priorities
- Guest count starting at 40 — destination lists usually shrink
Nothing is locked — every pre-filled answer is editable, and there's a one-tap option to answer all seven questions yourself instead.
Questions couples ask
Do we need a marriage license in the state where we're getting married?
In almost every state, yes, and it has to come from that state. A license issued in one state cannot be used in another, and some states narrow it further to the county or town where the ceremony takes place, Maryland and Connecticut among them. Alabama is the exception: it has issued no marriage licenses since August 29, 2019, and instead records a notarized Alabama Marriage Certificate at a probate court, which must reach that court within 30 days of the last signature. Check the rules of the specific issuing office rather than a national summary. The certified copy you will need later for a name change comes from whichever office in that state records the marriage, which is a state vital records office in some states and a county clerk, recorder or probate court in others, never from your home state.
Is a wedding abroad legally valid in the US?
A marriage validly performed under another country's law is generally recognized in the United States, but recognition runs through state law and no federal agency registers it. The State Department holds no marriage records from other countries, and there is no American certificate for a foreign wedding. Your proof is the document the foreign authority issues, usually with a certified translation, plus an apostille if that country belongs to the 1961 Hague Convention or consular legalization if it does not. Because that is a lot of uncertainty to carry home, many US couples complete the legal marriage at home first and treat the ceremony abroad as the celebration.
How far ahead should we plan a destination wedding?
Twelve to eighteen months is comfortable, and in the US the binding constraint is usually paid time off rather than money. Federal law does not require employers to provide paid vacation at all, so guests are spending days they may not have many of, and they need to plan around them. Tell people the date and a rough cost early, before the venue is signed if you have to. That is what determines who can actually come.
Getting married somewhere your guests have to fly to.
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