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After figuring out your wedding budget and setting the wedding date, one of the next steps on the Wedding Planning Timeline is to determine whether or not you’re having a destination wedding.

There are only three questions that need to be answered for you to determine where you will save more money, so let’s look at what those are.

How much will your wedding location add to your bottom line?

Most of the time, the wedding location seems to be a foregone conclusion – by default, you’re going to have a wedding on common ground. Whether that is where you currently live or where one of you grew up, most traditional-style weddings seem to take place in a familiar city.

The location has a direct impact on the cost of your wedding, however, so it’s important to take some time to consider what works for your budget, rather than just sticking to what is traditionally done because you haven’t explored your options.

Who truly needs to be present for your wedding day?

You probably already know this, but the best way to save money is to invite fewer people. Your initial reaction to that may be something along the lines of “But what’s a wedding without everyone I know celebrating with me?” The answer? It’s still a wedding.

I mentioned in another article that there is a tipping point of around 20 people when a wedding ceases to be an intimate ceremony celebrating the marriage of two people and turns into a production with an audience. What’s more important to you: an audience, or the presence of your closest loved ones?

You may have already created your preliminary guest list with the help of your fiancé and both sets of parents. If you look at it, do you see names of people you don’t have strong feelings for one way or another? These might be extended family you haven’t seen in a long time, old friends you are no longer close to, co-workers who expect to be invited or even friends of your parents who ‘watched you grow up.'

Who are you planning your wedding for?

These extended acquaintances usually make up at least a third of wedding guests. Most couples greet these guests but don’t end up spending any more quality time with them than they would if they ran into them at the mall. Can further cuts be made by cutting out the people who you feel ‘obligated’ to invite, but aren’t particularly close to?

Once you have your guest list as streamlined as it can be, it’s time to figure out your location. You’ve already looked at where your hometown(s) and current cities stack up on the list of expensive places to get married. Now, consider some alternative locations. Are there any places the two of you have visited that you particularly enjoyed? Is there anywhere you both have on your Bucket List? Is there a must-do honeymoon location?

Start to expand your research into looking at wedding prices in these areas. There are some definite savings to be had if you choose to do a destination wedding:

• Fewer people will be able to come, which makes the overall cost of the wedding more manageable.
• The honeymoon and the wedding can be taken at the same time, saving money on travel expenses.
• There is a wonderful adventure to be found when planning a destination wedding vs. staying local.

It isn’t selfish to want to save money on your wedding. It’s unreasonable of people who make no financial contribution to your lives to expect your wedding to be arranged for their convenience.

Regardless of where you plan to have your wedding, you will receive unsolicited opinions from people. Something is not traditional, or something else is inconvenient for them. Fortunately, none of these unsolicited thoughts and opinions matter.

It is often said, but this time, I want you to understand: It’s YOUR wedding. It should reflect your values and your desires and what makes YOU happy. For some reason, we’ve gotten that a little twisted up in the current state of affairs, and we should untangle that. Your wedding is about marrying your Person. Nothing else matters.