Cost Cutting Tips for Planning an Indian Destination Wedding in Thailand!

I am writing this post based on my to date experience in coordinating a handful of destination wedding in Thailand. Due to the advanced availability of travel options, Thailand has become an easy catch for the young working and wealthy millennial crowd. Recent trend has a millennial bride and groom pooling in and funding their own wedding, however keeping it an intimate affair rather than a grand one.

Regardless of the scale of the wedding, a couple always appreciates the assistance of a wedding planner for their advice and helpful tips on budget management and cost cutting wherever necessary. The wedding couple’s who approach me for assistance in planning their destination wedding in Thailand mostly fund their own wedding and look up to my advice to save on the costs, hence here I am writing this post to throw in some ideas in advance for couple’s who are on their initial stages of planning and are looking for some helpful cost cutting advice to plan ahead. Read on…

FAVORABLE WEDDING MONTHS

November to March are best months for celebrating a wedding in Thailand. These are cool and dry months. Outdoor events could be planned with ease. However, price of flights and hotels could be higher during this period but you won’t be able to afford the bad weather of the other months, so stick to the above ones.

SAVE ON TRAVEL

Book your tickets to Thailand at least 1 to 2 months before your arrival date to get a better price. Book through Thai Airways or Air Asia to save more.

Air charters are not cheaper but twice the price of regular air carriers, hence do not waste your time enquiring with charters for group travel. If you are paying for the air fare of your guests, liaise with travel agency who can offer a better group rate on a low cost carrier especially for a group of 100 guests.

CHOOSE WEDDING LOCATION WISELY

Choose between Hua Hin and Pattaya. Both are between 2 to 3hrs driving distance from Bangkok airport. However variety of resorts who serve Indian weddings are more in Hua Hin.

Phuket is an expensive destination, cost of airport transfers, hotels etc are on their higher side, so choose Khao Lak instead which is at 90mins distance from Phuket and houses variety of resorts at a decent price.

AIRPORT TRANSFERS

Liaise a local ground travel agency who will sort end to end transfers according to flight timings of guests. This arrangement could be in place if you are paying for transfers of all guests, however you can skip this part as cab facility at the airport is pretty feasible. Guests can book and pay for their cabs directly.

SAVE ON ACCOMMODATION COST

Acquire a promotional offer on room tariff from your chosen resort for your wedding group. You can skip paying for guest rooms and just book rooms for yourself and immediate family, however the guests can book for their own rooms by using the promotional offer and pay for it themselves.

Look for boutique resorts with 50-60 rooms, so you can buy out the whole resort for the number of days at a negotiated price. Hua Hin has a few of them which cater to Indian weddings. Room Tariffs in these resorts are generally between 3000 to 4500 THB

SAVE ON MEALS, BEVERAGES AND LIQUOR

Breakfast is included in room tariff and generally have a lavish spread at 4 star or 5 star resort. So in case there’s no event during lunch time, you may arrange for a light lunch of live stations and canapes at 500 THB/person instead of a lavish Lunch which  shall generally range between 1200 to 2000 THB/person/meal.

If you are having back to back events in a day, buy soft drinks package for whole day instead of per event. Buy 2 barrels of beer from the hotel and they will allow you to bring your own liquor at no corkage fee. You can choose to buy liquor from duty free at the airport however you can choose to buy wine locally, it will be cheaper.

LOW COST DECORATIONS, LIGHTS & SOUND

Events like Haldi, Mehendi, Wedding could be planned outdoors so that most of it has natural backdrop and sunlight. Drapes, props and fake flowers are elements that could be reused. Locally sourced real flowers could be used for rituals etc. Beach side of Thailand is naturally beautiful, minimalist decorations are a great idea.

Wedding decorations have to be sourced from Bangkok  as Hua Hin and Pattaya have limited local suppliers.

Bangkok has plenty of local DJs who play great music, however you need the help of your wedding planner to source the correct one for you. A local DJ shall charge 15K Thai Baht upwards for 4-5hrs party.

Lights and sound for each event are between 30K to 50K Thai Baht and upwards.

SAVE ON ENTERTAINMENT/ ARTISTE COST

Choose artists for events wisely, go for Dhol walas for Haldi and Bride and Groom Entry before wedding, generally both of these events are on the same day, so you get to negotiate on price. However Dhol walas are not available in Phuket, so you may choose a local music instead.

For welcome party, hire a belly dancer for a 30mins show and follow it up with a DJ night.

For sangeet, plan performances of family and friends only followed by DJ night.

SAVE ON MAKE UP ARTISTE AND PHOTOGRAPHER

A local make up artiste charges 20K Thai Baht and upwards per look for the bride. You can hire a make up artiste from India instead at a low cost but you however have to bear their travel and stay cost.

Photography and Videography package is priced at 70K to 100K Thai Baht per day for an experienced photographer. You can however choose to hire a photographer from India but need to pay for their travel and stay.

HIRE WEDDING PLANNER FROM INDIA

Local wedding planner shall charge 200K to 300K Thai Baht for full wedding planning and coordination services, which might be on the higher side for couples who are funding their wedding on their own. Choose to hire a wedding planner from India instead who have a handful of experience in coordinating a destination wedding in Thailand efficiently against reasonable fee. You may check out our Wedding Planning Fee

Hope the above information prove helpful while you start to plan your Destination Wedding in Thailand.

Thank you for reading  Have you any suggestions, please write to us at diwas.celebrations@gmail.com

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