CHEAPEST Wedding Destinations in Europe

Mar 3

Are you wondering… WHERE are the cheapest countries, regions, and cities to have a destination wedding in Europe? If you want to plan a low budget destination wedding in Europe and you're looking to get the most bang for your buck, you need to know about these diamond in the rough locations where your dollar will go so much farther. AND which destinations are totally inflated right now and to stay far away from.

As a destination wedding planner with a specialty in Europe, we've planned weddings in Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Malta, Ireland, and France, and we have a lot of data to pull on. So let's rank the most expensive to least expensive markets of those countries we've planned in and shine a light on the most cost effective best bank for your buck locations to get married in so you can have your dream wedding in Europe while saving thousands.

Let's start off with the cheapest European countries that we've planned in. These might surprise you. They are a little bit more of the unusual destinations, the ones that US couples might not automatically think about getting married abroad.

Portugal

Our first country is Portugal. I call Portugal, Italy's little brother. To me, I love being a Portugal destination wedding planner because it's just as beautiful as Italy, the people are so nice, there's so many beautiful and cool wedding venues and places to get married there for less than what weddings cost in Italy. There are two main markets within Portugal, the north and the south. The north is a little bit cheaper, except for when we move towards the Douro Valley and properties on the Douro River. Those get a little bit pricey, however these beautiful towns of Amares, Braga, Guimaraes and even within Porto, we see your dollar go farther in the wedding markets. It’s really across the board, not just food and beverage prices. All the vendors that we typically work with for weddings up there tend to charge prices that are a little bit more reasonable than other more expensive markets.

So if you're looking for a really cost effective location and something that's unique to you and off the beaten path, Portugal could be an awesome option for you.

2. Spain

This second country is Spain. Spain destination weddings, in my opinion, are very up and coming, at least in the eyes of US couples. We're seeing more couples become curious about what's in Spain and there are beautiful cost-effective properties.

When I say Spain, I'm excluding the Balearic Islands, so Mallorca, Ibiza, etc. Those will be a little bit pricier, but mainland Spain, that's where you're going to start to see some deals. One thing to note about Spain, the inventory available tends to be more “day rentals", meaning you’ll stay somewhere else in a hotel or Airbnb and your wedding event will be happening at an actual event venue that you're renting for the day. There are absolutely exceptions to this rule, but that is the majority of the inventory that we see. However, there are stunningly gorgeous day rentals for less than $10,000. If you compare that to what you would spend on some of the most stunning properties for a one day rental in the United States, it's well below average (for more on this check out Are Destination Weddings Really Cheaper Than US Weddings?) So Spain could be a great option for you if you're looking for something that, in my opinion, is a really up and coming location for Americans to get married.

3. Ireland

The third country is Ireland. Unlike the first two countries, Ireland is a cheaper market, not necessarily because things cost less (though the food prices do tend to be on par with Portugal and Spain), but because they allow you to build more affordable packages and only pay for what you need, which is a bit unique from the other countries within Europe. In other words, it's cheap if you take advantage of the way that the Irish do things. For example, take photographers. In a lot of cases with photographers in other parts of Europe, you're going to see an eight hour minimum package. Right now, we're seeing a lot of those packages start around $5,000 USD. In the past working with Ireland, we've been able to whittle that down to just the hours that we need to save some money and paid only around $2000.

The bar is another great example of how Ireland can be a cheaper wedding market. Culturally, in Ireland, a cash bar is the default. Frankly, the Irish people I've talked to think it's super weird that Americans default to an open bar. So if we start with the base of a cash bar, we can really build up and offer only the alcohol that we want to cover for your guests (ex. lower shelf liquors, less options, take out the expensive cocktails). This way you're able to keep a tighter hold on your bar costs rather than automatically having to opt into a full bar package, which can be really costly.

Couple of quick caveats about Ireland. If you are getting married in Northern Ireland, that is actually a part of the UK and that's where we see not the Euro, but the Pound for the currency. Typically, the USD to Pound exchange rate is less favorable than the USD to Euro exchange rate, which means that the value for a dollar is not going to go as far if you're getting married in Northern Ireland.

The other thing about Ireland, what we've found working there in the past is there are an abundance of rustic and casual venue options, which is amazing and cost effective, but there are also still pockets of very high luxury in Ireland that will cost a lot of money. So the second that you jump into that luxury venue category, you're going to lose that value for dollar that we typically see in Ireland, and those prices will more accurately match what we see in other expensive markets within Europe.

Also, keep in mind that if you're looking to find the best value for venues in Ireland, be comfortable with having a long drive from the airport. Some of the most cost effective and most beautiful properties are going to be over a two hour drive from the airport. So if you're willing to do that, you will find a better deal.

4. Malta

Our fourth country is Malta. You might be thinking, where the heck is Malta? It's a little island off the coast of Sicily. Malta is actually its own country about an hour boat ride from Sicily. You can also fly right into the country, and it's one of those places where if you know, you know…this place is cheap.

Malta is the cheapest wedding market that we have ever worked in all over the world. At every turn, every time we were getting quotes, I was like, “it can't possibly be this cheap.” I'm not kidding. Every vendor, the menu, etc. As a Malta destination wedding planner, this is one of my favorites because on top of all that, it's a beautifully historically rich melting pot of cultures, architecture and cuisine, and everyone there is so nice and so lovely to work with.

Couple caveats. Obviously it's a little harder to get to, it’s not going to be a direct flight. You'll have to at least have one or two layovers to get there. Of course, you could fly into Sicily, make a week of it, and then take a boat over to Malta if you want. So a little bit of an extra hike, no more than if you were going to one of the Greek islands.

And the other caveat is that it is a fairly small island, so it does get pretty crowded in busy season. Just something to keep in mind

Cheapest Regions in Italy

So how much will you actually save by getting married in one of these destinations that I've mentioned today? Let's look at the data. I pulled food and beverage numbers for what we've spent for weddings in Italy, Malta, Ireland, and Portugal, and averaged them together. Italy is not the most cost effective country, so let's start there.

Typically, with all the bells and whistles, a full wedding menu, a full bar, all the taxes, all the fees, and the exchange rate from the Euro to USD, we've spent most commonly around $400 per person in Italy. You can compare that to Ireland where we've spent $300 per person, Portugal where we spent $225 per person and Malta where we spent $150 per person. Don't sleep on Malta guys! This showcases how easy it is to save thousands on your destination wedding in Europe just by picking the most cost effective markets.

If you're super excited and itching to get started planning your destination wedding in Europe without going over budget, download my free pricing guide to estimate the cost of your destination wedding in Europe.

The link to that is below!