Top tips for finding your destination wedding venue

Selecting an abroad destination to host your wedding is an exciting and daunting task all in one. Before deciding that I wanted to get married in a warmer climate I didn't really realise just how difficult it would be to find the right venue.

Weeks of trawling through the internet to find locations that were 1. the style I'm after and 2. within my budget felt like mission impossible after discovering venues that were just not right or hugely over-priced.

Having just returned from a short venue scouting trip with my mum and our wedding venue selected (EEEK) I think I've cracked the destination venue scouting code. If like myself you're hoping to not have to pay for a wedding planner I think these tips will help save you a lot of time (and stress!). Honestly though, who knew wedding planning could be so difficult even at the first stage.

Step 1: Select your location
This might seem like a really obvious statement but what I really mean is select an area within your location that you like. For me, I knew I wanted to get married in Italy but where exactly was the question. Once I whittled it down to Tuscany I thought surely this would narrow things down quite a bit but it turns out not really. Tuscany is such a vast region in Italy that spans miles across the country - it just wouldn't be realistic to visit venues across the entirety of it which is why I think selecting particular towns within your destination is important. Once you decide on the area you like best the whole process feels a lot less daunting.

Step 2: Choose your preferred style of venue
Again, it's all part of a process of elimination so knowing what style of venue you want can help narrow the search. In Tuscany for example, beautiful vineyards, stunning villas and elaborate castles are just some of the styles of venues on offer. Select one that suits your taste best and use this when searching.

Step 3: Search with different terms
One thing I found frustrating when looking for venues was how many websites I would find that showed beautiful pictures of venues without actually disclosing the name - useless to anyone like myself who's trying to plan on their own. The best way I managed to find venues via Google was by using more descriptive terms alongside my generic 'wedding venues in Tuscany' search. Words that suit the style of wedding your going for like 'whimsical', 'greenery', or 'sunset' helped produce different searches which were far more useful than the generic search term.

Utilising photographer blogs is also a huge help for finding venues. Simply search through local photographer websites - heading to their blog section - and you will find they share a lot more details on locations than anywhere else!

Step 4: Use social media
Social media was probably one of my biggest helps when finding venues and I used it in two ways.

The first, to see more pictures of venues I had already found. Looking through a venues social channels gives you a better visual of what it's really like than you can find on their websites.

The second is as a search tool. Head to Instagram and search through various hashtags and you'll soon find yourself stumbling across plenty of potential venues. I used hashtags such as #TuscanyWedding #MyTuscanyWedding #WeddinginTuscany, you get the gist. Once you find pictures of places you like I would then recommend looking through their checked-in pictures to see a whole bunch more. Once you have the name of the venue you like you can also use this in a hashtag search to see many more pictures!