How to Plan Your Own Destination Wedding: Do-It-Yourself Tips from an Experienced Professional

by Sandy Malone

Ten years ago, when Sandy Malone was planning her Caribbean destination wedding, there was no Pinterest, no Instagram, and no Wedding Wire. The Knot and the Wedding Channel were in their infancy. And Malone was planning her wedding from scratch.

The tips and advice in How to Plan Your Own Destination Wedding will help brides and grooms navigate the murky waters of destination-wedding planning—and they are murky because most do-it-yourself brides and grooms are looking to do something “different” from what all of their friends have done before them. Unfortunately, the more remote, bizarre, and challenging the destination is, the more attractive it appears to the do-it-yourself couple.

That’s where Sandy Malone, star of Wedding Island (TLC), who has been planning weddings for ten years, comes in. She offers advice to brides and grooms on how NOT to spend money on things they don’t need to invest in, and where they DO need to spend money to make sure the event runs smoothly. She also gives tips on how to negotiate the contract with the venue, the “wetiquette” of invitations for destination weddings, finding and handling vendors abroad, and much more. This book offers the complete guide to destination weddings, by a true expert!

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Sandy Malone got her Journalism degree at The Ohio State University and was a reporter and editor for major news publications before she returned to her hometown of Washington, DC, for a career in public relations and government affairs. She began planning destination weddings professionally after her own was nearly a disaster and planned more than 500 weddings in the Caribbean.

Sandy authored hundreds of articles published on BRIDES, WeddingWire, and HuffPost. And she starred in TLC's reality TV show “Wedding Island.” In addition to a DIY wedding planning guide, she has ghostwritten books for well-known reality TV stars (including a Real Housewife). Most recently, she was editor of The Police Tribune.

Sandy and her husband, Bill, recently moved to Jekyll Island, Georgia, with their coonhound Sherlock. This book is her first work of fiction.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great help to anyone planning their own wedding!!

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good ideas for a far away destination wedding, though not quite what I was looking for in regards to an intimate wedding.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very easy read as well as informative. This was also a good guide to planing any type of gathering. Highly recommended.

[Kayla Seeger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great advice on how to do your wedding abroad!

[Savannah]

Good run thru of what you need to do early planning if you want destination and authors wedding was in Puerto Rico

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good tips on what to plan for, though the advice was still for a slightly more traditional wedding than we would like. Got me very excited about ideas for guest gifts & advice for helping them feel comfortable with the area...even if we won't be able to do what we want. Still some ideas might transfer for a more local idea.