Weddings days are as much about avoiding cliches as they are about creating something your heart remembers forever, which is becoming harder and harder thanks to Pinterest (you pin something you think is unique only to see it at the seven weddings you were invited to before your big day, that fake smile of yours apparently nowhere near as good as you hoped it was). Avoiding cliches is as serious as trying to avoid the plague.
White dresses are being swapped out in favour of something with slightly more personality. The morning after breakfast is now made up of breakfast pies and gourmet burgers, first dances are now choreographed and remixed and ceremony music is no longer requested.
But for all the cliches to avoid, the destination wedding is not one. They pose too much of the unexpected to be cliched. So, without further ado, here are the best-cliched places to say “I do” without having to worry about a thing:
Hitched On A Beach: Pedregal, Mexico
You can pretty much spin a globe, stop it with a finger and know you will have landed on a wedding-worthy beach, but none is more spectacular than Mexico’s Baja coast. It is a cocktail of beauty like no other, the kind that will make your heart flutter from the moment you first see it on Instagram to those days you look back through your wedding albums. Deserted beaches, magnificent cliffs, endless sunsets and panoramic ocean fronts. Mmmm hmmm, this is what a beach wedding should be like.
I Do In The City: Tribeca, New York
New York weddings have become a thing of dreams in recent years, which probably has a lot to do with the fact you could get married anywhere here and still feel touched by the most powerful feeling of love you’ve ever experienced. It is just staggering. However, there is one place that stands head and veil above the rest and that is the Tribeca Rooftop. It just offers some of the most breath-snatching and romantic views in all of NYC, from the twinkling lights of Manhattan to the still waters of the Hudson River; this is where you and 400-plus guests can go dancing above the city streets and under the night sky.
The Showstopper: Lake Como, Italy
Lake Como has become one of the most beautifully cliched places to get hitched and rightly so. There is just something totally mystical about the flat waters of the lake, the rolling hills that disappear into the night sky around it and the lush gardens on which you can dance, drink, laugh and get merry as husband and wife. Just take a look at the amazing work of the Vittore Buzzi photographer to see just how magical your big day could be with this Tuscan gem as your backdrop. There is a reason why this place has become a huge part of so many love stories, and it could become part of yours too.
Just You & Your Nearest: Helena Bay, New Zealand
Nothing says intimate more than flying halfway around the world with just your nearest and dearest to tie the knot on a private stretch of beach on the land of the long white cloud. With only five villas and a ten guest limit, this place really does offer the perfect boutique wedding for those that just want something small and special. It’s a sixty-minute drive from the nearest town and surrounded by hundreds of acres of forest on the most northern tip of the north island. It really is one of the most amazing places to get married anywhere in the world.
Into The Country: Leeds Castle, UK
This is the one for those that want a fairytale wedding. Om crossing the moat on a drawbridge to dancing in their perfectly manicured gardens under a starry night sky, this place is fit for royalty. It really is something special. You can imagine it now, one hand clutched to a flute of champagne, the other to your soul mate as the sound of love and laughter fills the ballroom before flowing in and out of the lavish dining rooms that litter the place. Spend the night in a thirteenth-century bedroom or camp in the amazing vineyards, the choice is yours. Just make sure your guests know Leeds Castle is not in Leeds. It’s in Kent. It will be annoying if you spend all that money only to have them watch the affair on Facebook Live.
Like we said, some cliches are best avoided, but others are well worth embracing as tight as you can.
