Ellen Paderson, a veteran Travel Consultant, who helped to popularize the concept of destination weddings beginning some 20 years ago, recently named the 7 top destinations for 2012.
The top 2012 wedding destinations for Paderson’s agency, Smiles & Miles Travel (www.smilesandmilestravel.com), are: Mexico, Jamaica, Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), Hawaii, Turks and Caicos, St. Thomas, and Costa Rica. The list is based on recent inquiries and actual bookings.
Despite the economy, Paderson says her destination wedding business has increased by about 25 percent each year in each of the last three years. She adds that the average number of guests attending a destination wedding is about 50, though hers have ranged from 7 to 100. Ages have ranged from newborn to 85. Usually guests pay for their own airfare, hotel and meals beyond the wedding itself.
“So many details with so many moving pieces and potential for ‘glitches’ can be nerve-wracking”, she says. “I treat every event as if it were my own daughter’s wedding, and every guest as if they are my relatives. You earn a reputation and people refer you.”
