How much does a destination wedding in Portugal cost?

When we think about a wedding the first words that come to our mind is love, happiness, family, friends, fun, romantic, beautiful, food, vows, ceremony, decoration… but when you start planning your own wedding, you realize that one of the first things to think about is MONEY.

It is true that there is a lot of combinations and cheaper ways to celebrate your love, but you’ll always have to use your savings or family gifts! 😉

I know this is a delicate topic and also very difficult to estimate if you are not part of the industry. That’s why, after having so many requests to write about it, I decided to give some hints and orientation to those who are thinking of having a beautiful destination wedding in this amazing country, which is Portugal.

HOW MUCH YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO PAY FOR A DESTINATION WEDDING IN PORTUGAL

As there are a lot of different types of weddings, it is impossible to set an approximate budget for all of them. So I’m going to describe a typical wedding and start my explanation from that base.

A typical destination wedding in Portugal would be having the ceremony, reception and party in the same venue. The reception would consist of a cocktail of 1,5 hours, where canapés and drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol) will be passed-around followed by a seated dinner of 3 or 4 courses. After that, you’d have the fun or romantic cake cutting moment and party time until the morning!

For a wedding day like the one described (without counting gowns, jewelry, accommodation or transport), you should expect costs around the following numbers. Obviously, it can go as high as you want, as there is always room for more decoration.

Average cost of a Portugal destination wedding day

50 guests — starting at 25,000€

100 guests — starting at 50,000€

150 guests — starting at 75,000€

As wedding planners, it is crucial to know our clients’ budget and expectations, because it’s from that number that we allocate an amount for each expense. When looking at it from a percentage point of view, it can look a little like this:

% distribution of a wedding budget

Venue rental — from 20% to 25%

Catering — from 23% to 35%

Decoration and furniture — from 7% to 13%

Audiovisuals — from 7% to 14%

Photo and video — from 10% to 18%

Hair and Make up — from 1% to 4%

Graphic design — from 2% to 3%

Wedding celebrant — from 2% to 3%

At the end of the day you need to think what is it more important for you. If it is the decoration, you should spend more money on that. If it’s the music, you should hire life music for the cocktail and a band to make people dance after dinner. Or if your dream is having spectacular views, you should spend more on the venue rental. It all depends on your priorities.

I hope this helped and gave you some visibility regarding the costs of a destination wedding in Portugal. If you feel a bit overwhelmed and need help planning your perfect wedding in this country, contact us! We’ll take care of every single detail, from the numbers and most boring part to the decoration and the fun!

xx

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