Wedding Planner Price Calculator

Destination wedding planner cost

Short answer: destination wedding planners typically cost $5,000 to $15,000+ nationally for full-service, with a median around $8,000–$10,000. Partial destination planning starts near $3,500. Caribbean and Mexico destinations cluster at the lower full-service end ($6,000–$10,000); Italy, France, and Greece commonly run $12,000–$25,000+ — and that's the planner's fee alone, before flights, accommodations, marriage license logistics, or on-the-ground vendor invoices. The calculator below returns the exact range for your home metro and guest count — full-service is pre-selected since destination is almost always full-service in practice.

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Why destination weddings carry a higher planner fee

Destination weddings layer three coordination jobs on top of standard wedding planning, and each one expands the planner's scope. Travel coordination: group flights, hotel blocks at one or more properties, airport transfers, ground transportation across the wedding-week itinerary. Legal logistics: marriage license requirements vary by country and frequently require 30–60-day residency, document translation, or apostille — none of which a domestic planner ever touches. On-the-ground vendor sourcing in a market the couple cannot visit: photographer, florist, caterer (often included with the venue, sometimes separate), officiant, hair and makeup, transportation. The planner is acting as your eyes on the ground for 12–18 months, with one or two pre-event site visits typically billed on top of the package.

The fee structure also shifts. Roughly half of destination planners price as a flat-fee package; the other half use percentage-of-budget (typically 12–18%) because total event spend is so much harder to project at the start. Expect a written list of inclusions and exclusions before signing — destination contracts are where the difference between "all-in" and "labor only" is most expensive to misread. For the four standard fee structures and how to normalize quotes between them, see wedding planner fees. For the headline national numbers across all three tiers, see how much do wedding planners cost.

What's typically included at the full-service destination tier

Standard scope across the destination planners in our dataset:

Engagement runs 200–300 hours over 12–18 months. A second on-site lead is standard for 80+ traveling guests, which drives the upper end of the band. For the broader scope comparison against domestic full-service, see full-service wedding planner price.

What's billed on top of the destination planner fee

The planner's fee covers the planner's time. These line items are almost always separate:

When destination planning is worth it — and when partial works

Full-service destination is the right tier when any of these apply: traveling guest count is 30+, the venue is not all-inclusive, marriage license requires legal residency, you're doing more than one event (welcome dinner + wedding + brunch counts), or you can't make a pre-event site visit. Partial planning ($3,500–$8,000 for destination scope) is sufficient when the venue is fully all-inclusive, you've already booked the venue and 1–2 vendors, and total guest count is under 40. Many resort venues include an on-site coordinator; that role handles the venue's piece, not the travel, transportation, or off-property logistics — for the difference, see wedding planner vs. venue coordinator. The wedding planner cost calculator lets you toggle full-service against partial on the same metro and guest count if you're between tiers, and the how much is a wedding coordinator page covers the all-inclusive-resort case where "coordinator" is sometimes used for what's effectively full-service planning. Before signing, expect a 25–50% retainer at booking — see wedding planner deposit.

How home metro and guest count affect the price

Destination planners price largely off their home market — a NYC- or LA-based destination planner runs $12,000–$25,000+, while a destination planner based in Salt Lake City or Nashville runs $5,000–$10,000 for similar scope. Your home metro matters because most destination planners travel from there. Guest count applies the standard multiplier: 0.85× under 75, 1.00× at 75–150, 1.20× at 150–250, 1.40× at 250+. Destination weddings skew smaller (typical destination wedding is 30–80 guests), so most engagements fall in the 0.85× band. The calculator below uses your home metro's full-service range as the anchor — adjust upward by 15–25% for international destinations beyond Caribbean/Mexico if you're using this as a planning estimate.

Calculator inputs

Most destination planners price off their home market. Pick the metro the planner is based in (often your own).
Destination weddings typically run 30–80 guests. Bucketed as <75 · 75–150 · 150–250 · 250+.
Service tier

The three planning tiers, side-by-side

Destination weddings almost always require full-service scope. Partial destination planning works only when the venue is fully all-inclusive and guest count stays small.

Day-of coordination

What's included

    What you still do yourself

      Partial planning

      What's included

        What you still do yourself

          Full-service

          What's included

            What's typically a separate add-on

              Frequently asked questions

              How much does a destination wedding planner cost?

              Destination wedding planners typically charge $5,000 to $15,000+ for full-service nationally, with a median around $8,000–$10,000. Partial destination planning starts near $3,500. Caribbean and Mexico destinations cluster at the lower end of full-service ($6,000–$10,000); Italy, France, and Greece commonly run $12,000–$25,000+. The fee is the planner's labor only — flights, accommodations, marriage license, and on-the-ground vendor invoices are all separate.

              What does a destination wedding planner actually do?

              A destination planner handles three layers most domestic planners don't: travel coordination (group flights, hotel blocks, transfers), legal logistics (marriage license requirements vary by country and can take 30–60 days), and on-the-ground vendor sourcing in a market where you can't visit pre-event. Standard scope also includes welcome events, rehearsal dinner, transportation, and often a 2–4 day guest itinerary. Engagement is typically 200–300 hours over 12–18 months.

              What's billed on top of the destination planner fee?

              Travel for the planner is almost always billed separately — typically a 3–5 day site visit before the wedding plus the wedding-week stay, totaling $2,000–$6,000 per trip. Marriage license logistics (translation, apostille, legal residency requirements in some countries) often add $500–$1,500. Group room blocks, welcome bags, transportation to/from the airport, and any pre-event excursions are guest-facing line items, not planner-fee inclusions.

              Is the venue's on-site coordinator enough for a destination wedding?

              Usually no. Resort and venue on-site coordinators handle the venue's piece — ceremony setup, reception logistics inside the property, vendor delivery windows. They don't handle group travel, hotel blocks at other properties, transportation, the marriage license, welcome events, or non-resort vendors. For weddings with 30+ traveling guests, a dedicated destination planner pays for itself in saved coordination hours.