23 Over-the-Top Ideas From Destination Weddings

A bride and groom flew from Mongolia for their wedding at the St. Regis Princeville hotel in Kauai, Hawaii, where Belle Destination Events hung strands of white flowers from trees.

For a wedding in Big Sur, California, producer and designer Sterling Engagements suspended a 12-foot dream catcher decor piece above the dance floor.

For the rehearsal dinner, Sterling worked with the culinary team at the Ventana Inn to develop an unusual breakfast for dinner concept. The Sunday brunch-inspired meal included Bloody Marys, omelets, and eggs Benedicts. A relevant quote from one of the couple’s favorite shows, Parks and Recreation, hung over the dining area. 

The Big Sur couple traveled through three draped arches on the way to the ceremony. Each sign bore a third of a romantic quote: "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you."

Luxe teepees decked in greenery provided seating, as well as added visual interest.

The Sterling team built a framed house with no walls or ceiling along the coast of Big Sur and covered it with trailing greenery. 

Karson Butler Events planned a wedding at Monserrate Palace in Sintra, Portugal, where the team incorporated the patterned carvings of the 19th-century walls into the event design. 

The custom laser-cut invitation suite and even the cake showcased patterns found in the intricate palace walls. 

Beth Helmstetter Events produced a welcome party for a French wedding inspired by the medieval era. "We had archery tournaments, petanque, as well as jugglers, stilt walkers, and then a huge feast following," Helmstetter said.

The medieval theme was also woven into the decor and included a barrel topped with taper candles, figs, grapes, and nuts.

Designer Karen Tran created abundant floral tabletop decor and walls for a wedding at La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla in Southern California.

An artist painted the room on a canvas.

Karen Tran's floral wall served as a backdrop for a white settee.

For a wedding in Mexico produced by Signature Event Consulting & Design, a photo booth with a donkey encouraged guests to "interact and enjoy being silly," said Signature creative director and founder Saraí Flores.

For authentic touches that incorporated local culture at a wedding in Bali on the beach of the Amanusa Resort, Helmstetter created a structure overlooking the Indian Ocean and brought in street vendors, plus lounge furniture and linens created from local batiks.

For a wedding in Stowe, Vermont, Helmstetter built a reclaimed-wood structure in the middle of an open field to create a hidden-garden feeling for the ceremony.

For a Maui wedding, the groom was a cigar aficionado, so Sterling Engagements sourced cigars from four shops on the island to create a custom bar that included his favorite varieties.

Sterling created custom Klondike bars with cheeky, irreverent (and even profane) phrases to complement the couple's personalities.  

For a wedding at the Amangani Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Helmstetter brought in benches, sheepskins, and white blooms to complement the site's backdrop of the Grand Teton. 

For dinner, guests dined at black marble tables with rawhide chairs, also finished with sheepskins.

For a traditional Southern wedding at the W Dallas produced by Sterling Engagements, the couple's send-off included a horse and carriage, which the groom had also used to propose.

Belle Destination Events created an ombre floral wall with the couple's initials.

For a Sterling Engagements-produced wedding at the Parker Palm Springs, the groom brought his own collection of cameras for a selfie-style photo booth.