How to Create a Midwest Destination Wedding Experience
Cancun. Paris. Rome. Palm Springs. New York. Fiji. Napa Valley.
Destination weddings ooze romance, breathtaking views, and famous locations. We are seeing more and more couples choose to create a destination-style wedding closer to home, like a Midwest destination wedding. Typically, destination weddings take place far away from a couple’s hometown, with only a small portion of their family and friends traveling to the destination location. This may work for many couples, but may not be practical for you! You may not want the fuss of an extended trip with passports and would rather keep things close to home in the Midwest.
Planning and coordinating a typical destination wedding requires logistical arrangements because of travel details, weather, expenses, and possible travel restrictions. When you want a beautiful destination wedding feel without traveling too far away, choosing a venue an hour or two away by car or a few hours by plane is the perfect fit! If you don’t want to leave out loved ones due to health, travel restrictions, or budget constraints, planning a Midwest wedding at a beautiful venue can be a one-tank trip and can include everyone you want on the guest list. There are gorgeous locations all around if you do a little searching!
Keeping your destination wedding closer to home helps your families and closest friends attend while keeping it within their budget (and yours). You'll want all of your dearest people to celebrate with you. No passport is needed! After hosting about 160 of these types of events, we’ve collected some expert tips to help you create a mini-destination experience in the Midwest for your wedding!
At Emerson Fields, most of our couples live 70-90 miles from our location. If you’re worried about your guests attending, don’t fret. Every weekend our venue is celebrating with 100-300 guests that travel here to rejoice with the couple. In the most recent years, Emerson Fields couples have booked with us from Columbia, Fulton, Centralia, St. Peters, Rocheport, Quincy, Grandview, Mokane, Saint Louis, Kansas City, Boonville, Jefferson City, Independence, Palmyra, Kingdom City, Blue Springs, and Ashland.
We have had many out-of-state couples book here from New York, Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado, New Jersey, Montana, Hawaii, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Wedding guests have traveled as far away as England to attend a loved one’s nuptial celebration at Emerson Fields!
Things to consider when planning your Midwest wedding as a mini-destination experience:
Choose the right venue for a Midwest destination wedding
Destination weddings in the Midwest provide an entire weekend experience. From your guest’s arrival at the hotel until the Sunday morning farewell brunch, you will have so much fun creating a mini-adventure for the two of you and your guests!
Choosing a wedding venue in the Midwest, like Missouri, that is secluded and private gives you the feeling that you’re in another world…not just an hour or two away from home! Pay special attention to the scenery around the location, how accessible it is and how “welcoming” it feels to you.
Selecting a wedding venue like Emerson Fields means you can host your wedding rehearsal and welcome dinner on Friday, get ready at the venue on Saturday, and choose from one of five ceremony locations. Then you can enjoy a fabulous indoor wedding reception and then a farewell brunch the next morning. With so many amenities on-site, you don’t have to worry about transporting things like tables and chairs or renting restroom trailers.
Even if your wedding venue checks all these boxes, don’t forget about the views! Rolling meadows, a serene lake, countryside charm, and naturally beautiful trees create an outstanding backdrop and versatility for photos and for guests to enjoy. You and your guests will welcome a weekend getaway to a destination wedding weekend at Emerson Fields.
2. Hire a team of professionals for your destination wedding
Get some pros on your team. Transporting a lot of DIY décor isn’t ideal so you’ll want to lean on local recommendations, which cuts down on any travel fees for vendors. Your venue, wedding planner, or coordinator can be a wealth of information on everything from sourcing your wedding cake to where to purchase the dress socks the groom forgot to pack.
Local vendors are locally trusted people that want to do an amazing job to personalize your celebration to your exact liking. Locals can really surprise you too! They can pull out all of the stops because they have all of the local connections. There’s something to be said for that Midwest charm!
Your wedding planner or coordinator should be at the top of the “must-have” list because you will want to enjoy the weekend. When you have spent many, many months planning this experience you need someone else in charge so you can take a deep breath and soak it all in! It’s your destination wedding in the Midwest after all, right?
Not sure if you need a wedding planner or coordinator? Check out this blog we wrote about the benefits of both!
3. Stay organized for your destination wedding
Labels and diagrams are your friends. Seriously, ask for a label maker for a bridal shower gift. Anything you have created, designed, or styled for your special day should be organized. Your groomsman’s girlfriend who you just met a week ago should be able to pick up anything and put it where and how it should be placed. We’re talking about next-level organization. Many of these details fall into the hands of a wedding planner (thank the good Lord for wedding planners). If you hire a day-of wedding coordinator their team will typically pitch in to help with setup details as well.
Don’t ever think that your mother, your planner, or your bridesmaids will just “know” how you want things to look. Make a diagram, a chart, a picture binder, or whatever it takes to get the visions in your mind onto paper that others can understand. This will also help you from answering 7,329 questions on the day of the wedding when you should be relaxing. (reread point 2)
Pro Tip: Print off photos of your inspiration and organize any details or décor by the area in which it should go. For instance, if you’re decorating the unity table yourself, pack up the unwrapped candles, candle holders, lighter, tablecloth, and décor for that area together in a tote with a photo or diagram of how you’d like it decorated. This makes it super easy to hand off tasks the day before or the morning of the wedding.
4. Greet your guests at your destination wedding
Making your destination wedding in the Midwest a home away from home gives your guests such a welcome feeling. Any special touches to greet your guests make a huge impact! Always arrange for an outgoing person (who knows your plan) to say hello when your guests arrive at the wedding ceremony location. Giving some clear and simple instructions on how the event will flow, the location of the restrooms, or prompting the ushers to help guests be seated invites your friends and family to feel at ease. Don’t you find it nice when you enter your favorite store and you’re greeted with a warm smile and happy “welcome”?
If your guests are coming for the night or weekend, treat them to a welcome gift bag or basket at the hotel or lodging site. Adding local treats and recommendations on dining or shopping are so appreciated! You can also customize these gifts to be a reflection of you and your boo! Pack his favorite mints, your go-to snack, a bottle of water, a sample size of Tylenol, and candy that you both can’t live without. Your guests will appreciate the thoughtfulness of a gift and feel included in the fun.
Here are some of our local favorite treats to consider for your wedding welcome bag:
Customized mini-sugar cookies from Cakes by Kristina
Bottle of Coca-Cola which is bottled in Macon, MO
Old fashion candies from Wavering’s Ben Franklin Store in downtown Macon
Midwest famous Pear Tree Restaurant’s “Magic Dust” Seasoning
Personalized gifts and t-shirts from C.A. Shoush Co. in downtown Macon
Local honey or coffee beans from our friends at Koch’s General Store (tons of Missouri products!)
Our local recommendations near Emerson Fields for shopping, entertainment, and dining:
Originally Worn in downtown Macon
Long Branch Lake (walking trails, boating, hiking, swimming)
Koch’s General Store and Restaurant
D-Zines by T Flowers & Gifts in downtown Macon
Ugo’s Pizzaland in Bevier
West Winery in downtown Macon
5. Arrange accommodations for your Midwest destination wedding
Your wedding guests will appreciate any steps you take to set up lodging accommodations beforehand. Include lodging recommendations on an insert in your invitation suite and on your wedding website. Include the links to top-rated Airbnbs, hotels, and boutique lodging on your wedding website.
As a wedding venue, we can help provide you with recommendations near Emerson Fields. Take the time to block off plenty of rooms for your expected traveling guests. Guests will pay for their own hotel rooms and blocking off the rooms ensures that space is available when your guests book lodging. You may want to treat your wedding party to complimentary lodging but it's not required or even expected. Let your wedding party know accompanying you and standing by your side on your big day is a gift in itself, so other gifts aren't necessary.
Emerson Fields sits in the lovely countryside of Missouri in the heart of the Midwest. We are located less than a 10-minute drive from a variety of lodging options. Once a client books their wedding day at our venue we go above and beyond to provide them with vendor resources and lodging information.
6. Create a fun destination wedding weekend experience
If you want your guests to feel as if they’ve “gotten away from it all” for your Midwest wedding, concentrate on the experience of it all. You can invite close friends and relatives to a lovely welcome dinner the night before. That dinner may be at a local restaurant or even at your venue. Having extra time together with those closest to you will alleviate stress, allow you to express appreciation sincerely, and simply catch up a bit with them. The wedding day usually has a tight timeline and you may not get any downtime to chit-chat with absolutely everyone so plan for that the day before or after.
A farewell brunch at the hotel, your venue, or a nearby restaurant can be exactly what you need the day after the wedding. We guarantee there will be loads of laughter reliving the reception and many ooohs and aaahs over the personal touches of the ceremony. You’ll enjoy all of the accolades, hugs, and photo sharing too. A gathering like this may be a fun time to open gifts if you have the time.
At Emerson Fields, our unique mid-Missouri wedding venue in the Midwest allows couples to make the most of the entire weekend. Access to the venue begins at noon on Friday and ends at noon on Sunday. This includes time to host the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, Saturday brunch, all the getting ready and decorating, cocktail hour, the dinner and dancing reception, and the Sunday morning gathering. Emerson Fields’ property includes multiple versatile outdoor spaces so wedding guests have the chance to walk around and enjoy the scenic views.
7. Plan for picture-perfect scenery for your destination wedding in the Midwest
If you're a big fan of lakes, meadows, rolling hills, and beautiful sunsets find a location that boasts these views! Natural scenery plays a big part in the photos you will cherish for years to come. Your wedding party will thank you for not having to load in and out of cars or shuttles all day to find picture-perfect photo ops. The entire day will be smooth sailing when your venue offers flexibility in the setup of your ceremony and reception to feature beautiful scenery. Stepping away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and into a serene landscape creates that destination wedding feeling.
Your mini-destination wedding in the Midwest doesn’t have to mean updating passports and booking airfare. It can be as simple as driving a few hours away from your hometown to somewhere serene and beautiful! Your family and friends won’t mind a drive to get away for the weekend or a day to spend time with the ones they love. You won’t mind having a team of pros create a memorable and lovely wedding weekend experience for you and yours!
Thinking about hosting your Midwest destination wedding at Emerson Fields?
Looking for more inspiration? Check out our blogs The Best Wedding Guest Experience or The Ultimate Guide to Outdoor Weddings in Missouri.
01/14/2022 - Gabrielle Isom
