Couples who marry abroad are cutting the guest list, turning one day into a weekend and choosing venues for their atmosphere. Most Australians still marry at home, and 4% marry overseas, according to Forbes Australia. These are the trends shaping how those couples plan, with figures behind most of them.
Wedded Concierge can plan a wedding abroad around any of the trends below.
Once guests have flown in, a single afternoon feels short. Couples now plan a welcome dinner the night before, the ceremony and reception, then a farewell lunch or a day trip, so the people who travelled get time together.
A weekend changes the budget too. Accommodation, transfers and two or three meals for guests all go on the plan, and the venue you choose has to host more than one event. Check whether it can hold a welcome dinner on a different terrace or beach from the ceremony.
Photo: Andrea Prochilo
Across all Australian weddings, couples are inviting 23 fewer guests on average than they originally planned, according to Forbes Australia, which also reports that 89% marry in their home state, 7% interstate and just 4% overseas. For a wedding abroad, every guest also needs flights and time off, so plan the list with that in mind.
A shorter list leaves more of the budget for the guests who come. Our guide to destination wedding guest attendance covers how to plan for the people who can and can't make it.
Photo: Alexander Mass
Many couples sign the legal paperwork at home, then hold the ceremony they want overseas without the local registration. In Italy, symbolic ceremonies made up 65.4% of foreign weddings in 2025, according to the Osservatorio Destination Wedding in Italy report covered by Forbes Italia. The report describes these as celebrations that follow a religious or civil rite held in the couple's home country.
A symbolic ceremony carries no legal paperwork in the country where you hold it. If you want the legal wedding overseas instead, see whether a marriage in Italy is recognised in Australia before you book.
Photo: Josh Withers
The same report counted nearly 17,000 foreign weddings in Italy in 2025, more than 3 million overnight stays and turnover above 1.1 billion euros, up 19.6%. The number of events grew 9.8%, and the average spend per event reached 67,000 euros. Couples from the US made up 31.7% of requests, and the report names Australia among the long-haul markets growing fastest. Tuscany leads the regions, followed by Lombardy, Campania, Piedmont and Sicily.
Start with getting married in Italy, then our breakdown of what a small wedding in Italy costs.
Photo: Image Hunter
Bali Wedding Association members alone handle around 2,500 to 3,000 weddings a year, according to Indonesian state broadcaster RRI, and the association's chair named Australia among the island's largest markets. Most of those weddings take place between April and October, with fewer from November to March.
Google Trends data for "bali wedding" searches in Australia shows average interest from January to November 2026 about a fifth higher than across 2023. Browse Bali wedding venues to compare cliff tops, beaches and villas.
Photo: Tomi Saputra
Pinterest Predicts 2026 named "Mystic Outlands" its biggest travel trend for 2026, describing it as "fairytale meets fever dream". The same report lists searches for "scotland highlands aesthetic" up 465%.
In Greece, Attica records the highest demand for destination weddings, with the Athens Riviera the top location in the country, according to OT.gr. Japan welcomed a record 42.7 million international visitors in 2025, TravelMole reports, and the outlet reports more couples choosing Japan for weddings, honeymoons and family celebrations. See Greece wedding venues for the Athens Riviera and the islands.
Photo: AXP Photography
"Ballrooms are making room for spaces with built-in atmosphere," says Pinterest's 2026 wedding trends report, with couples wanting venues that feel "transportive, immersive and instantly photogenic." Abroad, that means a venue chosen for what it already is: a monastery courtyard, a vineyard, a jetty over the water.
Let the design follow the place too, with local flowers, local food and the colours of the setting.
Photo: Khoa Danh Nguyen
Pinterest describes 2026 wedding palettes as split between "grounded and glowing." Searches for "plum and olive wedding" rose 1,380% and "muted terracotta" 545%, according to the same report.
Those earthy tones suit a destination well, because they echo vineyards, stone villages and sunset coasts. Take your palette from the place, then add one deeper shade for the flowers and stationery.
Photo: Jonathan Borba
Retro tech is moving into weddings. Pinterest's report lists searches for "video guestbook" up 240% and "camcorder wedding" up 90%, with projectors, slideshows and analogue photobooths in the same trend.
At a destination wedding, a video guestbook collects messages from the guests who made the trip, and a camcorder records the whole weekend, not just the ceremony.
Photo: Jhefferson Santos
Wedded Concierge handles the venue, travel, vendors and payments for destination weddings, whether you plan a weekend for a small group in Italy, Bali or Greece. For background, see our earlier look at destination wedding trend popularity, and plan the rest with the Wonderland Studio planning tools.
Cover photo: Asad Photo Maldives
Written by
Senior SEO Specialist, Wedded Wonderland
Mark Tuason is the Senior SEO Specialist at Wedded Wonderland, where he writes and refreshes the brand's guides to destination weddings and cultural wedding traditions. He starts with the questions couples search for, checks the answers against trusted sources, and shapes each guide to help them plan, compare and book with confidence. Based in the Philippines, he specialises in content strategy and on-page SEO.
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