One of the great benefits of a destination wedding is that you can keep the guest list small, as only your closest friends and family will likely attend.  That means you can plan some meaningful activities that you wouldn't be able to plan if the wedding were a larger event. For example, you might plan a slumber party night with close friends that includes movies, popcorn and drinks in your hotel room, villa or cottage, depending on where the wedding is held.

Many couples like to have their weddings seaside, so they move the festivities to a beach locale, either on their local coast or somewhere more exotic like Jamaica or the Bahamas. In any event, there are several activities that can be planned around this theme. If the wedding is also a weekend event where guests will be around for more than just the wedding, the bride can plan a sailing excursion. Charter a boat for a day and bring your guests out on the water to relax, rejuvenate, and perhaps enjoy a meal.

Another great wedding activity, no matter the location, is a cooking demonstration? The bride and groom can arrange for the wedding guests to enjoy a complimentary cooking demonstration put on by the hotel or a local cook. If you're at a location vastly different from your hometown, it might be fun for your guests to learn to prepare more exotic dishes than what they're used to.

You might also consider a wine tasting, particularly if you're in an area with vineyards, such as Australia, France, California, Oregon, Washington, New York Finger Lakes, and the wine country of Virginia. 

Hawaii Destination Wedding Activities

Hawaii is a very popular destination wedding location.  Here, you can plan several activities around the location. For example, what about a luau or hula lesson before the wedding?

At the wedding itself, there are many ways to incorporate the location into the ceremony itself. At a beachside reception, you can play "pass the shell", where a large shell is passed around and guests "listen" for some advice from the other world. Once they get a piece of advice (really something they think of themselves) they share it with the bride and groom, either verbally, or it can be written into a book for the couple.

Other pre-wedding activities can include guided tours, shopping excursions, or boating trips. 

Do keep in mind that if you choose to include any of these activities, you, the couple getting married, or your family, are expected to pay for the bulk of the activities. If you arrange a sailing excursion, for example, you are expected to pick up the tab for the trip. Do not tell people ahead of time that the activity will be x dollars. It's likely that won't sit well with them.