The status symbols that make all the difference at luxury weddings

For destination weddings, many wealthy couples pay for their guests to travel to the event.

"It's very common at this point for our clients to flat-out pay for their flights," Alison Laesser-Keck of Alison Bryan Destinations said. "Sometimes the flights are private, so they get to the airport, and they're fast-tracked through customs. There's a car waiting for them on the tarmac when they get off the plane. Then they go to a private lounge. Their name is on the table, and they have a server who hands them a glass of champagne. It's like the ultimate luxury travel experience."

And the high-end travel doesn't stop once they arrive at the wedding. Luxury planner Colin Cowie said that his clients want their guests to get to the event in a one-of-a-kind fashion.

"We can bring you lakeside on boats or have people arrive on horse-drawn carriages or maybe a smaller group driving in vintage sports cars," he said. "We love to take people out of their environment and create things they might never have done before."

Nothing about a luxury wedding will be run-of-the-mill, especially not the transportation.

Hotel blocks are common for weddings, with couples arranging discounted rates for their guests. But couples with bigger budgets take it to another level.

"For some of our clients, it's get yourself there, and from the time you get there, we're going to tell you where you're going to stay, and we're going to take care of the entire three to four days," Jung Lee, the founder of FÊTE, said.

Marcy Blum of Marcy Blum Events said her clients often cover guests' costs based on what they may need.

"Some of their friends are in med school or startups and don't have any money yet," she said. "So, if the parents are paying or even if the couple is paying, which is more and more usual, they are going to either offset or pay for them."

Laesser-Keck said she frequently works with guests who rent out entire properties for their weddings, paying for all attendees.

"If someone's traveling to a five-star property, that could be $10,000-plus easy. And if someone has the means, why wouldn't they pay for it?" she said.

Many weddings include a welcome party the day before an event or a brunch the day after, but the planners told BI that their clients' festivities are becoming four to five-day affairs, particularly for destination weddings.

"It used to be like two days with optional brunch, and now it's for sure three days, sometimes it's five days, sometimes it's up to a week," Laesser-Keck said, as longer timeframes ensure no one is jet-lagged at the wedding or hungover on their way back from the event.

"Luxury is being comfortable," she added.

Lee also said the wedding day is getting longer, as many of her clients build "super long, amazing after-parties" into their weddings.

"It's not just like, 'Oh, plug in the DJ and we'll get some pizza,'" she said. "They're really full-blown, and they're really fun."

The wedding day is the weekend's main event, but wealthy couples also build additional parties into their celebrations, allowing them to cater experiences to their guests.

For instance, for a wedding at Pebble Beach, Laesser-Keck's clients hosted a golfing day and provided themed outfits for all their guests.

Blum also said her clients who host destination weddings like to offer experiences related to the location, not just the wedding.

"We're doing wine tastings, cooking lessons," Blum said. "When we did a wedding in Istanbul, we had five experiences that you could choose from, so you could go to a hammam, you could go to the old city, or to a museum tour with a docent."

"They're not just looking to host destination weddings," Laesser-Keck echoed. "They're looking to host vacations for all their guests."

The experts told BI that wealthy couples are adding surprises like tableside wine service or celebrity chefs to their wedding receptions, making them even more fun for guests.

"We're going to have the best of the best," Lee said. "Whether it's caviar or the most incredible wagyu beef, it's just really taking care of their guests."

Plus, luxury couples ensure those experiences are catered specifically to their guests rather than splurging for no reason.

"This guest only really enjoys this type of alcohol, so we could have it for them. They know Bob Smith likes this vodka or gin or whatever it is," she said of her clients' thought processes. "It's never about being over the top. We surely have great wine, great champagne, all the top-shelf stuff. But luxury, to me, is really knowing their guests and having that very high level, white-glove service."

The planners told BI some of the biggest status symbols at luxury weddings are in the details. For instance, many of their clients host their weddings in custom tents, which are more like houses than temporary structures thanks to features like real wood flooring and built-in bathrooms.

"Tented experiences cost a fortune," Laesser-Keck said. "There are some tents out there that, when decorated properly, can be half a million or a million dollars easily."

Lee noted that it also requires couples to rent the property for more days than they need to ensure things are set up properly, making it even more expensive.

The decorations will also be high-quality to ensure the event feels cohesive.

"Sometimes you'll have these venues that include things like their chairs," Laesser-Keck said. "You might as well spend no money on flowers if you're still going to use those chairs because nothing will draw the eye away from them."

Blum agreed, saying it comes down to the smallest details, such as linen napkins over polyester alternatives.

"It doesn't scream in your face, 'I'm expensive.' It's more subliminal," Blum said. "It didn't look like they were throwing money at it, even though it was clear it was expensive."

In recent years, it's become more common for couples to hire stylists for their wedding day looks, but luxury planners are tapping stylists for their entire wedding wardrobes.

"People want to look their best, so we'll bring in a bridal stylist, we'll bring in menswear experts, and usually they utilize them for all of the looks for the wedding experience," Laesser-Keck told BI.

"The good thing about a stylist is they help you determine what your taste and style is," Blum said. "Once you realize what you want everything to look like, you want to feel as good at the welcome party as you do on the wedding day."

The number of people hosting luxury weddings is relatively small, and even fewer vendors specialize in their events. So, securing the best photographer or caterer for your nuptials can become a status symbol in and of itself.

"There's far, far, far, far, far more people with more money than they know what to do with getting married than there is talent," Laesser-Keck said. "There's really only five photographers in the world that we would trust wholeheartedly for our clients."

The planners told BI that the most important aspect of luxury weddings is the service, which should ensure guests are never waiting around, confused, or uncomfortable throughout the wedding.

"You're never looking for a drink. There's never a line at the bar," Blum said of her events. "That costs money."

That money goes into large, informed staff who make the events run smoothly. Cowie refers to his staff as "human arrows," who are dressed to blend in with the event and can help guests with whatever they need.

"Instead of having one or two people, you could have 10 people at an event, all dressed in beautiful gowns at every point, wherever there's a place to go, to tell you very elegantly how to get there," Cowie said. "I always said that a well-informed guest is a happy guest."

For couples planning luxury weddings, creating the ideal guest experience is imperative.