Planning a wedding in another country (or sometimes even another continent) is exciting, but it also requires trust.
Unfortunately, scams and fraud have become a growing issue in recent years, and technology makes it easier than ever for people to create convincing websites, fake businesses, and polished social media profiles.
The good news: there are ways to reduce the risk and protect yourselves.
1. Start With a Trusted Venue
If possible, begin with finding your venue first.
Compared to individual service providers, it is generally much harder to fake a professional venue business. Established venues usually have:
- A professional website
- A clear location visible on Google
- Business details and direct contact information
A good venue can also become your safest starting point for building your wedding team.
Once you choose your venue, ask for recommendations.
Most venues have wedding planners and coordinators they regularly work with and trust. This can help reduce the risk of ending up with someone pretending to be an experienced planner.
2. Research Wedding Planners & Vendors Carefully
If your venue does not include planning support, doesn't offer recommendations or you celebrate at a private Villa and you want to hire a wedding planner or day-of coordinator, do your research before signing anything.
Possible red flags:
⚠️ No website, only Instagram or Facebook
⚠️ No visible business details
⚠️ No contracts or unclear payment structure
⚠️ Poor communication or pressure to decide quickly
Having only social media is not automatically suspicious. Some legitimate businesses work that way.
But take time to check:
☐ Does the planner have a professional website? (preferably ".pt" or ".com" websites)
☐ Is there business information available? (Adress, Registration numbers of their business, EU ID?)
☐ Can you find how long the website has existed? (Tools such as WHOIS can help check website registration dates.)
☐ Are portfolio images consistent and believable?
☐ Could images be AI-generated or copied from other planners?
What you can do, if in doubt:
Ask your vendor or wedding planner for their Corporate Identification Number or NIF of their registred businesses. You then can go and look them up here:
https://infotrustgo.pt/empresa/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23789689912&gclid=CjwKCAjw0dPRBhAPEiwAE5vTTpPiNw1Y8i5lDmx8Pxmlx921LCWOMbywZ-VMrAQFst1xoN7TSdFtRhoC5c4QAvD_BwE
Always look beyond a beautiful Instagram grid and follower numbers!
3. Stay in Control of Your Budget & Payments
This is one of the most important points.
Do not (and really, DO NOT!) hand over complete financial control of your wedding.
Years ago, some luxury weddings worked differently, but for most destination weddings today, couples usually stay directly involved in contracts and payments, specially, when you are planning from abroad!
Be cautious if a planner offers to:
- Handle all contracts
- Collect all money
- Pay every supplier on your behalf
- Manage all invoices without transparency
The risk?
You may not know:
- Whether suppliers were actually booked
- What the real prices are
- Whether commissions are being added
- Where your money is going
In the worst cases, you end up without money AND without a wedding!
4. Contracts Should Protect You
As a general rule, your contracts should clearly show:
☐ Who you are contracting with
☐ Payment terms
☐ Cancellation terms
☐ Services included
☐ Direct contact details
For many venues, contracts are normally made directly between the venue and the couple and not exclusively through the planner.
There might a few exceptions (such as public spaces, who work with one wedding planner exclusively).
Most venues also want to personally get to know their couples before confirming such an important event.
If something feels unclear:
Pause before signing.
Ask questions.
Contact the venue or other "potentially booked" vendors directly and see, if they ever heard your name. Or the planners name.
A trustworthy supplier will never pressure you for immediate decisions! Never!
5. Testimonials Are Not Fraud Prevention! Look Beyond Nice Words
As the owner of a new wedding venue, one question I hear a lot is:
“Do you have testimonials?”
Yes, testimonials can be nice to read. They give us the warm feeling to be safe and to relate to what other couples felt. But they are not proof of quality, legitimacy, or safety.
This is especially important when planning a wedding abroad.
Many planners and suppliers proudly display testimonials on their websites or Instagram pages. But ask yourselves:
Who actually wrote them?
A paragraph placed onto a website, designed in a pretty graphic, signed with a first name and wedding date:
that is not automatically a real testimonial.
Be aware that:
- Testimonials shown on someone’s own website are fully controlled by that business
- Social media posts can be designed and edited by anyone
- Names are often impossible to verify
- Reviews can be selectively shown
This does not mean testimonials are fake, but they should never be your only quality check.
Instead, look for stronger signals:
☐ Can you find independent reviews?
☐ Does the business have a website and clear contact details?
☐ Can you verify real weddings happened?
☐ Are there tagged couples or supplier collaborations?
☐ Is communication professional and transparent?
☐ Are contracts and payment processes clear?
For new venues and newer businesses, a lack of testimonials also does not automatically mean something is wrong.
Good businesses start somewhere, but maybe scammer would not let you know, they are new.
Destination wedding planning should feel excitingand not stressful. A little extra research in the beginning can save you money, protect your wedding, and give you much more peace of mind.