Destination weddings encompass such a broad spectrum of possibilities that they're really affordable for just about everyone. If you were planning to have an in-town wedding of any significant size, you can reshape it into a destination affair. You just have to know where to spend your money wisely.

Where Your Money Is Best Spent

Start by prioritizing your wants, and weighing them against your needs. Do you want to have 150 guests attend your cruise ship wedding, or do you need to have a more intimate ceremony? Do you have to have your wedding at a castle in Scotland, or will you be just as happy reciting your vows in a lodge in Montana? Needless to say, when making a list of “must-haves,” it helps to have an open mind about some things. Unless you're printing money in your basement (or you have a job where you do the basic equivalent), or you've been saving for a long, long time, or you want to go deeply into debt (not advisable), you and your fiancé may want to splurge on certain areas of the wedding and cut back on other, less important (to you) areas.

Costs to prioritize include:

• Location (including lodging and travel expenses to and from your destination)

• Food

• Drink

• Flowers

• Music (ceremony and reception)

• Wedding attire for you and your fiancé

• Transportation (to and from the ceremony)

• Pictures and video

• Rings

The interesting thing about this list is that it contains exactly the same items that an in-town wedding list would. The bride who is marrying in her hometown has to consider where she wants to spend the bulk of her wedding fund; so do you.

That said, most couples who are planning a destination wedding focus on the location. These brides and grooms reason that even if the food at the reception is fair-to-middlin', the guests are going to be so entranced with the beauty of the location and with the entire travel event that a few subpar appetizers aren't going to be viewed as critically as they would be back home at the country club. And they're probably right. If your guests are willing to make the trip, make it worth their while and pick an interesting place. (Note use of the word interesting instead of popular or extravagant.)

Anything's Possible!

If money is not an issue as far as your wedding is concerned, lucky you! You have the entire globe to scout out and choose a location from. If you decide that's just too much work, though, you can find a fairly nearby destination wedding resort that offers unique add-ons. Take Walt Disney World, for example. If you plan your destination wedding there, you can choose to arrive in Cinderella's carriage (for an extra fee of $2,500); you can hire two Disney characters to hang out with your guests at the reception ($1,070); you can even hire actors to play obnoxious tourists who have crashed your wedding ($1,200). One of the coolest things that Disney offers is a private fireworks display ($2,500) after the ceremony and/or reception.

If money is tight, you can still find a spot with unique wedding “extras.” In the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, for example, you can have an Elvis-themed wedding for under $1,000. The price includes an Elvis-impersonator officiant, flowers, and a photo package. For just $150 more, you can actually roll into your wedding in the back seat of a pink Cadillac driven by your “Elvis” minister; for an additional $150, a fake Priscilla will sit up front with him. That deal is hard to beat.

Truly, no matter what kind of budget you're working with, you can find a way to make your destination wedding unique!