Overseas weddings cut costs

With more WA couples packing their bags to get hitched overseas, the wedding destination market has exploded in Perth with local planners and travel agents reaping the rewards.

The high Australian dollar means overseas weddings are more affordable then ever with the average cost of nuptials in Indonesia or Thailand half the price of Perth.

Jody Coon, owner of Perth wedding planners Jody Q Weddings, said cost was a big factor for couples deciding to marry abroad.

"You can have an amazing, extravagant wedding for about $20,000 which includes everything you can imagine," she said.

Ms Coon, who specialises in Bali weddings, said that when she started her business three years ago, she planned fewer than 10 overseas weddings a year. Now she does close to 100.

For Beechboro couple Roger and Casey Petit, getting married in Bali was about getting their dream wedding on a budget.

"We've got a two-year-old son and other things we want to save for so we didn't want to spend all our money on a huge wedding but still wanted something really special," Ms Petit said.

The couple, who wed at Club Med Resort in Nusa Dua, said the ceremony and reception for 40 guests cost about $7000.

Rod Wesley and Suman Mutu, from event planning company A Blissful Affair, said Bali was still the top wedding destination for Perth couples but Thailand, Fiji and New Zealand were increasingly popular.