‘Obviously the weather played a great part in our decision to get married abroad, but the cost was also a huge factor for us. It seems to be so much cheaper to get married overseas these days and, if you use a currency specialist like moneycorp it saves you even more money.’

As Jade is originally from Australia and Phillip from London, they decided on an overseas wedding in Thailand. Other than being their dream location, the country was also roughly halfway between the UK and Oz, meaning it was the same distance for both sides of the family and friends to travel. 

Meeting a wedding planner 

When Phillip took the plunge and proposed to Jade on holiday in Australia, they decided to plan a ‘research holiday’ in Thailand when they returned to London. A year before the wedding, they lined up meetings with Thai wedding planners to find the best place to get married in Thailand and immediately clicked with the first one they met, as well as with the beauty of Taling Ngam beach. They instantly fell in love with the views, the resort and the whole idea of getting married there.

Phillip and Jade had lived together in London for the last 6 years, so they left most of the preparation to the wedding planners in Thailand, who went on to exceed their expectations. They organised everything from accommodation for the 75 guests to providing guidance on the whole planning process, arranging every detail perfectly. Jade thought it would be a nightmare to plan a wedding overseas, but it turned out to be very easy and straightforward.

Manage the exchange rate risk 

They spoke to foreign exchange companies and found moneycorp to be professional and straightforward; they also liked their Private Client Dealer. 

‘Our Dealer, Chris from moneycorp was fantastic. We understand that it’s very difficult to predict how a currency will move over the course of a year, but Chris gave us some really insightful guidance on the current financial market and what implications could affect the Thai Baht. We had a rate of 55 baht to the pound in our minds which we wanted to budget to and base the cost of the wedding on. Once the rate got to that level, Chris contacted us and we were able to lock into the amount we had wanted. We only had to pay 10% upfront and we were able to choose the date of transfer to our wedding planners, with just the balance to pay before that date. It was great, as we knew how much we had to save without the worry of the rate changing all the time.’

‘We saved a substantial amount of money by getting married abroad and through using moneycorp to exchange and transfer our money. We paid for our wedding at 55 baht to the pound and just before the wedding. I found out it was trading at approximately 51 baht to the pound – which was a good saving for us. Our other alternative would have been to pay the wedding planners by credit card which would have incurred a 3% fee, or to use a bank which would have cost us a lot more money, as the rates quoted were a lot worse, with added fees. The money we saved by using moneycorp was used on a few special items for the wedding. It meant we could spend that bit extra which we wouldn’t have had.’ 

‘I would certainly recommend moneycorp to my family and friends, simply because they were so easy for us to use. It was so reassuring to lock into a rate and know how much we needed to save, rather than watching it bounce up and down every day.’ 

The perfect wedding in Thailand

‘As for our wedding, it turned out to be perfect in every way and we wouldn’t change anything for the world.’

The most special moment for me was walking down the aisle with my dad and looking at Phillip’s face which had the most genuine and happy smile. During the vows we completely focussed on each other and it felt like it was just the two of us there. That made our vows really special as we were saying them to each other, not just for our guests.’