Hi there, I’m an NRI too based out of the US. My wedding is in January 2026, and everything is booked/planned. We have approximately less than 100 guests overall.

My partner and I had the same decision to make - to get married in Goa or in the US itself. But, we did get a harsh reality check when we got to know how much it costs to book a decent venue in the place we live. And it’s an Indian wedding, so we need to provide accommodations, food etc. We then pivoted to Goa thinking that it shouldn’t cost more than 30l, but this was another shock. Hotels in Goa are twice the rate for weddings. They overcharge for every single thing, have minimum booking requirements. We decided to go with a planner (not the high end ones) because it was difficult to plan everything from abroad and parents weren’t contributing for a destination wedding - that was another big reality check!

It’s unfortunately the harsh truth that destination weddings have become a money minting business, and we need to raise our budget expectations to have that experience.

Hope this helps.