Handbook: Southern Finland as a wedding destination

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the creation and further developing of Southern Finland’s image as wedding destination. The main aim is to achieve it by creating a destination wedding handbook for Southern Finland while studying its potential of usage for foreign wedding couples who wish to celebrate their wedding in Southern Finland. Based on qualitative research methods, primary data was generated from unstructured interviews and by participants’ observation. The theoretical framework of this study provides background information on tourism product development for wedding events. The thesis continues with considerations of the managerial, financial and practical aspects. The final product itself contains the introductory information about Finland and also mention about the convincing reasons for a potential wedding couple to opt for Southern Finland as a wedding destination. The handbook will guide the reader stepwise on the different phases of wedding planning. It will cover the managerial aspects to give an idea on the research & design, legal issues and implementation of wedding event. Financial aspects provide sample of wedding event’s budget plan and give an estimation of costs involved. The last past of the handbook gives information on practical aspects and provides information on wedding venues, catering companies etc.