Too many choices... HELP!

Erica_Bellerive · 09-14-2008, 02:56 PM

Ok my FI and I wanted a destination wedding because it’s cheap and something different. I am overwhelmed by the choices we have to make. We want an all-inclusive resort 4 or 5 star resort. We would like to stay under $10 thousand dollars. And we are probably going to have 30 to 40 guests. We live in Canada so or flight and hotel package will be around $3500 for the two of us. Any suggestions or ideas? HELP!!!

Erica

jcarson · 09-14-2008, 03:42 PM

Hello. You've come to the right place for ideas/suggestions. Doing a wedding for under $10k is doable.

I suggest contacting a travel agent that specializes in destination weddings. We were able to get a deal where every 16th person was free. So, if you have enough guests, you can take the free travel.

Also, depending on the location and time of year you chose, the prices can fluctuate quite a bit. For us, we could have spent less if we chose a different destination, but we decided to go to the Riviera and spend the $ on the trip we wanted. From Victoria, BC, I've been to Dream PV for a week for $1200 pp.

Many hotels also ofter free wedding packages that include almost everything you need, so once you get down there, there isn't too much else to spend money on.

We're going to the Riviera during a high season for 2 weeks and staying at a 4.5 and a 5 star resort and coming from BC. As we need to connect through a major airport, it's costing us a little more. However, we are able to do 2 weeks (without a free wedding package) for just over $10k. We've splurged in a couple of areas that we didn't need to but wanted to.

Good luck with your decision making.

Jennifer

Tlseege · 09-14-2008, 03:50 PM

Naturally I'm gong to recommend my resort! :) I had my wedding at the Gran Bahia Principe Akumal in the Riviera Maya. In totaly our wedding costs were much higher than 10, however we flew down 10 people in addition to ourselves, so that was half of our budget! I would say that a wedding at the Gran Bahia is easily doable with 10k. Check out this thread for some ideas and pictures if you are interested... Gran Bahia Principe Akumal/Tulum/Coba - POST HERE!

lucy106 · 09-14-2008, 04:00 PM

I agree getting in touch with a travel agent is your first step. You may want to think about also if you want more kid friendly, all inclusive or not, or maybe try to narrow down location like Mexico or Carribean. But I am sure our BDW TAs will be of a ton more help! Good luck!

MissyR · 09-14-2008, 04:38 PM

Welcome! It is totally overwhelming and frustrating... guaranteed the hardest part for most of us was actually choosing the resort. As a fellow Canadian with family in Ontario and Alberta - the most cost effective for our guests was riviera maya. We actually figured out what time of year we wanted to get married first and then started comparing Punta Cana, Los Cabos, Mayan etc.

adias.angel · 09-15-2008, 08:02 AM

I felt very overwhelmed until we got out TA. He has been just amazing in helping use weed out resorts.

catandcleo · 09-17-2008, 09:43 AM

i have to go against the grain here and say that the rates and package offered by the travel agent we were going to use (through FI's company) were way higher than booking the whole package directly through the airline. (And as a Canadian, you know that Air Canada is almost never the best option!)

That being said, $10 grand should be feasible, it just depends on how many people you are paying for, and what extras you will be adding.

adias.angel · 09-17-2008, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catandcleo

i have to go against the grain here and say that the rates and package offered by the travel agent we were going to use (through FI's company) were way higher than booking the whole package directly through the airline. (And as a Canadian, you know that Air Canada is almost never the best option!)

That being said, $10 grand should be feasible, it just depends on how many people you are paying for, and what extras you will be adding.

WOW! Sounds like your TA wasn't very good. We have been doing price comparisons and our TA is getting us much better rates than anywhere we could book

catandcleo · 09-17-2008, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adias.angel

WOW! Sounds like your TA wasn't very good. We have been doing price comparisons and our TA is getting us much better rates than anywhere we could book

yeah, she was totally useless... i'm sure 99% of all other TA's are good at their jobs (especially since they work on commission), but not her. She just couldn't be bothered.
But it never hurts to check and see. If i hadn't, we would have spent about $1000 more and gotten bad service on top of it!

jkcz0702 · 09-17-2008, 10:12 AM

I will also suggest our resort which is also the Gran Bahia Akumal they include dinner with your package if you have it in a resturant or you can have a private reception which is around $46 pp.