Someone to pick destination - Destination wedding advisor?

After a ridiculous amount of research I'm having trouble picking a place to get married, and my mom and sister say there MUST be someone who can do this for you - someone who knows what you want and finds it for you and helps organize with rooms and rates, etc. In my research it seems that these people are mostly tied to particular destinations, so I'm asking are there people that aren't limited to destination (I'm looking at Mexico, Caribbean, & Southern California...) I've picked a few places in various destinations, but I'm not so sure that is the best way to do it and I'm slowly going crazy!

I know there are travel agents that specialize in destination weddings and I'm sure that someone here can give you a name. Sorry I can't help, but everyone here has been a wealth of information!

Why don't you post a list of things you are looking for your destination to have and we can all try to help. A lot of us are well traveled so we should have some good insight for you.

Yeah, I would go to a travel agent - they would at least be knowledgable (and hopefully neutral) about all the various locations and could give you insight about comparing transportation costs, accommodations, etc.

I'm not a TA, but I'd be worried about the neutral part. I know that TA's get different commisions from different locations. When we were booking our honeymoon, our TA kept suggesting Couples. Turns out she would've gotten more money from them than some of the other places we were looking at. That being said, I'm sure some TA's are honestly looking to make you happy and give the best advice.

I second the "tell US what you want" part

Does anyone have any destination TA recs then? I live the Los Angeles area (Venice).

 

If you all can help meanwhile, that would be great. I am planning on inviting 200 guests and expect btwn 75 and 125 to come (not sure!!)

Ceremony: I want to get married ON the beach. I want to be the only wedding that day.

Reception: I want a sit-down dinner where we can dance too (want to hire a good band).

Hotel:

A. I wanted something small and cute - like 100 rooms, but these type places don't seem to be able to throw weddings that size, and even though they are big enough to accommodate that many guests, they seem less than willing (or I find ridiculously pricey or Adult only places that limits who can come). So maybe I'll have to give up my vision and go for something bigger...

B. Because of the large wedding guest list, I figured AI would make life easier for hanging out with folks while away - this tends to limit where the hotel is located and the type of hotel a little bit - I want a more boutiquey feel, but not sure if this is possible. Non-AI is possible but maybe more difficult?

C. Pricing for guests - I'm hoping that they won't have to spend more than approximately $170 pp per night AI, or $100 pp non-AI, if that sounds reasonable? I don't know! Maybe a little more if I find the perfect place?

D. Not a mega-resort and not on a resort-strip where all you see is resorts.

E. Allows kids.

F. Has GOOD FOOD.

Location:

A. The water must be swimmable (Cabo is kinda out b/c of this, and PV is supposedly just like my area, so not positive I want that?)

B. My fiance and I love to surf (not experts tho), and it would be great to have that as a partial theme (w/o being too hokey) and an option during the wedding, but the prettiest wedding ceremonies I see in research in Mayan Riviera, so maybe not...I wish you could have super clear water with surfing near by but I'm not sure that is possible outside of Hawaii, which is too far from NY family...

C. Somewhere which is reasonable flight wise for guests from Los Angeles and NY and Michigan.

 

You see why I'm going crazy?

MEXICO

--Zihuatanejo - I thought Tides Zihuatanejo was pretty, but it is too pricey, esp for the suites, I believe.

--Puerto Vallarta - Villa Amor in Sayulita seemed like a neat option b/c of surfing and hillside but I fear the steps are not baby friendly and the accommodations may be too rustic for some folks. I'm going to call Four Seasons Punta Mita, but not expecting great prices...

--I'm looking into Paradisus Riviera Cancun in Puertos Morales because Azul Beach didn't work out. Seems like a good option...

CARIBBEAN

--Haven't looked at all in the Caribbean and maybe I should. I've been to DR and Guadeloupe as a kid, as well as St. Lucia, St. John, T&C, and St. Martin as an adult, but they all seem kinda far to travel to from Los Angeles (no direct flights, as far as I know?). If anyone has any questions for me though . Funny thing is, I have never been to Mayan Riviera or Zihuatanejo, and only have a vague memory of PV from 1 day there in high school, so maybe I'm pressing my luck! I do love Hawaii - too bad it isn't easy to get to for NYers...

I second the travel agent comment. They do get commision from different places. My TA kept trying to get us to have our wedding at the Finesterra...ah, no. Not that it's bad, we just stay there for all of our company trips.

I've heard a lot of the TA companies that say they will pick it out for you just forward you all the info you can find yourself. I found this forum more useful than anyone I could've hired to do it for me.

 

I'm heading home from work, but I'll look at your list & see if I can think of anything that fits.

Unfortunately you won't have crystal clear water on the west side of Mexico but Cabo (more towards San Jose del Cabo) has surfing beaches. Have you looked into the Bahamas or DR at all?

You should look into just calling a few Wedding Coordinators in the areas you like. They will give you tons of info and help you find a good location based on your requirements and they'll do it for free until you hire them for your wedding. (well if you want to do a site visit it usually costs a couple hundred dollars).

Maybe Costa Rica or Jamaica? I've heard Costa Rica has great surfing. Sunset at the Palms in Negril, JA might be able to accomodate that size party, and while its AI, its a smaller AI. Negril actually has quite a few boutiquey places. I will keep thinking about this.