Any thoughts on visiting sites?

Hi, I'm planning on getting married in April 2009 in Playa del Carmen.

I'm considering going for a 3 or 4 day visit in April to visit a few sites and meet with coordinators before making my decision. But, I'm starting to find that it might be somewhat costly. I'm wondering if it's even necessary. Any thoughts?

If it can fit into your budget, I would definitely recommend a site visit. It really helped me a lot when I went. I knew exactly where I wanted to be married once I was there. However, I don't think it is necessary. There are plenty of brides who did not go on site visits and everything turned out perfect. This forum is also such a great wealth of information that sometimes you feel like you have been to some of these places because of the great reviews and photos. Good luck to you.

I don't have the time or the extra money to do a site visit. But I did do a lot of research. especially on forums like this one and trip advisor. I also asked people on these sites a lot of questions. Than when i had a small list of places i sat down with my ta and asked her opinion. that's basically how i picked my resort.

We didn't do a site visit - nor did I think one was necessary. The first time I saw my hotel (Dreams PV) was when we arrived there for the week of the wedding, and the first time we saw our wedding site was as we were walking down the aisle. Honestly, it's not at all necessary if you have a WC or someone to contact for everything you need. There are some that are more "control freaks" (I only mean that in a positive way!) that need to do site visits, some more than once!, but honestly, it wasn't something we had time to do, and we didn't need to!

We narrowed down to EDR and did a sight visit just to be sure it was the right place for us. Looking back I wish we had not spent the money on the site visit b/c it turned out great and you did miss a little bit of the excitement of seeing everything for the first time (and being blown away). DH says he's glad we did it b/c he thinks it calmed me down. THough I'm not sure about that.

I can also say that I've never seen anyone who completely changed their mind after a sight visit. SOme go down and look at five resorts. If you have a hard time making a decision that might be best for you, but if you sit down and lay out exactly what you are looking for in a resort b/w the forum and a TA you should be fine without a site visit. Good luck!

I thought I knew where I wanted to be married UNTIL I went for my site visit. After seeing 4 resorts....my 3rd pick quickly became my 1st and I felt so comfortable with my decision. If you can't afford to go, no worries BUT if you can it is worth every penny. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. That feeling of anxiety over whether or not my guests are going to be happy with what I've chosen is gone. Plus, I was able to try the food and that was very important to me. Many resorts have average food, I wanted something a little better and found it where I least expected it.

I really want to do a site visit, I think that it will give me peace if mind! I am hoping to do a site viist in oct 2008 to evenutally book a weeding date of oct 2009......I say if you can afford it, it would be worth the money!

We might do one, but are not sure. I am so confident of my choice and after reading all the reviews, if we don't make it I won't be sad.

Interesting mix of replies.

I actually did two site visits; one was piggy-backing onto a cousin's DW, I just visited a few sites including the PDC area. At that time I was already considering Dreams LC.

My second site visit was at Dreams LC, I had already reserved my date and gotten a room block, and got a few nights free as a result of the group block.

Honestly, the only thing the site visit helped me was the food, we got the opportunity to do a tasting and we had surprising results in our decisions. But quite honestly, in the long run, it probably wouldn't have made a big difference. All the food was good, and we would have been happy with what our original choices were. If you're strapped for cash, I'd say skip out on the site visit. It was a nice vacation, and it was nice to bring back pictures to show the guests - it really got some of them pumped up for the trip, but I don't think it's necessary.

I visited 4 resorts total, and it didn't end up changing my mind. I knew no matter what I chose, I would be happy with it, my guests would be happy and we'd have an amazing time. That's all that matters.