Deciding on location and type of accommodation!

[JenK]

Hi everyone! I joined today and I'm excited to be planning my wedding. I have lots of time to plan, our tentative date would be December 2011. I am trying to decide on a location, although I'm leaning towards Costa Rica (we have been). We want a location that has lots of activities. I'm also trying to decide on all inclusive versus boutique hotel. My fiance and I are more backpackers so boutique hotel is more our style, but I'm wondering if it would be easier to go to an all inclusive (although we would want a smaller resort). Any input would be appreciated, I'm excited to start my research!

[*Meagan*]

Hi jen! Welcome to the forum!

There is a lot of talk on here about going AI or non AI. We went for AI to better suit the needs of our guests and us. It is so much simpler to pay ahead of time, get to your destination and enjoy yourselves... over getting there and worrying about how much more money you are going to need. Just a thought/opinion. But if you search AI/NON AI you will find some very helpful threads.

 

Happy planning and congrats!

[vlynnw]

Congrats and welcome to the forum! FI and I are also more the backpacker explore the area type of people and although we have a few coming that are also like that, we chose the AI route because it was a better deal for our guests and no need to worry about counting money while you are there. Although if you are looking in Costa Rica there really aren't a lot of AI options, but I know they have some villas with private chefs that you may be interested in.

[tigger]

Congrats and welcome to the forum! Happy planning.

[mekanabr]

Congrats and welcome! Costa Rica was a location I looked into as well. We decided that we had to do an AI so that our guests didn't have to worry about paying any extra at the destination and they wouldn't have to figure out where to eat etc.. And the AI's in Costa Rica just didn't feel like CR to us...so we'll just go another time when we can really explore! I think you def have to consider your guests needs, esp since they will all be in a foriegn country, so asking them to figure out their own meals gets a little touchy. I've heard from many of our friends that they are much more inclined to pay the money to go to the DW as long as they know that once they get there they really wont have to pay for anything else. Good luck making a decision! I haven't picked a destination yet either, but I'm pretty sure its going to be Jamaica

[rkf1046]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenK Hi everyone! I joined today and I'm excited to be planning my wedding. I have lots of time to plan, our tentative date would be December 2011. I am trying to decide on a location, although I'm leaning towards Costa Rica (we have been). We want a location that has lots of activities. I'm also trying to decide on all inclusive versus boutique hotel. My fiance and I are more backpackers so boutique hotel is more our style, but I'm wondering if it would be easier to go to an all inclusive (although we would want a smaller resort). Any input would be appreciated, I'm excited to start my research!

Welcome! Although not planning our DW in Costa Rica (we are actually getting married at Azul Sensatori in Riviera Maya) we are honeymooning in Costa Rica. The Paradisus Playa Conchal Costa Rica is one of the tops resorts on our list. Not sure if this meets your needs, but it is a beautiful resort and our TA (before I told her we were interested in this one) said that it is by far the best AI in Costa Rica. Anyway, happy planning!

[Leez309]

Hi Jen! I am new here also. We have decided to have our wedding in Jamaica in April of '11, and we are leaning towards an AI to make it easier for the people that will be going with us. Good luck in your planning!

[JenK]

Thanks everyone for your fantastic input! It has given me a lot to think about. I do agree that AI's are the easiest and I also agree that Costa Rica is a place that doesn't completely fit the AI type. The Paridisus Playa Conchal is absolutely beautiful and would have been a choice of mine, but it is a bit pricey. vlynnw-if you know the names of the private villas with chefs, I would appreciate that. We are big into having lots of activities for our guest, so my other choice would be mayan riviera as well. My fiance feels that he wants to go to a location that is a little bit more unique, but for the price and number of activities, I really like Mayan. Does anyone know of any smaller feel AI resorts that are nice? I will have children attending the wedding. Any thoughts on Mayan Riviera area?

[mexbride83]

JenK,

 

Your search sounds exactly like mine! We too are backpackers, and had considered CR, and Belize and Panama as well. But the AI resorts there are just not the types of resorts we'd want to stay at in those countries, and we decided AI is the best option with so many guests coming (~70). So we switched our search to the Riviera Maya, because it has diving, Mayan ruins, cenotes and lots of other great activities.

 

I would definitely suggest that you look into the resort we chose - Ceiba del Mar. It's a small, boutique-type AI. It only has 88 rooms, children are allowed, and prices were about the same as the prices that I got from the other larger resorts in the area (Dreams Riviera Cancun and Tulum, Playacar Palace, Ocean Coral & Turquesa, etc). The reviews on TripAdvisor are stellar. Another one that we considered, but our wedding is too large for (it has a max of 50 people for weddings) is Azul Beach Resort.

 

Good luck on your search!

[JenK]

Wow mexbride83! You are right, our search is almost exactly the same! I was considering Belize too but thought the flight was too long (I live in Canada).

 

I looked at the resort you booked and it does look beautiful! Are you booking it in a flight and hotel deal? What rate did you get? Azul beach resort doesn't work for me either, depending on how many people come.

 

Thanks for your input!