Help!!! My guests are Australians and thensome...

Hello I'm new to this site and I need all the help that I can get. I was planning on have my wedding this year at Riu Palace Riviera Maya in Mexico. But decided against that because my fiance and his family are Australian. And my family is from the NY/NJ area. So I need to find a resort that's better situated for both sides. So I decided to look into having the wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico instead.

I'm looking into having the wedding in either the Dreams resort or the Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas. I'm leaning towards the Riu resort because of the location. Being close to downtown Cabo will give my guests more options to explore nightlife, dining, and other adventures. I prefer all-inclusive because everything is included and its less hassle financial wise for my guests.

So far some of the issues I have are:

1) there seems to be no direct flights to Cabo from the NY area. Just a few from Newark Airport

2) The cost of the vacation package for the Aussies will be really pricey. Not sure how to make it less costly for them

3) Having trouble finding a travel agent for this region

My concern is that I don't want cost and travel time to be a turn off to my guests. 

So what should I do? Are there other regions I should look into? I thought about Hawaii, not sure if I want to have the wedding there either. Its far and more expensive.

Help, please....

First of all, congratulations! I know that you're having some issues with the location but I'm guessing since your families live in such different locations, it is going to be difficult to find a location that has similar travel times, except like you said, maybe Hawaii. So let me see if I can give you any ideas. I just got married in November in San Jose del Cabo, so I love it there. But I also went to a close friend's wedding in Hawaii a year ago, so I have some perspective on that too. I think you will have to talk to your guests and see what they're willing to do. What are their responses to either location? It's probably difficult to talk to everyone you are inviting, but maybe talking to some of your family members and some of your fiance's family members might help you get some perspective. And regardless of where you have your DW, it is important to note that inevitably someone somewhere somehow may end up telling you that something about the location/cost/whatever regarding your wedding is prohibiting their attendance. So the most important thing, despite your consideration of everyone else, is to figure out where you and your fiance really think is best to have your wedding. And it would also probably help to determine who you absolutely want to be there and what their thoughts are on traveling to your wedding, wherever it may be. Having said that, you can't go wrong with either Hawaii or Cabo. Both are absolutely beautiful locations. And I'm sure there are a slew of other places that are just as beautiful. Personally though, I think Hawaii, although beautiful, is just much more expensive for everyone - guests and you. 

I live in NY and we flew to Cabo from Newark. Granted we would have preferred JFK, we have been told that it is just much better to fly to Cabo from Newark if at all possible and since my husband's family lives in NJ, we figured it wasn't that much of a hassle as opposed to leaving from JFK; we just stayed over at my in-laws for a night and went to the airport from there the next day. And everything was just fine; the nonstop was worth the schlep over to Newark. So if you want a nonstop to Cabo, this is just something you'll have to do; otherwise, just know that you won't be flying a nonstop from any other airports in the area. 

I can't remember the name but the moderators on this site should be able to help you out as far as finding a travel agent for the Cabo area. There are also a lot of Riu Palace brides on this forum so maybe you can do a search for Riu Palace threads and reviews, and then ask the brides if they recommend their travel agent if it doesn't say so on their wedding reviews.

If I can be of any further help, please don't hesitate to PM me! Good luck and happy planning!

Originally Posted by BPG027 

Hello I'm new to this site and I need all the help that I can get. I was planning on have my wedding this year at Riu Palace Riviera Maya in Mexico. But decided against that because my fiance and his family are Australian. And my family is from the NY/NJ area. So I need to find a resort that's better situated for both sides. So I decided to look into having the wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico instead.

 

I'm looking into having the wedding in either the Dreams resort or the Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas. I'm leaning towards the Riu resort because of the location. Being close to downtown Cabo will give my guests more options to explore nightlife, dining, and other adventures. I prefer all-inclusive because everything is included and its less hassle financial wise for my guests.

 

So far some of the issues I have are:

1) there seems to be no direct flights to Cabo from the NY area. Just a few from Newark Airport

2) The cost of the vacation package for the Aussies will be really pricey. Not sure how to make it less costly for them

3) Having trouble finding a travel agent for this region

 

My concern is that I don't want cost and travel time to be a turn off to my guests. 

 

So what should I do? Are there other regions I should look into? I thought about Hawaii, not sure if I want to have the wedding there either. Its far and more expensive.

 

Help, please....

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I really truly appreciate all the info that you have given me. You actually made me feel alot better :-)  Cabo is where we want the wedding to take place, and that's what we are going to do. So far all of the important people that we want to attend are all on board so that's a relief.

I saw pics of your wedding on this forum and they look beautiful. Who did you use as your photographer? Which resort/hotel was your wedding held?  

Again thanks again for helping me out :-)

Congrats and welcome to the forum!  Unfortunately, I have no advice for the two different travel "from" locations b/c all of my guests were local.  My first thought would b to contact a TA (who specializes in DW's) b/c  they'll know all the resorts and will probably be able to suggest different locations based on your guests needs.  You might want to try one of the BDW Travel Agents.  They Specialize in Destination weddings.  You can contact them HERE!

My next thought would be that it's better that you realize early in the game that you will not please everyone.  So I wouldn't start asking for too much outside input from our family/guests unless you really won't mind catering to their thoughts.  Just remember that it's YOUR (and FI) wedding and while we do want out guests to be happy, we still need to be getting what we want and not losing whatever our "dream" may be.

The few resorts that you mentioned are great and talked about a lot on here, so I'm sure you've read through some threads, but I still think that talking to someone knowledgable about the travel will help you get a feel for where you want to go.

Good luck!

Thanks Carly for the advice, really appreciate it. I will follow-up with the links you provided for the travel agents. 

I will definitely need one to organize this event rather smoothly. Thanks again :-)

Welcome to BDW!  Definitely contact our travel agents who can help answer a lot of your questions.  Also check out our Cabo forum here

Cabo Wedding Forum | Cabo Wedding Resort Reviews

Happy planning!

Originally Posted by BPG027 

 

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I really truly appreciate all the info that you have given me. You actually made me feel alot better :-)  Cabo is where we want the wedding to take place, and that's what we are going to do. So far all of the important people that we want to attend are all on board so that's a relief.

 

I saw pics of your wedding on this forum and they look beautiful. Who did you use as your photographer? Which resort/hotel was your wedding held?  

 

Again thanks again for helping me out :-)

 

 

No problem! I know how overwhelming things can get! And that's great that all the people you really want there are on board with you!! It makes things soooooo much better!

Thanks! We loved our photographer! You can contact him on this forum - Gonzalo from Artncolors; if you do a search for artncolors, you will find his posts and his profile. He was great to work with and a really nice guy, so I definitely recommend him!! Our wedding was on the beach in front of the Coral Baja, which is closer to San Jose del Cabo. It's not an all-inclusive resort. There's a restaurant there called Mama Mia and we catered all our food from there and they helped us set up for the ceremony and the reception, along with the florist we worked with - Claudia from Floreria Rayen. She can also be found through this forum but I can give you their websites and other contact information if you'd like. Ms. Claudia was wonderful to work with as well so I recommend her too if your resort allows outside vendors!! 

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with! I have been under the weather but I do try to check this forum every day, or at least every few days. So I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. 

I found a travel agent/agency to work with me on the wedding planning. I feel great that I have someone else to assist me on this.

I will look into your vendors that you mentioned, especially the photographer. I want to have amazing pictures during that time.

Thanks again for helping me out. Hope you feel better.

Congratulations and welcome to the forums! I hate to say this... but wouldn't your issues be solved by moving to the Mayan Riviera? It really isn't that much further than Cabo and offers so much more for a wedding and your guests?

Best of luck.

Linkn

The best advice I can give you is do what you and your Fiance want to do, not what everyone else wants you to do.  Its your wedding day!