New and need help.

[MaureenM618]

Hi. I'm new to the site and I'm just getting started with my DW planning. I have no idea where to start. This seems at little trickier than planning a traditional wedding. We registered with Destinationweddings.com. I'm not sure if they are a good company but it only cost me $50. Did any of you register with a Destination wedding company or are you doing all the planning yourselves? I have no idea where I want to get married yet but we are leaning towards Mexico. I was also thinking of the Dominican Republic but I've heard too many bad stories about people getting sick. We don't have a big budget. Do you think we could have our wedding for $5-6,000? We plan to have maximum or 10-12 guests. Also we need a place that is affordable to our guests, they don't have a lot of money for travel and accommodations. I'm thinking of going with an all inclusive resort because it will probably work out cheaper and then my guests can budget accordingly. I'm interested in the following resorts; Adventura Spa Palace, Dreams, El Dorado Royale, Occidental Grand Excaret, Grand Palladium, the Riu's...Can anyone give me any advice reguarding which is the best for a bride, groom and guests on a budget? Which has the best wedding packages? Also open to suggestion on other nice resorts. Also what are you doing about photographers? I hate that the packages only include 24 or 36 pictures! I want to have a lot of pictures. I don't need enlargements or albums, I can do those on my own. I want all my images on hi res CD? Can anyone give me idea of how much this will cost? Thanks. Sorry for the million and one questions. I'm just kinda lost right now.

[Christine]

oh maureen-quite a few girls registered there also, speak with Ann (akh) and Tammy (host) regarding them. Make sure you check out the reviews and info for all of those resorts in the Mexico area of the forum. We have brides who have actually been to all of those resorts and/or are currently planning their weddings there. We also have brides who are already married and can give you lots of advice. Take some time to look around the forum .I know its overwhelming, but speak with the Host-Tammy about costs, she is a travel agent and also got married at dreams and can help you narrow down your choices.

[*JillD*]

I looked into destinationweddings.com and ended up going with someone else because I didn't want to pay for something before I knew what I was getting, even if it was only $50. A couple other people on there tried them as well and didn't like them.

 

The first thing you probably want to do is find a resort and decide on a date. Tammy (host) on this site is a Travel Agent and specialized in destination weddings. She is very knowledgeable and will best be able to help you narrow your choices. There are a lot of girls on this forum as well that are using her and have told us how wonderful she is to work with.

 

Good Luck!

[LCBride2007]

Maureen - I just responded to your PM about dw.com - like I said, I can't say I had a horrible experience with them, I just didn't think they offered what they promised. In the end, I found my own wedding site (actually, my sister did!) and dropped dw.com. I've heard of people that are happy with them - it just didn't work out for me.

 

I am using Tammy (host) as my travel agent, and she's been more than helpful. Her company specializes in destination weddings and honeymoons, and she also recently got married at Dreams in Cabo - so she's been through this destination wedding planning herself!

 

About your budget - I don't know, you might be able to do it for that amount - I know some of the resorts have a "free" wedding package if you get so many rooms I think. I am not getting married at a resort, so I am sure someone else can help with that part better ...

[KayKay]

Hi Maureen! I'm new to all of this too. We are looking to get married in March 2008 somewhere in the RM. I'm leaning toward the Palladium since we stayed there about 9 months ago. I have found that most of the larger resorts have their wedding packages posted on the internet. good luck!

[Nrvsbride]

Hi Maureen! I will try to address your concerns as best as I can. First of all you can probably have your wedding for that budget but you have to be very mindful of how much things cost, and you will have to research a lot to compare prices. But I think you can do it if you work hard at it, although it may get stressful. I would say $10,000 is a more realistic budget but definitly try to work within your budget. Since you don't want to spend a lot, I would recommend not having your wedding at a place like Cabo which can be on the pricier side. And you may not want to do a resort such as Excellence since that tends to be pricey. I know Dreams has good packages and for 12 people you can probably get your whole ceremony set up, food and open bar for about $600. Then you could work from there to adding whatever else it is that you need. To cut costs I would eliminate hiring someone to play music during your cocktail hour and just have a DJ for the reception. DJ's are pretty reasonably priced. If you want to cut costs even further you may want to consider renting a sound system and playing music off your IPOD. But I think if you search other threads you will see that by the time you are done renting a system it will only be a little less than renting a DJ. Since Mexico is so beautiful and the scenery is wonderful you may also want to opt for cutting back on your flower budget. This may help a lot! This way you can spend more of your money on the photographer or a welcome dinner if you like. If you want Mexico then I would recommend Riviera maya or Puerto Vallarta. Hope this helps! And defenitly contact Tammy (the host) she will help you out tremendously.

 

-Glenda

[MaureenM618]

Thanks girls! Sorry I didn't get back to you right away, I'm a flight attendant and I had to work.

 

Uggghhh, so I guess destinationweddings.com might not have been my best choice. I don't think they are what I'm looking for either. They never asked me any questions about what I wanted for my wedding or anything. I'll give them a chance though. My agent is Joanie, she said she'd going to send me some brochures to look at. Someone recommended weddingsonthego.com to me. I think the company is called Trips down the aisle. Has anyone ever heard of them?

 

Thanks Akh for your quick reply! Glad to hear you found someone who worked out better for you. I wish I would have found this site sooner.

 

KayKay - I've seen a lot of brides that are getting married at the Palladium resorts on The Knot. I checked their website and it doesn't have much info on wedding and packages. Would you mind passing along any info you have? Thanks!

 

Glenda - We're considering cancun or Riviera Maya for our wedding in Mexico. Thanks for the info reguarding DJ's and stereo systems.

[Jackie]

I think the Occidentals, Iberostars, are on the cheaper side and then Dreams and RIU's and than the Palace resorts and the El Dorado are probably the more expensive on your list!

 

As long as you are willing to really put some time and effort into researching I think you could probably have your wedding for 6000.00, maybe a dinner reception for your guests at one of the resorts restaurants instead of planning a private reception with DJ etc for you and your guests would save you a lot of money.

[KayKay]

Maureen, I've attached to 2007 wedding packages for the Palladium. It should give you an idea. You may also want to Google "Palladium Addicts" as there is a lot of good information about the Palladium on this group site. They even have a wedding page with more info...this is where this attachment came from.

Good luck!

 

 

WEDDING%20PACKAGES%20FOR%202007-1.doc

[MaureenM618]

Thanks RyJax! So far I really like Dreams Cancun, Adventura Spa Palace or Riu Palace Las Americanas or Riviera Maya. I'm happy I have plenty of time to research things! It's so hard to compare them all.

 

Are some type of wedding dinner included in most wedding packages? or only if it specifically says wedding dinner? What does it mean when it says reservations at one of our a la carte restaurants, is it just a regular dinner or do they do anything special?

 

Thanks a lot KayKay!! That was really helpful! I was trying to find wedding info on them for a while.

 

Are all weddings in Mexico done in Spanish and translated to English? Can you have it in English only? cI really don't want my ceremony to be translated. Also do they normally rush you through the ceremony or can you do a sand ceremony, hand ceremony or your own vows? I don't want a five minute ceremony.