Paying for guests?

[SASSYGIRL]

Yeah - I am the crazy one who is paying for my guests hotel stay at the Hilton for 3 nights. It is our largest expence but it was important to my FI that guest see that we wanted them to come and not have it cost them a life savings to join us in Cabo. That being said I am trying to cut costs where I can - this is easier said than done since I like nice things and you girls have great ideas. I am commited to buy a dress for no more that $650 - I have seen some nice ones for that price. I figure that the money I save on the dress will help to cover the cost of the rooms....

 

What is funny about paying for the rooms is that it proves that no one is ever happy. I had one peson tell me "did you realize that getting your passport is $90" (I felt like telling her she should live a little and travel - then she would HAVE her passport) and another who is coming from a small town in South Dakota who complained that the airfair was costing too much (I agree it was a lot but it is because she doesn't live by a major airport - it costs a lot for her to go anywhere!) In the end I am sure it will be a great party but you can't win when it comes to guests and expences!

[*JillD*]

Sarah, I can't believe that people that are getting a free room are complaining, some people are never happy!

[anaderoux]

OMG Sarah!! I can't beleive it either!! how many people are you paying for??

That's so nice of you!!

[gkashmira]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilly76 Sarah, I can't believe that people that are getting a free room are complaining, some people are never happy!

People are just crazy. That's all I can say. Crazy a$$-b*tches!

[gkashmira]

Mrs.W - Are you staying at an AI that includes all the food/drink for your reception or were you planning on not having a reception (I am confused I admit!)?

[Nrvsbride]

I have to admit that I am still confused by your situation. How many guests are you having? (Sorry if you already stated how many). Where is it that you are staying again? I know you mentioned an all-inclusive but a lot of girls on this board are doing all-inclusives and it is still not going to be $5,000. Does your resort not charge a set-up fee? Have you spoken to the resort coordinator about this? And are you using the package for your photography? Maybe that's why it's so inexpensive? I think most of us are just a little confused as to how your able to wing this for so little. I mean by all means if you can that's awesome, I would just hate for you to be forgetting something, or to be misinformed about something.

 

-Glenda

[AmyInMI]

We are not sure if we are helping any of our guests yet, but if we do not, I am planning that we will have $7500 into our wedding.

 

We are staying at an AI for 7 days, which will cost us $3000 for an ocean view room, $800 for airfare, and we are paying $600 to upgrade the complementary wedding package to include a dinner and hour of hors d’ oeuvres, the bride's hair & makeup, flowers, centerpiece, and others, including a room for groom the night before the wedding.

[ellepv2007]

I will be having a destination wedding in Puerto Vallarta. The guest list is close to 200 now, and we expect about 100-120 guests.

 

We are not paying for any of the guests' expenses, but we are providing a bit more than an at-home wedding. We will have the rehearsal dinner on Thursday night, and invite a majority of guests. That's in my fiance's mother's hands, but I am sure she'll invite a lot of the guests.

 

Then on Friday we are hosting a welcome reception (cocktails, open bar, appetizers) at our resort, for all guests. Then on Saturday we will get married and have a reception with cocktail hour and appetizers, seated dinner, dancing, open bar, etc.

 

My fiance and I chose a location for our destination wedding that was close enough for the majority of our guests, as well as affordable. Most of the guests live in California, which is a 1.5-2.5 hour flight to PV, depending on where you start. And if you book in advance, the flights can definitely be cheaper than a flight to the east coast. Our wedding hotel is Dreams Resort, and we negotiated a great rate through a wholesaler. We are actually getting married at a private villa in the hills, and we are providing transportation (private vans, etc.) from the resort to the wedding location (about 4 minute away by car).

 

One of my main priorities was to find a wedding hotel that was a good value and affordable for guests, and having visited Dreams, and loving it, and seeing the high quality of food and drinks and location and rooms....its a great deal for guests and I am very happy with the rates.

 

Our wedding budget? Well.....I was hoping to do the wedding for under $20,000 but its looking more like $25,000-$32,000. Yes, that's a LOT. And we are paying for everything ourselves (no parental or family help). So we don't have the money in a savings account or anything, but we're trying to be very budget concious and pinch pennies and stick to a budget -- even though we don't technically have a budget, since there aren't any saved funds to budget!

 

Anyway....we are choosing some elements that really matter to us, but we're by no means choosing the most expensive and extravegant options possible. We have a lot of guests, and that adds up quickly for the reception, welcome cocktail party, wedding ceremony, food, open bar, etc...

 

But then again, if we tried to have everything we can have in Mexico in the U.S., we'd pay at least $50,000. So its still a good deal. Although I truly don't believe there are weddings that happen nowadays for $5,000 or so! I wish there were!

 

PS: I will help defray my bridesmaids' costs, as possible. We haven't chosen a dress yet, but I'd like to pay $100 towards each dress or something like that. And of course I'll pay for hair and makeup for the wedding, if we all decide we want that, and other extras and gifts.

[TOESNTHESND]

My FI and I are not paying for any guests. We are paying for our travel arrangements and 2 weeks in cabo. My father is paying for 6 other people besides him!!! He is crazy, but he wants too. I am paying for the OOT bags though and they are not exactly cheap!

[MrsWtobe]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all of your input...I realized after posting and reading everyone's responses (and budgets) that I guess I am just doing a bit less than everyone. I'm probably only going to have about 10-15 people there...am going for a very small photography package...and am most likely not going to have a reception. We will have a dinner in one of the restaurants (and I realize it will not be a private dinner, and that's ok with us) at the Riu Palace Macao. There is no set up fee (that I am aware of---I have asked my coordinator and she said that there was none). Thanks so much for everyone's help!