What have I learned from planning a destination wedding?

[ACDCDCAC]

i agree with so many of the things everyone said but a couple things i have to say are what i have learned:

1-make sure your photog will give you a CD of ALL your images asap, and included in the cost, none of this "on your 1st aniiversary you have the option to purchase it".

2-decide as early as you can what is really the most important thing to you and save the damn $ NOW for it instead of waiting until a week before your wedding to try and book a cheap photog (learned this the hard way )

3-ive learned that its not creepy to make best, life-long friends on the internet and that they will be there for you thru thick and thin, and will know exactly what you mean whenever you have something to share

4-there is an amazing, fantastic, magical reason you and DH decided to get married in the first place, and you remember it the moment you see him when you walk down the aisle. all the tough stuff and spats and agruing over the last year are worth it, just to make you appreciate him even more at that moment

[NotYourAverageDW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by diezelgrrl you girls have said most everything but one I will add: paying someone to help you plan causes less heartache than having a good friend/relative do it for free!

I love everyone's advice, but this one really resonates with me. Hopefully I can find a good planner/TA/designer all rolled into one!

[MoonPalacePookie]

This is kinda feeding off the other girls' responses, but here are mine:

 

1. You will learn who your true friends are, and they are not the ones you thought were your true friends.

2. People will not consider it a wedding, but rather a vacation/family reunion/way to meet women/excuse for a drunken party.

3. You cannot control everything, something will go wrong, just learn to roll with it.

4. It sucks meeting with your wedding coordinator at the resort while everyone else is in the pool having a great time.

5. No one cares about the food, decorations, lights, flowers, etc (all the stuff you spend months planning), they care about a DJ and booze

6. Don't try to spend time with everyone who came at the expense of some alone time with your FH.

[hollisandsteph]

I learned that having a destination wedding was the best choice i could have ever made. It was about me and my husband and noone else (we only had one other couple go with us and it was perfect that way) Our ATR was for everyone else and I know if I would had a wedding at home the whole thing would have been about our guest and not us connecting on such a special intimate level. More intimate than anything we have every experienced as a couple! We have always had a great relationship and it was just great to concentrate on each other without outside interuption for 9 full days!

There is very little I would change!

[Sharonie]

Don't worry too much/get hung up on all the details, people won't notice them anyway. They're going to have a great vacation regardless. You should just try to relax and enjoy your big day as much as possible...

[JoLo908]

This thread is amazing... I'm glad we all feel the same about some of these things, and I need to learn to not let some things stress me out...

[LadyCheese]

I love this thread!

 

What I have learned planning a DW has already been mentioned plenty of times here but its 1. learning who your real friends are and 2. that sometimes water IS thicker than blood!

[syl1115]

I have learned that DIY projects will be the death of me. I make something then the more I look at it, the more I don't like it so I start from scratch 2 months later. I feel like I have accomplished nothing. I started out with 1 dress and ended up with 3. I have "created" my bouquets and bouts 4 times now. I just finished revising my fans. I just want to stop the OBSESSION with DIY. I keep looking at everyone else's wonderful things then get another new idea.

 

I really didn't worry about people coming to the wedding. We are a little older than most of you on this forum, so trying to please family is so secondary. We decided it didn't matter as long as we were there together. This is just for us and if others want to join in the fun, so be it. We are not registered any where and do not expect any gifts. Although, I have spent a ton of money on my Oot bags, dinner reception, hotel rooms, cruise, and "bridesmaid" dresses. I just hope I can make it another 30 days.

[Duchess]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shellb The people you love the most, will be among those who hurt your feelings the most as you plan the "Big Day". It's those you least expect that will surprise you with their thoughtfulness and helpfulness.

Yes, and that people who said they would come when you first asked around about having a DW suddenly are like "yeah, sorry...can't". I asked around for a reason!

[sanddune]

great tips