new and nervous

[stacey]

Welcome to the forum!!

[sdnative222]

Welcome to the forum. I spent quite a bit researching Hawaii to Mexico. My Fiancee is an avid surfer and his only concern was the surf.

Happily, I was able to coordinate some quality time on the agenda in between his surf sessions. Hawaii will always be a bit more costly due to the location. It's much more difficult to air ship freight than by land....hence the cost savings. Although Mexico has some VERY luxurious resorts. Buffy, oops, I mean Sarah Michelle Gellar got married there.

Good luck and Congratulations!!!

[royfa]

Welcome to the forum!

[kate.com]

Welcome! you are in the right place!

[sally]

I would suggest doing some research into your resort and costs involved....... I have heard that either Mexico or Carribean give better value for money but if your resort works for you go for it!!!

 

Good luck

[filby42]

Welcome!!!

 

I would say that it is probably cheaper to get a wedding coordinator (WC if you saw someone's post earlier) and pick your own places simply because you have more options with a wedding coordinator. A hotel usually has a set caterer, etc., while a wedding planner usually has an option for all different budgets.

 

My wedding planner is awesome and she knows so many people in the area. She is friends with the owner of the restaurant that we have chosen for the reception/dinner, which also has a front lawn right above the beach. So instead of having the wedding on the beach, we have decided to have the wedding ceremony on the front lawn of the waterfront restaurant (Five Palms in Kihei). We don't even have to pay a fee for use of the space for the ceremony!

 

Either way, I think you will be so happy you chose to get married in Maui! Its such a wonderfully beautiful and relaxing place.

 

Good luck planning and let me know if you want the name of my wedding planner!!!

[aramintha]

I am actually getting married at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua in NINE DAYS. We actually picked one of the cheaper packages and I was able to get a honeymoon package with the Kapalua Villas which is in the same resort area. The ritz was kinda pricey to stay at. The honeymoon is more important to us. I can put you in touch with my WC at the Ritz so let me know if you want her to send you info.

[SoontobeMsKniss]

Welcome to the forum!

[cougs]

i would think that many if not most of us on here started out with plans for "the big wedding" and scrapped it. at least i know i did, since we are paying for ours completely by ourselves and we were looking at a guest list around 200.

 

now that i'm opting for a much more intimate wedding in mexico (20-40 guests), i'm seriously wondering why it was so hard to cut people from our "home wedding" list. honestly at home, it was more about pleasing other people and satisfying obligations, while the destination wedding is about US (the way it should be)!

 

welcome aboard and good luck!

 

p.s. your travel & accommodations would be cheaper for both you and your guests if you go with mexico. airfare alone can be pretty steep to hawaii, and there really aren't many (if any?) all-inclusive options for your guests. so it will look cheaper on paper but then they'll need to add all their meals and beverages, and other entertainment needs. that said, hawaii's weather is perfect year-round, you don't need to work around hurricane season, it's gorgeous, english-speaking and American ... so no passports or weird requirements like several days in the country or blood tests (that i know of).

[sdnative222]

Sooooo, I'm getting married in Hawaii.....and airfare just dropped....exponentially (did I spell that right?!) Anyhoo, I had a dwiddling guestlist of 17 for the past month. I was happy with the turn-out, honestly. However, this week the price of oil has dropped so much that the cost of a RT between San Diego and Maui went from $750 to $415. In the past week, my sister's whole family has been added to the guest list as well as a few more of my close friends that couldn't afford the trip otherwise. I'm so giddy.

 

Anyhoo, I thought I'd share. I hope this input helps.