How far out to plan a destination wedding

[Shannond4156]

Me and my FI want to go ahead and schedule our destination wedding for this spring. It is a 7 month planning time from now until the date we have secured. If we get our save the dates out ASAP do you think this is giving our guests enough time to plan for our big day? Any feedback is appreciated.

[CayoLargo]

Well it depends what the costs are going to be...I gave my guests a little over a year to save for the DW as it can be costly or hard for people to save in a short time. Remember that even if the wedding is in 7 months usually the full payments have to be in at least a month of more in some cases before the actual wedding so that leaves 5 months for guests to save up.

 

It also depends on how much planning you will do and how much time you have. It can be done it just depends on what you want and what is available at the resort or place you choose.

 

Good Luck!

[lmg970]

I thought so, when we booked ours it was about 8 months away from the date. Of course my sister stated that wasn't enough notice, but if she didn't do the planning then it wasn't going to be good enough anyways.

[TATrisha]

I had 7 1/2 months from the time we got engaged until the time of our wedding. We didn't pick a resort until about a month into it... so our save the dates went out with 6 1/2 months until the wedding.

We had 35 people there, so I feel it was plenty of time to plan a wedding and have people save to come! BUT, our wedding was at an all-inclusive in Riviera Maya which was cheaper for our guests (mostly due to airfare being cheaper to Cancun than anywhere else!)

[Shannond4156]

That is what we are thinking also. We have pretty much decided on the Barcelo Maya. I like that our guests can choose between the resorts. I am also starting to let people know what we are thinking so hopefully by the time our STD's go out it will be pleanty of time. Thanks for the feedback.

[TATrisha]

Sounds perfect to me! Not to mention, it won't be the dead summer if you plan it a little bit quicker, so it won't be so hot during your ceremony!

[Queenie77]

We started letting people know verbally right away that we were planning a DW. That way, we started getting an idea of who wasn't horrified by the concept and might actually come... and evrybody got an immediate heads up that they should start setting aside money. We were engaged at the end of July and we are getting married in May (10 months apart.) BUT it took me a month to research resorts, locations, airfare, etc. So that brought us down to 9 months. With contracts, confirmations and the slower pace set by resorts, I still don't have my STDs out... and we are now at about 8 months out. However, most people who planned on going in the first place already know the location, and our engagement announcement in the paper indicated it would be a DW. They are waiting for the booking details, but many of them still won't book a room just yet. So, we have found that those who have the intention of going are already saving money to do so, and seem to have no issue with the fact that they will have to put down a deposit by the end of January, and pay for their room in full by the end of March. We have also noticed that those who make the most money complain about things more than those who will have to pinch pennies to get there! Lol. You can't please everyone. Just do the best you can to work with a timeframe that works for the two of you and your "must-have" guests. After we worked around other weddings, school graduations, high school proms, hurricane season, spring break, holidays and weekends not already booked by the resort... we only had a couple of choices anyways. Anyone who pouted about it got a firm explanation about how we tried to accommodate everyone else's needs and put ourselves last when choosing our date - which seemed to quiet their complaining. I wish you the best of luck. It's not an easy process, but you have a support system right here at your fingertips when you need to vent. Good luck!

[bumbles]

I think 7 months is a decent amount of time for guests prepare. It depends on the guests (family, no family, vaca time, etc), but you did your best to find a location and date that works for you so stick with it : ) It's impossible to accomodate everyone. Spread the word verbally and send out those STDs ASAP w/ travel agent info and your website. Will you be using a travel agent? They are really helpful. You can do it! Congrats!

[Jenn]

We were engaged and married in just over 7 months, so it is definitely enough time We booked our location at about the 6 month mark, and skipped the STD step. We essentially got our wedding website up, invited everyone verbally and through email, and had most booked (with deposits) within a 3 week timeframe. We nagged... a lot... but we reserved a small hotel that only had a total of 12 rooms. It was also on the inexpensive side, so people who booked quickly (ie before airfare went up), got a 4night/5 day all-inclusive vacation for about $900pp. It can be done, but get the word out quickly!

[JennyK]

I started planning as soon as we decided it'd be a DW - over a year! We took 2 site visits as well.