Overwhelmed...where do you even begin?

[CnC]

Thank you ladies! Such helpful advices. I can feel the love and appreciate it much!

 

I just noticed that there is a specific forum designated to venting (chit chat corner) that I couldn't find last night when wanting so desperately to vent (to post)...sorry...apologies...

[AnnaBanana]

Oh, such great advice here!

I, too, was feeling a little overwhelmed - mostly about budget. In fact, I took a look at a thread here about budgets and nearly fell over in my chair at the unrealistic expectations I had.

 

Jen, your advice was fantastic. I took it very much to heart. Thank you!

[beach2009]

So many great ideas on the forum. It sure is hard getting the resort picked out. This is a list that I used to help me decide.

 

1. Civil or symbolic ceremony - look into the requirements

2. Adults only resort or family resort.

3. Ceremony location - beach, terrace, gazebo, church

4. Resort size and type - small & intimate or large & spread out, All inclusive? a la carte, buffet, reservations

5. Wedding pkg price/Reception options - location, menus

6. Activities, beach, available tours/excursions

[ilovemypitbull]

Aww, thanks Anna! All I know is that taking my time and gradually crossing places off a list made me feel so much more in control and less overwhelmed (as opposed to contacting every single potential location I came across and then having to wade through tons and tons of disorganized and scattered information).

 

Good luck!

- Jen

[BlakleyBrideToBe]

Picking the Island is the hardest part after that it's all a easy. My FI was had our biggest fight ever, over me changing my mind on the Island. A Bubble bath and Red Wine worked wonders for me.

[SSNM]

Based on my experience thus far, I would say:

 

1) start with a guest list of people you would like to be able to invite so you can give a rough estimate to vendors (doesn't mean you will actually invite them, but write it down on paper to get a sense of your numbers).

 

2) determine your budget; know how much you want to spend right off the bat so that when you are gathering information, you will already know if something is out of your price range or not.

 

As for which DW to choose, I am honestly just doing a lot of google, and a lot of travel magazines, particularly DW magazines. Carribean vendors are definately vague and slow at responding to you and I have definately been stressed out and know your feelings exactly. For me, I have to literally pry myself from the cpu and just go do a workout so I dont' forget about the rest of my life.

 

Good luck!

[CnC]

Thanks all for helpful tips! It's now been 6 weeks since engagement and still no date, no venue. My FI is starting to clue in how difficult it is to pull the info, and all the little things we need to consider. He's being more proactive now and I cannot be more thrilled. On the other hand, I've now become more apathetic where I just want someone to come in, ask me the right questions, and "wahla!" make it happen. I know I need to buck up...but really, with work, family events (my brother just got married and we've had a number of birthdays and graduations in the past few weeks)...how do you do this? Respect to those who are making it happen!!!

[Destination Scout]

The girls have given great advice. I have to agree:

1) Write down your priorities. White sand beach? Rainforest? Travel time? Flight budget? Weather restrictions? Accomodation type?

2) Once you have your priorities find a location that offers the surroundings you want (beach, rainforest, etc). Browing TripAdvisors/Trip Ideas is a great way to start. Do some flight searches for locations within your flight budget & times. I've found that most airlines reduce their flight prices for vacation locations 6 weeks from departure, so run your tests in that time range. Now you have your location.

3) Resort vs boutique accomodations. If you want a resort contact a TA. There are a lot of good ones on this site. If you want boutique travel it may be best to schedule a site visit in the carribean. PR is not the same when you get out of the US. You can save months of angst by visiting a location for a week.

 

Good luck!

[SDSteph]

I have been going through the same thing. It is so over welming. At first I thought east coast in the fall then Lake Taheo in the spring, then mexico, thought about the cayman islands too. There are so many different areas that each offer something special. I recomend decide on an area then figure out if you want an all inclusive or not. That narrows it down sooooo much. I had a list of like 75 resorts and realized this was crazy I needed to narrow it down.

 

Good luck and dont get stressed. (I should take my own advise) It should be fun.

[btn1091]

The advice already listed is great!! My only advice is once you have chosen your location to contact the resort immediately and set your date! I thought 1 years notice was a good amount of time... apparently not! I struggled to get a wedding date for a few weeks at least, so the earlier you can pick your place and set a date... the better! I found working with a travel agent that had done lots of weddings was very benificial to me as well, they usually know what was sucessfull and what was not. They can usually find pics of the seperate wedding locations (beach, garden etc) and can usually steer you in the right directions according to your needs (price, entertainment,etc).

This site has probably been the most help to me... to be honest! Looking at other brides pics & experience has really helped me decide on a lot of things!

 

Hope this helps!