Who do I call first - travel agents or resorts?

[FutureMrsBeatty]

Fi is super excited to start calling resorts and lock one down (I am too!). Will we screw ourselves if we start calling travel agents and resorts at the same time? In other words what's the order so you can get the best deal? If we go thru an agent, can we still call the resort with questions, so we can hear the answers ourselves? Thanks! Lisa

[JUSTUSTWO]

When I was planning, I started with resorts. If you have 2 or 3 resorts in mind for the wedding, I would make a list & contact the resorts first to see what their wedding packages entail. If the resort seems to fit your needs for the wedding, I would then look at room rates & try to determine if the resort would be affordable for you & your guests. From that list I would compare the resorts, the wedding packages & the overall value. If you have a favorite that fits all of your needs, at that point, then I'd contact a TA to see what kind of deal you could possibly get for your guests. Also make sure you use a TA who has experience with booking destination weddings.

 

At the same time, if you use an experienced DW TA, the TA could recommend resorts to you based on what you tell him/her you're looking for. Is it the overall cost/value of the resort thats most important or are you looking for the best wedding package?

I guess it depends on what you feel more comfortable doing.

 

I think someone posted a resort checklist/spreadsheet that they used when they were searching for their resort. Maybe you can search for that as it may be helpful in comparing resorts & taking notes as you go along. Hope that helps.

[foxytv]

I never contacted the resorts. I went to several TA's and collected magazines and books on the DR and went through and marked those of interest, researched them and then narrowed down my choices. Once I had done my research and narrowed it down to my top 5, I gave DH that info and had him pick his top 2. Luckily, we both picked the same top 2. The we decided to go with the lesser expensive one for our DW and more expensive one for our HM. I then contacted a TA who took care of things from there.

[sgathercole]

I am planning my wedding for January 2011, I was just wondering how you guys reserved the date at the resort and how far in advance from the proposed wedding date? Did you mail down a money order to save the date (deposit of the wedding package)? I would love to see your pictures Tami, if you would provide me with the name of the thread. I am new to this and still not sure where to find everything.

Thanks in advance.

Sandy

[pujbride19]

sgathercole,

I booked my date 11 months in advance and I'm glad I did because the judge they use at the resort I chose was already booked for all but one slot on my day. My hotel doesn't require a deposit, so I can't help you there. I'm sure that as soon as you ask to reserve a date, the WC at the hotel will let you know their policy on deposits.

[debbmach]

I booked my resort first, but that was after talking to a TA (my sister in law). The pricing for next January doesn't come out till the Spring so I wanted to secure a venue first, especially since I wanted to send out STD's this month. The resort I booked with didn't need a deposit so it was pretty easy for me.

[erinsny24]

We went and talked to a travel agent first and collected info on different resorts. She had some suggestions for us based on some of our questions and interests. We kind of did what foxytv did and we both decided on an area (Mexico or Carribean) then we each chose our top 10 resorts and we both had the same top 5 resorts and we chose from that. We had some issues with our first choice so we went with out second choice. The 2nd choice did require a deposit. I made sure that the resort had our date available and then sent in the request along with the deposit. It was about 10 months before our wedding that we sent everything in and sent out our save the dates.