Hi everyone.I'm planning a carribean weddin for early 2011. Only in researching stage

[sarameeko]

Hi. I came accross this forum while searching online to plan a destination wedding and I was glad to have some of my questions answered through this forum.

 

My guests would add up to be around 40 people and I want our wedding to be modern and unique. It's been very overwhelming searching online. I'm from Toronto and I have only found two wedding planner companies that do this...but I think I should contact resorts for their own planners.

 

I'm open to any suggestions for a location and resort. Mostly I am leaning towards St.Lucia, Bahamas, Mexico, and Antigua. But I am still in my early stages of research so I'm not firm on any location.

 

We have also already done the paperworks for our marriage so we would only need to throw the wedding party and a cultural ceremony. So no documentation is necessary.

 

Thanks,

Sara

[Mere]

Congratulations & Welcome to the forum! Good Luck and Happy Planning!

[Girasole]

Hi Sara! Welcome to the forums!

[selassie11]

Welcome and Congrats!

[krmiller]

Welcome & congrats!! St. Lucia would be my choice if I all my guests could afford it! Check into Palace resorts, palaceresorts.com. You can get free functions if you book a certain amt of rooms/room nights! Good luck!

[sarameeko]

thanks everyone. I will look into palaceresorts.com for sure. I am concerned for the price of the packages or just the flight for my guests. Maybe I should re-consider St.Lucia.

[ronsoliman]

welcome! have fun on this site...i know you will love it.

[Tropical Imaging]

Welcome to the forum!

 

You have 4 very distinct and different locations and in the case of the Bahamas and Mexico an even more confusing choice (as there are so many different locations and islands within those countries).

 

Some ideas to help you narrow down the search and help direct you.

 

Before you look at price/location/resorts lets look at the Big differences in the locations you and see some of these things can help you in decision making:

 

Location: The Bahamas and Mexico are going to be shorter flights and have more flight options than St Lucia and Antigua (They're just closer to North America). They (Bahamas and Mexico) have a lot more tourists visit so you'll have more flight availability and with competition, cheaper flights. St Lucia and Antigua will take longer to get to: if everyone coming to your wedding is coming for the week, that isn't as much of a problem. But if the majority of your guests are looking at taking a long weekend, that may be a factor for your decision.

 

Geography: These 4 places are very different Geographically. The Bahamas are flat, limestone based islands. No mountains or jungles here. (Where I live, the Turks and Caicos, the islands are like the Bahamas as well). You also don't have a lot of runoff into the water, giving it white sand, blue water and clear snorkeling and diving. I haven't been to Antigua, but there are mountains and white sand beaches as well. St Lucia is known for is lush landscape and tropical type settings (and mountains). There are some old style carribean locations there as well. Mexico has a whole lot of choice (mountains/beach/etc), but you will have a Mexican influence obviously vs a Caribbean feel so you need to think which appeals to you more.

 

What do you want to do with your guests and with your wedding? Are you more of a play on the beach/snorkeling kind of group? Do you want to tour and see historical ruins or cultural markets. Do you want to get away from it all and be low key or do you want to have fun shopping and enjoying nightlife? Mexico and the Bahamas (depending on the island) will have a lot more available to do from a shopping and nightlife standpoint. St Lucia has some great options for excursions in their rainforests, Antigua will be a bit more low key.

 

As you said earlier, you are keeping your guests in mind, Many people find that Mexico is a lot more affordable for guests than other places.

 

There are also Travel agents on this forum who each specialize in these islands and weddings so maybe get some ideas from them.

 

Of course you could always just check out the Turks and Caicos islands and have your wedding here LOL

 

You're in the right place to help you with the decision making, the brides on here are really tops in sharing and helping!

 

Krys

[Miss Lighting Bug]

Welcome to the forum and congradulations

[BeachBrideSoon]

Congrats! You'll find some great info on here to help your decision. I'm planning on getting married in Dominican Republic so keep that in mind too! There are lots of reviews on here and tons of detailed info. Good Luck!