Honeymoon destinations... When to book the hotel room for the best deal? Farther out or closer to the wedding date?

mily12 · July 30, 2010

I am doing a nonlegal (ceremonial) destination wedding on Thursday, January 27, 2011 at the Dreams Cancun Resort. We have put the deposit down to reserve the date and time. Since this is a ceremonial wedding, we are arriving there on Tuesday, January 25 and leaving for Secrets Maroma Beach on Friday, January 28 (kids will be there for the wedding, so we could not have it at an Adults Only resort).

I went to the Dreams Cancun webite and they have their standard rates on top and below they have rates at 45% off for early booking. So, the deluxe room right now with 45% off for January 25-28 is $297. The honeymoon suite is $407 per night over this same time period. Just out of curiosity, I put in the travel dates of August 10-August 13 (Tuesday - Friday). Today is July 30, 2010. The rates I received for these dates which are just just over a week off are $240 for the deluxe room and $297 for the Honeymoon Suite.

It was the same way with Secrets Maroma Beach, there is a huge difference in the amount between the January stay rates and the August rates.

Now, the question is, are these rates cheaper because they are only a little over a week off and still unfilled or is it that the summer months in the Riviera Maya are cheaper on the whole than January/February rates? We are pretty much exactly six months away from our wedding date. Any advice, since the wedding date and time are confirmed, at what point we should look to book our rooms for the best deals? Any advice would be great, thanks.