Mexico Danger-wedding cancelation PLEASE HELP

[kailap64]

I am going through the exact same thing! We have people trying to bribe us to have our wedding somewhere else. We have prayed about it a lot and we have decided that we are going to have our wedding as planned.  The wedding is not about everyone else it is about my fiance and I.  This is where we want to get married and where it is going to make us happy and if it comes down to just him and I then we will be just as happy. Everyone seems to forget about the point of the wedding sometimes when they get all wrapped up in the details.  You dont want to look back one day and regret moving your wedding to another location. You want to remember your wedding as you visioned it with you and your husband. That is what your going to remember the day you married your best friend. 

 

I mean traveling to any foreign country is dangerous.  Of course when traveling to any foreign country there are certain precautions that need to be taken.  The media has blown all of these events way out of proportion, if you look more in detail at these events that are listed they are all incorporated with the drug cartel.  I live in Texas and majority of the danger is right by our border cities!  We have had so many killings within our American cities near the border and you dont see them exploiting that!   Majority of the problems are in the border cities, Monterrey, & several other cities that are listed on travel.state website. It is your personal choice on what you would like to do but there are many weddings going on that have had no problems.  The problems will probably continue to occur you just need to be smart and alert and do your homework so you wont put people in harms way.  Please see the link below for the most accurate source of info from the U.S. Department of State. This website is http://travel.state.gov/ and it has travel warnings and alerts about where it is not safe to travel and advice about what precautions to take when you do travel to places including Mexico 

[Avens]

I think I have reassured most of my worriers, by sending them the government links.  It really is to bad that things are so out of control in the border area, and that people can be so small minded to associate one area with violence to equate the entire country being violent.

[DreamingofSunshine]

 we have had the same problem with our family and friends. THose who are most scared are those who do not travel often.  My FI explained to them as this:

 

The violence in Mexico at this point is a solely motivated by Cartels struggling for power. Their only concern is protecting their territory, drug stashes and smuggling routes through the border. Eliminating their competition means increasi...ng their market share of drugs going over the border. In the past violence against tourists in South/Central America has been caused by rebel groups who felt their interests were not being upheld by the government. Examples are the Shining Path in Peru, FARC in Columbia, and the EZLN in Southern Mexco. These groups purposefully target tourists and innnocent civilians because they wanted to make the government look powerless and cripple the economy by reducing tourism and foreign investment. All this aimed at toppling the current governments so they could rebuild and better represent their own interests
 

That being said the current situation in Mexico differs from these movement because the motivation of the cartels is money. Therefore they will target other drug cartels and anyone else that tries to stop them ie. police, politicians, and the military. In Mexico tourism accounts for more than 14 billion dollars annually and employs millions of people. If the cartels start injuring tourists that puts a lot of money at stake and in turn puts more pressure on them from the United States and the Mexican Government. The last thing in the world that the Mexican Drug Cartels want right now is the United States getting more involved in their Drug war. As long as people avoid border towns, stay in touristy areas, and don't speak out against Mexican Cartels it is my opinion that its as safe as anywhere else. I work in the 5 th most dangerous city in the United States but i have had no problems because I avoid the bad areas. So YES! Im traveling to Mexico just not border towns and im not borrowing money from anyone in a back alley, or taking packages from strangers in airports.

[82turtles]

That's a great explanation. Thanks for sharing!

[MRR16]

so sorry you are going thru this.

[EricaMarie]

I am sorry you are going through this.  When we asked all of our family if they would be on board if we got married in Mexico everyone was thrilled.  Now that we sent our save the dates my FH's family feels very different now.  No one wants to go based on what they hear on the news. We are just trying not to think about since we have a year until our wedding and hope everyone turns around.

 

My aunt (who is in a non-tourist area)  just called me this morning to tell me that she has not seen any violence what so ever.  She also said that she has never seen so many Americans as are currently out there.  All of my dad's side of the family lives in Mexico and they have told us yes certain areas are facing lots of violence right now but is only the areas that are where the drug cartels are at. 

 

I live in Chicago so I am telling everyone just think about what Chicago must look like to those who only hear about all the murders that occur here daily.  If I knew no better I would think that you couldn't go anywhere in Chicago, especially not the south side where I have lived all my life in a very nice neighborhood! 

 

If I was you I would go forward with the wedding.  I have heard nothing happening in any tourist area.  I wish you the best of luck.  Just remember your wedding is ultimately for you and your husband. 

[JaimeCF2BR]

Everyone's explanations are great!  I'm copying some of everyones to share with my guests when they show concerns.  Luckily I've been able to shut everyone up so far, but I'm sure more concerns will come my way.

Thanks for sharing!

[Avens]

LOL

 

Love this.  I feel the same way sometimes though!

Originally Posted by JaimeCF2BR 

Everyone's explanations are great!  I'm copying some of everyones to share with my guests when they show concerns.  Luckily I've been able to shut everyone up so far, but I'm sure more concerns will come my way.

Thanks for sharing!

[Vanessa C]

I'm really glad I found this forum because my family is also having us think twice about holding our wedding in Cancun because of the violence. Thanks for the info and support everyone!

[janette34]

I have travelled to Mexico for the past five years (Cancun & Riveria areas) and have never once been scared or seen anything "shady'.  The majority of people I have met depend so much on tourism that they treat tourists like gold.  Everyone I have encountered has been friendly and helpful.  Every year we go we leave the resort frequently on our own and take collectivos and the bus and have never had a problem.