Just Engaged! and no idea where to begin...

[StephDurb]

My fiance and I want a destination wedding in October 2012, as our families are traveling from both Ohio and California.  Any advice on where to start?  We thought we should start with finding the location, but are stuck.  Number one priority is price for us, as well as our guests.  Number two priority is ease of getting there.  Any general rules for what locales are less expensive?

 

[bride6262]

Hello!

 

I just got engaged as well so i have been spending hours going thru this website! it is FANATSTIC!!

 

the first thing we did was go to a travel agent. we told them our price range and looked at requirements for each country. we cut it down to Jamaica and Mexico as they are both easy to get married in. then we choose a few hotels and had the travel agent research and get quotes to see which ones fit our price range. while i have been waiting for the quote i have just been reviewing wedding packages at each one and which one would be the best fit for us!
 

now just the waiting game til we get a place and then i will contact the WC and see what dates are available for the actual wedding!

 

good luck!

 

 

Originally Posted by StephDurb 

My fiance and I want a destination wedding in October 2012, as our families are traveling from both Ohio and California.  Any advice on where to start?  We thought we should start with finding the location, but are stuck.  Number one priority is price for us, as well as our guests.  Number two priority is ease of getting there.  Any general rules for what locales are less expensive?

 

 

[SweetFire]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum!!  I know many brides have been very happy with their choice to get married in the Mayan Riviera.

 

Warmest wishes,

Lori 

[clgriffi7]

I think you will find a variety of hotels at all of the different locations that can help you meet your budget - so if price is number 1 then you need to find out which destination has the cheapest flights.  I am from North Carolina and a travel agent told us once that the cheapest flights are to either the Bahamas or Cancun.  I know I wanted an all-inclusive and there aren't as many to chose from in the Bahamas so we selected Mexico (Cancun all the way south to Tulum are serviced by that same airport).

 

To get an idea of prices for my guests - I then went on Expedia and picked the dates of my travel but a year ahead (in Aug. 2010 I looked at prices for Nov 2010 to estimate the costs for Nov 2011) and looked at the flgiht + hotel costs for all of the options.  I then set a limit and only looked at the resorts that fell under that price limit. 

 

My personal goal was to pick a resort where the cost for an individual (based on double occupancy) was <= $1000 based on double occupancy for 5 nights.  That way if the cost were still too high, guests could just decrease the number of nights as needed.

 

Originally Posted by StephDurb 

My fiance and I want a destination wedding in October 2012, as our families are traveling from both Ohio and California.  Any advice on where to start?  We thought we should start with finding the location, but are stuck.  Number one priority is price for us, as well as our guests.  Number two priority is ease of getting there.  Any general rules for what locales are less expensive?

 

 

[JayKay]

For us picking the location and the resort was the hardest part.  Cost was a huge issue for us as well as we wanted something affordable for our guests.  We ended up narrowing it down between Mexico and Jamaica, but just didn't fall in love with any resorts in Mexico.  We then were looking in jamaica and narrowed it down to three resorts.  From there we went to our travel agent who was able to provide us with pricing for all the resorts.  Together with the pricing, and the available wedding packages at each resort, we made our decision.  Good luck with your decision!!

[anichols8]

This has been the hardest part for me as well.  I would piggy back what was said before, contact a travel agent whose focus is destination weddings, tell her your budget and your priorities and let them help you narrow it down.  Congrats and good luck!

[carrieb258]

Riveria Maya in Mexico was our choice - some lovely hotels and reasonable prices for guests too x

[jlarruda]

I think this is the hardest part for everyonne.  Make a list of what you want for your wedding.. for example, some resorts have it so that the wedding coordinator that you communicate with deals with you prior to your arrival, as soon as you get to your location they give you another wedding coordinator, that was something I didn't want.. just do your research, find out what is important to you & your fiance and figure it out that way. Theres definetly a lot of information on this site.  Good luck!

[carrieb258]

Congratulations

[mandijacole]

Congrats and happy planning!