invites and dates of stay questions.

[NJ2012]

hi everyone

my name is nikki and my fiance is joe and we got engaged a little less then a month ago. we always knew we wanted a destination wedding and now its time to figure out how to do that.

 

etiquette and how-to are the big issues. we are pretty set on bahamas because of the length of the flight being nice and short from nj. (future mother in law is scared to fly) we know there are some things we definitly want to do and have so it shouldnt be too hard... i think. 

 

how do we invite people... we know we are going to have some kind of informal bbq or dinner after the destination wedding because of all the no's we expect for travel.so do we send an invitation that has the destination info and the home party all in one? 

 

do we ask people to come the week before the wedding and then leave after the wedding while we stay an extra week for our honeymoon? we would love everyone to arrive together, have a welcome dinner,spend the week together, then treat everyone to a catamaran cruise one day of the trip as well as a rehersal type dinner the night before the wedding.

 

those are 2 of the main things we cannot figure out so far. 

 

i guess we just pick a place, call them and ask them to arrange everything we want and need?

 

thanks...first of many... hope you guys can help!
 

nikki

 

 

[JayKay]

First of all Welcome! And congrats on your engagement!

 

Once we narrowed down our resort we emailed (or you can call)  the wedding coordinator for that specific resort and asked for a list of available dates in the certain week we wanted to be there.  From there we chose our date. 

 

After we had our wedding date confirmed with the resort we sent out Save the dates(STD).  On there we listed only the month, January, and year, 2012, rather then a specific week as we were unsure of flight schedules at that time.    You could send out STDs as soon as you know the resort and the date.  That way you will have an idea of who will be coming and who wont be.  Then, closer to your wedding date, send our your formal invitations with all the details about the resort, wedding location, wedding time, ect.  You can include the information for your get together after the wedding, or you could send them seperate.

 

The group coming for our wedding are all flying together on the same flight and staying for a week.  I wanted to all arrive on the same date.  They will all fly home after the first week and we are staying for a second week.We arrive on a Monday, get married on the Friday, and then everyone else goes home on the Monday.

 

Good luck with everything!!
 

 

[merrylee]

Congratulations, you will have such an amazing time not only having a DW but planning it as well.

 

Invites are totally up to the B & G there truly is no etiquette for a DW invites, some brides to e-vites some just do save the dates, and some like me go crazy and have fun doing it all yourself and coming out with an amazing invitation.  I am doing a separate AHR (at home reception) invite only because I am focusing on the DW part first.

 

As far as timing, I set an arrival day for my guests and let them choose the departure date.  I knew FI and I would be there for 14 days and most people would do 5 nights, so I let them decide how many and how long and the rest is ours.  This to is up to you, as there truly are no rules except for the ones you set for yourself. 

 

And you can call the resorts yourself, but I would also suggest finding a travel agent that specializes in destination weddings there are plenty on this site, I am using one from a different site that specializes in my resort so I love that.  I like that I don't have to know ALL the answers for my guests, and that Camille is there to handle all those questions

[meBonidie2be]

 

 

Originally Posted by NJ2012 

 

hi everyone

my name is nikki and my fiance is joe and we got engaged a little less then a month ago. we always knew we wanted a destination wedding and now its time to figure out how to do that.

 

etiquette and how-to are the big issues. we are pretty set on bahamas because of the length of the flight being nice and short from nj. (future mother in law is scared to fly) we know there are some things we definitly want to do and have so it shouldnt be too hard... i think. 

 

how do we invite people... we know we are going to have some kind of informal bbq or dinner after the destination wedding because of all the no's we expect for travel.so do we send an invitation that has the destination info and the home party all in one? 

 

do we ask people to come the week before the wedding and then leave after the wedding while we stay an extra week for our honeymoon? we would love everyone to arrive together, have a welcome dinner,spend the week together, then treat everyone to a catamaran cruise one day of the trip as well as a rehersal type dinner the night before the wedding.

 

those are 2 of the main things we cannot figure out so far. 

 

i guess we just pick a place, call them and ask them to arrange everything we want and need?

 

thanks...first of many... hope you guys can help!

 

nikki

 

 

 

 

Hi nikki

 

welcome. this site is a life saver for me.

 

All freinds and family were invited to DW by mouth. Iam still thinking about sending actual invitations closer to the date but we had to tell ppl so they could get passports and what not.

 

We are having AHR and i will but have not yet done STD's and invitations seperate than DW invites. I still want to stay with a travel/beach theme for AHR in pittsburgh in November. (screw tradition)

 

For DW we went AI (all inclusive)

It is much easier to plan and budget that way. we basically told our guests its from this date to this date. some have chossen to stay longer. I didnt want to be at the same resort for our honeymoon cuz #1 we have been there before #2 I didnt want anyone else coming up o our room or whatever. So most of us are on the same flight down. My dad is going a day earlier so i will have him take OOT bags and they will be ready for all other guests when they get there. we arrive wed. wedding is friday. Most guests leave sun.

 

At that point my FI and i will drive from Ocho Rios to Negril.

 

As far as planning goes...

most resorts have awesome web sites. I wouldnt spend too much time comparing. It confuses things. adds stress.

 

 

Congratulations!

 

 

 

[canadiangirl]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats!!!!!!

 

Q#1   what we did is we sent out our invitation first, pic below......then what im planning on doing is sending out our AHR invites a month before the wedding, the reason for this to be honest lol is i didnt want ppl to think it was an option not to come to the wedding in jamaica. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS BAD>>>>BUT ITS TRUE lol

 

Q#2   We have booked everyone through our TA (which gives them a group price) to leave all together us included! and then we all leave together to come back home, some of our guest will be there before hand 2 DAYS, but if they book through your TA they still count as part of your group!!!

 

Q#2   We are having a welcome dinner the night we all arrive in jamaica to give them their OOT bags...have a couple of drinks, and introduce all those who dont know each other! then were doing a rehersal dinner the night before the wedding, then a farewell brunch the day we all leave. I didnt want to plan everything for the trip...because ppl are gonna want to do things on their own.

I hope this helped a little,  

 

Originally Posted by NJ2012 

hi everyone

my name is nikki and my fiance is joe and we got engaged a little less then a month ago. we always knew we wanted a destination wedding and now its time to figure out how to do that.

 

etiquette and how-to are the big issues. we are pretty set on bahamas because of the length of the flight being nice and short from nj. (future mother in law is scared to fly) we know there are some things we definitly want to do and have so it shouldnt be too hard... i think. 

 

how do we invite people... we know we are going to have some kind of informal bbq or dinner after the destination wedding because of all the no's we expect for travel.so do we send an invitation that has the destination info and the home party all in one? 

 

do we ask people to come the week before the wedding and then leave after the wedding while we stay an extra week for our honeymoon? we would love everyone to arrive together, have a welcome dinner,spend the week together, then treat everyone to a catamaran cruise one day of the trip as well as a rehersal type dinner the night before the wedding.

 

those are 2 of the main things we cannot figure out so far. 

 

i guess we just pick a place, call them and ask them to arrange everything we want and need?

 

thanks...first of many... hope you guys can help!
 

nikki

 

 

 

[meBonidie2be]

Canadian Girl I love your Invites.

 

You did those all yourself? That is so awesome!

[Danz]

I love your invites Candiangirl! SO cute! How far in advance are you sending them out? We did save the dates about 8 months in advance and I am thinking of sending out invites about 3 months in advance. Is this enough time?

[anichols8]

Happy Planning and Congrats!

[clgriffi7]

1)  I sent out a Save The Date (STD) to guests as soon as we had all of our dates booked.  The STD the listed the wedding info (date and resort) as well as mentioning a date for the in town celebration.  The website that we put on the STD contains more info about the party.  We also mentioned the party (with a few more details) in our formal invitations along with a note that that says "RSVP reminder at a later date".  I have a picture of the overall invite and then a picture of the 3rd and final page of the invite that is about the AHR.  We will make postcard invitations for the AHR (ours is just a party, not a full reception) with an email address for RSVPs.

 

 

 

2)  Because of money and vacation days from work you may have a tough time getting everyone to travel on the same days.  For my Saturday wedding I have people arriving on Thursday and Friday and people leaving Monday and Tuesday.  Just be careful that the more restrictive you make the dates the more people may not be able to come.  I plan on taking all of our guests on an excursion as well and I waited until I heard the different travel dates to choose Sunday, the day after the wedding.

 

Hope that helps

Courtney

 

Originally Posted by NJ2012 

how do we invite people... we know we are going to have some kind of informal bbq or dinner after the destination wedding because of all the no's we expect for travel.so do we send an invitation that has the destination info and the home party all in one? 

 

do we ask people to come the week before the wedding and then leave after the wedding while we stay an extra week for our honeymoon? we would love everyone to arrive together, have a welcome dinner,spend the week together, then treat everyone to a catamaran cruise one day of the trip as well as a rehersal type dinner the night before the wedding.

 

those are 2 of the main things we cannot figure out so far. 

 

i guess we just pick a place, call them and ask them to arrange everything we want and need?

 

thanks...first of many... hope you guys can help!
 

nikki

 

 

 

[meBonidie2be]

 

 

Originally Posted by clgriffi7 

 

1)  I sent out a Save The Date (STD) to guests as soon as we had all of our dates booked.  The STD the listed the wedding info (date and resort) as well as mentioning a date for the in town celebration.  The website that we put on the STD contains more info about the party.  We also mentioned the party (with a few more details) in our formal invitations along with a note that that says "RSVP reminder at a later date".  I have a picture of the overall invite and then a picture of the 3rd and final page of the invite that is about the AHR.  We will make postcard invitations for the AHR (ours is just a party, not a full reception) with an email address for RSVPs.

 

 

 

 

2)  Because of money and vacation days from work you may have a tough time getting everyone to travel on the same days.  For my Saturday wedding I have people arriving on Thursday and Friday and people leaving Monday and Tuesday.  Just be careful that the more restrictive you make the dates the more people may not be able to come.  I plan on taking all of our guests on an excursion as well and I waited until I heard the different travel dates to choose Sunday, the day after the wedding.

 

Hope that helps

Courtney

 

 

 

 

 

These are absolutly amazing. I love the boarding pass invites. Was that DIY? My AHR is the day after yours.