Newbie and totally confused!

[Picasso310]

Hi! I have been searching around and gotten some great information from the forums and reviews. I'm thinking Riviera Maya, Puerto Vallerta, or Punta Cana in June 2013. I'm trying to narrow down my list but it's soo hard! In general I really like the Dreams resorts as it seems they are good for kids (we will have about 10 kids as guests) and Barcelo in Rivera Maya.

 

I guess my main question for other seasoned brides is how did you finally narrow it down by location and resort? I think if I could get a sense of the costs of each resort it would be easier but the packages are hard to decipher when you are looking for a general number. Is there a thread around that compares resorts by cost?

 

Anyways, at least I have plenty of time to change my mind...I mean make my decision.

[Jamie5280]

 

The first thing I would do, is find a travel agent that specializes in destination weddings.  Then ask their opinion on what area and resorts they recommend.  Then from there you can do your own research too.  Since you aren't getting married until 2013 it will be awhile before you able to get specific pricing, but at least you can get a general idea.  For us, we chose Cancun/Riviera Maya because it was easier and cheaper to fly there for our guests.  We debated Punta Cana, but it deemed to difficult to get there (overnight layovers, etc...)

 

Once we chose MX, we then debated between Palace resorts, Dreams resorts and the Now Jade.  Ultimately, for us, the Palace resorts had lucrative incentives for brides, grooms, even their guests.  Palace resorts are more expensive than Dreams, so again, that comes down to what you think people are willing to pay or what works for you guys.  From what I have read about Dreams they are great and everyone seems to have beautiful weddings there!

 

There is a plethora of information on here and you will find exactly what you are looking for!  Whatever you choose, it will be the right decision for you guys! 

 

Good Luck!

[starchild]

 

Hi!  Welcome to BestDestinationWedding.com

 

 

Here are some links and tips that might make your time here on BDW more enjoyable.

 

If you have not done so, you may want to:

 

• complete your profile (upload a photo, add profile details, etc.)
• find the forum for your wedding destination and create a subscription to threads/members/vendors that you are interested in

 

 

Here are some links that may be helpful to you:

 

• Destination Wedding Community & Forum
• Resort Reviews
• Wedding Vendor Reviews
• Destination Wedding Wiki's and Articles
• Wedding Image Gallery
• BDW FAQ's
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• Downloading Attachments

 

 

Here are some BDW members and staff you should follow:

  Moderators and Community Leaders

• Tammy Host (Founder and Owner of BDW)
• Ann
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Hope you enjoy your time here.

[heavenone]

When I started looking I tried to get a sense of how easy the trip would be for my guests.  I checked out sites like farecompare.com and http://www.travelmath.com/nonstop-flights/. Some locations may have more direct flights to/from your airport than others.

 

Ultimately I found working with a ta who specialized in weddings to be the most helpful in narrowing down my search to two destinations.  Knowing about how much my guests could/would spend for a long weekend, we looked at resorts in that price range and compared a few at a time until we ended up with the top 2. Only one had the date I wanted available so that made that decision easy

 

You've got some time though. I planned my wedding in 8 months.  I wish we had more time for our best friends and fam to save for the event. (However,we'd probably have more ppl attending - some we want and some we maybe wouldn't reeeally want) Now is the time to also start the conversation with the people that you really want to be there so they can start thinking about saving. A lot of Wedding TAs have payment plans so once you pick your resort, your guests will be able to spread out payments which should make it easier for them. 

[annieandjon420]

I had the same problem when I started looking, there are so many nice resorts it is hard to choose. I emailed many resorts and many resorts never even got back to me with information, and I knew I didn't want to deal with resorts like that. I eventually narrowed it down to either Punta Cana or Mexico, and spoke to a travel agent whom advised me that I will get better service in Mexico. I had the same resorts on my list and went to do site visits at the Dreams in Riviera Cancun and the Now Jade. My fiance and I fell in love with the Dreams resort and chose that one. The wedding coordinator there is great and she is very quick to reply to emails. I feel like choosing the resort was one of the hardest parts! Good Luck!

[Picasso310]

Thanks for all your helpful advice! I think I've already narrowed it down to Mexico based on some more research (ease for guests and service). We are going down for vacation in Cancun next week for vacation and made appointments to see Dreams Riviera Cancun, Barcelo, and Now Jade. I think meeting with them will help me choose between them. When you did site visits, did you rent a car? How was your overall experience with Dreams since that's one of my contenders. Thanks again!

[Moments That Matter]

Congratulations and welcome to the forums! Best of luck making your decision... it can be daughting with so many resorts to choose from. If you need any advice on resorts here in the Mayan Riviera... feel free to let me know!

Take care and best of luck!

Linkn

[annieandjon420]

My fiance and I went to Dreams Riviera Cancun first and LOVED it. We loved the size of the resort and how clean it was. The service and food was also really good. Now Jade we visited after Dreams (we took a cab from one place to the next) and were unimpressed with the cleanliness of the rooms. We also did not like that the swim up bar in Now Jade was not in their infinity pool. Good Luck though! Have fun during your site visits, and ask a lot of questions.

[favorsmr]

Congrats and welcome to the forums!  You'll love it here!

[JayKay]

I think for us choosing the resort was definately the hardest part of the entire planning process.  We didn't know what location we even wanted so I did tons of research on resorts all over the carribean.  For us we decided on Jamaica as its a place we always wanted to go and it seemed to be easier to get legally married there then Mexico.   We made a list of what we wanted from our resort for example, size of resort, proximety to airport, amenities available at resort, wedding packages available, and costs.  We also used a travel agent to help us further narrow down our list and eventually helped us pick our resort.  Good luck!