i have no idea where to begin!!!

[holls213]

Hi, i'm Holly, my fiance David and I got engaged several weeks ago and are planning a destination wedding in May of 2012.  We're looking at several resorts - Barcelo maya palace, moon palace, secrets maroma, and dreams.  I have no idea how any of this planning works!  We've been trying to book a resort, any suggestions?? Also struggling to decide if upgrading to a pricier wedding package with the resorts is worth.  I would love love love any suggestions   Happy Planning!!!

[Moments That Matter]

Congratulations Holly and welcome to the forums! I have shot all those resorts and they are all fantastic with different things to offer you for your wedding day!

Barcelo - One of my more popular ones. Big resort with something for everybody. Kid friendly

Moon Palace - More secluded. Air conditioned gazebo!

Secrets Maroma - Adult only. Very nice. Lots of wedding spots. The abandoned Mansion! (hehe great spot down the beach)

Dreams... Tulum? Riviera Maya? Cancun? They are all great with different things for your wedding day. 

 

If you'd like to see pictures... please check out my FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=18683524486

I have galleries of all of these and more there.

 

Best of luck with your plans and please let me know if you have any questions!

Linkn

[JayKay]

Welcome!!  Picking the resort for us was the hardest part of the planning.  We sat down and made a list of what we wanted from a resort, for example size, location from airport, wedding packages available ect.  It might be helpful to contact the wedding planners from the resorts to see what dates and times are still available for May and that may help you eliminate some resorts from your list. 

As to upgrading wedding package I think you just need to sit down and look at what you would get if you paid more.  For us it wasn't worth upgrading to a pricer wedding package because the stuff it included was stuff that was not important to us or stuff we wouldn't use.  Also, it really depends on how many people you will be having with you, sometimes its more cost effective to upgrade if you have more people as often they include more people in the head count.  Good luck with your planning:)

Originally Posted by holls213 

Hi, i'm Holly, my fiance David and I got engaged several weeks ago and are planning a destination wedding in May of 2012.  We're looking at several resorts - Barcelo maya palace, moon palace, secrets maroma, and dreams.  I have no idea how any of this planning works!  We've been trying to book a resort, any suggestions?? Also struggling to decide if upgrading to a pricier wedding package with the resorts is worth.  I would love love love any suggestions   Happy Planning!!!

 

[boscobel]

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.)
• visit the Newbies forum and introduce yourself
• 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
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• Wedding Image Gallery
• BDW FAQ's
• BDW Forum Rules and Etiquette
• Downloading Attachments

 

 

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• Ann
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Hope you enjoy your time here.

[favorsmr]

In November, I went to a wedding at Barcelo Maya Palace.  It was fabulous!  The resort is phenomenal and the wedding was beautiful. I'm not sure of the specifics of what you are looking for, but I can say that Barcelo is a good choice and my friend and her groom will tell you the same. I'm sure others can tell you about the other resorts.  Do you have a travel agent?  They should be able to help you narrow down your choices also.

[Allie2012]

Hey Holls213, congrats on your engagement and welcome to the forums! I agree with what JayKay said. You and your fiancé should sit down and make a list of the things that you really want at a resort and what "extras" you may want for your wedding. I am getting married at Dreams Puerto Aventuras, which I picked because I love their wedding gazebo, and their wedding packages have everything that I am looking for. I don't want to stress you out, but you should decided soon and try and secure a date because I booked my wedding in June for May 2012 and it was hard finding an available date!!!

[kjpfaff]

Holls213 - congrats on your engagement! What an exciting time for you as you begin your planning. My fiance and I spent a lot of time on Trip Advisor looking at the reviews and photos. We also had recommendations from friends as to specific resorts. Although we originally wanted to be married in Jamaica, we settled on Mexico because a friend highly recommended the Excellence resort chain. Although she has been to Excellence Riviera Cancun several times, we chose Excellence Playa Mujeres, as it is very new. We were also considering Secrets Maroma as it looks beautiful! Our travel agent highly recommended the El Dorado Royale as she has had many happy brides who have been married there. I would be happy to provide recommendations of other resorts that we were considering, if you are interested.

 

 

Thanks,

KJ

[Pierre Violle]

Congrats and welcome!  Checking out photographer's shoots of the hotels you are interested in is a great way to really get a feel for what a wedding may look like at that location.  It will give you examples of the ceremony and reception sites, and allows to you get a preview of what your wedding photos might look like.  I've also shot at all these resorts so feel free to browse through them on my BLOG!

 

Happy Planning!