I'M WORRIED NO ONE WILL COME TO MY DESTINATION WEDDING!

jolene028 · October 25, 2012

I am just starting the whole thing, I am putting down my deposit next week, and sending out invites and this is all a little over a year away from our wedding, I thought that by giving them this much time they would all try their best to come, becuase they can take the entire year to pay for the vacation... but reading all these posts are a little concerning! But like everyone else has said, I made peace with this choice a long time ago, anyone that can come fantastic and the people that can't well it is what it is, I mean people dont always come when the wedding is in the same city or town as them, there are things in life that happen! So I will be happy and grateful for those that do come and for those that dont i am sure that there will be loads of pictures if you want to see them!!!! Try to keep in mind all the reasons that you chose to do the DW and that should keep the smile on your face!!!

olive0y1 · October 25, 2012

Originally Posted by kitkat863

It's funny that it is your wedding but yet you have to make compromises! haha whoever said weddings were about the bride and groom were wrong!

LOL! That's for sure. Even when it comes to picking out dresses, there's still some approval and compromises to make somehow haha. But, it's what you make of it in the end hehe How did your reception back home turn out btw? It's like planning 2 weddings! LOL

kitkat863 · October 26, 2012

Originally Posted by olive0y1

LOL! That's for sure. Even when it comes to picking out dresses, there's still some approval and compromises to make somehow haha. But, it's what you make of it in the end hehe How did your reception back home turn out btw? It's like planning 2 weddings! LOL

Oh my I felt like I was planning 2 weddings too. I don't want to sound ungrateful but the reception here wasn't at all what I wanted so I am so glad it is over. It was turned out good...again nothing that I really wanted (and the venue would not have been what I picked if we had a wedding here!) but I guess on the budget that we had it was good! Speaking of picking our dresses I picked a dress because my mom and sisters loved it and I ended up hating it! I was that crazy bride that bought a different dress because I cried when the original one came in! I bought it and didn't tell my mom and sisters for a little bit and of course they were mad when I said I got a different dress. I am so glad that I did though because I absolutely HATED the first dress! Oh the things we do for family!

RNtoBe · October 26, 2012

Kitkat863 I'm glad you got a dress that YOU loved!! At the end of the day, your opinion is the only one that matters because it's your dress and you had to wear it.

olive0y1 · October 26, 2012

Originally Posted by kitkat863

Oh my I felt like I was planning 2 weddings too. I don't want to sound ungrateful but the reception here wasn't at all what I wanted so I am so glad it is over. It was turned out good...again nothing that I really wanted (and the venue would not have been what I picked if we had a wedding here!) but I guess on the budget that we had it was good! Speaking of picking our dresses I picked a dress because my mom and sisters loved it and I ended up hating it! I was that crazy bride that bought a different dress because I cried when the original one came in! I bought it and didn't tell my mom and sisters for a little bit and of course they were mad when I said I got a different dress. I am so glad that I did though because I absolutely HATED the first dress! Oh the things we do for family!

LOL. I'm glad you at least bought the dress YOU loved! hehehe. Glad it's all done and over with!

LCB803 · October 30, 2012

Originally Posted by MelB2012

My Travel Agent gave me a locked in rate for 90 days, and if I had a total (including us) of 5 rooms booked in that 90 days, it would lock in my rate. Period. The only movement it can make is going down. My TA DID tell me that many people will wait to book until the last minute - it's an unfortunate trend.

I had to put some pressure on some people, namely my parents (my step-dad is a deal finder and wanted to find a better price)... but we ended up getting 8 rooms booked before the 90 days. Now there's still over a year to go, and we're expecting, probably another 8 rooms booked. I'll be happy with 30-40 people. The important folks will be there.

Great perspective, MelB!

I would agree, everyone tells me that many people wait till the last minute, and someone has to go hounding them to book... I think despite anyone's best planning, this is inevitable. Their failure to plan shouldn't be your emergency! I think though that if they are going to come, they will come regardless of whether airfare goes up. Hotel, on the other hand, is something different. A coworker of mine was married last October and said he had to put several rooms on his credit card to meet the terms of the contract. He was sweating bullets up until the last minute! But everything worked out in the end. Good luck!

kard613 · December 23, 2012

I agree, I have no idea why people tend to wait for the last minute but thankfully we haven't really run into any problems. Our save the dates went out in Sept and we have 13 rooms booked with in a month. Our invites go out mid January, with an RSVP date of Mid February and a final booking date of Mid March (wedding it at the end of June) and we're pretty sure we'll have about 10 -15 more rooms booked (we're hoping for right around 50 people)

RNtoBe · December 23, 2012

It's so frustrating dealing with people who want to wait till the last minute! We are 6 months out, my cousin (who is a bridesmaid) and aunt have yet to book, they are waiting for a better price. I honestly don't think they will get a better price because the resort has 4 weddings booked the entire 2 weeks we are there and the cheaper price I found out of Bellingham for them 2 months is no longer available. Our resort has a sister resort called the Riu Sante Fe which is cheaper. I don't see our resort lowering prices when the Sante Fe is cheaper to begin with, just doesn't make sense to me. At this point, they are on their own and if they have to end up paying more that is their issue because they should have booked sooner!

Marymack · December 23, 2012

I think people believe the longer they wait the better rates will get!!!

Carlota1981 · May 11, 2013

Originally Posted by kitkat863

I was the exact same way with my wedding. We only had 15 others that came (that included my 3 little nephews) and even that was a struggle to get them to come! My family was not very supportive of our destination wedding and basically complained about it the whole time. I had one friend come and my husband didn't have any friends come! It sucked that no one would make the trip considering my husband has traveled several times for other people. My parents made us have a reception back home and a lot of people used that as an excuse to not come to Mexico (which I wasn't happy about!) In the end, I know that it was exactly what I wanted and I don't regret it at all. You will have a great time and a beautiful wedding whether you have 100 people there or just 2 people there!

Hello kitkat and other brides here!!

I am from Spain and I feel your pain too. At the beggining it seemed nobody (except my parents and sister) were able to come to my wedding. Finally we are having 20 guests.

My FI and I were really sad at the start because his family was exaclty as yours. His parents were divorced when he was 5 and his dad remarried another woman inmediatly...

My FiancÃ¨'s mum has not event answered to the invitation (INCREDIBLE!) and his dad and wife said NO from the start. Also the stepmother said to Thomas (my FI) that we were insane for making a DW... Besides, his sister is not coming because she is saying she has no money (and she was in vacation some months ago). We sent the invitations with one year notice so people could start saving and organize themselves.

What could you expect with such words?

It has been very difficult. I think some people cannot afford it but in our case, a lot of them has just use as an excuse the fact of a DW for not going to the wedding... In my case from my family are only coming my parents and sisters, but my aunts, uncles, cousins... are not coming. I have heard everything "this is not our type of vacation" or just as "we cannot go". Other friends had said to my mom "if she is happy making a DW..."

So... I have to recognize it was tough the first months. Of course to my Fi that had to hear that things.

But I have known other couples that were alone at their destination weddings or just with very few people with 6. I know what I am going to say it is easy to say, but think about it: At the end it is just about you and your future husband.

Also, you all could read other threats in this forum. Here are the links with "similar problems". I think it is a great help this cases. I showed them to Thomas and he felt like is no the only groom on a DW with this. It not resolves the problem but it helps.

What to do if dad doesn't want to come?

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/79941/what-to-do-if-dad-doesnt-want-to-come

No one from his side is coming!

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/76485/no-one-from-his-side-is-coming