When To Start Booking?

[diadiamond]

Hi Everyone!

 

I'm just curious as to how booking and everything works.  My fiancee and I have worked out some tentative dates for when we want our wedding to be and we know what resort we want to get married at.  When should I start asking for rates?  I've heard that if you book early you could qualify for early booking bonuses.  My friends and family would like us to give them at least a year of notice so they can plan their vacation time and save.  

 

Also, I was wondering if travel agents require you to put down a deposit on the number of guests you think will come?  And how much of a deposit they want?

 

I'm just confused as to how it all works and how other brides have approached it.

 

Thanks =) 

[csho]

@@diadiamond typically in Canada you can start looking into prices a year or so in advance. Most of the suppliers will give you a quote that lasts 30 days (but might differ btw suppliers) and then once you decide you want to book you put down a deposit for yourself and you hubby and that locks down the price and 30 seats for 90 days. That gives your guests 90 days to decide if they want to go and then all they have to do is put down their deposit. And typically payment is due 6-8 weeks before departure.

[kmk2016]

The trick is to work with a great TA to get all the bonuses and to get best advice on when and where to book. Usually the earlier the better!

 

Are you in Canada or US? That makes a big difference too, if you are US, then wright travel runs this board and has some great perks.... I would go there. If you are Canadian, there are some great TAs that us girls can recommend!

 

 

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[diadiamond]

@@csho thanks =)  I'm just worried as to how much money we need to put down for a deposit.  I'm also wondering if there's any harm in contacting travel agents to inquire about it before we're actually ready to book and put down a deposit?  

[kmk2016]

Duhhhh didn't see that you are in Canada!

 

My TA is amaaaazzzzing and I would totally recommend her! Laurielee.ca she specializes in destination wedding planning and is awesome!

 

 

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[csho]

We put down $150 each so a total of $300! And we booked with Sunwing. And no you can contact the TA's anytime, just know that whatever they quote you will last for 30 days and then after that it could change! So I had contacted our TA just to see what prices we were looking at and then it was such a good quote we ended up booking it right then and am I ever glad we did because it never went as low as our price again!

[diadiamond]

Oh wow!  Thanks ladies.  I would really like for us to keep our prices at around $1,200.00 per person with taxes and we're hoping that's possible seeing as we want to have our wedding during hurricane season.  Do I have to put down an amount for each guest?  Like if I want to save 30 spaces?  I've read about brides putting down like $2,500.00 as a deposit to save space.

[kellymiller]

I am in Canada and I'm using Wright Travel. For the resort we picked (Dreams Palm Beach) required a $100 deposit for each room we block booked. We booked 30 rooms, so we paid a deposit of $3000 (American). It sucks to have to pay so much up front, but that is 3000 less than we have to pay at the end. We are hoping that it will cover the cost of our stay at the resort, as well as part of the wedding expenses!

[kmk2016]

Oh wow! Thanks ladies. I would really like for us to keep our prices at around $1,200.00 per person with taxes and we're hoping that's possible seeing as we want to have our wedding during hurricane season. Do I have to put down an amount for each guest? Like if I want to save 30 spaces? I've read about brides putting down like $2,500.00 as a deposit to save space.

Laurielee didn't need anything more than $200 for me/FI to get our 48 package contract. Then people have 3 months to take one of the 48 and put down their deposit- balance due 2 months before we leave. Once we "sell out" that first 48 we get a second contract.

 

 

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[csho]

@diadiamond  no its only for you and your fiancé. It works a bit differently in the states and possibly if you book with an American company like Wright Travel. But with Cuba you would be using a package vacation through Sunwing or Transat or Air Canada Vacations and they would only require you the $100 or $150 each for you and your fiancé. Like I said we travelled to Cuba through Sunwing and only had to put down a deposit for ourselves and that held 30 seats!