How Much Are Your Guests Paying?

[Brandii]

Hey ladies! I'm newly engaged and we're thinking the wedding will be may 2016.

 

How much did your guests pay?

 

I'm looking at doing an all inclusive resort. Small party (15? People) everyone travelling from Toronto area. I want to keep costs down for everyone so I'm mainly looking at cuba and mexico. Does anyone have any experience with these places?

[calgarybride2015]

Hey ladies! I'm newly engaged and we're thinking the wedding will be may 2016.

 

How much did your guests pay?

 

I'm looking at doing an all inclusive resort. Small party (15? People) everyone travelling from Toronto area. I want to keep costs down for everyone so I'm mainly looking at cuba and mexico. Does anyone have any experience with these places?

When we started looking I was told Mexico would be the cheapest bet so I kind of just stuck to that so I can't say one way or another. Personally I paid more in Cuba than Mexico when I've travelled but with Cuba I did go during spring break and had concierge service which would run up the price.

 

We are going for 7 nights in January to the Mayan Riviera. Our costs include airfare, hotel, transfers and taxes -- Toronto is paying $1465 and Calgary $1565. This is for a 5* resort and I think it's decent price.

 

The cheapest we could find in our time frame was in Puerto Vallarta and then the Grand Palladium was $1250 from Calgary.

 

I suggest a good travel agent. She can stear you towards resorts you'd never consider but knows will come back in your price range. They can also help get you better deals at the resort, help book your wedding, etc. Also play around on Expedia and See what ranges of pricing is out there for the weeks you are considering -- from my experience group bookings should beat these prices. We are booked with Air Canada. Our group rate was always lower than any listed price on the internet which really helped people to book with us. We also got a free upgrade to first class and every 17 person booked we got a free trip -- we ended up getting 2!

 

Good luck.

 

 

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Edited November 22, 2014 by calgarybride2015

[kmk2016]

My guests are paying $1780 plus tax from Calgary and Vancouver (kids are less) for Karisma's Sensatori in Feb 2016. High season at a high end resort ended up meaning a bit more expensive, but I managed to get a great rate thanks to a fantastic TA. We have over 90 people booked already so our guests were ok with the price knowing the quality of resort we had chosen. (Price was a Canadian package for 7 nights including flights, accommodation and transfers) we earned one free for every 14 booked to a a max of 4 free (a credit for 4 was applied to our account)

Edited November 23, 2014 by kmk2016

[Brandii]

Wow! I guess I really should talk to a TA then and find out what they say and try and stay in low season or just before/after.

 

I booked a vacation last year for the same time frame that we're looking to have the wedding, watched prices for weeks and they really dropped closer to low season. We paid 880 with insurance to stay at a 4* all inclusive (memories Punta cana) and Cuba was way cheaper during that time (avg 700).

 

I'm really hoping a TA would be able to help keep costs low for everyone as some of the people coming are college students etc.... i guess it's good we're pretty open on the wedding date then huh?

[kmk2016]

Wow! I guess I really should talk to a TA then and find out what they say and try and stay in low season or just before/after.

 

I booked a vacation last year for the same time frame that we're looking to have the wedding, watched prices for weeks and they really dropped closer to low season. We paid 880 with insurance to stay at a 4* all inclusive (memories Punta cana) and Cuba was way cheaper during that time (avg 700).

 

I'm really hoping a TA would be able to help keep costs low for everyone as some of the people coming are college students etc.... i guess it's good we're pretty open on the wedding date then huh?

Being flexible and finding a great TA are key. The sooner you can lock down a date and a destination, the sooner you can give your friends/family time to save. We have travelled to a ton of AI resorts through out Cuba, DR, Mexico and the Caribbean... Cuba is obviously a great value and could be an option depending on what you are looking for. Determine what you want YOUR budget to be, and what price you want to have your guests pay and then work with a TA that finds something that works with both budgets. If keeping it economical for some of your college guests is a priority, it can be done... Just know what you can/can't do and stay firm but realistic in your vision. Luckily for us most of our guests are well established 30-50yr olds who didn't mind our cost,,, but I still felt guilty when they were spending 10k per family to attend... Even if it didn't seem to phase them. It's why I want to make the experience over the top once they arrive. It still boggles my mind that so many of our loved ones booked!

[calgarybride2015]

Wow! I guess I really should talk to a TA then and find out what they say and try and stay in low season or just before/after.

 

I booked a vacation last year for the same time frame that we're looking to have the wedding, watched prices for weeks and they really dropped closer to low season. We paid 880 with insurance to stay at a 4* all inclusive (memories Punta cana) and Cuba was way cheaper during that time (avg 700).

 

I'm really hoping a TA would be able to help keep costs low for everyone as some of the people coming are college students etc.... i guess it's good we're pretty open on the wedding date then huh?

I second Kim!

 

But I also agree it's great to be flexible in your dates. We seriously picked our date because it was one of the cheapest weeks price for our guests was super important as we also have people paying close to 10k to come!

 

Also you being flexible on your location will also be super help to you! Like I said above some parts of one country will be cheaper

than others - puerto Vallarta is generally

Cheaper than Cancun and the Mayan, etc.

 

The travel agent can guide you thru all this this is the toughest part but once you pick a location and resort the fun of planning can begin.

 

 

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Had another thought -- I also was a bit shocked by prices as I have saw a lot cheaper posted. Something to think about -- you may find resorts that you've seen at rock bottom prices may not be a location you dream of for for wedding, their wedding packages may not suit your needs, budget, etc or overall

The resort may not meet the needs of you and all your guests. We hit this snag too and prices were also higher than I had seen. I was told prices are going up!!! Just something else to think about -- make a list of your must haves for your wedding and resort. Will help narrow resorts down.

 

 

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[Moments That Matter]

Welcome to our forum community, Brandi, and Congrats on your upcoming dw!!! as you can see from the replies you've already received, you'll find lots of great info, advice and suggestions here

 

Wishing you happy research, (eyes on your "prize") and all the best with your plans - cheers!!! team MTM

 

[Icis]

Toronto has much more choices than Western part of Canada. To give you some perspective, our package with Sunwing is $1,608 per person all in for 7 days in the resort flying from Vancouver, while my friends in Calgary paid $1,628 per person and my friend that is coming from Toronto paid $1,455.

 

It depends on your group's comfort zone in terms of travelling. With over 3/4 of our guests having never travelled to all-inclusive and/or Mexico, it takes a bit of convincing talks before we get buy-ins. We talked to the people that we really wanted to be in our wedding to get a sense of what their budget is before we started seeking out a resort. Yes, it is our wedding and my fiance and I are willing to pay much more for the grandest of the grand resorts, but it is a time for us to celebrate with people we love and we had to keep in mindful of their budgets.

 

Our range of pricing after talking to family and friends were $1,500 to $1,800. With this in mind and other criteria that we set in our minds, we were able to select a resort by process of elimination.

 

Hope this helps.

[Kayla88]

It depends on the time of year and flight availability. I decided to go with July 2015 since it was cheaper for my guest (Halifax and Edmonton). However flying out of Toronto should be cheaper since you have more options. We are paying 1597$ for 7 days at the Ocean Coral

[nattiegams325]

During peak season for Riviera Maya from Chicago for one week: includes round trip nonstop air, ground transport, and all inclusive resort: $2000/person for standard room