Indecisive Newbie...

[desmiv]

Hi everyone,

 

I just got engaged in October 2014 and have always new I would be doing a destination wedding. Thinking it would be easier, more laid back and of course just plain beautiful. However, I can't seem to decide on where exactly to have it.

 

I originally thought of having it in Cabo San Lucas, since that was our very first trip together when we met and very special to us. There are a couple of AI resorts I liked and seemed to have good reviews; Dreams and Pueblo Bonito. One of the things I'm worried about  though is the travel time for my guests.

 

Than a guest asked if children could go and I thought, well why not. My niece who is 8 is going to be my flower girl and I'm sure she'd like some other kids to play with. So now I'm thinking maybe having it at Beaches Resort Turks & Caicos since it's so family oriented and will give the parents a chance to let their hair down and not worry too much about the kids. Upon looking up info on T&C it just seemed like it would be very expensive and I'm not sure I like the colors they offer in their packages.

 

I really need some tips and advice on how to start, what questions to ask, etc. Most of all, would love to hear from anyone that has had any experience with having their wedding at any of the places I mentioned above.

 

I feel like I'm stressing myself out before I even get started. BTW, I'm planning on getting married sometime in June of 2016.

 

Thanks for any help, advice, ideas that can be provided...

 

[beckys98]

Hi @@desmiv! Congratulations on your engagement! Picking the resort is by far the hardest decisions, but it gets easier from there!

 

I would suggest trying to narrow down which country you want to be in and I definitely think picking somewhere that it is easy for your guests to get to is important. Espeically if some people only come for a long weekend, you want them to get there and back without wasting too much time. Our pick of Jamaica was a no-brainer because my fiance grew up there, but even still we would have picked Mexico, Jamaica, or the Dominican Republic because you can fly direct to those locations from Chicago for a fair price. They also tend to have more affordable resort options than some of the other islands.

 

We want to accommodate children as well and I had a travel agent try to push hard for us to go with Beaches. While the wedding itself would have been pretty much free for us, the cost for our guests would have been at least 3x the resort we ended up with! Plus, not everyone has kids (or they have kids but aren't bringing them) and I thought a dancing Elmo around the pool might not be ideal for the rest of the group.

 

We stayed at a Dreams (Dreams Riviera Cancun) before and it was very family friends with a kids club and activities, but wasn't nearly as expensive as Beaches. The food was fabulous and we loved the resort overall. The resort we selected (Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in Montego Bay) has a kids water park on site, a kids club, and babysitting available so I think it is a good compromise.

 

Are you using a travel agent? They are generally a big help in narrowing down resorts - so long as they aren't obviously pushing one brand over another.

 

The other thing I would say is make sure you get the full pricing information for the wedding at the resorts you are considering (packages and costs for add-ons). Some look like such a good deal but then they nickle and dime you for every little thing. When i had it narrowed down to 2 resorts, i did some calculations on the cost for the actual wedding and reception and there was a huge difference.

 

Also check what group incentives they offer. Our resort refunds us the value of one guest's stay for every 20 guests we have. We are expecting 80 so that is a significant amount of money we can put toward something special for our guests.

 

Good luck! I had the hardest time deciding even though we knew the country we wanted. If you are considering Jamaica and have any questions, just let me know.

[acw271011]

Hi everyone,

 

I just got engaged in October 2014 and have always new I would be doing a destination wedding. Thinking it would be easier, more laid back and of course just plain beautiful. However, I can't seem to decide on where exactly to have it.

 

I originally thought of having it in Cabo San Lucas, since that was our very first trip together when we met and very special to us. There are a couple of AI resorts I liked and seemed to have good reviews; Dreams and Pueblo Bonito. One of the things I'm worried about  though is the travel time for my guests.

 

Than a guest asked if children could go and I thought, well why not. My niece who is 8 is going to be my flower girl and I'm sure she'd like some other kids to play with. So now I'm thinking maybe having it at Beaches Resort Turks & Caicos since it's so family oriented and will give the parents a chance to let their hair down and not worry too much about the kids. Upon looking up info on T&C it just seemed like it would be very expensive and I'm not sure I like the colors they offer in their packages.

 

I really need some tips and advice on how to start, what questions to ask, etc. Most of all, would love to hear from anyone that has had any experience with having their wedding at any of the places I mentioned above.

 

I feel like I'm stressing myself out before I even get started. BTW, I'm planning on getting married sometime in June of 2016.

 

Thanks for any help, advice, ideas that can be provided...

 

Congrats and welcome!

 

Firstly a good travel agent is a definite "need". Your travel agent will your new bff as you go through your planning journey. I will guess you're in the US - the Administrator of this site is a Cabo bride herself and is part of Wright Travel. They're destination wedding specialists and have gained some of the highest level awards available from excellent resort chains. They will work with you to find out what you want to spend, what your criteria are for your wedding and how many guests you think you might be expecting. You'll need to have an idea before you can go with any wedding packages as some charge extra per person. They will also help you out with perks that you might be entitled to depending on what resort you chose and the number of guests/rooms you end up with. I've included the link to contacting them. Definitely worth a shot. You'll find information is going to be a must and the more you can get the better.

 

http://www.wrighttravelagency.com/go/plan-your-destination-wedding?keyword=BDWSB-wta

 

You'll definitely find a ton of information on this site and the ladies are very willing to share their tips and ideas as well as what they've learned.

 

Good luck and happy planning!

[TammyWright]

welcome to BDW!

 

Cabo is beautiful but it would be a long and expensive flight for your guest if most are coming from New York.

 

Cancun and Riviera Maya are a quick flight for you and much less expensive for your guests.  There are some great family AI's in that area....much more than cabo.

 

We would love to help you price out locations and narrow down resorts for you.  You can read our reviews and contact us via the link in my siggy

[desmiv]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions, I appreciate all the kind advice.

 

@@beckys98 I don't know yet if I want to use a Travel Agent because a lot of my guests are very internet savvy and I don't want them to be locked into having to use a travel agent if they choose not to. Also, I don't want to have to account for booking numbers that aren't fulfilled. Not sure if that's how it works, but so far that is what I've read from other people.

 

I would like to be able to talk with a few just to for help/assistance in narrowing things down, finding the best options for my desires and budget; overall just for more inciteful information.

 

However, I don't want an Agent to feel like I'm wasting their time if I chose not to use them. Would they still sit down with me?

 

Sometimes I feel like I'm overthinking things...

 

[beckys98]

Hi - A lot of people on this board are Canadian and their TA arrangements are VERY different than in the US! I did not block off any rooms or have to guarantee a number of rooms or anything. And our guest don't *have* to use our agent. But I can tell you the rate she is getting us on the resort is about $100 less per person per night than what is published on other travel sites! A lot of people are using her for the hotel booking but not flights because they have miles/points to redeem (us included) and that is no problem at all.

 

If anyone does find a cheaper price elsewhere she will beat it - so I like knowing our guests are getting the best deal. Plus, we will get booking incentives at the resort because we are a group and I'm not sure if you can get those with people just booking individually. She also can set up payment plans for the guests and stuff like that.

 

It has been really nice to direct all guests' travel related questions directly to her so I don't have to deal with it People forget to RSVP to me but have put their deposits down ($150) so she has a more accurate guest list than I do at this point!

 

Just food for thought!

 

 

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions, I appreciate all the kind advice.

 

@@beckys98 I don't know yet if I want to use a Travel Agent because a lot of my guests are very internet savvy and I don't want them to be locked into having to use a travel agent if they choose not to. Also, I don't want to have to account for booking numbers that aren't fulfilled. Not sure if that's how it works, but so far that is what I've read from other people.

 

I would like to be able to talk with a few just to for help/assistance in narrowing things down, finding the best options for my desires and budget; overall just for more inciteful information.

 

However, I don't want an Agent to feel like I'm wasting their time if I chose not to use them. Would they still sit down with me?

 

Sometimes I feel like I'm overthinking things...

 

 

[LasCaletas]

Hi everyone,

 

I just got engaged in October 2014 and have always new I would be doing a destination wedding. Thinking it would be easier, more laid back and of course just plain beautiful. However, I can't seem to decide on where exactly to have it.

 

I originally thought of having it in Cabo San Lucas, since that was our very first trip together when we met and very special to us. There are a couple of AI resorts I liked and seemed to have good reviews; Dreams and Pueblo Bonito. One of the things I'm worried about  though is the travel time for my guests.

 

Than a guest asked if children could go and I thought, well why not. My niece who is 8 is going to be my flower girl and I'm sure she'd like some other kids to play with. So now I'm thinking maybe having it at Beaches Resort Turks & Caicos since it's so family oriented and will give the parents a chance to let their hair down and not worry too much about the kids. Upon looking up info on T&C it just seemed like it would be very expensive and I'm not sure I like the colors they offer in their packages.

 

I really need some tips and advice on how to start, what questions to ask, etc. Most of all, would love to hear from anyone that has had any experience with having their wedding at any of the places I mentioned above.

 

I feel like I'm stressing myself out before I even get started. BTW, I'm planning on getting married sometime in June of 2016.

 

Thanks for any help, advice, ideas that can be provided...

 hi Desmiv!

 

Congratulations on your engagement!!

 

I would like to welcome you to the best destination wedding site, where you will find lots of information regarding wedding venue locations, details,etc...

 

If you'd like to you can visit our website www.adventureweddingsvallarta.com and check out our wedding packages, we have a beautiful private beach called Las Caletas in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where we make the magic happen with an amazing view and an awesome setting for your ceremony.

 

If you want to speak with a sales agent for further assistance feel free to contact us at toll free 1.866.731.8152 or e-mail us to [email protected]

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Adventure Weddings.

[desmiv]

@@beckys98 thank you again. These are really great points that you make. I feel a little more at ease having this info -I appreciate it.

 

I have started looking into some TA's -wish me luck!

[AllieH]

the other point in favor of using a TA is that in doing a room block & group deal you can get perks and incentives that you wouldn't get if they all book individually. that could be free rooms, free events, or $$ back that you can then use towards a bigger event. 

 

I'll second a recommendations for Wright Travel. Not only are they a great TA, they know destination weddings. So it's a two-fer: travel agents that can tell you what each resort/company has available for weddings (not all TAs really know destinations weddings). 

 

good luck with the planning!

 

@@beckys98 thank you again. These are really great points that you make. I feel a little more at ease having this info -I appreciate it.

 

I have started looking into some TA's -wish me luck!