Please Help! Dw 2016

[ashhtayy]

Hi Brides & Brides-to-be,

 

I was engaged October 29th, 2014 and have just begun my search for the perfect location for my destination wedding. Okay, I lied...I started looking in November but have gotten so overwhelmed I keep finding myself giving up. My search lasts anywhere from 1-4 days and then I get fed up because in that time I realize once again, I have accomplished nothing.

 

I am hoping I can provide a list of wants and dislikes...and maybe some generous bride or bride-to-be can point me in the right direction?! I realize I am asking a lot but I would really appreciate any advice.

 

Here we go...

 

- My fiancés entire family lives in the Vancouver, BC area. More than half of our guests will be flying from Vancouver, the other half from Toronto, ON.

- SOme very important guests are Teachers, therefore we may be looking at March break in order for them to be able to attend.

- I would like a semi-private or private wedding

- I don't want a "cookie-cutter" destination wedding.

- We will have at minimum 2 children at our wedding.

- We are looking at all inclusives only.

- I would love to be married at a resort that doesn’t push 5 weddings through in one day.

- Food is very important to us since half of us are Italian. With that being said, Cuba is out.

- Our rough guest list is 175 people. Of course we know many won’t be able to make it but do expect, at minimum, 50 – 60 guests.

- We are a budget conscious; for both us and our guests. Ideally my guests will pay no more than $1700.

- A resort that is not too far from the airport.

 

I have contacted several TA's - some via email, some in person - and I stil find I am not getting anywhere.  This is likely due to my inability to commit to liking anything! All the pictures look beautiful...how do I differentiate between real and photoshopped?

 

Sincerely,

 

A Bride-to-be in Distress

[cruisebride2016]

Sorry I can't be of help because I am not using an all inclusive resort, but good luck in your search!

[LauraM]

Tripadvisor.com made my decision for me! I'm obsessed with reading reviews to pick my next vacation spot!

[beckys98]

I'm biased toward Jamaica since that is where my fiancé is from and where we are getting married! Ha. But we had a lot of the same "musts" that you do, including a resort that allows children. We choose a resort in Montego Bay that is about 10-15 minutes from the airport. We would have chosen Negril if we were only thinking of ourselves, but our guests will maximize their time at the resort this way! 

 

I've also stayed in Mexico on the Riviera Maya side several times and my preference is Playa del Carmen, which is going to be a little further from the airport than Cancun. I just don't prefer the "hotel zone" in Cancun but I'm sure the ladies on  here can give you some ideas for a great resorts there. 

 

I've also stayed in Punta Cana in the DR and those resorts are pretty close to the airport, but getting there from Chicago generally requires a layover and you can fly direct to Jamaica or Mexico pretty easily. Not sure about that for Canada!

 

Is your $1700 budget for guests including airfare? And how many nights? I don't know a ton about prices from Canada but I think that would work for 5 nights, but longer than that you may be more limited in your options. 

 

The last thing I would note is be very careful about reviewing the costs for wedding "extras" at the resorts. Since you mentioned not wanting it to be "cookie cutter" then I assume you want to add personal touches. Some of the resorts we researched looked like they were a good deal until I started added up fees and costs for every little tiny thing related to the wedding and it quickly got ridiculous. So definitely ask for that information before deciding. 

 

Good luck! Once the location is figured out the rest is smooth sailing! Well...except for getting people to RSVP/Book in a timely manner...we all seem to have trouble with that

Edited February 7, 2015 by beckys98

[Moments That Matter]

Welcome to our forum community, and Congrats on your engagement ashhtayy!!! 

 

Our incomparable Mayan Riviera in Mexico is the destination of choice for numerous wedding couples, and one we're partial to, being based in Playa del Carmen

 

Here are a few reasons why......

 

check this excerpt from the Moon Palace Wedding Album

 

 

...or this one captured at the Grand Sunset Princess:

 

You can find lots more at our facebook album page link here: MTM facebook albums  to show you the beauty in our area. 

 

Wishing you all the best with your plans - happy research!!! team MTM

[acw271011]

Congrats and welcome! The first recommendation is find a travel agent! I would say that's a priority given everything that you listed. Finding a resort is intimidating and it takes someone that knows what they're doing to look at your list of must haves and translate it into something that works for you. There is one that the ladies here really like - her name is LaurieLee Rosser. You can contact her by phone at 866.509.9337 or her website is www.laurielee.ca  I've had success with Marlin Travel here in Toronto as well as Tripcentral.

 

I think everyone goes through a similar process but it's individual. You will need to decide what's important to you and what you can slide on and it's different for each bride. You would get a different recommendation from every bride here because they like what they have, likely for different reasons than yours.

 

@ is absolutely right. March break is high season and it will be expensive for sure. Once you do find your resort, there is a ton of information here that will start you on your planning journey, and the ladies are very willing to share.

 

Good luck and happy planning!

[ashhtayy]

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to respond to my post.

 

I wrote this in a panic, feeling as though I would never be able to narrow down a location. I took your advice and reached out to my TA again, providing my top three musts and she replied back with a list of 5 resorts.

 

Currently I am in awe with Azul Fives. I'll wait to hear on prices for my preferred time and then take it from there.

 

Thanks again

[TinkerSofi]

I think a travel agent will be of great help here. They know way more resorts than we do and some of the details that sometimes online research just doesn't give you. I agree with a lot of what has been posted already, make sure you look into the small costs for personalizing your wedding. 

 

We chose Mexico for cost reasons. In the end, our resort wasn't all that cheap, the cheapest room did come at around $1700 incl. taxes, but mind you we're going in low season and it's a great hotel from what I heard. It might be harder to find those prices during the March break. We're doing early August, as one of my MOH's is a teacher so she'll be able to come . Our resort does allow for a lot of personalization of the wedding, but always at an extra cost.

 

I would still recommend Azul Fives to you because it seems to have most of what you're looking for, but be aware that the price for all the extras can get quite expensive but i think that's the case with any resort where you want to personalize everything. We're personalizing some things but not everything and I'm ok with that . 

 

Edit: that's funny, I read your post after and your TA recommended Azul Fives haha. 

Edited February 8, 2015 by TinkerSofi