Guest & Thier Budget

[baybride]

I am stressed out now me and the fiance have just decided to get married at ROR next March 2009, we have only so far told immediate family because we are still trying to find a travel agent so we can see how much this will cost our guest to come along with us. Most of my family is in Northern California, some in Southern CA and just based on some rates I've seen online it looks like they can expect to spend about $1500/person and I don't know if that's asking too much of a person. I know with the economy not being the best now I'm worried that people will look at it like "I can't believe they expect us to pay that much to come to a wedding" has anyone else dealt with this or how did your guest initially react. Our friends and family are normal working class people. I just hoped we would have at least our closest friends and family.

[Alyssa]

Well, as for good Travel Agents, we have 4 of them on this forum and TA Jennifer specializes in Jamacia so you many want to PM her.

 

2nd - would you consider Mexico since it is so close to CA and could possibly be cheaper?

[boscobel]

Hi baybride - there are a few TA's on this site. It would probably be beneficial to you to discuss this with them, and then use their knowledge and skill. I wish I had known about this site before I had booked. Tammy host is a TA, and there are a few others, TA Jill, TA Lindsey, TA Jennifer. Sorry if I forgot anyone...

[baybride]

Thanks for the advice girls, I emailed TA Tammy this afternoon, hopefully I'll hear from her soon. As for moving the wedding to Mexico, I don't think that would be a option the fiance is really excited about Jamaica so I think he's set on that location.

[Marnie&Peter]

Our wedding is in April 2009 and we have only pretty much told our immediate family and closest friends our idea. The rate that we got coming from Toronto, Canada was almost $1700.00 per person. At like you, I was very concerned about telling people esp with the economy! Everyone in our family was very supportive and liked the idea. My oldest brother and his wife are expecting a baby in Jan 2009 and he already told us that they wouldnt be attending because they simply cannot afford it with the baby coming along..

We found with most of our friends, they liked the idea and said they would love to come, but when the time comes to putting down deposits, I guess it will truly show who is actually serious about it!!!

 

I have come to terms with it, and I have full out decided that this is what I want. I prefer it if not a lot of people come, that is why I wanted to do a destination wedding in the first place. Now I just have in mind, "If they really want to come to your wedding, then they will, no matter the price". I also found with some friends that they were planning a vacation/trip for 2009 anyways, so why not come with us and see our wedding and still have their vacation.

 

I think you will be surprised by the amount of people that will actually want to come and be there with you when you eventually tell them! Dont worry!

[Bride010101]

I think that this is a problem lots of DW brides have.

 

When we were first making our decision ... we sat down and asked what do we want? Once we confirmed that we wanted a DW we spoke to both sets of parents to make sure that they were in support and would be able to come. For us that was the main thing - we wanted our parents and siblings. Any additional people would be bonus... but our immediate fams were a must.

 

Both of our families were happy for us and very supportive of our decision. We chose ROR because for our needs it seemed the best option... we wanted a nice AI that wouldn't completley break the budget. When we sat w/ my parents trying to figure out the cost stuff, my parents pointed out that some people (moms side of the fam) wouldn't come do to finanicals - no matter what it cost. That is reality - and we decided we were okay with that. She went on to say, those that wanted to come would be making it into a vacation. Yes its for our wedding, but its not completley about our wedding. Our families are both working class as well, and we decided that ~$1600-1800/person for a week was our goal. Yes it is a lot of money - but in my opinoin its decent for a week in Jamaica.

 

So far most people have been supportive. Even some of our poor college friends and younger cousins are excited about it. We gave everyone a little over a year notice... which is a pretty significant chunk of time to budget accordingly. But yes, just be prepared that some people won't be able to come. (and make sure you and FI are okay with that)

[rodent]

We made sure our immediate family was ok with the expense. After taht we made it clear to everyone there were no expectations to go. If people don't have the vacation in their budget, they are not going. Others have been wanting to take a carribean vacation for a while so they didn't mind the cost. Ours was about $700 per person for 3 nights.

[chicklet]

This may sound a bit selfish but its your day, you should do what you want. If your guests want to be there, they will go to whatever resort you want no matter the price.

There is always the option of them booking on their own (in that case you can wait a bit more till last minute and will get a better price). Lots of things to consider.

I am booking with Apple Vacation (possibly) out of the states, you may want to check that out.

[baybride]

Wow Morgan, $700/person is a great price, I wish I could pull that off for my guest I think that will be easier for me to say vs. $1500. At this point I will just have to suck it up if people don't come, of course my parents and my best friend who is also my cousin will be there but his parents I don't know, we first talked to them about this 5 days ago, actually we didn't even get to finish the conversation, they told us they would call us back and..... like I said, that was 5 days ago. I asked him how did he feel about that and did he want to cancel it if they choose not to come and he said absolutely not. He knows financially they can do it, but they are just being butts right now. I guess they are mad since we were originally going to do a local wedding but, this is what we really want and it's really going to save me an my parents a lot of money.

[jajajaja]

I think you have received some good advice thus far. In my opinion, the safest way to figure it all out is to have a chat with your FI. Figure out earlier on what you will do in case people you really want there can't afford it. For us, we were doing it no matter what. Some loved ones couldn't come and we were heartbroken. In the end, it was worth it though.

 

My guests all paid about $1500 per person for a week at an AI- including airfare. Everyone that went had an incredible time.