Planning Issues... Need your help...Please!!!

[Marianna]

Hello Ladies,

 

I wanted to know if any of you ladies have used the destinationweddings.com or luxedestinationweddings.com coordinating services. Also, what would be an average price for them I am debating beetwen having one person in charge or me doing it by myself. I know that I will like to do a lot of the things myself but then maybe a professional will be better. Any suggestions or advice will help.

 

thanks,

marianna

[dancingdolphin]

Hello,

 

I used destinationweddings.com. I found them before I found this site. I paid $50 upfront and when I booked my travel, the $50 is subtracted from the price so I don't really pay anything extra for their services. They are a travel agent. The travel agent I have is Sam. He was extremely helpful in helping me narrow down the location and the resort. I spent about an hour (sometimes more) on the phone with him during my lunch hour as he explained pros and cons of different locations (at first I was thinking of Jamaica) and different hotel options. He would make suggestions based on what I told him and I'd go off and do my research at nite and report back what I did / didn't like the next day. He would also give me an idea of the price for hotel / air when I was researching sites. He has visited a lot of these results and worked with the wedding coordinators all over, so that was very helpful as well.

 

Once I picked a resort, we used his service so send out save the date postcards as well as sent an email to everyone. Some people reported not receiving the postcards, but I'm not sure if it's cuz they threw them out thinking it was solicitation. The guests don't need to book through him, but most of them did. I was glad to not have to deal with everyone's travel questions as he filtered most of them.

 

Pros:

He was very helpful and spent hours and hours answering my questions and helping me pick the resort. He also was very responsive to me. He has a great relationship with the wedding coordinator at my resort and can get things lightning quick from them. I try not to send all my questions through him, but when they don't respond, I ask for his help and it seems to work. He also handled the "know-it-all" guest I had that insisted on getting in the block of rooms (which I didn't get) very well and didn't even bring it to my attention (although FMIL did, even though it was resolved). Also, I couldn't find a cheaper rate on the internet, so I think he did great on pricing.

 

Cons:

As for the cons, I found that Sam isn't the most computer literate person. He sometimes seemed to get a little flustered with their computer interface. As a result, I double checked my reservations to make sure he had the right dates, etc. He's also was very talkative so I would have to manage our conversations if I was in a crunch for time and make sure he didn't get off subject.

 

Overall, I would recommend using some type of travel agent so you don't have to deal with all the guests' questions.

[Nitnylyin1]

Hi there,

I too used Destination weddings.com, before I had ever stumbled across this website and all the recommendations you find. I had done my own research for quite some time about location and when I went to my TA, I had already picked the city and practically resort. The TA just handles booking our airfare and hotel and working with guests who were interested in using them. I guess I had the false impression that they did wedding coordinating as well and that is so not the case. Yes it was only 50.00 to use their service but I would say just use a regular local travel agent or even AAA, if you're a member. Make your own save the dates or purchase elsewhere. After seeing other BDW members STD's, I was quite jealous. Ours looks like an advertisement for a travel agent, go figure. Not a lot of input for your own creativity. I don't necessarily think we got the best rates on our trip either. Oh well. Maybe this helps you out with your dilemma.

 

Heather

[Marianna]

Ladies,

 

Thank you sooo much for the input. i had no idea that they were a travel agents. From the email that I received from them, I thought that they were wedding planners. Go figure.

Thanks again!

Marianna

[Nitnylyin1]

No problem Marianna. Keep in mind that depending on where you have your wedding, the hotel may already have a coordinator. Check with girls on this site who have used that hotel to see what their input was. I have noticed a lot of girls on here have hired WC's in addition to the one they have through their hotel. I found that doing that for me would have been too expensive and more than what I wanted to spend. I am just going through my hotel's WC and praying it all works out in the end.

[FoxyBride]

Luxe is actually a planning service. I contacted them when I was initially thinking about PR. Their packages go from $1000 to $6000. I still have their PDF if you wanted it. PM your email addy if you need it.