Someone to pick destination - Destination wedding advisor?

[Christine]

I can't entirely help you out, but have you looked at Cabo Surf, which is a smaller hotel and I know many of the girls on this forum have had beautiful wedding there. As for the water in Cabo, I haven't ever been there but I know in So Cal it really depends on the time of year you go.

The beaches in Cabo are pretty nice from the photos and reviews I have seen and this is a fairly easy destination for most people to get to.

Tara (tvt) went through this when she was planning and we asked her to make a priority list of what she really wanted.

Can you let go of the ocean water issues if they have a great pool?

Do they have to have surfing, or can you go somewhere for your honeymoon to surf?

I haven't been to mexico a whole lot but what about another location in Latin America?

[Sharonie]

I would still suggest to call up couple TAs. They have gone to many locations and seen many resorts/hotels to be knowledgable enough to find something perfect or close to what you want. We would all love to help here and there's thread about why we chose our destination, but we might be limited to places we know of and that's only a small percentage of all the options available out there. Yes, TAs get commissions from vendors, but if they can find the one place that fit your vision for you to have your dream wedding then they deserve that fat check right?

[jenvh]

I was feeling exactly how you are about a month ago. I really just wanted someone to pick a place for me. I needed something easy to get to from Los Angeles and Colorado. When I first started my search, Mexico was the one palce I didn't want to go because of being too resort-y for what I wanted. But then I looked at smaller beach towns that were next to resort towns and suddenly it didn't seem so bad and I am getting married in Mexico.

 

Now I am not inviting 200 people so I didn't do any research into places that could have a party that big. Did you look at Hotel Brisas del MAr in Zihuatenejo? That was my 2nd choice location in MExico. I went with Isla Mujeres. Some of the hotels I looked at in Isla required you to book the entire hotel in order to have a wedding there. That didn't work for me, but might for you. The hotels there may be too small for you, though.

 

Good luck.

[Christine]

Can I also suggest looking into something close to home, what about going to San Diego or somewhere in Malibu? I think that you seem to really want a traditional wedding and I don't know that you will find all of your requests at a hotel (band, food, kids, cost effective, etc.)

[nylalany]

Thank you so much for getting back to me. In response to all of you so far:

Re: Sunset at the Palms - thanks I'll look into it. My mom seemed nervous about Jamaica but my dentist, who recently when to Royal Palms (adults only) raved about it.

Re: Costa Rica - I was there once and didn't think the water was very pretty, but maybe it was the area I was in? It was over 10 years ago, so I can't completely recall where it was, I'll have to look into it. Does anyone have a wedding hotel they loved there? The cute places seem too small.

Re: Cabo Surf Hotel - I did look look into this place as it seemed perfect but it seemed too small to accommodate all my guests - I guess I should write them for further details - maybe they'd have some input and suggestions for me!

Re: Hotel Brisas del Mar - I think it only has 35 rooms so once again it may be too small - but maybe I should write and ask for more details! At least they have boogie boarding, which my fiance enjoys (he is a wave sort of person, whereas I love snorkeling in addition to surfing...). Does anyone know what the water is like over there?

Re: Surfing / Pool vs. Nice Water - Well, I'd prefer nice water over pool (though pool is pretty) I guess, so maybe I can give up the surfing (which is why I've been looking at Mayan Riviera at Paradisus Riviera and Ana y Jose (which may be too pricey for what it is, and too small). Any input on either of these places?

Re: Isla Mujeres - I looked into Villa Rolandi which seemed super pretty but it doesn't allow children under 13, unfortunately, and is on the small side. I may look into Cabanas Maria del Mar as it is bigger, though not exactly what I envisioned.

Re: Malibu - Believe me, I would love something in Malibu as that is where I surf! However, hotel rates are $625+ for just a room, and that is just ridiculous. I thought about doing something at a restaurant and public beach there, and then have all my guests stay in Santa Monica (near me), but even the hotels on the beach near me are ridiculous ($400+) and I would love for everyone to stay in the same place. Maybe I need to find out if they offer group rates, but in my other calls around Southern California, that hasn't been very successful.

Re: San Diego - I've looked at Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach - if anyone has any more info on either of those or San Diego, I'd welcome it. Laguna Beach is too pricey for guests I think ($400+ non-AI) and Huntington Hyatt doesn't offer group room rates so I'd just have to hope that guests could find something, but they are generally $300+. Sad sad sad. I need to visit the Huntington Hyatt - maybe there is another way to get a group room rate besides thru the wedding side of things? And I'd have to hire an outside person to do the beach wedding side of it (I think Ritz will do that but Hyatt won't.)

Anyhow, sorry to write your eyes off (talk your ears off) - but you guys are so supportive and sweet and I appreciate the input and help!

[Christine]

one of my friends got married at a private residence in the palisades and it was amazing, why not see if you can rent out a private house in malibu on the beach?

As far as the guests staying close by, I know that my friend who had her wedding there got a pretty good room block at some of the hotels in Santa Monica (we went to high school there) but when I went to the wedding I stayed in Culver City and it wasn't a big deal to get to the wedding.

As for San Diego, hmm La Jolla would probably be your best bet for something a little nicer, and why not get a nice hotel room block in hotel circle which is not that bad of a drive to La Jolla.

I will keep thinking about SD and LA for you, DreaW might be able to help you out more with OC

[Wisco4]

Check out this website...

Discount all inclusive vacations and honeymoons: Excellence, Secrets, Palace, Dreams, Sunscape, Couples Resorts in Cancun, Mexico and the Caribbean.

 

You can click on a destination city then they will list all the AI resorts. When you click on each resort it tells you how many rooms it has, who it is good for (families/adults/weddings, etc), plus there are great pictures. It might give you a good gage at what's out there.

[Copita]

I think you should really pick out the one you want. Because travel agents sometimes get a commission from certain resorts so it may not be an objective pick on their part. Just ask them to provide you with information for the one you like.

What I did was email each resort/hotel individually to find out all that information and then i sought out a travel agent to make the travel arrangements for us.