I'm a Bride looking to have a wedding on Nov 30, 2013. This happens to be Thanksgiving weekend.
We will have approximately 30 guests joining us.
We would like for our guests not to have to pay too much for the entire weekend. If it is AI, we'd like to stay around $250-300/night per couple. If not an AI, then closer to $150-200 per couple. For flights, a majority of us will be flying out of the NY/NJ area (with access to LGA, JFK, EWR and the Phili Airport) and would like to stay around $350-500 on flights.
Our budget is $10,000 for the wedding, including everything but our own travel and hotel. We will probably stay a full week to a week and a half.
Thankfully, the end of Nov is a low season, but I want to make sure the weather is still good no matter where we book.
We are open to ANY venue in the Caribbean and Central America. We have looked at almost every location and cannot come to a decision. We love Negril because of the beautiful cliffs. We love Turks and Caicos because of the gorgeous beaches. What we know we definitely want is a 4-5star hotel, something very clean and updated, for our guests, but we don't want a large AI. We really don't want the feel of getting lost, we want this to be an intimate affair with our closest friends and family. So, nothing like Beaches, Couples, Riu, Occidental, etc.
I feel like no one has gone back and forth more than we have. Originally, we were set on Negril, but had tons of trouble finding something beautiful, affordable, and that had availability. We changed course and decided on a large AI in Punta Cana (Majestic Elegance), but then decided that we didn't really like the large AI idea and went with T+C. I got pricing for some of resorts on T+C and even though some of them are affordable, the flights are expensive and from what I understand, having a wedding there is double our budget because the island is so expensive. Now we're looking at Negril again...
Anyone with similar budgets and interests out there? Anyone who already had a wedding or is planning a wedding with advice to help me pick?
Clearly, I really need help!!
Thanks in advance!