Destination wedding-where to start?

[trisha0612]

to the forum! First thing we did was decide on a location and resort! I would check out some the places these ladies are getting married at in the Caribbean and then hopefully you will be able to decide on one! That's the most important part...from there, pick a date!

 

CONGRATS!!! This forum will keep you sane...I promise!

[IrieBride08]

Welcome to the forum!

[Yari]

Welcome to the fourm!

 

One of my BM's got married in St. Thomas three years ago. It was amazing. We did a cruise that left from Puerto Rico. St. Thomas was the first stop...She got a WC and was married at Megaen's Bay (not sure of the spelling).

 

It was literally the best wedding I have ever been to (except of course my own next year).

[JanaBrooke]

to the forum! I'm new here too. I am planning my wedding for Kauai (was there for Valentines Day and loved it). Carribean will be absolutely gorgeous no matter what you decide to do. I am also not having a large gathering and am still debating between a larger resort or smaller venue. We'll see! But good luck in your planning and there are tons of great ideas and resources here so you came to the right place! Have fun!!

[Sharonie]

to the forum! Happy planning...

[lbk01]

Thanks for the advice, everyone!! Good tip on making sure there is only one wedding a day!

 

After thinking about it some more, I really think we will have 20-30 guests absolutely max. Could be as small as 10. I know they say you'd be surprised people you never expected to will come, but I really don't think that'll be true in our case.

 

I think this is what we’re going to do-please let me know if this is what you did or you have any suggestions. First we go to a travel agent who maybe can help us find a location that is easy to get to, has what we’re looking for-somewhere beautiful with good places to get married and activities for everyone. Any suggestions? Hopefully the agent also knows more details about the marriage requirements (I got the basics online). Then we contact some locations on the island to get our wedding site and confirm the marriage requirements, get local info if we need. Then we look for vendors here if we are bringing them and there. Once all that’s set, we go back to the travel agent to arrange group discounts, book people, etc. People will be coming from different areas so I don’t really know how the discounts and such work, or whether everyone would be better to book on their own. But does the overall plan make sense? Is this how you started?

 

Also, is anyone having a smaller group paying for their guests? The whole point of our doing a destination wedding is to save money and get our family and close friends together for a few days. Obviously if we had 300 people we could not afford to pay for them, but if we end up with 20 (some are families and would share rooms) I’m debating whether we should. I’m also wondering how that would work-do you pay for as long as they want to stay, what if they want to just be there a couple days, etc.? I guess you would have to negotiate with the hotel for the rates. If you don’t pay for them and are paying for some (like grandparents or siblings), how do you let those people for who you are paying know without them assuming everyone’s covered?

 

Thanks again!!! Hopefully when this is all done I'll be able to give some advice to everyone else!

[jak27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lbk01 If you don’t pay for them and are paying for some (like grandparents or siblings), how do you let those people for who you are paying know without them assuming everyone’s covered?

Ok, first of all, WELCOME! You will love it here!

Second, we decided to pay for our parent's rooms, grandparents and a handful of very close friends. We included a hand written note in their save the date, which basically told them we are providing their accomodations for the wedding, please be discrete, etc. They were blown away and thrilled of course.

Next, if you're looking at 10-20 guests, what is the budget you are working wtih? I ask because there are some amazing places in the caribbean and the budget can dicate whether you go super-small resort/boutique or a bit larger area, and whether you can provide rooms for your guests, or just everything else. I did a ton of research for venues, and we loved the BVIs, Anguilla, Mexico, Jumby Bay, and Turks & Caicos. Let us know your budget direction and we can go from there.

[crys17tal]

and Happy Planning!

[andreaz]

Congrats and welcome to the forum.....there are many knowledgable brides on here that can help out!

[royfa]

Welcome to the forum!