Are Free Wedding Packages Really Free?

[Msmimi]

Hello ladies. We are trying to keep costs low and wonder if we should choose a resort that offers free wedding packages, or whether there are strings attached and they don't end up really being free afterall. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

[calgarybride2015]

Welcome!

 

From my experience they are only free if you meet the criteria that makes it free.

At my resort you can have the silver package for free if you have 10 double rooms booked for 7 consecutive nights.  If you don't meet this requirement I believe the silver package runs about $1866 Canadian.

 

Just to give you an idea, this is what the free package at my resort includes:  minister fee, WC, bride's bouquet, groom's bout, decorated wedding location - so basic white chair covers, and some flowers at the arch, music during ceremony, toast and appies after, reception in ala carte for 1.5 hours non private, wedding cake, honeymoon breakfast in bed, romantic dinner in the ala carte on site that costs $$ for all guests, fruit basket and wine, and surprise gift

 

What I chose to do was take the free package as it covered a lot of good basics, but then I upgraded a few things to make it the wedding I had envisioned - I wanted a private location for my reception, I wanted a longer reception time with open bar, I wanted a Mariachi band, I wanted a larger bouquet, etc. etc.    So while I saved the approx. $1866 my wedding is still upwards of $5000.    Had I have just taken the larger packages, I would have paid closer to $8000 so this was still a better bet for us.

 

So with that said, I totally think you can do the free package ....  but you may find yourself with extra costs because you end up wanting more things than are included.

 

Hope that helps some!

Edited November 23, 2014 by calgarybride2015

[kmk2016]

Free packages normally only include a certain number of guests included and have basic details. If you are having a smaller wedding and don't want a ton of extra decor I think it's totally doable to take advantage of the free wedding packages out there.

[calgarybride2015]

Good point!!!   I can't edit my post above, but the free package at my resort is only for 10 people!!!!

[acosta]

Nothing is ever free

 

But you can do it really close to it if you don't go over their limit of guests.

[Kayla88]

We will be having a small enough group that we will be using the free package at our resort. However it is not really free since I need to pay to upgrade my room. However that being said the package is 600$ and the room upgrade is only 400$ so we are saving money money that I will be using to do some upgrades to our package.

[jeffandrobyn]

Every resort is different but I believe they all have requirements you must meet for it to be free. At mine, you need to book a stay for 7 nights. I believe that's it which I think is very fair.

[Msmimi]

Thanks for the helpful feedback

[chelseapaige37]

Just a thought - if you went with a palace resort, I'm pretty sure (double check!) you can use your room credit towards your wedding package. Their packages are really nice - and include a decent amount.

 

 

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[jlc3]

We are going with the free wedding package at ours too, which is free for anything over 18 guests (which we have) that are staying 6 nights or more. We are probably going to do a few add ons and upgrades though but will still be hopefully under $1500 once we're through.