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Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, and welcome to the world of planning :-)Since you didn't give a lot of information, I might assume a few things. Add more details, to the questions below, and we can help you out :D1) First and foremost, make a plan, or a schedule. 2) Discuss with your fiance, and your families, if they are participating/supporting your both through the wedding planning.3) Next what's your guest count? On your side, on your fiance's side, any others' that parents would like to invite?Normally for destination weddings (DW), the guest count is small, but this depends where you want to go!4) Where are you planning to have your destination wedding? -- from your post you want it in Mexico-- but where exactly in Mexico?5) What are the rules and regulations for getting married there? Do you need to find a priest there? Is it outside of your country of residence? (e.g. If you live in the US, and plan to get married in Jamaica for instance)6) What would it take for your guests, and yourselves to travel to your DW? What about hotel and transportation arrangements?So you are from South Jersey and the DW is in Mexico. That seems like a long distance, unless you plan on trying to get a really good deal on hotel, or everyone in the same hotel. For airfare, you can call a particular airline, and get a group rate, which would be between 10% and 20% off a group travelling together.Try here: http://www.weddingmexico.com/Even in this economy, people can be full of surprises.
Cosmogirl, she's asking for advice on 'how to' not whether she should or should not. It sounds like you have hate in your blood.... It's her decision where she gets married. Who are you to tell her she's wrong
I was hoping to get her thinking about how a destination wedding would impact her friends and family. In the current economy, I can't believe anyone would consider having a wedding that would require her family and friends to shell out a thousand bucks to attend. It doesn't mean that I'm hateful.....I'm just hoping that brides will really think it through before deciding to do a destination wedding. They're cheap for the couple and expensive for the guests!
I totally agree with everyone else - it's YOUR day and you should do what you want! It sounds to me like a little bit of jealousy from the nay-sayers. I'm planning a destination wedding in Mexico myself and I was very overwhelmed at first! We are still in the intial stages but we've contacted a fabulous wedding coordinator who is helping us work out the details. She will take care of all the travel arrangements and excursions herself and for just $500 extra, she will fly down and be with us for the 3 days surrounding our wedding (destination weddings are usually a 3 day event). We chose a destination wedding because we wanted something intimate and special, but without all of the fuss and formalness of a wedding at home. Oh and hello, who wouldn't want a wedding on a beach?!?! Plus, we are both from different states so half of our guests would be traveling either way. The first thing we told our coordinator was that we wanted to make sure it was nice, but affordable for the guests who would be making the trip. We tried to find a resort that has the most to offer to please everyone there (children to senior citizens - water sports/excursions/etc). Although we haven't finalized it, we've pretty sure we will be going with an all-inclusive resort. It's a little more of an upfront cost, but once you get to the resort, you only have to worry about tipping and purchasing *gifts/souvenirs (*those little extras that those on a budget don't have to buy). Plus, with all of the "scares" in Mexico, traveling here is at an all-time low.... I've known tons of people who have traveled since these scares and well... they came back - and they were just fine! Now is the best time ever to go to Mexico! Resorts are literally bending over backwards for their guests and the prices are at an all-time low. If you don't believe me, check out tripadvisor.com for resort reviews - people are seriously raving about the customer service. I can't even believe the deals I see on the travel/resort websites.Another thing we are doing is trying to have our wedding in January/early February. We live in the Midwest so at this point every year, we are all sick to death of the nasty winter weather! We figure this will give our guests more of a reason to not only get away, but take an early spring break vacation (without the spring break crowd/prices).
I definitely understand it's our day but I will admit I am probably going a little more out of my way than I would if we were having a wedding here - which I am totally okay with. I want to make my guests feel comfortable and let them know we appreciate them taking the time/money to be with us - so if these little things can add up to more people being able to come, I am willing to do that! In the end, the people you really want to be there the most will try their hardest to be there! I'm also keeping a very open mind that not everyone will be able to make it - and I am okay with that as well. We have both decided we are willing to take that risk to have the kind of wedding we both really want. The LAST thing you want is to have a wedding for OTHER people and regret it in the end. Good luck with your planning! :)
Just curious…
Of course people have to travel to weddings, especially when the B+G don't live near their families/hometowns, etc. But, in my opinion, that's different from choosing a resort destination that means everyone has to pay for expensive resort hotel rooms, air fare, etc. It's not the same as attending a weekend wedding in suburban Chicago or wherever. We are traveling to Ohio to attend a family wedding this year. Both DH and I are currently unemployed, but we have been saving for it since we got the STD. We will drive instead of flying and are staying at an inexpensive hotel. If the B+G chose to have it in Cancun instead, there is no way we could go. Just sayin'......
depending on where you stay in Mexico, you can actually find some pretty great deals through apple vacations and other programs like that - if you are planning to invite some friends and family. Now as for the event. Depending on if you want a big wedding or small and intimate, most of the larger hotels have wedding planners right on site, many offer the wedding free of charge if you stay at the hotel for a week...I was married in Nassau over New Years under this type of program and it was so very simple. My sister was married two years ago in Isla Mujeres (island off Cancun) in a private ceremony on the beach, much more secluded and intimate...again, she found a service on islamujeres tourism or something like that and it was really a piece of cake. So as for where to start, I'd say research where you want to stay, what type of ceremony you want, budget, etc....and the actual planning should be the easy part.
My fiance and I started out searching for a location for a traditional wedding and after some research, we realized that it was actually going to be less expensive to us and our guests if we had a destination wedding. Our guests are coming from all across the country which does make a bit of a difference but in the end we opted to have a destination wedding where we could spend 3+ days with our closest friends and family members rather than a few hours with people. The response has been amazing and out of 100 invites, 80+ are coming. I recommend the Knot's Destination Wedding Planner book which has been tremendously helpful.I would also suggest that, wherever you choose to have your event, you find a place that has a reputation for weddings AND a coordinator!
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