To Destination or Not to Destination - that is the question

[kwenke]

Hello, new friends. I'm still struggling with the basic question of whether to have a wedding at home or abroad.
I've heard that destination weddings are much cheaper, but I somehow find that hard to believe. I mean, the airfare and hotel costs alone! Wowza.
Right now I feel like I've done enough research that I need to finally buckle down and crunch the numbers. The trouble is, I'm having a hard time trying to estimate exactly what my destination wedding would cost. All of the online wedding budgeters don't seem to apply for destination weddings. And I have somehow made it my entire life without booking a single flight or hotel room. So, how do I figure out how much this trip will cost? I don't want to hire a travel agent yet, because I'm not totally sure this is the way we're going to go. And while I can certainly figure out how much a flight and hotel room would cost for me and my fiance, I've heard that you can save money by purchasing tickets and rooms in bulk.
Also, I read that there's no set rules for which guests' travel accommodations we cover. But the way I see it, since our parents are paying for it, they're tickets have to be in the budget, as well as our siblings. And one of my rules with my fiance for my agreeing to a destination wedding was that we could at least cover hotel accommodations for my 2 best friends. That's 14 people!!! See why I'm unsure this is a money-saving idea?
Oh, and another reason I don't know how to plan this is that I don't know how long these trips usually last. I mean, a wedding at home would be a 2 day affair, right? So do we cover 2 days and let people pick up the bill if they want to stay longer? And we still get a honeymoon, right? How long are those usually? And does the wedding count as part of the honeymoon?
Can anyone help me estimate costs with this? How are you keeping the costs down?
Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision.
Many thanks in advance!

[Hummingbird_Hall_Jamaica]

Hi Kwenke,

Congratulations on your engagement!

You are grappling with the hardest question!


Destination weddings can be cheap(er), fun and more memorable than a wedding at home, but they can also be a little more overwhelming at first, so the key is to firstly clarify why a destination wedding may be suitable for you and your beau! Once you've got an idea of where you would like to marry and the type of wedding you would like, the cost factor will become clearer.


Consider asking yourself why you want a destination wedding -


- to elope?
- to do something different?
- to limit the number of guests?
- the romance/excitement of marrying in another culture?
- to combine the wedding and honeymoon?
- stunning scenery etc


- The "type" of guests you will be having:

- People with kids?
- People who will like nightlife?
- Experienced travelers? etc


And then try and find a location that ticks all the boxes!

Once you've found the country, search online, talk to travel agents and - a tip that works well with Jamaica - check out the website of the national carrier (Air Jamaica) directly. They often have fabulous deals online that travel agents and other sites are not party too. They also offer group travel discounts and automatically upgrade the bride and groom to Business!

In terms of hotels - calling the hotel yourself may be a way to land good deals, or why not rent a villa that can house you and your guests; and then go into a hotel/retreat after the wedding for privacy and the honeymoon. These can last anything from a couple of days to a month!! Depending on the type of traveler you are, you could either spend the honeymoon in the same area that you marry, or travel to another place in the same country.

In terms of keeping the cost of the wedding low - consider a venue/planner outside the typical chain hotels. Often, they have better rates and offer a great service because most operate a one wedding per day policy and they are slightly more exclusive and unique.

Good luck with planning and have a fabulous wedding wherever you choose!

[RAwed]

I would think most travel agents are free. I am having a destination wedding and my fiance and I actually met with a guy who owns a local franchise of All About Honeymoons and Destination Weddings. He did our initial consult for free. He gave us more insight on how resorts work and suggested All Inclusive resorts (there are hundreds to choose from). Its good to actually talk to someone with connections to get you cheaper rates than if you were to book all of this on your own. He is taking care of everything for us AND our guest for $250 (this goes back into our destination wedding cost). They only charge if you are really interested and not just inquiring, but like I said that money goes back to our destination wedding expense. You should DEFINITELY get an agent to help you though; I have had absolutely NO stress so far, compared to when I was trying to plan a wedding in my hometown! He will be sending out packages to ALL of our guests right after we send out our formal invitations. The package includes different options like 3 to 7 night stays with roundtrip airfare. It will also include important things that they will need like passport, etc. If none of the packages suit our guests, then he will come up with custom packages to ensure they can make it. Its pretty neat really because he's basically their free agent and all questions from our guests, I can just redirect to him Now they do not handle the actual wedding coordination, only travel and resort accomodations, but most resorts have their own wedding coordinator on site that handles everything to do with the actual wedding and reception for you. Whichever you choose Good luck and Congrats!!!

[RAwed]

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention that the agents from All About Honeymoons and Destination Weddings have actually been to the resorts that they work with, so when I told him I wanted a "Toes in Sand" wedding. He steered me away from the place I originally picked (the place I picked had absolutely NO beach! couldn't tell by the pics) and towards one by the same chain of resorts that did actually have a beach. They are very thorough in asking about your guests too and what would suit them. He asked us if we had guests that have "alternative life styles", though we don't, it was still very thorough and thoughtful of him to ask, because not every destination is "rainbow" friendly. So, basically go with an agent, if this is what you decide to choose... they will cross your T's and dot your I's on things you would have never thought of.