Destination Wedding - Pros/Cons

[transferred post]

This is a thread that was started in our old BlissWeddings.com forums by rt5247 on 8/24/05.

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posted by rt5247

We recently got engaged and are trying to figure out if we want a destination wedding or just have it local. We were looking at Belize or Costa Rica. Any recommendations for the 2 countries or pros/cons for destination weddings?? Has anyone gotten married in either of these 2 places or recommend other places?? Thanks

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posted by 080605bride

Jamaica

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posted by CupieJen

I've been to Costa Rica and loved it. However I can't tell you what the "nice spots" are like since I was out in the very rural parts on a church mission trip. But I can tell you that the country is gorgeous and I've heard there are nice resorts, etc. there.

Bahamas is another consideration. Went there this past winter and it is picture perfect for a wedding.

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posted by Marge129

I LOVE St. Maarten.

~Margie

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posted by Marrying the Good Husband

Haven't been to either place, but I'll be getting married nexct year in Turks and Caicos. I guess questions to consider if it's just you, other guests--possibly with children? A lot of places don't allow children--which is why we chose Beaches because it's family friendly.

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posted by bebe0315

Not trying to rain on your parade, but 2 big cons come to mind for destination weddings: a) you have to get all of your stuff there, which can cause great anxiety! b) you can count on not very many people coming because of finances. We had considered getting married somewhere in Hawaii, but I knew my grandmother wouldn't be able to make it, and it would have been really hard for my youngest sister to make it as well.

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posted by syringa

Bebe mentioned the big cons. As a pro, you can combine your wedding and honeymoon which saves money. If you don't want a big wedding, and want it to be small and intimate and you don't mind sharing your honeymoon with your family, then it can be a lot of fun.

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posted by cit_katt

I do not know if this is to late, but I seriously considered have my wedding in Mexico. It was going to save me about $4,000 and to me it was not worth missing out on family seeing me walk down the aisle. So we are just going to have our honeymoon there by ourself It really depends on what you want. Are you going to be okay letting someone create your wedding with out you being there, or at least until a couple of day before the wedding. If you are okay with that I think you will make it. That is just alot of trust for me to give someone that I have never met. Good Luck, If you have any other questions about Destination weddings please ask I have done alot of research.

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posted by prunella

Ciao, if it can be of any help, I work as a wedding planner in Italy, Tuscany...I can give you some advice and tell prices

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posted by e-star

Unless you are getting married at a resort/hotel that can sort everything for you, it's hard to plan a destination wedding if you've never been there before and also obviously you are not there to meet with all the vendors on a regular basis.

That's why I decided against getting married in LA, where I grew up. I live in NYC now and even though my extended family still live in LA, it would have been too difficult to try and plan a wedding from the other side of the country, esp. since my mother doesn't live in LA anymore either.

[erin6243]

I am getting married in Hawaii next year. We were nervous about traveling because I thought it would make it harder to plan. It actually hasn't been hard since I found many people willing to travel with us. And my mom and I have gone out there to look at the site a few times (which was awesome, it was my first time there) . We found a great photographer willing to travel to Hawaii with us which was so important. Not only to find a great photographer but to find someone who would travel. If anyone is looking.... the website is www.louispalos.com
Good luck everyone.

[wynelle]

It must be nice to have enough money to fly back and forth to Hawaii several times to plan a wedding... *and* to be able to pay for the flight, lodgings and fees for a photographer to fly with you.

How lucky you are to have such a great budget for planning your wedding. But had you asked, there are several brides here who were married in Hawaii, or who have family living in Hawaii who could have recommended excellent photographers local to the area, who could have had wonderful suggestions for local sites of beauty for background shots. And I bet the wedding coordinators there would have had some great suggestions for you, too.

[cru5h]

Destinations are nice for intimate gatherings of, I'd say, 40 people or less. I don't know what the pros are. I guess, it includes the honeymoon with the wedding. If your list is small and nearly everyone can make it, then you're good to go.

But if your dream wedding takes place locally than a destination wedding is a con within itself, just trying to get everyone able to get out there, hiring people you're unfamiliar with, not having a way to get references from people you know, etc.

[wynelle]

Cru5h, honey, do you think maybe Erin was spamming us to promote the photographer she identified?

[cru5h]

possibly, since she's posted about the same photographer in Classified Ads. I was actually interested in responding to the topic. It's a good thing that photographer got his website up in time for her to recommend him though. December 13th the domain was purchased, pretty sweet.