Now that you have started planning your destination wedding and have narrowed down some of the possible locations, I am going to share with you some of my favorite wedding websites.  I am sure you will find valuable information on these sites that will save you time and money.

As I mentioned before, I am a bit of a control freak so I worked directly with the The Four Seasons in Costa Rica once we decided on this resort to host our wedding.  It felt like a second job sometimes researching, looking at inspirational pictures to get ideas and then communicating back and forth with the resort coordinator to get exactly the details I was looking for.  But honestly, I loved every minute of it!  However, if spending hours and hours of researching and going through pictures on Pinterest is not your cup of tea then I am sure you will find valuable resources in the following websites.  So let’s dig in.

Style me pretty

I am listing this first as this is my all time favorite site!  I was on this site almost daily and when I wasn’t on their site, I was browsing their Pinterest.  It has a plethora of real weddings from all over the world that will inspire you.  It has articles about anything you may need to plan your wedding.  From venues to beaches to finding the perfect dress. I even found articles on tips for getting in shape for your wedding.  I can still spend hours on their website.  It’s just so beautiful.   If you want to get into the wedding planning mood, then I would visit this website first.  And once you are married, you can submit your website so you can be featured on their site! 

The Knot

This site is a one stop shop and a go to for many brides.  It is an all in one planning site and even though it is not specific to destination weddings, they do have an extensive section dedicated to destination weddings.  If you have already decided on the location of your wedding, you can type the location in the search bar and it will bring up real weddings and vendors for this destination.  They also offer planning tools which includes an app that will help with timelines, checklists, budgets and all other handy to do lists of the things you need to get done before the wedding.  You can also create your wedding website through them.  They also have a message forum where real brides can discuss wedding ideas.  They have a large community of commenters so don’t be afraid to ask a question if you are not finding what you are looking for and some of the readers may be able to help out.

Wedding Wire.com

This is another popular one stop site.  It offers free planning tools along with a complimentary website for your wedding.  They have a large marketplace where couples can search for vendors in the destination they have chosen.  You can check out the reviews from couples that have worked with a certain vendor.  It has a section dedicated to destination weddings so you can browse their articles and get ideas and inspiration.   It has a great forum for brides to discuss any issues with other brides.  Great all in one site.

Destinationweddings.com

This site, as the name implies, is dedicated to destination weddings.  It offers planning services to ease the burden of doing everything yourself.  On the first page it asks you what destination you would like to have your wedding and your wedding date.  Based on this, you will be paired with a wedding coordinator that will be your liaison between you and the location of your wedding.  They have really good reviews so if you want to hire a planner this would be a good website to check out. They offer discounts and exclusive offers from their partners.  It is organized by country so you can browse vendors and discounts specific to your location.  It also features real weddings so you can see pictures or different destinations to help you envision your wedding.

Modern Destination Weddings

This is another website that offers planning services.  What’s different about this website is that they also assist with travel and offer payment plans for you and your guests. They also offer wedding websites via Modernly.  Modernly not only hosts your website, but acts as an online wedding manager and helps you keep track of your guest’s travel plans.  It also has a Q& A series on Youtube where they answer their most frequently asked questions.  If you have a specific question about the planning process, check out their Youtube channel and you may find your answer.  They also feature real weddings from couples that have used their services.  So that will give you a good insight into the type of weddings they plan.

Weddingvacations.com

If your destination wedding is in Mexico, the Caribbean or South America, then check out this site.  It partnered up with resorts from these destinations to offer exclusive promotions.  They offer planning services and have special promotions from their partners. 

Destify.com

This is another site that offers planning services for destination weddings in Mexico and the Caribbean.  I really like the simplicity of this website as it doesn’t have any advertising banners.  It also has a very handy cost calculator that you can use to give you an idea of how much your wedding may cost.  You input the location, number of guests, date and it gives you an estimated amount.  It also gives you information and the high and low seasons of your destination. 

Destination Wedding Details

They feature real weddings and interview the brides so they can offer additional perspective on the location you are looking into.  They also offer a free Destination Wedding Etiquette Guide and a free downloadable wedding checklist.

Here comes the Guide

What I like about this website is that it is an all female staff and they give back a portion of their profits to Girls Inc.  It has articles on how you can be charitable when planning your wedding, this was important to us as we participated in a program where we donated our flowers and backpacks and school supplies to local students in Costa Rica.  We made it a guest activity and some of our guests were so grateful that we included this in our wedding.

I hope you found this list helpful and hopefully these sites gave you some inspiration and ideas for your upcoming wedding. Let me know if you have found some more destination wedding sites that I may have missed.

Until next time….

AM

Well, obviously the next step is to decide where?  There are a few key elements that will determine the perfect location for your perfect day.

Budget – This is a big one although not the most important.  There are ways to have the wedding of your dreams on a budget if you are resourceful.  I will dedicate an entire blog on this subject at a later date. However, one of the first things to consider at your initial stages of planning are things like flight costs; not only for your but also for your guests.  Also, is the location of your wedding considered expensive when it comes to eating out and/or going out?  Since your guests are already spending money to attend your wedding, you want to have somewhat of an idea of how much your guests will be spending while there. The more information you can provide your guests the better they can make preparations to attend your wedding.

Distance – This will be a major factor if you plan on having a large number of guests.  Depending on the distance, some guests may need to take additional time off of work for travel so keep that in mind when you are thinking about who you absolutely want there and whether they are able to have the time off to travel to your destination.

Weather – There are better times to travel to certain locations so if you have a specific date in mind, consider what the weather will be like during that time of year. Especially if you have your heart set on an outdoor wedding.

For us, there was no question where and when we wanted to get married.  So why did we decide on Costa Rica?  Mathew, actually proposed to me while on a trip to Costa Rica!  The way he proposed was by asking me if I would be willing to travel back to Costa Rica in exactly one year from that day to marry him on that beach. Of course I said yes so, there was no question about where and what day we were going to have our wedding. In fact, we actually started planning our save the dates and wedding activities on our flight back home!

In your case, the decision on location may not be as straight forward as it was for us. So you should do as much research as you can before you decide on where to have your perfect wedding. The way I would start would be to email a few places and they should be able to give you a price range of what you can expect.

One important question to ask is if there are better deals for certain months.  I know in Costa Rica for example, we got married in September which lucky for us is considered their rainy season.  So the rates we got for the rooms for our guests and for the wedding reception were a lot lower than if we would have gotten married during their busy season.

Once you have some feedback from the different locations you have contacted, the next thing would be to start researching flights to those locations.  You may want to call a few airlines.  They may give you a special discount for you and your guests.

Guest Activities – When you start thinking about your destination wedding, you may also start thinking about what activities you plan to have with your guests. We were so grateful for the people that took time off of work and spent money to attend our wedding that we wanted to have special activities for them. The resort we chose was able to organize and execute most of these activities so that may also factor in where you decide to have your wedding.

Even though there is a lot to consider, planning a destination can be so much fun. So start exploring, researching and having fun! Oh and please feel free to ask me any questions you have. I will be happy to help with anything that I can.

Until next time….

AM

There are so many great reasons to choose a destination wedding for your big day!  You get to travel to an exotic place.  You can make it a mini vacation.  You get to be the center of attention for more than one day!  So many other great reasons, but there is also a lot of things to consider before you and your fiancé decide if a destination wedding is right for you.

The reason Mathew and I decided we wanted to have a destination wedding was we wanted to go back to the place where he proposed.  Costa Rica!  We wanted to relive the most wonderful experience we had there and invite our loved ones to share in our happiness.

Here are the first three things to consider if a destination wedding if right for you:

• How much will it cost? This is by far the first thing you need to consider.  If you have an idea of how much your budget will be for your wedding, you can then start to think about the where and when.  Depending on your location, prices will generally be higher if you choose a vacation spot.  So, if you budget is set, you may have to forego on some items in order to have the experience.  I know we had to give up some things we really wanted because we couldn’t fit them into our budget.  But, in the end we decided the experience and destination were more important than having fireworks.  You will also have the added travel costs to the wedding but, in addition, because you won’t be there on a day to day basis, you may need to do one or two quick visits to your destination to see and feel or taste things in person.  We ended up doing two visits and took advantage of one of our visits to schedule our engagement pictures!

• Who do we really want to be there?  While everyone loves a vacation and would love to celebrate a wedding, not everyone can afford to be there.  Consider your guest list carefully and think about who might be missing from your big day because they can’t take the time off or just can’t afford it.  For us, we wanted a small intimate wedding and we only invited our immediate family and very close friends.  Several of our immediate family members were not able to attend so that did put a little cloud over our celebration as we would have loved for everyone we invited to be there.  Also, consider that whoever does attend your wedding, you will have to make them feel appreciated and welcomed so you may incur additional costs for welcome gifts/baskets and outings for your guests.

• How much of a control freak am I?  This was a big one for me as I have been known to not be very good and letting go.  Which is why we did two site visits prior to our wedding!  The resort we got married in had a wedding planner on staff (which most resorts do).  They were great at communicating with me and doing all of the hard work since I was 2,000 miles away.  Even with that, it was very hard not being there deciding and controlling things.  I probably would email them daily!  So, if you want to be involved in the day to day planning of your wedding and meet with the vendors and do all of the tastings, then consider you may miss out on some of these experiences.

I think once you have considered and have a clear answer on these three questions, you have a good basis for your decision.  When we decided on a destination wedding, we decided to make it a mini vacation for everyone so we planned a week of fun activities.  I will share some of the events we did in upcoming posts.

Until next time!

AM