When planning a destination wedding, you may plan to get married in a lovely tropical location and think there is little else you have to do to get married. Often, you will choose a resort which has an on-site wedding coordinator and opt for the all-inclusive vacation package which includes flights, accommodations, ground transportation to and from the airport, food, and alcohol. Many resorts offer a free wedding package. Sounds great so why should you have to worry about anything else? Here are a few other things that you might want to think about.
1) Read the fine print about the free wedding or the wedding package you are selecting. The free wedding often includes a location for the ceremony, cake and champagne for the wedding couple and two attendants, a bouquet and a boutonniere and sometimes not a lot more. Couples often think that if the resort is all-inclusive, that they can have a reception for 30 to 40 people at no extra cost. This is usually not so as there is usually an extra charge for each guest attending the reception above the maximum guests indicated in the wedding package.
2) Don’t try to save money by not buying medical and cancellation insurance. If you do have a medical emergency, you want to be sure that you have good medical insurance. You never know what can happen as was shown when the Grand Riviera Princess exploded. Also, realize that if you have a connecting flight and miss your flight due to bad weather, delayed flights, and/or mechanical failure, that the air carrier does not always take responsibility to find you a new flight. You could lose a lot of money if something happens so you cannot get to your destination or you miss your wedding.
3) Get your guests to book early rather than wait until the last minute to plan their trip. I have dealt with too many guests who are frustrated and upset because they waited too long, missing the direct flights, and ended up with layovers or even over night flights because they didn’t book when they got the Save the Date invite. Travel agents can’t help you find a flight if there are none left even if you are in the wedding party. Sometimes the costs go up, especially as the packages and/or flights get closer to being sold out.
4) Realize that if you ask for a group rate for 40 people, the airlines sell different categories of fares on each plane. Your group quote will be priced by adding all of the different fares together and then averaging the price so that all of the guests pay the same price. Some guests get upset if they can find a price on the internet at a later date which is much cheaper than they were able to get at the group rate. You may need to give some serious consideration as to whether or not you want to get a group rate for your guests in the first place.
5) Finally, are you willing to deal with planning your wedding from afar? Some wedding coordinators will return e-mails and phone calls immediately, but far too many of them will not respond after the initial booking has been made for the wedding. I have even had some who will not respond before the wedding has been booked. Many big resorts do not want to talk to future couples until the meeting which is usually planned for a couple of days before the wedding. This is the consultants’ time to up-sell you and they are masters at doing so. Remember, they work for the resort, not you. A number of resorts have many weddings per day and deal with so many brides during a month that they do not want to talk to you ahead of time. One way to get around this problem is to avoid the cookie cutter wedding and hire a destination wedding planner who will help you plan your dream wedding in a tropical location from the beginning to the end with the elements that you personally want, not a package made for the masses.
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