Destination weddings, questions..

[Rose1218]

My fiancé and I are just starting to plan our wedding, our close family and a handful of close friends are on board for a destination wedding but I have no idea where to start.

If you had a destination wedding, could you answer some questions?

Where did you go?
Who did you book with?
What was your wedding day like?
Did you and your guests all stay in the same resort?
Did your guests arrange their own travel/accom or did you make one large group booking?
Do you have any regrets?

Thank you!!

Oh and how much did you pay overall, and what did that include. If you're willing to share.

Can I suggest that you read the other destination wedding threads on MN.

I didn't get married, but attended a destination wedding as the only bridesmaid.

Went to Mauritius.
Booked through a company called Avista travel. Everyone attending booked through them. The bride costed it all up and sent all the details for us to book. The company guaranteed the price I think for a certain amount of time. All stayed at the same place.
She arranged the photographer and make up separately. Got up, had some time, went to the spa for hair and make up, got married on the beach, had snacks and champagne, photographs etc then had a sit down meal on the beach and had a dance as the hotel organised singers etc. Was really chilled and lovely.

Sorry, just seen your question about cost. The wedding was included in the hotel booking if I recall. The meal, the photographer, hair and make up were extra so don't know how much they were. But the couple paid & 7k for the holiday for themselves and 2 kids

Where did you go? Dubrovnik

Who did you book with? A local wedding planner for all things wedding - travel and accommodation booked separately.

What was your wedding day like? Very relaxed, small group. Civil ceremony, boat trip, long dinner.

Did you and your guests all stay in the same resort? We were staying in a hotel we'd stayed in previously, most people stayed there but people stayed lots of other places too. We put on a BBQ the day after in our hotel which some others came to. We didn't want to put any constraints on people's holiday time aside from the day itself.

Did your guests arrange their own travel/accom or did you make one large group booking? They did their own. Don't take on doing a group booking unless there's a huge discount, it'll be a nightmare. We set up a website with details of flights and some recommendations of hotels and left everyone to it.

Do you have any regrets? No, but... It genuinely was brilliant, but it puts people under a lot of pressure. We were lucky in that none of our friends had started having kids so we could invite all family kids without being overrun. Similarly, most people were taking a couple of foreign holidays a year and it was possible to just come for a few days so they were happy to. Now we all have children I wouldn't do it as I think it's unfair pressure.

I'd make sure it's even legal as you might need to get married in the UK as well so you're effectively asking family and friends to pay out and use leave to attend a fake wedding.

We went to one destination wedding (2 destinations) and only paid for travel. The couple paid for accomodation and expenses for all attending.

That's the only way I would attend another destination wedding again. It's a big commitment in time and holidays from work not to mention clothes etc etc. If you can't afford to pay for your guests then get married at home and have a luxury holiday 😉

We almost went to Mauritius and everything was planned through kuoni. We wanted it to just be us two, luxury holiday/honeymoon and no family. The cost was about £7k I think. (I did choose the fanciest room with them glass floors and slides into the sea! Ha!)
Then family started booking ‘holidays’ at the same resort before we even confirmed anything.

In the end we never finished the booking, had a very small wedding in the UK and then went on a luxury honeymoon instead.
It was perfect!

where? Italy - amalfi coast
who did you book with? it took me ages to find a wedding planner both me and my husband were comfortable with. Alot would beat around the bush and couldn't give me any guidance on price etc. I got bored of being polite so in the end sent an email to this one planning company with a list of blunt questions, not holding out much hope. They got back to me that day and bullet pointed all my questions and answered them confidently. We went with them and they were brilliant! We then booked the holiday separately with Coop Travel
where did everyone stay? we told everyone where we were staying and most guests stayed at our hotel, but gave out info on the area for those who wanted to stay elsewhere.
Any regrets? none whatsoever!! The day was all about me and my DH.

Went to a destination wedding. It was a Sansotori resort booked through TUI in Ibiza

All inclusive resort so B & G didn't have to pay extra for food and drink. Wedding was lovely. We paid for ourselves but only went for 3 days so doable. Some guests stayed for 2 weeks

Don't insist on a child free wedding.