Helpful Tips to Plan Your Destination Wedding

Congratulations on deciding to have a destination wedding- I hope you find these five tips helpful in planning the perfect destination wedding !

1. Work with a romance travel specialist- just as with every other profession, travel professionals will seek out niche travel segments and focus their training and travel experiences to further their knowledge with these segments. Those of us who have decided long ago to focus on the romance travel segment have spent countless hours in training and spent a lot of time and money traveling to the destinations and getting to know the and wedding coordinators that will work with their couples directly once they arrive to the resort, and the resorts themselves to know which resort is the perfect resort to suggest to each couple.
2. If you meet several travel agents at bridal shows or are referred by friends or family to someone,make sure your personalities click with that person. I spend on average between 12-18 months working with each of my brides and grooms from first discussion to wedding day, through emails and phone calls and when possible in person. You must choose a profession that is attentive to every detail and frankly understands how the whole concept of planning a destination wedding works whether the two of you elope or you have a group of friends and family join you in the destination. The travel profession must be willing to dedicate the time to work not only with the bride and groom but with each of the wedding guests as well.Whenever possible, I travel with my wedding groups and arrive before anyone else in the group to make sure all of the arrangements that have been requested are taken care of before the group arrives.
3. Once you have chosen the travel professional that will help you plan your destination wedding, as you begin to narrow down destinations and resorts you will need to work with your fiance and create a guest list. Think about the budget of most of your wedding guests, consider the travel time from the location that many of your guest will travel from to the destinations you are considering, think about whether or not your guest count will all be adults over the age of 18, or if you will need a resort that is family friendly that can accommodate children or if it is a couples only resort with only king bed accommodations, also think about any mobility issues for anyone in the group – these are all items that need to be given serious consideration as you begin the process of narrowing down destinations and resorts.Yes, it is all about the bride and groom, but if you want as many friends and family to be able to join you for your celebration keeping these in mind will help more guest be able to join the group. Keep in mind that all though you travel a lot for your career, most every group I work with have guest that have never traveled outside the USA, have no clue about how to get a passport  but working with a romance travel specialist he or she will able to assist the guest with all these questions.
4. Once you have chosen the location and resort to host your destination wedding and you begin to work with the pre-arrival wedding planning team – if possible many resorts do offer the opportunity to visit the resort for 2-3 nights at a discounted rate so that you can get a better feel for the resort, many will apply the cost of this pre-wedding trip to your overall wedding cost, your romance travel specialist will explain more to you about this. During your planning process , make sure you understand what the inclement  weather backup plan is, we can plan every detail but sometimes mother nature does not cooperate, but if the bride and groom know the backup plan, the team will seamlessly move to that option and a lot of stress is saved by pre-planning.
5. The bride is definitely the star of every wedding ceremony, but the wedding gown is important as well. I suggest at the bridal salon when you purchase your wedding gown,explain to them that you will be carrying your wedding gown to the destination, and request that your gown be secured in sturdy garment bag. At the airport flight attendants that work the flights often the the most popular destination wedding locations are used to their being wedding gowns carried on board, when possible they do put them in the forward coast closet, but this is not a guarantee, so many brides elect to take a hand held steamer with them and most resort wedding teams have a steamer as well – this could be a question to confirm with your particular resort. I suggest to brides and grooms that if in destination there is a VIP arrival service such as in Jamaica Club Mobay – to expedite the bride and groom through the immigration line this helps as the gown can get heavy. To avoid having to travel with their bridal gown to destination, many of my brides have also chosen to rent from a local bridal shop such as Bliss Bridal in Jamaica. I also to suggest to my brides once she has chosen a resort, if the resort has a bridal suite for her to dress in the day of her ceremony that we book it right away. Check out this video of how a destination wedding bride should be enjoying her wedding day if these simple destination wedding tips are followed.

If you are considering planning your own destination wedding or Re-Tie The Knot vow renewal – I would love the opportunity to speak with you –

Direct Line 931-337-0770  Toll Free 1-888-811-1888 ext 331  or  Email  [email protected]