Destination Wedding - where to start?

I have a friend who is planning on getting married in March of 2010. She is about to start nursing school and is worried about the stress of having to plan a wedding, and her and her FI have already got into some big fights over how they think the wedding should be. So to save herself a year and a half of stress she is thinking about doing a DW.

Do you have any advice on where to do it, costs, benefits and drawbacks? Since I will be done with my wedding next month I am trying to ease her stress by helping her out!

THANKS!

I think she will def need to hire a coord at the destination she chooses. The benefit is that less people will attend a DW, so the cost will be less.  But then you kinda have to give up some control b/c all of your vendors won't be readily accessible, so patience will be necessary.

My sister had a DW in Dominican Republic.  As part of her package, the resort provided a photographer, videographer, cake, officiant.   I think she should look for a resort that has a package that will include many of these things so basically all she has to do is show up!  Stress-free!  Aside from getting her dress and favors, the resort took care of pretty much everything else.  And the price was very low compared to having a wedding here in NJ!  That's the upside!  The downside is she can't be too picky or be the type to want to micro-manage.  Her photographer and videographer weren't the best, but they gave her the raw photos and video footage and she found others to make a DVD and album once she got home. 

HTH.

Hi Cry,

I am having a DW in Los Cabos, Mexico. While a DW may seem like an easy fix, they do come with different, unique stressors. Many resorts handle tons of weddings so they pretty much know what to do, but you have to deal with quirks like long response times (think Island time-bad if you are Type A), language/cultural barriers, and not being able to get certain food/drink or flowers. If you are flexible, then it will go off well.

They should pick a location that they love (Mexico, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc) to start and them look for resorts in the area that have wedding options. Have her check www.bestdestinationwedding.com. There is a forum for pretty much every destination you can image. There are many ideas and reviews for resorts.

Many resorts do offer packages, but definitely shop around for local vendors. Often the resorts (and even the local coordinators) inflate prices to make a profit. Same thing goes for photographers included with packages, make sure you like their work and don't be afraid to bring your own (we are). I hired a local coordinator since we had a hard time with the one provided by the resort. She is great and has taken care of a lot of stress.

I also recommend doing a site visit before the wedding if the budget and time permits. I felt so much better after meeting people in person and seeing the resort.

Hope that helps! Good luck to your friend!

i'm getting married in hawaii and it definitely helps that i have a DOC there.

i would say the first thing would be the schedule with her schooling

what is her courseload going to be like -and what time frame is condusive to taking a chunk of time off? it may seem easier to say fck it - and go somewhere dreamy and balmy for a dw - but if not planned properly will end up causing more stress and more $$$

2nd - check the weather during that time - hurricane season??  tourist (more $$) season??

3rd - budget. dw can be more $$ depending on how many ppl are attending - and whether or not supplies, food, decorations, etc will need to be shipped etc

i'm having an uber-DW. FI & I are based in San Francisco, getting married in the Philippines (next Sunday!!) and having a reception in Singapore before our honeymoon in Thailand, and then heading back to the States for another small get together. phew! so, definitely let me know if you have any questions.

having a planner or coordinator in the country/area you pick is an absolute necessity. we have a planner in the philippines, who is helping us coordinate every single detail.  in singapore, we will be having our dinner in a hotel and are working with the hotel's event manager, who has been super helpful at giving us recommendations for things outside of the hotel as well (wine vendors, drycleaners, even make up artists).

i would have been completely lost without mine, and am so dependent on his opinioin for everything. today, we were shopping for wedding items together and i told him i was a little sad my day was coming up so quickly, because i wouldn't be working with him all the time anymore!! ;)