destination wedding?
so i’m getting anxious, we are getting married feb. 2 at couples in Negril, Jamaica. we have never been to the resort and i’m getting anxious, because i have nothing to do. i’m told i don’t have to worry about anything which is nice, but now i’m worring about what will happen when we do get to the resort. if anyone has gotten married there or has had a destination wedding would you let me know what to expect or at least help me to not be so anxious?
so i’m looking for people who have actually done a destination wedding.
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Filed under: Destination Wedding
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We’re having a destination wedding in Barbados. I have only been in email contact with my coordinator in Barbados (Lisa at Weddings….Beyond Your Imagination; she’s FANTASTIC!!!). At first, I was very nervous as well.
The key to alleviating that nervousness is to have a coordinator that you trust. We shopped around quite a bit via email for a coordinator and went with the one who "clicked" with us the most. She replied very quickly to all our correspondence and if we have questions, she’s more than happy to answer them and does it quite well!
My suggestion would be to start reading reviews. It’ll help ease your anxiety knowing you’re going to a great location and that other couples have had great weddings there! Plug "Couples, Negril Jamaica" into a search engine and read away! I found a wealth of information right here on Yahoo! travel about the resort and even a review from a couple who had their wedding there.
The person in charge of your wedding will be in contact with you with more explicit details closer to your wedding date. I have only heard from Lisa once after we booked and got the basics like location, time, flower color, cake flavor, type of music (NOT the actual songs, but steel drum band, orchestra, etc..), and photo and video packages down. She emails me about once a month to check in with me and to assure me that she’ll be in touch to get more in depth closer to the big day.
This isn’t an uncommon practice for destination wedding planners when they are far away from us. I frequent a cruise wedding forum and all of the coordinators (either a privately owned business on the islands or the cruiseline’s coordinators) have the same practice of getting the basics and hammering the small details closer to the wedding day.
If you don’t hear anything by about 90 days from your wedding, then call.
Relax…I’m sure your wedding will be awesome!
Hope this helps!
With this much time, you can go down there and check it out.
I personally think that a destination wedding is an unreasonable burden to put on your family and friends and a great way to ensure that no one old or sick or handicapped in any way will be there. I guess that makes the wedding pictures look better.
If this is like other destination weddings I’ve heard of, you can start now worrying about how to pay for it and what you’ll do if one of your attendants loses a job or has some other financial problem and suddenly can’t afford the flight.
Sorry, this will not put your mind at ease, but I want to share something I recently read in Smart Money Magazine. This will not necessarily happen to you. I suggest talking to your wedding planner contact to find out she’s dealing with other weddings on the same day, or if there are other weddings close together at the same location.
"5. ‘Congratulations, Gloria and Bill…um, I mean Marcia and Tom!’
Tracy and Taj Haynes had timed their Jamaica wedding to begin at 6 p.m., just as the sun set over the Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay. But they say that by the time the staff finished removing decorations from a previous wedding and redoing the venue, it was after 7 and already dark. Where was their planner? Running between the resort’s three locations, where various weddings were taking place. Adding insult to injury, the seating chart for the reception was botched and champagne not provided to the guests. The venue "simply had too many weddings to deal with on that one day," Tracy Haynes says. (Rose Hall wedding planner Charlene Henry counters, "It is highly unlikely that somebody’s wedding would be pushed back.")
A good planner knows how to handle high volume while making each couple feel like their wedding is the only one. Start by asking prospective planners how many events they work at once and how they cope with the overlap. ‘A consultant shouldn’t have more than two weddings in a month, certainly not more than three,’ Ernst says. If they exceed that, ‘they don’t stay in business very long.’ "
Well, is someone there making all the arrangements and doing all the planning and shopping for you? If it’s someone you trust, you should be fine.
Otherwise, just don’t get caught bringing any gange back…
im doing a destination wedding in key west and its a long time away but if i were you i would be in CONSTANT DAILY email communication to make sure everythign is exactly right. u want them to customize it and make it how u expect, so if u dont send pictures and have constant communication ur relying on their vision not yours. don’t be afraid to speak up, ask questions, ask them to send pictures, etc. it will ease ur mind. trust me!
I got married in Hawaii & was very nervous because I booked everything online. I did talk to the company over the phone, but I kept thinking "What if I get there & this is some type of scam" or "What if they lose our info" & all kinds of other scary things! Of course, everything was perfect. My advice would be to make a list of concerns & call the hotel to talk to them. THis may help alleviate some of your nerves. Also, the hotel that you are getting married at has done a thousand weddings, so be assured that everything will be thought of & taken care of. I would advise to stick a couple hundred dollars back for emergancy money just in case you have some unexpected expenses come up at the last minute for the ceremony. That way, you are not out shopping money if something comes up & if nothing comes up, you have extra money to play with. I loved our destination wedding. Good luck & ENJOY! (Take lots of pics!!!!!)
Oooh, some advice- splurge on a nice peice of jewelery. You will have it always to remember this special time. Also, get a CD or tape of local music. We got a CD of a local artist & I love listening to it every once in a while.
We had a destination wedding in Las Vegas-the full deal of 16 people in attendance, the ceremony, and a reception afterwards. We even had a band for a "first dance" song.
Yes, make sure you stay in communications with the place you are marrying, and make sure you have a plan B in case something goes wrong. Also, once you land, go directly to the coordinators-do not waste time sightseeing at first. This way, they will know you are there to marry, and being their is secondary.
Here´s another thing to think of…remember that commercial, the one for a deoderant? Never let them see you sweat? Well, your guests are not going to know something went wrong, as long as you stay calm and cool. Our wedding started late-not because of the place we married, but because of my unprofessional hair and makeup person, but I didn´t scream and cry like I thought I would-I let my maid of honor do the screaming. Everyone looks to the bride to see how smoothly the ceremony will go, so take a deep breath, stay calm, and if something goes wrong, it goes wrong. Everything will be OK.
Hey, if someone really screws up, take revenge, and blab about it on the forum-everyone knows I bash Vegas Hair all the time!