Destination Weddings/ Beach wedding

[Hoping&Waiting]

Here you all go...a thread for those of us contemplating a destination wedding! Tell us about your ideal location, time of year, resort etc!

 

[Hoping&Waiting]

Well here is the story about a destination/beach wedding and I....

My SO had always talked about how fun it would be to get married on a beach! I was always SOOOO against it! I am a traditional girl and want a HUGE wedding just like my two older sisters. whom have both just been married within the last two years. In October my So and I, both of our families, and all of our friends at the cabin were at a wedding for a mutual friend. After the wedding when we were waiting to be ushere out....EVERYONE started talking about "if" my SO and I had a destination wedding. I played along and smiled knowing that I would NEVER do that! That weekend I hosted my SO''s family at my house and the conversation continued all weekend. The morning after the wedding my SO and I woke up and he turned to me and said...

"This is the one and only thing I am requesting, it is the only thing I want for a wedding. Will you please consider having a destination/beach wedding??"

HOW ON EARTH DO I SAY NO TO THAT?? afterall it is both of our weddings. So we came to a compromise...we would have a destination wedding but would also have an at home reception just as big as we would have if we wouldn''t have gone out of town for the ceremony. Plus LOTS of friends and family said they would attend the destination wedding which is what I wanted!!


Now for the details:

Location: We really wanted to go somewhere exotic, like tahiti, the carribean, Barbados etc. But when we realize that we wanted a lot of people to come with us those locations weren''t realistic and way to expensive for travel costs.

Last spring we visited Riviera Maya, Mexico with family and FELL IN LOVE. It was literally paradise, we loved it. So we have almost decided on that location.

Resorts: We are contemplating between Moon Palace, Riviera Maya or Iberostar Properties, Riviera Maya.

I have saved a ton of pictures for planning ideas etc. It is getting so hard NOT to plan! Were NOT EVEN ENGAGED YET!!!!!!!


So that is our destination/beach wedding story!

 

[TravelingGal]

I had a beach wedding, and the destination was pretty much my backyard.

TGuy came across the pacific to be with me. We met in Europe. We loved to travel. But oddly, for the wedding, I really just wanted to be married at home on the beach I grew up on and still often go to walk, jog, blade, etc.

Mine was nothing fancy...just got married in the spot where I would often look out over the water and wish I could be with TGuy, who was on the other side of the pacific.

The best part is that I still go down there all the time and pass by the lifeguard station where we said our vows. It''s a lovely thing to have an unlimited pass to the spot where we became man and wife.

 

[sweetjettagirl04]

Well, ours will be a beach wedding. Early October 2008, the Eastern Shore of Maryland or Delaware. Nothing big and fancy, but we have thought about a guest list of about 100 people. The eastern shore works for us because we're under 3 hours away, it's a good point for BF's family who live in NY who will be travelling, and a lot of our friends have homes or condos in the area - and there are a slew of inexpensive hotels there, too, for the others who wish to join us.

I originally wanted it to be a small group of close friends and immediate family, but BF is part Italian - which means a lot of "close" family members! At first I wanted a small wedding, little celebration after, then a big party when we came home. With the research I've done - it would actually be more cost effective to have everything there - I found a planner who includes the officant, photography package, and the reception and the cost for about 100 people with all this would be about $4000. I'm very lucky to have this lady in my sights as our planner.

At first I worried about the weather in early October, but on the shore it averages about 70 that time of year, so I'm confident it will work out - and it's gorgeous, too.

Good luck to the other ladies planning theirs!

Just to add on - I was the one who wanted the beach wedding and FF wasn't sure, but he willingly agreed one day, and hasn't changed his mind. It's just so us - laid back and relaxed.

 

[EricaR]

We are still debating on where to get married. I was pulling for Lake Tahoe. We were up there last June and it was amazing. We are really outdoorsy type people, and we spent the weekend hiking in the mountains and climbing down waterfalls. On our last evening we took a dinner cruise on the lake and it was so beautiful.

I only have a small photo, but this was the sunset over the water.

 

[EricaR]

And here we were on the cruise.

 

[EricaR]

Ken would much rather go somewhere warm and far enough away that we have a good excuse not to invite extended family and friends we are not very close with. Both of us are very private and to be totally honest I don''t want to share my wedding day with people I don''t really care about. I really dislike going to weddings that are so big that no one knows each other and where you are forced to sit at a table with people you don''t know and make small talk. They always leave me feeling uncomfortable and waiting for the moment we can bolt out the door. For us I''d much rather keep things small and intimate and only invite people we are close to.

I think he is leaning towards going to Mazatlan and (since we are geeks) organizing a group trip out to some of the ruins the day before.

 

[glueck]

TGal.... your post gave me chills. I had such a beautiful vision of you sitting on the beach staring at the horizion, knowing the man you will marry is just on the other side.... What a perfect place to marry

Hoping- sounds like you and FF have come up with the perfect solution. Talk about teamwork! Dont feel funny about pre planning! My thought is that one can research and collect as much info as she wants! Makes the planning easier when the time comes when you have ideas already!

 

[glueck]

DESTINATION HEIDELBERG GERMANY!

We have decided to marry in Heidelberg Germany at the Castle, Schloss Heidelberg with a small invited group about 25 or so people. We are leaning towards having a really nice 4-5 course meal in a famous restaurant after the ceremony. We just visitied over christmas, and the town is so romantic and picturesque! We cant say no! We are looking at summer 2009.

About a month later, we will have a full reception in America- - thinking a vintage theme with lots of romantic pics from our castle wedding.

Thats the plan so far!

 

[DMBFiredancer]

i am brand new as a poster here - but i have been lurking here for quite some time

thank you to EVERYONE who has unknowingly helped me get through the tough times of being a lady in waiting. even though i never posted, just reading your stories and posts always helped me realize i wasnt alone in my feelings at the time. i finally got engaged in september!


we are planning a beach wedding, too....and its been something that i was excited about at first, then went through a phase where i just wanted to go to the justice of the peace, and now im starting to come out of that phase and try to plan again.

traveling gal - i''ve been trying to find a way to thank you personally for the info you posted here and in other threads about your wedding, and wanted to ask you a bunch of things about your reception, but these forums do not allow private messaging or emailing like others do. i think we may live in the same city from what i can guess in your posts so i could relate to alot of what you wrote -especially the thread about the 30 something wedding blues.

anyway,back to the beach wedding stuff.....my family is from new jersey so i was having a hard time planning from here where i am in the LA beach area. i was going back and forth between where to have it - NJ, here, or a destination wedding. we are finally leaning towards having it here - right on the same beach that we walk on each day. we can actually walk to the place we are considering for our reception (TG- thats how i came across your posts...just so you dont think im a stalker, i was searching for the chart house and your posts came up!)

my ideal ceremony would be my closest friends and family in a very casual setting near the water. reception venues are the problem with me. i am finding it to be ridiculously expensive to throw a party! we have a small budget and i am going through this weird phase of not wanting to even spend the small budget on one day''s party.

so after all this rambling, my plan is a small, informal gathering on the beach where we live.
how we will party afterwards is still yet to be figured out

 

[Deelight]

We are debating between doing a destination wedding in Europe where all my extended family live and where we are sure our immediate family would come but our friends likely wouldn''t as it is on the other side of the world and fairly expensive. But I would be able to get married with all my family with me and in a cathedral etc, possibly summertime maybe spring, but I would have a BBQ when we got back to celebrate with friends.

And getting married here but no idea where as there are no OMG that is the one venue, but my friends will be able to attend :/ definitely in winter there would be no way in the Ozzie heat I would subject anyone to full suits, long dresses etc .

we have about two years to decide and we can check venues when we are there in May my only stipulation is that I get my princess day it is a tough choice for me though and I keep flip flopping BF thinks it would be so romantic to elope with the family

Decisions

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 1/13/2008 2:04:36 AM
Author: DMBFiredancer
i am brand new as a poster here - but i have been lurking here for quite some time

thank you to EVERYONE who has unknowingly helped me get through the tough times of being a lady in waiting. even though i never posted, just reading your stories and posts always helped me realize i wasnt alone in my feelings at the time. i finally got engaged in september!


we are planning a beach wedding, too....and its been something that i was excited about at first, then went through a phase where i just wanted to go to the justice of the peace, and now im starting to come out of that phase and try to plan again.

traveling gal - i''ve been trying to find a way to thank you personally for the info you posted here and in other threads about your wedding, and wanted to ask you a bunch of things about your reception, but these forums do not allow private messaging or emailing like others do. i think we may live in the same city from what i can guess in your posts so i could relate to alot of what you wrote -especially the thread about the 30 something wedding blues.

anyway,back to the beach wedding stuff.....my family is from new jersey so i was having a hard time planning from here where i am in the LA beach area. i was going back and forth between where to have it - NJ, here, or a destination wedding. we are finally leaning towards having it here - right on the same beach that we walk on each day. we can actually walk to the place we are considering for our reception (TG- thats how i came across your posts...just so you dont think im a stalker, i was searching for the chart house and your posts came up!)

my ideal ceremony would be my closest friends and family in a very casual setting near the water. reception venues are the problem with me. i am finding it to be ridiculously expensive to throw a party! we have a small budget and i am going through this weird phase of not wanting to even spend the small budget on one day''s party.

so after all this rambling, my plan is a small, informal gathering on the beach where we live.
how we will party afterwards is still yet to be figured out

I saw your booze thread before this one, but I guess I was right...you are looking at the charthouse. Great place to get married, and feel free to ask any questions.

 

[rubybeth]

Ugh, we have gone back and forth on this. At first, S wanted the kind of traditional thing, I think mainly because we come from fairly traditional Catholic backgrounds. Right after we started talking marriage, I kind of freaked and realized I didn''t want to plan a thing, and I found this site, Precious Maui Weddings, which has the cheesiest name in the world, right? But I really loved the photography, the locations, and the pricetags! I have also looked at Italy and other foreign package deals, but the paperwork seems kind of complicated compared to just doing it in the states, or even Canada.

Well, by now we''ve discussed how we could do a smaller traditional Catholic wedding either at our church locally or at the chapel at my graduate school (also Catholic) and where we''d do a reception/who we''d invite, etc. I think, after I have the ring on my finger, we''ll need to sit down with my parents to figure out how much they''d contribute, and with S''s family to see if they could help at all, and go from there. S has definitely started to come over to the the ''dark side'' of just going away and coming back married (weddingmoon?), an idea I''ve loved for a while!

Oh, and either way, I''d still wear one of the dresses I''ve been drooling over online for months.

 

[DMBFiredancer]

Date: 1/13/2008 10:32:55 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 1/13/2008 2:04:36 AM

I saw your booze thread before this one, but I guess I was right...you are looking at the charthouse. Great place to get married, and feel free to ask any questions.

thank you! i think i will have plenty of questions. sometime today i will start a thread in the brides area so i dont keep hijacking threads with questions that pertain to the charthouse.

i''ll call it something like ''socal venues'' so look for it later...off to work! thank you again

 

[MissErin]

Even though the planning stages are far from starting on the wedding, it is something Eric and I have discussed an agreed upon.

We want to get married in Canada at Lake Louise. (picture below) The setting is tranquil and enchanting. I have always been a ourdoor wedding girl - mainly due to my religion - and from the first time I walked up to this spot I knew it was where I wanted to be married.

Knowing this I figured there would be some issues... Money, travel plans, and guests. So I researched afforable wedding there and found an all inclusive (photos, videos, flowers, bridal room, honeymoon suite, and so on) for just about $3,500. Perfect right?? Well there is a catch - it would only be a ceremony for 8 guests. Now some may dislike this... But I LOVE it!!

I have always wanted a VERY small wedding. 50 people at MOST. I love the fact it''s a ceremony for Eric and I and have always thought that would be all I need. Then I wanted my parents, his grandparents, his best friend, and my best friend - completing the group of 8.

But, when we would fly back to Cali we would have a larger reception for all the people that literally told us "You better invite us to the wedding!!". That way they will be included into part - just not all. And we would have the best of both worlds.

So there is my dream. We''ll see if it pans out in time. Until then... I''ll just keep dreaming ofr beautiful Lake Louise.

 

[designchica]

I have no idea when or where I will get married. I''ve been back an forth on this. For so many years I pictured myself getting married on a beach, but as I got older and started to believe that I would never get married, not that it is becoming much more of a reality, I find myself wanting to do something local so that I can share the day with my local friends who have been through the ups and downs with me over the years and know all too well how significant the day will be for me.

With that being said, I am someone who gets stressed out easily and the idea of planning a wedding seems a little bit consuming for me. Even just this past month as I have done some pre-engagement wedding research, I''ve falled way behind at my job. I''m starting to think that perhaps a destination wedding is the way to go after all and will be much less of a distraction than planning a local wedding.

If I do end up doing a destination wedding, it will likely be in one of the following places:
1. Sonoma Valley, California
2. Wine country in Oregon
3. Captiva Island, Florida.
4. Someplace tropical.

Out of those choices, Captiva Island is probably the most sentimental place. I travelled there many many times as a child and when my father passed away when I was 16, I always pictured myself getting married there because that is the place that I feel closest to my dad. I have so many positive memories there of him and if I got married there, it would feel like my dad was at my wedding. However, my boyfriend has never been there and the place holds no special meaning to him or his family so I am not sure how he will feel about that location.

 

[indypitty]

I have always dreamt of a beach wedding and now that we are engaged, FI is 100% into the idea as well. We are definitely getting married this summer in Mexico. Most likely Playa del Carmen, which we love. Choosing the resort is the hard part, because there are so many! I have spent an obscene amount of time on TripAdvisor researching places.

 

[sherlock10]

Hey everyone! These places sound gorgeous! I have always wanted to get married on the water, but I just moved from California so I thought that it just wasn''t going to happen. But then his friends told me that his mom wants us to get married in India! She''s from an area with GORGEOUS beaches, plus I am so excited it''s not going to be where either he or I am from (I don''t like it slanted like that). Now if only I could get my ering so I can start planning!!!

 

[scm1012]

Fun thread!

I just got engaged in December and so far am shooting for Aug/Sept/Oct of 2009.

My ultimate dream is to elope to either Italy or Mexico, just the two of us...and honeymoon at the same time. Then, come back home to Northern California and have a celebration dinner with close friends and family.

I don''t want to call it a "reception" ...more like a nuptial dinner with flowers and me getting to wear my gown a second time!

 

[Hoping&Waiting]

Date: 1/14/2008 4:52:43 PM
Author: indypitty
I have always dreamt of a beach wedding and now that we are engaged, FI is 100% into the idea as well. We are definitely getting married this summer in Mexico. Most likely Playa del Carmen, which we love. Choosing the resort is the hard part, because there are so many! I have spent an obscene amount of time on TripAdvisor researching places.

What resorts are you looking at? my SO and I are thinking riviera maya/playa! we have somewhat narrowed down to two...but are STILL searching!

1. Moon Palace Resort, golf and spa (30 min south of cancun but 10 min from the airport, on the riviera coast)
2. Iberostar


what are you thinking? any opinions on those two resorts that I might not know?

 

[indypitty]

Hoping&Waiting,

We have a hold on a date at the new Excellence resort in Playa Mujeres (25 mi north of Cancun). It''s adults only, though, and I''m still waiting to hear if my sister is bringing her kids. If so, we need to find a nice kid-friendly place!

I''ve heard good things about Moon Palace and all the Iberostars.

We went to Secrets Capri last summer - it was fabulous! Would go back there but want to experiemnce someplace new.

 

[CaliBling]

This will be the second time around for both of us so we want someting intimate and tropical...A few friends, his children and our parents. Not sure where thought, Carribbean, Hawaii...not sure.