How we picked the DR for our DW - Part 1
July 23rd, 2008 @ 9:32 am by Miss Sea Breeze
So you’ve decided to have a DW (destination wedding). Every night, images of sandy beaches, turquoise seas and hurricanes- no wait, that was just me- er…swaying palm trees fill your dreams.
With a spring in your step and a sparkle in your eye, you trip on into your local travel agent’s office where HORROR OF HORRORS, they weigh you down with 20 pounds of catalogues detailing vacation packages in every single Caribbean island under the sun!
Where do you even start?!?
Well I’m not going to beat around the bush here: if you’ve never actually been to any of these potential destinations (like yours truly), what you’re about to encounter is NOT a cake-walk.
You are (sorry to have to break it to you) going to have to flex those Google muscles and do some mean research, the likes of which you have not attempted since that course on Western Civilization in first year university. Either that, or find yourself a darn good travel agent who can, based on your vague beginnings-of-an-idea-as-to-what-you-think-you-might-want, pick the perfect destination for you. That’s not easy though, so if the latter’s the case, congratulations, you found a truly valuable resource and you just spared yourself lots of work.
For the rest of you (even though you may have a great agent, you may be like me and not trust anything anyone says until you’ve fully researched it yourself…type A, anyone?), buckle down.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing the location for your destination wedding:
1. Where are most of your guests traveling from? Some exclusive destinations are only served by tour operators who depart from a limited list of cities. Make sure your guests can get to where you want them to be.
2. What kind of travelers are your guests? If your parents insist you invite all your septuagenarian aunts and uncles and your dream destination of choice is somewhere that takes a six hour flight plus 2 hour boat trip to get to, make sure your guests wouldn’t resent you for it.
3. How much are you comfortable asking your guests to spend? Although most destinations have resorts ranging between the 3 to 5 star rating (you probably don’t want to go any less than 3 stars), some destinations are overall cheaper than others. A good rule of thumb is, the smaller the island, the more expensive. Many small islands are also not attainable via direct flight so you’d have to add on additional costs for charter flights or boat trips for the short hop over. Also factor in the distance- the farther away it is from your origin, the more expensive.
4. Are many of your guests American? If so, then you might not want to have your destination wedding in Cuba as there is (as of today, anyway) still an embargo in effect which bars American trade with Cuba and forbids U.S. citizens from traveling there as tourists. Most Americans fly to Cuba via third countries— Mexico, Canada and the Bahamas (shhh, you didn’t hear it from me)— but do you want to make it that complicated?
5. What kind of experience are you looking for? If you and your hubby-to-be are avid adventurers and feel your guests would appreciate the same kind of vibe, maybe what you’re looking for is somewhere off the beaten path like Costa Rica. If you prefer something a little more civilized and predictable (but still gorgeous!), maybe Mexico, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic is more your style.
These are some of the biggest questions Mr. Sea Breeze and I asked ourselves when trying to figure out our wedding location.
Stay tuned for part 2- How we answered these questions.
What things did you consider when planning your DW?
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15 Responses to “How we picked the DR for our DW - Part 1”
Oh my goodness, a new bee that is not from California OR Asian! Yaaay! You are a rarity around here and I cannot wait to hear your story! 
Just wanted to say that I love your writing style (aka, funny and informative, with great emphasis on both) and look forward to reading more of your posts!!
Ease of travel for our guests was our biggest priority; we decided on Aruba. It has direct flights from most of the cities where our guests lived, it’s just a short taxi ride from the airport to the hotels, and there are several hotels at different price points available. Also, since it’s small but very geographically diverse, it’s easy to get around and has a lot of different things to do.
@Miss Pineapple - I also would have considered it, if I had known that such a thing existed for DWs… which I only figured out after I’d already done all the dirty work. D’oh.
@Bridget - I’ve heard great things about Aruba!
Because we wanted a small wedding and our even small list of invitees was spread out all over the country, FI and I knew we wanted a DW. But yeah, finding a spot was insane. Trying to find something that was nice enough that I felt like I could trust them not to mess things up (probably better put as “could deal with very Type-A me” and knows that “island-time” is a phrase that will make most American brides’ skin crawl), but not out of the budget for our guests or require an insane travel itinerary proved basically impossible. Adding a lot to that was the guilt over the fact that we’d save a lot of money doing a DW (even at a fancy resort) while it would cost our guests a lot more in travel expenses and in headaches. In the end, we decided on Austin, Texas, and are very happy with our choice.
Great post Miss Sea Breeze. Very informative. We didn’t consider an international DW, but we did think about having it in the Adirondacks, which would have involved a lot more traveling for our guests. In the end, we decided against it because of questions 2 and 3.
@Kim: Ummm… what?!
I have to say I’m oddly offended by your comment. Maybe I’m just too “PC” or I took it the wrong way, but that sounds like some not-too-carefully veiled prejudice to me.
Also, there are plenty of Bees who are not Asian or Californian. Myself obviously included.
That is great adivce Miss SB! I really appreciate your shared knowledge
@Mrs. Radish: Ditto @Kim, sorry I found that offensive too.
Miss Sea Breeze, we went through exactly that same process in choosing our location, too! I am also now an expert googler (hehe) after all this far-off wedding planning. I’m curious to read if you booked sight-unseen. That is one thing I thought I could do, but when it came down to it, just never could!
Should I weigh in on that comment about too many Californians and Asians? As a proud Filipina American living in Southern California…. nah. If folks can’t see how different all the bees are as bloggers and as people, then it’s not my job to educate them.
[...] found that the best place to start after asking ourselves these questions was to talk to friends and family that had been to the various Caribbean destinations I was sort-of [...]
cool! i’m the matron of honor of a dw in DR!
my friend is having her wedding at paradisus punta cana in december! i can’t wait.
WOW! I love D.R. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and for our one year anniversary. We were so happy with both of our resorts, the first in Punta Cana, and the second in La Romana. My husband and I are both wedding photographers, and have photographed Destination Weddings before, and would love to do one in D.R. If anyone is interested…let me know! 860.227.2684
Welcome to WeddingBee, Miss Sea Breeze!! Not to overshadow your great post, but I just wanted to say that I happily read weddingbee, but rarely feel the need to comment. However, Kim’s comment was surprising, untrue and unnecessary to me. I’m glad I’m not the only one that shares that opinion.
I am having a destination wedding as well - St. Thomas, USVI. We are both in our mid 30’s, and have lived away from our parent’s homes for quite some time (my parents moved from my hometown years ago). Getting married where I grew up just didn’t make sense. We figured why not throw a great party in a beautiful, tropical locale?
Our guests are super excited to be able to share in our big day AND have a vacation. Yes, you do make some sacrifices, though. There are ppl. who we would love to have there that just can’t make the trip. And it can be stressful not knowing what to expect-def. NOT the choice for control freaks!
Miss Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than planning our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
oh my goodness, how daunting! those are great starting points for other trying to take on the planning. I think that if we were to do an destination wedding we would have broken down and hired a coordinator.