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i did a DW in Jamaica. i can also all your questions, but if you look at previous threads i started, you will find all your answers!
i will answer one question for now - it was definitely my dream wedding! no regrets whatsoever!! and the guests that came had a blast also.
here is my budget
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/my-jamaican-wedding-budget
i did several recaps, here is the last one which links you to all the others:
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/purpleunicorns-trash-the-dress-photos-the-end
I too considered Las Vegas but the costs were just too high and it is not really a kid friendly city so we nixed it and went the all-inclusive route. I am planning my wedding in Montego Bay, Jamaica and our budget is $15k (and hopefully not a penny more). The reason we went with Jamaica is because even though the costs are higher, everything is included (i.e. - food, drinks, activities). In Vegas, people would have to come out of money for every little thing. Also, we wanted to keep everyone in one place or as close as possible. In Vegas, we would've had to let people pick their own hotels and we would've lost a lot of people to the casinos.
Ultimately, we feel we are gonna get more bang for our buck in Jamaica.
@PurpleUnicorn Thank you so much for providing your links! Your wedding looked amazing and you looked so beautiful! I actually started tearing up when I saw you both looking at each other the first time :) So sweet. I will definitely PM you if I have any questions, Thank you!!!
@VegasSukie That's a good point, I didn't even think about the out of pocket for food/drinks, I guess in the end it evens out by doing it in Jamaica. Which resort are you looking at in Montego Bay? My FI and I just came back from the Sandals resort there and it seemed like a really nice place to have a ceremony.
I'm doing one in Vegas next year. As far as ceremony/reception money, it will cost about $5500. So far, no regrets in the planning process. We chose it over the all inclusive option manily because we didnt want to limit anyone. We felt that with Vegas were only asking for 1 day and they can spend the rest of the time exploring and doing whatever they want and stay at whatever hotel they want. To us, the all inclusive was rather restricting on our guests with all the money we'd ask them to spend, especially depending on the location. I kinda thought of it as a guest perspective, "would I want to go to a place I've been already for a wedding trapped with my family and friends?" type things. Legally, its also much much easier.
You should totally make a pro/con list.
What about a destination wedding on the beach and within the states?
The FL pandhandle is a great place with sugar white sands and relatively inexpensive. There is tons of stuff to do as well, with lots of kid freindly stuff. This site has info about weddings in Pensacola, FL as well as other tourist stuff to do: http://www.visitpensacola.com/professional/weddings
This is easier than full destination but not quite the status of Vegas.
However, if you are set on the two- I'd go for Vegas, you get a lot of bang for your buck. And as a former 11 year old who went- VEGAS ROCKED for kids!
@MASPA You're right a pro/con list would be ideal. I would also love to hop on a plane after the wedding and go to Jamaica for our honeymoon afterwards. It would be a little awkward to have a honeymoon in the same resort with my family, lol! Did you have to put a down payment for the wedding? If so how much? Thanks for the advice and info, I really appreciate it! :)
@CassidyR That's a good idea, I didn't even think about that. This whole wedding planning is a whole new world to me. I definitely need to do a lot more research! Thank you!!!
@Francescasina: I'm having my ceremony at caesar's and they only wanted a $500 deposit for the ceremony. The receptions they do separately but I'm not holding mine there. I think a $500 deposit is standard for all the hotels. But there are tons of other venues besides hotels.
edit: I should add the hotels ceremony packages include photos, legal fees, flowers, music etc. Plus other things and whatnot.
Caesars looks awesome! I can't wait to see your pictures!! Thank you again!
i'm doing vegas because of several reasons. if we were to get married in san diego, we would be looking at a guest list of 500+ and finding a nice place for 500+ is nearly impossible.
by having it in vegas, we were able to cut our guest list to just over 200. we are not saying no to kids but many of my family and friends are not planning on bringing kids because it's vegas. another reason why vegas was a plus is because the travel and hotel costs are fairly reasonable (and many of my family actually get comped rooms in vegas). hotels in san diego are expensive during the summer. all my family and friends are extremely excited about vegas. they love to gamble.
we are probably not saving any money by getting married in vegas. our per person cost is well over $100 for food and alcohol and that doesn't include the $2000 ceremony site fee. and i'm spending more on things like flowers because i won't be able to diy any of it.
Vegas is so done. Jamaica is very affordable and I bet you will find it to be a better experience. Vegas is fun..but maybe do Vegas for a second honeymoon a year later.
I'm having my DW in Jamaica!! I can't wait...We both come from big families and we both decided that we didn't want a big wedding. We agreed to have the wedding in Jamaica and only invited our close friends and family to attend. Yes they do have to pay for their stay and airfare but I told them to think of it as a vacation for them. It is an all-inlcusive resort so they do not have to worry about paying for their food or drinks unless they leave the resort. Also, after the wedding we will be having a reception back home in the States about a month after the wedding for any of our family or friends who wanted to attend but couldn't. I have been to Jamaica over 8 times and I love the island...If I could live there I would! I can't wait for my June wedding in Negril!!!
Thanks bees! Can't wait to see all the Jamaica DW's!! Everyone here is going to be having their wedding way before mine so I'm excited to see everyone's pics!!!
fresitachulita - "Vegas is so done" - What does that even mean?
I'm Canadian and have ties to both Jamaica and Vegas. I have been vacationing in Jamaica for the last 3 years and will go again this winter - I love it and have made many amazing friends. I've never stayed at a resort here...we're not ones for AI...we have always rented villas through Silver Sands so I cant be any help with that area but I have to say I cant see myself ever visiting Mexico again! You cant go wrong with Jamaica :)
I love Vegas and find it so much fun, there is never a day without something fun to do. We chose to have a Vegas wedding because I wanted my guests expense to be minimal. For them to go to Jamaica would have cost them much more than double and I really wanted my family and close friends to be able to be there. The whole experience was perfect for us and almost all of our guests are asking about a 1 year anniversary party in Vegas next May. We had our meet and greet, bachelor/ette parties, wedding/dinner, and day after brunch all within 4 days.
I think you should talk to your FI and decide on what type of feel you want for your wedding. A pro/con list like you said can really help. Good luck!
We're getting married in Jamaica but not at an all inclusive. It became very apparent to us as we were researching places that we wanted a small, intimate resort to get more personal attention for us and our guests. We get more free reign in making choices for our entire weekend instead of just choosing standard packages that 5000 other couples have had.
Same here...my mother is a travel agent and we have both been to many resorts in Jamaica and know what they offer...Resorts list wedding packages that you can do but they will work with you into making yours original by adding and deleting stuff to your liking...plus my guest feel good to know that everything is included with their price and don't have to pay out of pocket for each and every meal or drinks.
I suggest if you do an all-inclusive to go to an adult only resort...My cousin got married at a family resort and there were kids running around everywhere and you could here them screaming and playing as the wedding was going on...an adult only resort is more intimate and romantic and the staff caters to you and your guest more.
I suggest if you do an all-inclusive to go to an adult only resort...My cousin got married at a family resort and there were kids running around everywhere and you could here them screaming and playing as the wedding was going on...an adult only resort is more intimate and romantic and the staff caters to you and your guest more.
Jamaica is always the destination. I guess you will have a great time here !
I am getting married in Jamaica. Not at the resort, but am staying at the same resort as most of our guests and then, the day after the wedding we are going to a different resort 'up the road' for our private honeymoon! Best of Luck!
SO my FI and I were kind of in the same boat looking at DW between an all-inclusive such as Jamaica, cruise ship, or Vegas. We originally decided to do a DW to keep it smaller since I have a huge family so it should be no more than 40 people for us.
We had originally loved the cruise wedding idea but then I didn't like the fact that we would be enjoying our honeymoon time with everyone so we would want to still do a honeymoon after the fact. So we thought it would be better to spend about 4-5 days in Vegas, Get married and then we are planning on taking a short flight to LA on Sunday morning after our wedding and Cruise to Cabo for 7 nights just the two of us :) That way we get the best of both worlds!
The more friends and family we talked to, the more people we could get to come to Vegas also. We live on the east coast so paying for the flight is the most expensive part of going to Vegas and people can go all out or not, its completely up to them. But with the cruise or all inclusive in Jamaica they HAVE to pay the money.
Anyways, the more Vegas things I look at, the more excited I get. We want our wedding to be a huge party and then be able to escape from it all the next day. There are certainly pros and cons to both and you just have to really look at what is important to you two.
We aren't getting married til next October but we are planning it at Treasure Island and they have amazing packages for ceremonies and receptions :) Good luck with the decision making :)
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So my FI and I have been talking about doing a destination wedding either at an all inclusive resort in Jamaica or going to Las Vegas. We would love to do it at the resort but realistically, we feel a lot of people wouldn't come due to not only having the expense of the flight and hotel but also having to get a passport if they don't already have one. A perk on having it in Vegas is there are so many hotels/motels that people can choose from and wouldn't have to stay at the hotel we would be getting married in. It would also be a lot less than the set amount in Jamaica, grrr. My questions to you bees is; Where did you have your destination wedding? How much did it all cost? Was it everything you ever dreamed of or would you have done something different? Post pictures if you have them too! I would love to see them! :)