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Hey MsSeaGlass! Though I went to Cancun many times before I booked my venue, I never stayed at or visited my venue until the week I got there for my wedding. So I booked site unseen. I found that speaking to past brides who got married there really helped. The bestdestinationwedding forum was a lifesaver for me! I highly recommend it. I didn't do a makeup trial, just make sure to bring pictures of what you want. I planned everything by email since my wedding was in Mexico, that way I had everything in writing. But Hawaii is covered by most cellphone plans, I believe. It can be done! No worries. Plus, we are all here to help. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
and of course you can always check out the local weddingbee board!!!
Hi there,
I just had my destination wedding on Maui this past August. I didn't do any of the things you mentioned and my wedding turned out perfect. I did what mrs lovebird did and looked at what a lot of past brides did. This knottie bio lists a lot of knottie brides who wed in Hawaii. http://www.theknot.com/co_profileview.htm?profilename=HawaiiBrides
I just searched the page for my reception location and looked at about a million bios. Also the Hawaii knot forums has plenty of women who have great advice. http://talk.theknot.com/boards/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=73
Hiring a wedding planner was the best decision I made. She picked out a great minister, hair stylist, and violinist for us.
Hi MsSeaGlass! I've never been to the Dominican Republic, let alone to my resort, the Majestic Colonial, and I've talked to a lot of other brides in the same boat as us. I second Mrs Lovebird's suggestion to check out the Best Destination Wedding Forum - lots of great info there! I've also found that my best resource were past brides of the resort, for me I found most of them on Facebook.. try there. Is there an onsite wedding coordinator that you are dealing with? They might be able to put you in touch with past brides, too. If not, I agree with Elle - look into hiring one that lives there; they probably have heard and seen it all. Good luck!
Thanks for the great recommendations, ladies. We are actually trying to keep our wedding out of a resort, to cut costs. We're looking at getting a beachfront vacation rental and having the ceremony on the lawn in front of the house. Then, having a private party at a nearby restaurant as a reception of sorts. But, maybe I can find a wedding coordinator who doesn't only coordinate for one site.
Thanks for all the suggestions!! Planning this is too much fun...
I am doing something similar, MsSeaGlass, only in Florida instead of Hawaii. I would highly recommend finding a local wedding planner/coordinator in Hawaii. That way you can get vendor recommendations and have someone on the ground to handle things, much like a resort coordinator would.
Of course I heartily recommend the Best Destination Wedding forum, even if you're not getting married at a resort.
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Most brides who opt for a DW tend NOT to be the type A pesonlity (need to have all the details down) kind of bride. With that said, if your the kind of bride who has to know and see everything or it will drive you crazy, maybe you should rethink having it far away. Hawaii is BEAUTIFUL and you can't really go wrong having it there. I agree with the other posts about having a wedding planner. I would never get one if I was having my wedding in my hometown, but being a DW bride myself, I think its important. As it turns out, most of the resorts in Kauai automatically come with them :)
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You would be surprised how many brides and bees plan this way! I've been to Hawaii a million times, but can't say I've ever been there with wedding venues in mind. So, now here I am planning a wedding with photos and trust that I have great vendors. No make-up trial, no site visits, nada. Elle gave links to some great resources, use them! It's best if you're more on the lenient and laid back side, otherwise planning will drive you crazy!
I decided on my location/venue before I ever visted it! I think bestdestinationweddings.com, the knot, weddingbee, and tripadvisor are all great places to do some research into your venue! Through these sites I found three other brides who are having weddings at my venue and we email eachother often to exchange ideas and advice!
<font size="2" color="#81a026">MsSeaGlass</font> - how's your destination wedding planning coming along?
We also planned a destination wedding via the power of the Internet :) Lots of back and forth email and online research but in the end everything turned out great!
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Has anyone planned a destination wedding without first visting your destination? My fiance and I are considering a wedding in Hanalei (Kauai), and while I've visited there before and absolutely loved it, we won't be able to go see anything before the actual wedding. This means no make-up trials, no caterer/restaurant tastings, no looking at ceremony/reception sites (except for photos).
Anyone have any suggestions of how to handle this?