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 Planning the Destination Wedding...
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| Author | Topic: Planning the Destination Wedding... |
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Jaimes78 Housemate |
posted 07-12-2004 08:54 AM
   
my bf and i just got engaged 2 weeks ago. (yahoo!!) we still haven't set a date but we're thinking next August would be a good time for a wedding. we're into the destination wedding idea, and i'm leaning toward Hawaii. he wants me to check out other places as well so we can compare packages and prices. problem is, i have no idea where to really start. i've emailed a few places, and looked at a few resort websites. i'm also going to go to a travel agent today... i know some of you have planned destination weddings before so i'm hoping you'll send some tips my way. are there any "guide" books out there for this sort of thing? just to give ya an idea, i'd really like to get married right on the beach, and then have the reception in a hotel banquet room and have a block of hotel rooms for all our guests so everyone is right together. i'd also like to be in a city (Kona or Waikiki or Honolulu...) so that everyone doesn't have to rent cars if they don't want to. IP: Logged |
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cablejunkie Housemate |
posted 07-12-2004 10:06 AM
Hi Jaimes78. I don't have much input on destination weddings, but I have stayed in Kona and wanted to give you some heads up about the city. Although Kona is a city, it's on the Big Island, where you need to rent a car. If your guests are planning to stay in Kona for a few days, there's really not much to do in Kona itself, other than lounge around the resorts. All the "good stuff" is outside the town, therefore needing a car or at least a scooter. Kona (the city, not the resort areas) doesn't have even have a good beach--I read that it washed away in a hurricane a while ago. On the other hand, the Big Island is awesome and there is so much to see and do. I stayed there over a week and feel like I barely got to see and do a sliver of the things I wanted. IP: Logged |
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Jaimes78 Housemate |
posted 07-14-2004 08:36 AM
thanx for the reply! i'm actually leaning toward the Big Island cuz my family and i have all spent a lot of time there, and i have older relatives living there as well. we love how laid back it is, and there are actually a bunch of really nice beaches, both black and white sand (tho it probably just depends on individual preference, right?), and a few nice resorts that have wedding packages in the area, which is where i've started my research (emailing the wedding coordinators at the Royal Kona and the Kona Village resorts). the beach you're thinking of that was destroyed was probably maybe that one black sand beach that was wiped out by a big lava flow a few years ago... i can't remember the name of it tho... ? I'll definitely be looking into car rentals for anyone who wants it cuz there are lots of fun things to do in other parts of the island... when i know how many guests i'm looking at, i might try to organize a few group activities as well... would still love to hear tips from anyone who's planned a wedding away - things like when to send save-the-date cards and/or invitations so people have enough time to make plans and save up for a trip, and so that i have enough time to book things, and any tips on picking a hotel wedding package... in case anyone else is planning a destination wedding, this month Islands Magazine has a wedding/honeymoon issue out! [This message has been edited by Jaimes78 (edited 07-14-2004).] IP: Logged |
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Merimoo Housemate |
posted 07-14-2004 07:06 PM
Found this while I was surfing today - http://bostontravel.abuzz.com/interaction/s.135/discussion_in_list/ci/0/ IP: Logged |
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Heatherina Housemate |
posted 07-18-2004 10:17 AM
Hi Jaimes! Congrats on your engagement! I recently got engaged (a little over a month ago) and have been busily planning our destination wedding for next August ever since. Funnily enough, Hawai'i was my first choice too (I went to school there for a while, have best friends there, and visit every year) but since we'll have family coming from England it was too much of a trek. So we're going with Grand Bahama Island, and having a full fancy reception at a resort. Anyway, sorry for babbling. Since I have started planning and looking into a whole bunch of places, here is what I'd recommend: 1. if you are Catholic or certain other denominations of Christian, you can't get married on the beach (this was a huge disappointment for me!) So you may want to look into that. 2. some hotels (especially the large chain resorts) will either require you to have all of your guests stay at the hotel (may be a problem if the place is pricey) or they will charge you a guest fee (exorbitant and wasteful. I decided against a lot of the resorts I was looking at because they wanted to charge me an extra $65 per person just to let non-guests onto their property for the reception.) 3. request a cost estimate early on..there are often hidden fees (room rental, tablecloth rental, chair cover rental) that really add up- these fees can quickly turn a practical, low cost wedding into something more expensive than a NYC wedding. 4. ask the wedding planner at the hotel for pictures of everything if you can't visit, and pictures or contact info of other couples who recently had weddings there. 5. and of course, you probably know this since you are familiar with HI- they operate on aloha time, so have patience  Good luck! IP: Logged |
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Heatherina Housemate |
posted 07-18-2004 10:20 AM
Oh, and about the save the date cards, etc. We are trying to finalize our date and reception details this week, and then will order our Save the Date cards asap (we are getting the magnetic ones, with a heart drawn in the sand- I love all things tropical wedding!) And we plan to send our invitations out in January, for our August date. I think when asking people to arrange vacation plans around you, it is almost impossible to give too much notice! IP: Logged |
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Jaimes78 Housemate |
posted 07-19-2004 09:37 AM
hey Heatherina! i read that you were planning a wedding and i was wondering if it would be in hawaii too! sounds like a great tip to request pictures of everything since i don't think we'll make it over to visit the site before the wedding... also, i bet talking to couples who had weddings in the same place is an excellent way to get more tips and advice! how is it working for you to book your resort in advance? do you already have a firm idea of the number of guests you'll have, or do you book your reception stuff first and then finalize numbers later? i noticed in my first post we were thinking august 2005, but now we're discussing january 2006 (better timing for a lot of people we want there, including the groom! ha ha) IP: Logged |
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Beach Housemate |
posted 07-20-2004 10:14 AM
Cool - a wedding on a beach sounds lovely. My sister was planning something similar but she picked Cuba (she's a travel agent and said the prices there were unbeatable and the beaches were a lot better than those in Mexico). I thought I'd toss it out there since my sister did so much research to find the best location for the best price and it came out to Cuba. (My sister ended up cancelling that plan when Canada 3000 went under since that's who she was working for. Whoops, good thing none of us had bought tickets yet!) Can't wait to hear what you end up doing! [This message has been edited by Beach (edited 07-20-2004).] IP: Logged |
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Heatherina Housemate |
posted 07-22-2004 03:58 AM
We are having some date changing drama over here as well..my fiance's brother obnoxiously booked his hall for his wedding for less than one month before our original date- I am still steaming as I type this. So now, instead of August I am seeing if I can move everything up to June (sorry, this sort of talk belongs in Wedding Mania!) Anyhow, what I am doing re: resort and guest rooms is that with the invitation, I am including a listing of hotels in the area in a variety of price ranges. Our guests are not expected to stay at the same resort we are (and we'd probably actually prefer it- for privacy and sanity reasons!) and we want to be respectful of people's budgets. It is possible to request a block of rooms at discount when you are holding a wedding at a resort, but to get any sort of discount you usually have to guarantee them at least 10 rooms and even then, the discounts offered didn't impress me- I consistently have found better deals on hot3ls.com or trav3locity. As for actual reception stuff regarding the headcount, we've told our wedding planner to price it out based on the highest number of people we can reasonably expect to come- we set that number at 70, though I *really* don't think anywhere close to that will actually attend. When it gets closer to our date, we will tell her the actual headcount and then she can scale everything back accordingly. IP: Logged |
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darlin' Housemate |
posted 07-22-2004 09:17 AM
just wanted to put a plug in for my favorite hotel/resort in the whole world, the Mauna Lanai Bay just out of Kona on the big island... beautiful scenery and beaches, great food, and friendly staff. Plus they've got some great envornomental programs and they rehabilitate and release wild sea turtles!!! IP: Logged |
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Jaimes78 Housemate |
posted 10-04-2004 05:40 PM
yippee!! i booked our wedding at the Royal Kona Hotel today. the hotel has a package for a dinner buffet in a gorgeous banquet room (the walls around half of it open up for an ocean view), and a package for the ceremony. our wedding date is a year and a half away... so long to wait! i'm glad we have our date reserved now. IP: Logged |
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Heatherina Housemate |
posted 10-07-2004 10:04 AM
Oh that is SO exciting Jaimes!!! We've booked ours, too. June 4th, here: www.pelicanbayhotel.com. IP: Logged |
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jazzberry Housemate |
posted 10-09-2004 12:28 AM
heatherina, there's an error in your link...remove the "." from the end and it should work. That place looks beautiful! Jaimes, I can't believe I only found this thread now! I've been helping a former coworker plan her destination wedding. The only advice I can give you at this point is to hire a planner, but I'm sure you've already thought about that by now. [This message has been edited by jazzberry (edited 10-09-2004).] IP: Logged |
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Merimoo Housemate |
posted 10-30-2004 08:00 AM
bump! IP: Logged |
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Jaimes78 Housemate |
posted 10-30-2004 08:26 PM
hey jazz, i actually haven't hired a planner yet... there's one who works for the hotel and will take care of the ceremony (there's a package deal that includes some flowers, the officiant, the outdoor site, and a photographer), reception room and buffet dinner. i'm assuming she'll help with other flowers, a cake, music, and a photographer for more than just the ceremony, but we haven't gotten into those extra details yet, mostly just cuz it's still a year and a half away... i'm not sure if i should hire another planner over there cuz the big things seem to be taken care of, and we're not really looking for a lot of extra stuff... the setting will be what makes it Heatherina, did you hire a planner? oh, i had another question about hotel rooms - since we're all going to be out-of-towners, should i be staying with like, my sister or a couple of my bridesmaids before the ceremony and *then* getting a room with E? or can we stay in the same hotel room the whole time and i can just get ready for the ceremony in another room? or does it matter in the least? ha ha. IP: Logged |
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jazzberry Housemate |
posted 11-01-2004 06:09 PM
If you want to have a more elaborate wedding than what the hotel package includes, then you might consider hiring a seperate planner to communicate with the hotel and any outside vendors on your behalf. However, in your case, it doesn't sound like that would be necessary, since the hotel will probably take care of everything that you're looking for. It would be a good idea to follow up regularly, and to ask a lot of questions to make sure that you'll be getting what you want and that everything is taken care of. You can probably wait until closer to the wedding to worry about that, though. As for the hotel room, there is no steadfast rule these days, so just do whatever you'd prefer to do. IP: Logged |
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RSLBuns Subletter |
posted 11-01-2004 08:05 PM
Jaimes78: I think you should do whatever you guys want to do as far as getting a room together. I think it would be fun to spend the night before the wedding apart, but that's just me. Do what you feel is right. Oh yeah and congrats everybody who got engaged!! I too got engaged and am planning my wedding in Hawaii!! Mine will be on the Island of Oahu (where I'm from). We have the place reserved (07.16.2004) and my uncle is a caterer who specializes in luaus. I'm so very excited to have a luau!! Anyway, although you guys are getting married on different islands, I would love to answer any questions you had, if you have anymore, since it looks like you have everything planned!! I would love to hear everyone's idea for their Hawaiian wedding. Not sure if this belongs in the wedding mania thread or not :0) I know I want orchids for flowers, they are in Hawaii, but not sure if that means they'll be cheap. It's tough because i won't be able to go home until a month before the wedding (I live in Colorado). So I'm wondering how I am going to get some of this stuff done w/out a wedding planner. IP: Logged |
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Heatherina Housemate |
posted 11-02-2004 09:08 PM
I am so jealous of everyone having a wedding in Hawai'i! I lived there for a while, and O'ahu in particular is very special to me (I visit every summer) but with my whole family in England the distance wasn't practical. Yay for you though I am going to incorporate some Hawai'ian touches at my wedding- such as a flower over my ear (I'll switch it from the left to the right after the ceremony) instead of a veil, etc.Jaimes, I have hired a planner- she actually works for the hotel and coordinates all of their weddings. Her commission is 10% of the cost of the wedding, and that is cheaper than most of the other places I looked into in the Caribbean. I like her a lot, and I trust her- and she has been very patient with my nuerotic New Yorker-ness- which was my first priority. When planning a destination wedding you have to rely on other people for so much- personally, I'm fine with that, but my best friend is having a wedding on O'ahu on 7/10 and she's planning it from NY as well, and she is NOT HAPPY about aloha-time....! IP: Logged |
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RSLBuns Subletter |
posted 11-04-2004 07:38 PM
Just an idea to make your wedding feel more Hawaiian: the groom can wear a maile (my-lee)lei and the bride can have a haku or head lei. The maile lei has no flowers and kind of just drapes around the grooms shoulders and is not connected to make a circle. The haku lei is just a pretty floral head piece with tropical looking flowers...very Hawaiian. Hope this helps someone IP: Logged |
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Jaimes78 Housemate |
posted 11-09-2004 12:15 PM
any of you destination wedding girls having problems with MANY more people than you expected saying they'll attend your wedding cuz it's a good excuse to go someplace tropical (well, of course not *just* because of the tropical location, but you know what i mean)? i read that one should not assume a destination wedding will deter people from accepting an invitation, and that's definitely holding true for us, at least so far. i guess we'll see when it comes time for all these people to buy their plane tickets... but what am i worried about? my mom says, we'll be covering one dinner (the reception) for everyone. a few extra people aren't going to make that big a difference in the cost, and it'll be nice to have a full room. right? IP: Logged |
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