Planning a Mexican Wedding

[Jayems]

Hi folks,

My fiancee and I are planning a wedding in Mexico in late August, 2009. Basically, we'll be having a variety of people coming, half from Calgary and the other half from my side in England.

Has anyone had experience in this? We're thinking Cozumel, but family in England said a search turned up $4,000 pounds or something ridiculous.

We're looking to have it all-inclusive, and the reception at the hotel or at least close by.

We just can't get an accurate number of guests because they don't know where we're going, and we can't pin-point where we are going because we don't have accurate numbers, and this appears to be very important, as some hotels have a cap of 50 people for the reception and some have a minimum of 50.

Can anyone point us in a better direction to get planning up off the ground and running?

cheers,

James.

[ricosuave]

maybe sample00 can help you

[CMPunk]

I've never undersood the reasoning behind having a wedding at a resort.

Basically it comes down to you finding out how many people can actually commit the money to travelling to Mexico. Based on what I've seen and heard from other people,I suggest finding a place that will take less then 50 people. When a cousin of mine got married in Jamacia, I think maybe 10-15 people from our family were able to attend

[stang]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Can anyone point us in a better direction to get planning up off the ground and running?

Try the Flames main board.



Sorry man had to...

If it were me, I would be looking into what the most expensive place to start from is and try to find the cheapest rate from there. Like if it costs way more to fly form Englans to Mexico I would start by trying to find cheap flights etc from there.

I assume everyone is paying their own way....

Another good point that you have to consider is that it is YOUR wedding. You are going to have enough crap to deal with, that you dont need to try and accomodate every single persons wish and desire.

For example My wife and I got married in Cabos San Lucas and when we were trying to pick the days we wanted to go every date we picked someone would have a problem with it. After changing it around a bit eventually we got fed up and picked the weeks and said, "Here it is. Come or dont" Sounds mean but that was with 15 people... try accomodating 50 eeks!!!

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by CMPunk

I've never undersood the reasoning behind having a wedding at a resort.

Basically it comes down to you finding out how many people can actually commit the money to travelling to Mexico. Based on what I've seen and heard from other people,I suggest finding a place that will take less then 50 people. When a cousin of mine got married in Jamacia, I think maybe 10-15 people from our family were able to attend

We don't want a big wedding, and want to have it in the sun.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

maybe sample00 can help you

I approached him a while back, but I think the difference in locations would be too difficult, unless we didn't have to travel up there.

[stang]

Originally Posted by CMPunk

I've never undersood the reasoning behind having a wedding at a resort.

Basically it comes down to you finding out how many people can actually commit the money to travelling to Mexico. Based on what I've seen and heard from other people,I suggest finding a place that will take less then 50 people. When a cousin of mine got married in Jamacia, I think maybe 10-15 people from our family were able to attend

I would do it over and over again!

Minimal Planning after booking the trip... beautiful wedding pictures on a beach with waves crashing up behind us, and just an all around great vacation.

As far as people coming we invited everyone but the only ones who made it are a couple close friends, and our immediate familys. So yeah under 50 is probally very realistic.

We had a dance here in Lloyd when we got back, and the rest of the family came downand partied!

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by stang

We had a dance here in Lloyd when we got back, and the rest of the family came downand partied!

Yeah, we're definitely planning a reception back here in Calgary when we return.

[CMPunk]

Originally Posted by Jayems

We don't want a big wedding, and want to have it in the sun.

Well then do like stang said and just pick a date and tell people to show up if they want

[stang]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Yeah, we're definitely planning a reception back here in Calgary when we return.

Try emailing Lyndsie with Cloud nine escapes.

cloudnineescapes@gmail.com

I have my doubts if she will be able to help much as they kinda just deal with traveling within a couple months but they have by far the best prices I have seen.

For anyone who has some holidays coming up check their site out
http://goglobalwholesaletravel.com/
Very good rates if you want to travel within a couple months

Check out these deals

http://goglobalwholesaletravel.com/p...eals_Jan_3.pdf


Edit: I dont work their or have any connection to them, they are out of MacLaughlin AB and were at the trade show here.

[jam26]

I'm pretty sure you need to get bloodwork to get married in Mexico and have to be in the country for a certain period of time before the wedding.

[stang]

Originally Posted by jam26

I'm pretty sure you need to get bloodwork to get married in Mexico and have to be in the country for a certain period of time before the wedding.

Yes to bloodwork, and 3 days before you get married.

we got there Sat night got bloodwork on monday, married on Tuesday

[photon]

Got married in Jamaica, was the best decision we ever made. I would highly recommend the Sandals resorts for a destination wedding (though they don't have them in Mexico, not sure if you're stuck with Mexico). Couples only though.

I think if you go to Negril the families with kids can stay in the Beaches resorts.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by photon

Got married in Jamaica, was the best decision we ever made. I would highly recommend the Sandals resorts for a destination wedding (though they don't have them in Mexico, not sure if you're stuck with Mexico). Couples only though.

I think if you go to Negril the families with kids can stay in the Beaches resorts.

I just talked to them, kids aren't even allowed on the compound...

[photon]

Yeah, if you want families to be at the ceremony it won't work. But Beaches does them:

http://www.beaches.com/general/wedding.cfm

And they are the same chain as Sandals, I've stayed at both and both were awesome.

I used to do a travel business on the side and we did one where I think everyone went to a Beaches resort for the first week, and then the couple went to a separate Sandals resort on their own for another week or so so they could have their own private honeymoon as well.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah, if you want families to be at the ceremony it won't work. But Beaches does them:

http://www.beaches.com/general/wedding.cfm

And they are the same chain as Sandals, I've stayed at both and both were awesome.

I used to do a travel business on the side and we did one where I think everyone went to a Beaches resort for the first week, and then the couple went to a separate Sandals resort on their own for another week or so so they could have their own private honeymoon as well.

My concern with beaches is i don't want a guy in an Elmo costume running around... or 500 screaming rug-rats in the pool. Is it anything like that?

There are people bringing their kids, so we have to accommodate them.

[photon]

We went to the one in Turks and Caicos, but it wasn't anything like that. It was a super nice all inclusive with lots of stuff for everyone. They had a special area with all the kid specific buildings, pool, and restaurants, but I never felt like it was Disneyland or something like that. At the time we didn't have kids and I never felt like I was overrun by kids.

It's not a kid specific resort, just one that has great support for them.

Mind you the time that you go will have something to do with that too, we went in Oct/Nov so school was just underway, which probably reduced the # of kids.

The thing is if you go to any family resort you'll run into the issue of kids around.. one of the reasons I suggested taking part of the trip for just the two of you alone

[stang]

Originally Posted by Jayems

My concern with beaches is i don't want a guy in an Elmo costume running around... or 500 screaming rug-rats in the pool. Is it anything like that?

There are people bringing their kids, so we have to accommodate them.

We stayed at the Melia Cabo Real, in Cabos San Lucas. Awesome resort! Family orientated, but you wouldnt really know it if you never had kids.

[Myth]

Some friends did the destination wedding and they actually went to city hall and got married right before they left without telling anyone. That way they went away and had a nice ceremony without having to worry about blood tests or anything. They never did tell their families that they had already gotten married

[beachy]

Congrats Jayems on your engagement & your decision to have a destination wedding!!
We got married in Barbados a couple of years ago & it is easily the best decision we made. It is truly an unbelieveable experience & fantastic way to start your marriage spending time with family & friends in such a relaxed/ fun atmosphere.....Really there is nothing like it!

During our wedding planning, I utilized theknot.com A LOT! They have a great destination wedding section and the message boards there are an invaluable resource (I caution you/your fiance though as I became highly addicted to it throughout our planning process )

Also destinationweddings.com is a good place to start & I personally know many destination wedding couples who rave about beachbumvacations.com & their vast knowledge and helpfulness in organizing a beautiful destination weddings/travel associated with it.

Btw - from personal experience & knowledge from other brides who got married in the Mayan Riviera I would check into Bahia Principe (Akumal/Tulum/Coba), Azul Hotel, Iberostar, Cozumel -Allegro & also I have have seen some truly stunning/charming weddings in Isla Mujeres (just a short ferry ride from Cancun).
Good luck & feel free to ask any questions - I always love to talk about our wedding/destinations weddings in general