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I got married in Jamaica at a Sandals resort, it was amazing. They take care of pretty much everything for you. However just the two of us went, and then had a reception when we got back. So we didn't have to worry about other people being there.

I would highly recommend that way (just the two of you), FAR less stress overall. Depends on the family though, some families would be very disappointed if the people ran off and got married by themselves; weddings can be more for the families than the actual couple sometimes.

And I would recommend Sandals for that, they have some amazing properties with some really nice places to get married.

I used to run a small travel agency and we booked a couple of destination weddings for families. One was for just the couple and each set of parents, they went to Hawaii and they were all very happy, the couple went for 2 weeks, the second week there alone as their honeymoon. Another was for a larger group that went to Mexico, they went very cheap (against our recommendation) and I don't think they were very happy with it.

The biggest thing with a destination wedding is if you are prepared to pay the way for everyone you invite.. if not, then some people end up unhappy with you, either because they don't go if they can't afford it, or they stretch themselves to afford it and resent you "making" them spend that extra money.

Good agents should know the resorts that are equipped to handle all the details of a destination wedding. Sample00 on the forum is an agent, he should be able to help you out if you decide to go with a destination wedding.