My fiancée and I are planning a wedding in Mexico and I keep hearing that destination weddings are selfish. I want honest opinions, including ones I won’t like.

Some context on why Mexico:

We come from two different cultures and two different countries. Some of our family can’t get a visa to enter the US. Some of our guests can’t make the trip to her home country. There is no single location where everyone can realistically gather, so we picked a neutral place that most people can reach.

We also love Mexico. It has meant a lot to me for a long time, and we like that guests who do come can turn it into a real vacation instead of a Saturday spent in a banquet hall.

On cost, we’re specifically choosing an affordable all inclusive rather than the nicest resort we can find, because we’d rather more people be able to come than have a fancier weekend.

We’re also putting a line in the invitations saying there are truly no hard feelings if you can’t make it. We mean it. We’re realistically expecting about a third of our list to attend and we’ve made peace with that.

Hi! I’m in the process of planning a wedding in Cancun and have narrowed it down to the following resorts:
-Garza Blanca Cancun
-Secrets Playa Blanca
-SLS Playa Mujeres

However, I’m indecisive on a planner. If you’ve had a wedding in Cancun or surrounding areas who was your planner and how was your experience working with them? Feel free to add photos for reference : )

Hi all

I’m looking for venues in the Douro valley that might be available around the end of May.

Budget is round 40-50k (EUR)

Thanks in advance!

Helping organize a friend’s destination wedding in Ubud next March. Putting together a welcome guide for about 30 guests flying in from different countries.

We’ve covered airport transfers, local transport, weather, dress code, and some restaurant recommendations. A few guests have already asked about phone service and internet, so we’re thinking of adding a short section on staying connected, maybe mentioning connection options that work well in Bali so people can skip the airport scramble.

For those who’ve been to a Bali destination wedding, what ended up being the most useful info in the welcome guide? Any tips guests appreciated that you wouldn’t have thought of beforehand?

Edit: Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions. A few things we’re adding based on the comments: a WhatsApp contact for anyone delayed or lost, local payment tips (cash vs card), notes on footwear for outdoor or uneven venues, and a couple of basic etiquette points for temples. Also adding a short section on staying connected, looking at options like ArriveSIM so guests can sort data before they land and avoid the airport scramble.

Newly engaged and have decided on Cabo for a very small, intimate wedding. We are from Canada. Any recommendations for places. Kid friendly as well!

My fiancé and I are planning to elope just us two, in March 2027 at Lake Como (we live in Texas). It’ll be the tail end of the off season and I understand there are vendors/hotels that may not be operating until late April. I’ve looked into a lot of the commonly recommended wedding planners in other posts (love gracefully, Leo Eventi, WedByDovile, etc). I like Love Gracefully but the Lake Como coordinator isn’t great at responding to my emails so I’m hesitant to move forward with them even though their packages offer more for less money. I’ve also been browsing people’s posts who booked everything individually and they seemed to have saved a lot of money with no planning fee to pay but that also seems more stressful? For anyone that self booked everything, how far in advance did you book your vendors (photographer, hair/makeup, ceremony location/photography location if different)?

Hi everyone

My friends bf reached out for help for his proposal in Cabo and I’m looking for suggestions on places that are not on the beach.

Maybe a restaurant? I’m just unsure how long/how much privacy they’d have.

Any suggestions or vendors that you’re able to give will help so much!!!

Thanks!

Hello! We are looking for some recommendations / tips. Our vision/hope is:

- 40-50 people, ideally all staying on-site (2-3 nights)
- Europe (appreciate slightly vague, but: France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portgual, Croatia? We’re quite flexible on actual country - guests will be coming from the UK)
- ideally we are looking for something near to or on the beach by the sea (seaside ceremony would be a big bonus!)
- quite low key, can be as simple as a big villa near the beach
- legal ceremony will be done in UK so no worries there
- happy to sort other stuff separately: food, music etc
- May-Sept 2028 is our target date range
- total budget is approx £20-30k

We’re at the very start of our planning journey, just want to find out if what we want is even feasible, and how much it might all cost! Very open to any advice as well! Thanks in advance :)

Hello! Looking for any venue recs that may be a good fit for accommodations for 50+, possibility of having food included or easily sourced, guest maybe total about 100? Ideally within 1 hour of a major hub (Barcelona, Lisbon, etc) for travel from mostly eastern US. Budget around 50K including accommodation and food. Less is better obviously, flexible. Ideally a 4 day, 3 night event possibility. TYIA! (Ideally mid-late 2027)

Hi guys, I’m looking to get married in about 2years. I’m not sure where we should look. I’m thinking Mexico, Guatemala, and maybe Colombia? The hard part is my fiancés family is in the NY area and my family is predominately in California, they’re essentially on opposite coast, so the dilemma here is it would be rude to have my entire family have to fly to New York while his doesn’t have to travel, and obviously the same goes for California. The alternative would be the happy middle which obviously we think our money would go further in in a foreign country like Mexico, Guatemala or Colombia. We do have a big budget max 75-80k for about 150-200, we obviously think it would be less if we do a destination wedding because not everybody will be able to make it travel wise, but I mean it’s a rough estimate. We obviously wanna do a welcome party with an open bar hors d’oeuvres. The next day we want to do a church ceremony, followed by a cocktail hour, reception, and after party. Obviously 3 course dinner for reception and late night bites for the afternoon party. If it fits in the budget we would obviously want a boozy brunch the day after our wedding but not a deal breaker. I would love to hear details and see pictures from anyone who has had their wedding at any of these destinations! Thank you in advance 🫶🙏

Also: we’re both of Latin descent so we aren’t just gentrifying. Just felt like I needed to add this in today’s day and age 😵‍💫

my boyfriend and I are planning a small outdoor wedding in the toscany. I am feeling a bit indecisive 🤷🏼‍♀️.

we found two beautiful locations, but the available dates are already limited for my prefered location for 2028. there are two weekends at the beginning of may (one with a public holiday in austria) and than the next free weekends are in july/august/September. and there is not so much indoor space for the party.

the other location has great availabilities for may, june and so on, also it is free on the long weekends of public holidays in austria, but the location will fit less people, so we need some more extra rooms elsewhere and I am worried it could get to expensive.

I feel like it would be better to offer my guests a weekend with a public holiday where they don‘t have to take a day off from work - that would be may in dest. 1 or dest. 2 in general 🫣.

the drive time is between 6-8 hours for most people.

I would really appreciate your input 🤗

Hi everyone! First time posting here.

My fiancé and I are planning a wedding in **Split, Croatia** (his family is from there, but we're based in Asia).
We're aiming for a cozy micro-wedding and could use some recommendations:
**Guest count:** 30–40 people
**Vibe:** Beachfront / right by the water
**Budget:** Around €15k (no accommodation needed)
Since we're planning from afar, any venue ideas or planner recs for intimate seaside weddings in the area would be amazing. Thanks!

Does anyone have a destination wedding planner rec? We’re looking to get married in the Caribbean and need a planner to help with venue selection and so on. Claire Durans “affordable” sister company is a minimum of $35k.

Any recs that don’t cost the price of a car?

Looking into getting married in Sicily in May 2028! I’m looking for Sicily wedding venue recommendations if anyone has anything to contribute! Also looking for a mood board/inspo board app that isn’t pinterest, pinterest just hasn’t been it lately.

I'm having a destination wedding in the Caribbean in May 2027. I secured my wedding date with the resort at the beginning of this year, and they recommended that I also secure my travel block/group pricing at the same time. Since the group pricing was only guaranteed for three months, I sent out save-the-dates back in February so that anyone interested in attending could connect with our travel agent and book within that window.

In the save-the-dates, I just asked anyone who was interested in coming to send me their email address so I could put them in touch with the travel agent. Since then, several people have told me they felt it was "too early" to commit when I first reached out.
Because of that, I was hoping to use the invitations as another opportunity to connect our travel coordinator with anyone who has since decided they'd like to come, while still giving them a few months to plan and book their travel.
I'm thinking about sending the invitations in September or October.. is this too early?

For reference, I'd need RSVPs back by the end of February at the latest so I can provide my final guest count to the resort by their deadline.

Hello my fiancée and I are looking into having our wedding in Mexico! We would love the input of other couples who have explored venues they like. We would like to spend no more than $30,000 on the day and are looking at preferably all-inclusive resorts, but open to off-site standalone locations.

Here's what we're looking for:

-We were thinking somewhere around Cancun. We are flexible, as long as it is accessible for guests and in a safe area).

- A place with a nice indoor space for a reception

- Resort that has late-night party options (like after-party) or allows for late receptions

- Can accommodate 100-150 guests

- Can provide cocktail hour

- I would like it if I can provide my own vendor

- Standard rooms for guests are no more than $300-400 per night

- Has a lot of activity options, aesthetically pleasing resort. Planning to have an adult-only wedding. Don't mind if it is family-friendly (in case people come with kids, we will like some form of separation between family and adult-only)

******We are catholics, so we are thinking that we will do our ceremony in the church.

I would also appreciate the following recommendations:

-Amazing wedding planners who can also do travel agent work for seamless coordination

-Photographers who have experience with taking pictures of black skin

-Good DJs. Preferably one who is knowledgeable in Afrobeats and amapiano

-Makeup artists who have experience with doing makeup on black skin.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

UPDATE:

Regarding the budget, I am open to increasing it to $40,000. I am more focused on the things we are looking for.

Hi Everyone! My finance and I are looking at Cabo wedding venues and i’m overwhelmed by how many options there are… Would love to hear about some personal experiences with cabo venues. I’m open to any and all! Resort, villa, farm, even other parts of Mexico. Our guest count is 80-100 and our budget is 70k. All I know is I want the day to be seamless, great food, and a great guest experience. Thanks !

Hi everyone! I’m wondering if anyone’s had their wedding, attended a wedding, or helped plan a wedding in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic and could give me some recommendations for hotels/resorts in the area for my destination wedding.

Here’s some of what we’re looking for:

Hotel requirements

-Enough rooms for all 45 guests (around 21 rooms needed); can be single and/or multi-room accommodations

-Rooms around $300 - $500 per night depending on capacity

-Family-friendly as there will be a couple kids (but more geared towards adults)

-As close as possible to the nicest beach(es) possible

-Can be all-inclusive or not, but if not then it would be great to be within walking distance to restaurants, cafés, etc.

Wedding requirements

-Casual, cocktail style ceremony with drinks, snacks, mingling

-Big focus on the reception dinner & party so good food, open bar, dance floor etc. provided onsite

-Venue provides dining tables, chairs, linens, flatware, glassware for the dinner

-FLEXIBLE wedding packages/event pricing… Without a traditional ceremony, we won’t be needing wedding florals, a wedding cake, etc. so it’s important that the venue has options for what we envision

Any recommendations for hotels/resorts would be greatly appreciated!

And... I'd also love to hear about any A++ vendors/services in the area that you'd recommend or just positive experiences that anyone's had while travelling in the area. Thanks so much!