Would Do- Have a destination wedding in Costa Rica. We were very worried about this at the beginning. I have some family members that do not travel...and Costa Rica is considered more "exotic" then some of the more typical places. But it worked out. The people that came were the people that did not mind driving down dirt roads to get to a piece of paradise known as our wedding site
These were the exact people we wanted at the wedding. Laid back, adventurous, fun spirited friends and family.
Plan everyone's travel arrangements. People are slow and some not so travel smart. I did everything. From the room arrangements, the activities, airfare alerts...EVERYTHING. But it made it so cheap for them. The villas we stayed at were all hand built from the teak wood that used to be on the property. They were open aired and all had their own pools. We had a full staff (cook, housekeeping daily, laundry, pool boy, gardener, animals) it was amazing. If I had not arranged all of that a lot of people would not have come. There are few hotels where we got married. The ones that are there are either hostels or very expensive. SO glad I did this.
Have a honeymoon some place else away from everyone right after. It was so nice to have everyone there all week but we were ready to be by ourselves. It was nice to change environments too so it really felt like something "new".
Bring bug spray
Wouldn't Do- Stay in a house with my family. We shared a villa with my mom, aunt, sister and two cousins. We did have the "honeymoon room" which was detached from the rest of the house, but I would have preferred to be completely secluded. They were a little much at times but we were able to get away. It saved us a lot of money because my mom paid for our villa....but I really would of liked to be alone that week.
Allow wedding crashers. My SIL brought a friend and she did not speak to anyone all week. Everyone there was super close by the end of the week except for the random girl that no one knew.