Budgeting a destination wedding for our guests

NanHan13 · January 2010

We are planning a destination wedding in the Caribbean. We've looked at several location and vendors but like Sandals the best. But a one week, all-inclusive vacation maybe too much for some of our guests. What is the maximum amount we can ask our family and our closest friends to spend to travel with us to spend our special day?

lauralaur · January 2010

That's going to vary from person-to-person depending on their finances. Some people can afford $10,000 while $10 may be stretching the budget for others. I think you should ask around among those closest to you and get a feel for what would work for your family and friends.

emilyinchile · January 2010

There isn't one. If you're planning a DW, you need to realize that some of your friends and family may not be able to make it for cost reasons. Obviously you can try to increase the number of people who can be there by offering lower cost hotel options and picking a location that people can get to on cheaper flights, but there's no magic number that's going to mean everyone can go.

That said, don't choose a place that requires a one-week stay. A lot of people might be able to take a long weekend but not an entire week (whether due to cost or not having the vacation days).

ExpatPumpkin · January 2010

It really depends on your family and friends. For some people anything over $500 might be too much and other people have unlimited travel budgets. So it's impossible for us to tell you how much your guests can spend.

I would shy away from any sort of DW that requires a minimum stay for your guests, especially if it's a week. We had a DW as well, but people could stay a week or a day...

AmoroAgain · January 2010

Yeah, I agree with Expat. Expecting your guests to stay for a minimum period of time is just not fair.

banana468 · January 2010

There really isn't an amount you can say guests need to spend.

However the best thing IMO is to not pick a destination that requires a one week stay as Emily said. If I was attending a DW, I'd want to take a minimal amount of time from work; 2-3 days tops.

katiewhompus · January 2010

As others have said, it depends on the guest list.
Personally I wouldn't be able to afford to go to a DW if I had to stay there a week. Not only would we be out the price of the flight/hotel/expenses, but we would be out of 1 weeks pay for dh (he has very little vacation time). It would also be difficult for me if the wedding occured during school because I would use all of my personal/sick days to get off that one week.

deepcovejackie · January 2010

FWIW I'm getting married in a villa in Mexico. It's located in a town with a number of accomodation options for our guests. There's a small all-inclusive hotel with no nightly minimum, up to hugely fancy houses to rent. Then everyone can find an option that fits their budget and time frame.

redheadfsu · January 2010

DW have fewer guests. With a DW you have to realize many people will probably decline b/c of travel costs. Talk to your guests about budget. When planning a wedding you have to pick the most important thing and then make that your priority. (like # of guests or location) Also can they stay at another hotel in the area? Sandals does all couples & no kids. (unless that is your guest list.)

mocha beans · January 2010

You can't pick a *maximum*. You do not know your guests financial statii, so there's no way you can pick that. Some can afford $5k/person, some can only do $500/person.

What you need to do is either work with a DW travel agent that can coordinate many different budgets, or pick one hotel that is on the cheaper side (has the best chance of covering every budget). Ultimately, it will be best to leave the travel arrangments up to your guest to make, as only they can decide how much they can afford.

We're planning a Hawaii DW, and if you like I can PM you the name of the travel company we're using to help coordinate things. We've only just started working with them, but they've gotten fantastic reviews from a different forum and so far they've been good. They specialize in the Carribean and Mexico I believe. We are trying to shoot for $700-1k/person for a 7 day trip from MN in September. People will hopefully be able to stay as long as they like or as short as the like, depending on how much they want to spend.

Budgeting a destination wedding for our guests

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