Wedding Planner versus Resort Planner HELP! New to Knot

Re: Wedding Planner versus Resort Planner HELP! New to Knot

• Jells2dot0 mod

  

  April 2013 edited April 2013

  Congrats and welcome!
  
  If you hire an outside planner, you will be charged for their services and then also charged for all of the details of the wedding (reception, dinner, photography, flowers, etc.). If you find a resort on your own, or working through a travel agent, you will have a wedding package most likely included in the booking that will include a lot of the essentials you need all rolled up into one price and it usually comes along with the services of a resort wedding coordinator, who helps you make all of the arrangements. So, if you went the way of hiring an outside coordinator, you would then be paying for them and a resort coordinator. Unless you plan on having your ceremony and reception outside of a resort, I think just working with a travel agent to arrange your package and the guests' packages at a resort, having the agent place you in contact with the resort coordinator, and then working with the resort coordinator for the details of the wedding is the right way to go!
  
  As for locations, knowing a budget would help. I think St. John USVI is a great island and has gorgeous beaches. I got married in Australia, though, so no help there

   

  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

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• Meg&Austin member

  

  April 2013

  I agree pretty much to a tee with the above comments!! 

  
  

  Welcome and congratulations!! I have heard a lot of people rave about Beach Bum Vacations. you tell them your budget and they help you find a resort. Most wedding packages seem to usually come with a planner. 

  
  

  I have had a great experience with the planner that came with my package. They seem very helpful and of course know the ropes of the weddnig since they do weddings specifically for that resort daily! 

  
  

  Hope you stick around and share your planning process with us we looovee details!!! 

  

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• msuprincess04 member

  

  April 2013 edited April 2013

  If you plan on having the ceremony and reception at the resort, than the resort will give you a coordinator. They take care of most of that stuff because they keep a tight reign on most details from what linens can be used to what photographer will be allowed. However, you may also be interested in other areas or venues off the resort, and with that you tend to get a lot more say in little details. I have a local planner for an off-resort venue in Mexico. I also have a travel agent to help coordinate everyone's travels. So, realize you may have a few people helping you do this, but it's worth it. It takes soo much stress off you!

  "There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." -Friedrich Nietzsche, "On Reading and Writing"

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• nicholsjm member

  

  April 2013

  On the flip side of things, we've been working with a planner since our resort doesn't have a dedicated planner on site.  It's been a great experience, and while she does have her own fee, it's been a huge help in getting unique ideas and to see all the possible options the island has to offer.  She's helping get everything together from the wedding to do the welcome dinner which is off site.  We had choices in everything from florist to decorations to photographer - and I've loved having that flexibility.

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• breynolds87

  

  May 2013

  Thanks everyone for your input! My fiance's sister got married in Mexico, so we have been looking into resorts there as well. When we dug deeper into USVI options, it seems as though the beaches might be a lot nicer, but we might get more bang for our buck in someplace like Mexico since we are on a bit of a budget. I have been talking to someone with Apple Vacations to recommend some all inclusive resorts in different areas. All of the resorts we have looked at so far have planners on site, which seem to offer a lot of customizable options. To the ladies who are getting married at resorts? What resorts and where is your wedding?
  
  Has anyone used Apple Vacations to book anything?

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• Rikinjenn member

  

  June 2013 edited June 2013

  I was wondering the same thing about Apple Vacations. And can Beach Bum get better deals on the wedding or are those set prices?

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• Julyet06 member

  

  June 2013

  Some input from me.  I was married in Jamaica at Sandals Resorts and used Beach Bum Vacations to book my guests at Sandals and another TA (that my mom found) booked most of my guests at a different, more affordable resort for their stay.  I was in touch via email and phone with a wedding coordinator based in Florida and then had a meeting on site (at the start of our weddingmoon) to go over and finalized add on other details, who also addressed all of my concerns and made me feel 100% at ease.  It was easier for me to pick a resort package (the "free" one) and add on things such as music, the dinner, etc. and I am VERY happy with the way everything went the day of the wedding.  I would do the same if I had to do it over again (unless I had a bigger budget, then I'd splurge on a more exotic location, lol!)

  I say get some quotes from the TA's you are interested in for the same resorts (I think one person around here used Apple Vacations and was happy with them, but you can probably look up reviews on the net...maybe?)  If either one quotes higher than the other, but the one with the higher quote is the one you wanted, see if they'd match the other quote (most times they do).  I do know that they all offer certain types of discounts (like group discount) and give special things to the bride and groom if a certain # of rooms are booked.  Find out what the perks are from each TA.

  Good Luck!

  

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• MarinePrincess1

  

  June 2013

  Good luck girly!

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