Bora Bora, Hawaii, or somewhere tropical. Help! March 2015 wedding

Re: Bora Bora, Hawaii, or somewhere tropical. Help! March 2015 wedding

• princessleia22 member

  

  August 2014

  FSUFanatic said:

  We just set our date within this last week and he told me he wants a destination wedding to somewhere tropical. I have no idea about venues as I was looking at a venue here that reminds me of Tuscany. I would love suggestions!!! We will be taking both of our families there (3 groups since I am adopted) so we need room for a good amount of people. He also has 7 guys in his party so they need to allow for a max of 14 bridal party members. I am about to start dress shopping so I need to have an idea about venues. I also have a daughter that will be 4 in less than a month and my niece is 2 so kids will be there. Trying to stay under $100k for both the destination wedding and a local reception please. I want to take my own photographer, videographer, and cake lady unless there is an amazing photographer and videographer there. (I am a wedding photographer so I know a lot of photographers that I would love to take with me, lol) Thanks guys! This is my first post here as I am a little overwhelmed with working so much and trying to figure out how to pull off a destination wedding in just under 7 months. I can use all the help I can get to point me in the right direction.

  I'm not sure about what venues would be best in those locations. But, you should be able to easily find a venue that fits your site requirements.  And many of them allow your own photographer, so that should be fine. 

  I could see potential issues with bringing your own cake baker though.  Getting access to a kitchen for her to bake could be difficult. And it may be difficult to find baking supplies at some locations also.  But, we went with the cake offered by my destination venue, and it was one of the best cakes I've had, so if you find a good venue or baker in that location, you may not need to bring your own.

  It's hard to give advice until you narrow down the location you want.  Most locations do have good destination wedding planners available, but it will vary based on location. If you look through posts on the destination wedding forum you may find some suggestions, but most of those suggestions will likely for Caribbean locations.  Once you pick a potential destination or even a couple of them, look at the venues you would prefer there and see what wedding packages they offer. So, look at all-inclusive venues in Hawaii or Bora-Bora, pick ones you like, then contact them directly to inquire about what they offer for weddings. Often they do have offer full service weddings, so the venue itself may be able to do most of the planning for you. Once you know what they offer, then you can narrow it down further based on which one is able to give you the wedding you want.
  

   

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• CrazyCatLady3 member

  

  August 2014

  Hawaii doesn't have any all-inclusive resorts. Don't know about Bora Bora. If you want to go the all-inclusive route, you should look into Mexico or Carribbean.

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• Jells2dot0 mod

  

  August 2014

  Bora Bora does not have any all inclusives except for the The Brando on Tetairoa. However, the starting rate there starts at 3000 euros per night.

   

  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

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• Knottie17633624 member

  

  August 2014

  We've just settled on Hawaii because my fiance's mum has always wanted to go, and there are all-inclusive resorts (a handful)... but you pay loads more for it, so is it really worth it? This is one example and one of the less expensive, but still nice resorts:

  http://www.royallahaina.com/hawaii-vacation-packages-all-inclusive.cfm
  

  Compared to Mexico, not so great -- and although you keep the pros of not needing to bring money with you to eat or grab drinks, I didn't think they were worth the $300-800/nt pp. So we're going to go through an agent and plan accordingly for the extra food and drink. Also, if you really push for Hawaii plan to do a little more intensive searching, since a few of the hotels are not advertised as all-inclusive because its an additional separately sold package. 

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• WinstonsGirl member

  

  August 2014

  One thing to think of is that many of the Caribbean countries have different requirements for getting married, so look into those before you decide on a location.  For some, you have to have a certain amount of residency time (2 - 45 days), some require blood tests, and many require you to translate and notarize documents in order to get your license.  If you're not interested in that, stick to Hawaii, since you just need to show up at the DoH with $60 to get your license.  Easy peasy, no other requirements.  

  
  

  You can easily do this in 7 months, though you may not get your first choice vendor.  We did bring our photographer to Hawaii with us and it was totally worth it for us.  Baker will be tricky as PP's have mentioned.  

  
  

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