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Cruise versus All-Inclusive Resort for a Destination Wedding

Knottie18361214Knottie18361214 member
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in Destination Weddings Discussions
We just got engaged on Christmas Day (yay!) and we are set on a beach wedding. We already have a daughter and are thinking a small wedding (maybe 50 guests). The idea of getting married at one of the ports on a cruise seemed more cost efficient, but again I haven't really done a lot of research yet. Otherwise we would fly straight to Mexico (ie, Cozumel, Cancun, Riviera Maya, etc) and get married at an All-Inclusive Resort. Not sure how you are supposed to make a decision when there are so many options! We are not looking for a long engagement, but don't want to stress out guests if they have to save up to join us for our destination wedding. Would love any advice or suggestions for a cruise port or all-inclusive. Thanks!
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Re: Cruise versus All-Inclusive Resort for a Destination Wedding

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    saric83saric83 member
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    Congratulations!  The only thing I would recommend if you do the cruise port is that you choose a public location where folks who can't/don't want to do the cruise could still join you.  

    We got married in Mexico, and we had people come for two to ten nights, so for the people who could only do the shorter timeframe, we wanted to make sure they could still attend and that we had time to hang out with them. 
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    Knottie18361214Knottie18361214 member
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    Thanks! As for your Mexcio wedding, how did you pick your location and venue? There are soooo many options! I have no clue how to even start researching...
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    saric83saric83 member
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    It was REALLY hard to narrow it down, so we focused on a few things that were non-negotiable to us.  
    1. Private ceremony location (I didn't want a random speedo man ending up in pictures ;))
    2. Somewhere people could easily fly into without having to travel far from the airport
    3. Somewhere people could come for a short or long trip
    4. A country where we could legally get married at
    5. Pool(s) with swim-up bar (high priorities, right? :))
    6. Great beach
    7. Highly rated (since we weren't going to be visiting prior to the wedding, it was a lot of pressure to pick a place that a lot of people would like)
    8. 24-hour room service and top-shelf liquor included with the all-inclusive
    9. Resort that allowed children (we ended up not having any but wanted to give families the option)
    10. Smaller-medium sized resort where you could find people without it being a massive complex
    11. Resort location where you could easily go offsite if you were getting bored and wanted to escape
    More than anything, that helped us rule out places.  But then we gave that list to our travel agent, and she pulled together a packet of resort recommendations, and we started narrowing down from there once we got prices on five different options. 
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    msuprincess04msuprincess04 member
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    I was married in Cozumel, this past May. It was amazing. We did not have a port wedding though, we had a destination wedding and reception at Mr. Sanchos, a beach club that hosts private events in the evening. We had a local planner that planned it all with our input (she does cruise ship port weddings too). We chose against a resort wedding because, we wanted total privacy from the ceremony to reception. We opted for renting a beach house with some close friends, while the rest of the family and guests stayed where they wanted on the island (though most of my family stayed at the same resort).

    I know you said you don't want a long engagement, but realize that many people won't be able to make it if they are given less than year's notice. We ended up pushing our entire thing off from 6 months to a year and 6 months so that family and friends had time to save and plan to attend. Always check with your VIPs first. 
    "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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