Destination wedding advice

I got married in Mexico as well this past March. We had our wedding in Playa Del Carmen near Cancun. Best advice is plan with time and be very organize. Make a list of everything you have that you’re taking. Try to get the most local to avoid flying in with so much. Label everything and wrap everything fragile to avoid breaking. Organize organize is my biggest advice.
For guest be ready to not have everyone you invite and some might take you by surprise. Plan for them as this is a vacation not just your wedding.
Get a local coordinator! Soooo worth it. You want a person that knows the vendors, that coordinates all decor and set up and tear down for you that day. You want to be the bride.
Use lots of sunscreen the days before, you and fiancé. Protect from sun as much as possible and drink lots of water!

Assuming you've already run your plan past your VIPs and they are on board, I'd just try really hard to set your expectations that people will do their best to attend and not take it personally if they cannot. The typical response on this forum is, "the people who love you will be there," but I think that is very naive and potentially creates a lot of bad feelings for both the couple and their guests. Destination weddings, especially in an international destination, are typically significantly more expensive and time consuming for the guests than going to a local wedding. Those constraints may well mean people who truly LOVE the couple are going to have to decline. Be prepared to accept those declines graciously. We had a family member who planned a domestic DW 3000 miles from 85% of her guest list (at a very inconvenient time for travel for many guests) and then was downright nasty to people who declined.... I went, mainly because I didn't want to deal with the wrath, but a few years later, I'd still resentful that I spent $2500, had to take time off work when I really should not have, and spent close to 36 hours on the travel alone (no direct flights, very small local airport at the destination with terrible flight availability), and I went alone, as there was no way my H could make it work. I'm glad she got her "dream wedding" and "saved so much $$$" because of where she had it, but she still makes snotty comments about relatives who had to decline. I know I'm biased by my experiences, but please be kind to your guests whether they attend or not.

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much!! This is so helpful 💕

View Quoted Comment Wow, that sounds awful! I would never do that to my guests, I completely understand if people can’t afford to attend or even just don’t want to pay that much money and choose not to attend. We have a small group anyway, but we would be perfectly happy if just our immediate family (who already rsvp’d yes) attends. Anyone else is a bonus! I’m sorry you had such a negative experience!