Destination wedding - how/when do you get a headcount?

Don’t send out the STDs until you have a location picked. Booking your venue will lock your date in. And I think you are right in considering getting a wedding coordinator who specializes in DWs. You can even just book one for a short period of time if you just need a consult for venue. I know VIP Vacations Inc has several ladies who specialize in DWs in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and around the Caribbean.

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Thank you for the note about VIP Vacations, I'll check them out!! And for reassuring me that I'm on the right track with planning steps...lol

We didn't do a initial head count his our guest started booking there rooms. Your travel agent will work with you to give you a list of guests who have booked vs who is pending. Our wedding is June 2019 in the D.R. and we already have over 80 attending, so the sooner you lock in a resort the better chance you have of guest being able to attend. Most resorts won't work on your wedding til 6 months before only because they will need a final head count before working on food, seating, etc. Congrats and best of luck.

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That's so awesome to know, Iysha, thank you for sharing that!! So by going through a travel agent it totally sounds like it'll be a ton easier (so I don't have to be the go-between for guests and the resort). Are you going to an all-inclusive resort there? May I ask which one you've selected? And congrats to you too-thank you so much for your feedback!!

Do you have a very rough estimate? They should be able to tell you how many people could fit and id honest with the resort that you aren’t exactly sure but possibly this amount) I’m sure you won’t be the first and they should hopefully have someone there to help you out. Wait on the STD’s until you can put the location on them once we sent out STDs so many people asked 572595 questions so being prepared with answers was a big plus!!!

View Quoted Comment We’re already getting so many questions and I literally know nothing to tell them! 😂 When we were starting to make plans for a local wedding it was over 150 ppl, 😳 but I can’t imagine more than 15-20 would make a trip? I may be waaaay off on that...???
Good call, thank you, I’ll hold off on STDs (terrible acronym...lol). I’m going to try to hook up with a good travel agent who can help me find the right resort so I can get this party started! I feel like once I have the venue (resort) locked in, everything else will get easier. Thanks for you feedback!!

First thing first, figure out your actual guest list and your budget for hosting. Inviting 150 people to a destination wedding would be unusual, but not impossible. But if you invite 150 people, you need to prepare and budget for 150 people. Second, talk to your VIP guests and make sure they are aware and get a rough estimate of how many will actually be able to travel (hint, the number will be higher than you think). When you have a rough estimate of the number of guests, you can start to look at resorts and packages. You will need to know a number first because some locations may only cater to small groups, and some may cater to larger groups. If you have the budget for a wedding planner, it definitely would make planning easiest.

View Quoted Comment That makes sense, thank you! A local wedding would involve inviting roughly 150, but there are about 50-60 people I’d shave off the invite list for a DW to keep it to closer friends/family. We were pushing $30k starting to plan for a local/stateside wedding, so I was hoping to cut that in half with a DW. 🙏🏻😄

Don’t send STD until you have a destination. Look into beach bum vacations to help assist with finding a resort and doing room blocks for you. Resorts typically do not need a final head count until a month or so prior to the wedding. Keep in mind that with a DW their packages are decently priced, but it doesn’t include the essentials. Flowers are extremely over priced, DJs are extremely over priced, lighting is extremely over priced, photography is insane, hair and make up is absurdly priced, etc. You will save money if you don’t care about the above mentioned. And if you look for other vendors tha the resort doesn’t offer, prepare to pay a vendor fee per vendor. My contract was $500 per vendor that I didn’t use on their list. For new contracts my resort hasn’t upped it to $1.000 per vendor. An example of how expensive it can be, the resorts photographer for 1 hour was $1,500. 5-6 hours was about $6-$7k. And that includes only limited photos (certain number). We are doing a 41 guest wedding in Jamaica and are spending $30k, and that doesn’t include my dress that my parents bought for me. All those little things add up. Good luck!

Holy smokes! You guys are definitely convincing me that I need a wedding planner! LOL Thabk you guys so much for all of your great feedback, I truly appreciate it! And congrats to you as well on your upcoming wedding in Jamaica, I bet it’s going to be amazing!