Destination wedding under $25k? Over 100 guests...

I think this is going to depend a lot on the location you choose. Some destinations are much more expensive than others. I’ve found it is much easier and cheaper to go with an all-inclusive resort (especially ones that include a wedding planner/coordinator). I would probably start reaching out to venues asap for their wedding package prices to see what you’re working with. It’s also important to keep in mind that when you host a destination wedding, more is expected of you in terms of your hosting duties. This is because you are placing a large financial burden on your guests (travel, airfare, hotel accommodations, food and activities while there, etc.) that otherwise isn’t necessary for local weddings. Because of that, it is usually expected for the couple to host things like a welcome dinner and/or thank you brunch, as well as pay for a group activity (a tour, snorkeling, etc.). Those items add up quickly even with a small guest count! We are having a destination wedding with under 50 people, and we are already at $46,000

Like PP said, it really depends on where you book for what the cost will be. When you are budgeting definitely plan for the Max number of guests. If you need to invite 200, budget for 200. So many brides in this forum have been screwed because they got more "yeses" than they budgeted for.


I've been to destination weddings, and a welcome dinner is definitely expected, which will be an added cost for sure. But I've never had an activity paid for as PP suggested, just FYI.

Is that including all of your travel expenses as well? Thats a tight budget even for a local wedding of that size in most areas. I think it really depends on where you're looking to go and how popular that area is for weddings. You may want to start looking into less expensive resorts, consider booking it during the off-season (May-November for Central/South America and Caribbean). Also echoing that if you're inviting 200, you need to budget for 200. While it's incredibly unlikely that 100% of your guest list will show up, there is a chance that everyone wants to/is able to come. I wouldn't invite people expecting them not to come.

We aren’t having a destination wedding and our wedding is definitely going to be close to 25k ( our budget was 15k but that flew right out the window lol. Me and my fiancé have paid off almost everything for our wedding that’s in September .. luckily my fiancés parents are going to pay for the rehearsal dinner which is supernice! and our guest list is 110 people. I think 25k for a destination wedding will be a really tight budget.

Old post, but commenting for future brides!

I'm having a destination wedding in Cancun, MX with an 11 day honeymoon for 26k. 60-80 guests estimated. We used DestinationWeddings.com because you get tons of perks from the Resort you choose and from DW. We will end up getting $2,000 from DW based on the number of rooms booked and $2,187 from the Resort based on how many rooms booked. Our room cost if around $5,000 so the two above figures will come directly off of that. Our stay for 11 nights will cost us just above a grand.

On top of that, we used American Express Delta Skymiles credit card to pay for everything (and paid it off as soon as the items posted) which earned us enough miles to fly us to our wedding for free. Saving us another $1,800.

We did outside videography ($4995), outside photography ($3,400) and outside DJ ($3,200) including the fees for using outside vendors. You could save money by not doing videography but the other two are pretty standard costs. Our 26k is also including a 55 person catamaran ($3,300) as the welcome party for our guests, paid for by us.

All of that being said, if you want all the bells and whistles, I don't think 25k is reasonable for 200 people unless you want a short honeymoon.

We have not calculated the cost of dress alterations, or tipping in our total cost yet.

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If you don't mind me asking...which delta SkyMiles card did you guys end up going with? I see there is a gold, platinum, and reserve card. We have a destination wedding as well so I am curious which one you guys found to work better for that situation.

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Not at all! We have the Gold one! I haven't run into any issues so far, and we have put down 50% on videography, photography, DJ, and venue!

View Quoted Comment Wow! What resort did you choose?

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Allison- so sorry I haven't been here much lately!

I chose Finest in Playa Mujeres. Their communication is total shite so everything takes a while, but it's been bearable and worth it so far!