Destination Wedding/Vow Renewal Location Help Please!

Why not Disney in either Florida or California (although, I must admit Disney Hong Kong sounds very cool!)

Other locations in Florida? The west gulf coast is beautiful. I am partial to the Sarasota area, tho I hear the panhandle (Destin) area is very nice.

Living in the Richmond area, what about Williamsburg? Lots for stuff for kids to do (Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, some Water Park, Yorktown, Jamestown) and many resorts in that area (Kingsmill, Williamsburg Inn). We know a lot of great vendors in the area, who might be of assistance for your ceremony. Let me know if you would like any recommendations.

Also, what about WinterGreen Resort? It's out near Charlottesville. In the mountains, lots to do, beautiful resort.

Thank you for the idea of WDW (as that was where I've always had my heart set on growing up in South Florida) or Disneyland in CA, however both of those are also more than we can afford to spend. I did forget about The Keys, Hawaii, Vero Beach, Sanibel Island, & Amelia Island. I've looked into Richmond and Williamsburg and my husband isn't that keen on them (thank you for the suggestions). I was trying to go for some place with warm water too.

Lois, any of your suggestions even if it's possibly even near Ocean City, MD or Annapolis (if I can convince him to keep it close) would be great too please. Disneyland Hong Kong believe it or not is actually the cheapest of the Disney Properties to have a Wedding in USD! However airfare over there is roughly the same price as a Wedding over there. We don't want our guests having to fork over $1,000-$23,000 per person just to fly overseas. That's just ridiculous. I still have my heart stuck on Disney World in Orlando but even their packages for 8 guests are quite pricey. I've done my research with them. We were trying to have our Ceremony at Fenway Park but even the pricing I've gotten from them has come to more than we can afford as well.

Please check our website www.exceptionalweddings.net. We have just put together a beach wedding ceremony package and flights here are not expensive. You can fly into Jacksonville, Orlando or Daytona Beach airports, whichever gives you the best deal, and we are close enough to WDW to get there in an hour and a half and can get you a great deal on an Orlando resort stay or a beach hotel nearby.

Thank you so much for your reply and I will most certainly be visiting your website. I think my husband and I are starting to really realize our budget and bills that need to be paid, and what is realistic for us and what we think would be more reasonable for our guests, a few in particular whom we especially want there and would love for it to either be an easy car ride for them, or that they can hopefully get great rates on Southwest (and this is keeping everyone in mind). I think my biggest fear is is not being able to have my best friend there who've I've asked to be one of my MOH's and I know how tight of a budget she is on. At least for the money my husband makes, 30 (and that's keeping it ourselves/son, immediate families, grandparents, and a couple friends each) makes life a little easier. Sadly we don't have a big enough home to host it or even a back yard or else that would save us some trouble for finding a location.

Go to www.locogringo.com - the Riviera Maya is on the Caribbean side of Mexico, south of Cancun's business & has many beautiful resorts, all inclusives and villas for rent. We have stayed at Tankah bay for 3 years with my children & it couldn't be nicer! Airfare from seattle to Cancun is about $538 right now. Hurricane season approaches, so there are good deals to be had, as it is considered "off season" from late June to October.

Thank you for the suggestion Studio G! I will have to look into it, especially where my husband constantly jokes around that he's going to Mexico (without me). Neither of us have been to Mexico. Mexico could be a lot of fun, and my FIL is Very Fluent in Spanish (so that's a huge help). I think 30 Guests is a more handleable guest list, and it will give us enough time to spend with everyone during that weekend and not feeling like we haven't spent enough time with everyone. I know our son would enjoy a little get away with his cousins. We just have to keep in mind places that are also Handicap accessable too for our small handful of elderly grandparents that use walkers. I think I would actually love having a ceremony on the beach (and having a friend or relative perform the ceremony) and then enjoy time on the beach (maybe doing lunch on the beach) with everyone after and then have something informal for dinner too with our dessert. I think everything was adding up on us where we want

To host a welcome dinner (even if it's pasta or pizza) for our guests and have a farewell brunch the day following our Vow Renewal Festivities and get to spend time with all of those we normally wouldn't get to see.

Hi check out my website to see if I can help you in your travel needs.

burda.globaltravel.com

I do all kinds of travel from hotels, cars, air, .

We have alot of places in California that can do your wedding.

Charlene Burda

*********************@*****.***

My husband and I renewed our Vows in Nassau Bahamas, the ceremony, flowers, cake, wine etc.. was all included. We stayed at Breeze's Super Club. We wish we had done that originally lol.

The Williamsburg Winery is nice. I have 2 weddings to photograph there this fall. Also there are a few beaches down here that make for pretty weddings too. Let me know if you want more info.

Breezy

www.breezycranfordphotography.com

Thank you both for your replies. I love the Bahamas and did check out Breezes' website, unfortunately that wouldn't work with the ages of our son and our twin nephews as they're 2 years old and 2 months old (so they'll more than defanitely be under the 14 year old age requirement). I couldn't bear leaving my son with a babysitter we barely know given he's very accustomed to staying with my MIL, FIL, & SIL. I will more than defanitely check out your website and see if something might work for us. We have looked into Riviera Maya and we might have our hearts set on there, but we're still considering other possibilities too. Thanks for all of the wonderful suggestions. Please keep them coming.

Breezy, I hear you on wanting to do a Destination Wedding to begin with. We had to do the quick and easy JOP 5 Minute Ceremony Wedding and dinner out. Nothing fancy schmancy, but this time it will be nice to do something more relaxing and consider it a vacation and enjoying time with friends, especially for my husband who's asked 2 of his BF's to be his Best Men and one of them is overseas in Kuait. I know by doing something a little bigger it will give him a little time to spend with them and it be more relaxed than rushed.

Just had another thought. How about a short cruise? Here is a link to some that leave from Baltimore. I think cruises are a great bargain right now.

http://www.baltimorecruiseguide.com/grandeur-seas.html

You can also contact the woman who I list below. She specializes in destination weddings, etc.

Mary Cofield

Travel Consultant

804-938-6142

www.justus4travel.com

********@*******.***

Lois, I love your idea and will have to see what my husband thinks! Thank you! Royal Caribbean which we know goes out of Baltimore actually has some fun ideas for locations aboard the ship for Weddings and Vow Renewals. There's always something for everyone on a Cruise Ship and their prices out from Baltimore are always reasonably priced. For 30 guests that would be something quite fun!

Becki - I was also looking for a warm destination (and was trying to spend less than $15K in the process, which is impossible in the DC area for what I wanted). I would suggest looking at Coconut Cove. It is a mom and pop "resort" in the Florida Keys. Be forewarned, it's much more laid back, with less amenities than traditional resorts, but they specialize in gorgeous weddings. Their prices are excellent, and there's plenty of activities in the area, including a place called Theater of the Sea which offers interactions with dolphins or sting rays....Your kids would probably love that. Their website is: coconutcove.net It's a little difficult to navigate, but if you send an email to Paul & Magda, let them know Karen & Tom referred you. They can certainly answer all your questions. The best part, I think, is if you have 30 people you'd take up all the guest rooms and have the whole place to yourself!

Karen, thank you so much for your recommendation.I'm defanitely going to have to look into it. Swimming with dolphins is right up my alley! I love Dolphins and have fond memories of petting one years ago. As long as we're able to enjoy the weekend with our guests swimming in the pool, laying out by the beach, having fun with our son and nephews, it's for me! I think to actually make our guests feel like they're on a mini vacation instead of at a Wedding work. At least I'm trying to be more realistic with budget than unrealistic and going extremely over. I'm defanitely going to look into them. I forgot Miami is also a possibility too.

My husband loves the idea of a Cruise Vow Renewal, especially where we have found some cruises from Miami for $150-$160pp, which isn't bad and the Vow Renewal Price is something we can afford Thank you for the terrific suggestion. My mom thought we were nuts when I mentioned it to her this past weekend when I saw her and asked her to be a MOH. It would probably make more sense anyways instead of asking our guest to pay $200+ for hotel rooms per night than to pay $160 pp for an enjoyable cruise. Something more relaxing. Now it's getting all of that figured out