Clueless on where to start planning my destination wedding...

Why don't you look into the FL panhandle area? It's not called the Emerald Coast for no reason!! Gulf Shores, AL is gorgeous. Destin, FL is beautiful too! There's lots of different options there for the beach. Or you could look at Jekyll Island, GA (I believe) or Savannah GA is beautiful too.

You could do somewhere in the states like Florida but the 3 cheapest areas to do DW are Jamaica Mexico and punta Cana. I know this because I'm doing mine in Mexico and i worked with several travel agents (one being my FMIL) and I also did some research with a rep from destinationweddings.com because I didn't know where to start either! Very helpful but it's a lot of work and a lot of crunching numbers to see how to get the best deal.

My first thought was Savannah. It's GORGEOUS, but it's not beachy.

My next suggestion is Florida! We have tons of beaches you could choose from, and hotels is all price ranges. And the hotel rates change with the seasons. Winter is the high rate season here since everyone is leaving the north to get away from the cold. Summer is cheaper since it's not our heaviest tourist season. But on the beach, it's not too hot for a wedding since you have a nice constant breeze off the water.

I think a good destination would be the Jacksonville/Amelia Island/St Augustine area. It's only about 6 hours from ATL, and has a major airport so your guests should be able to find relatively inexpensive flights.

Check out the Casa Marina as a venue: http://casamarinahotel.com/

I would also look in to Clearwater/St Pete Beach. It's beautiful, and you have a big airport (Tampa) to make things easier for your guests.

Let me tell you, I worried about the cost for people to attend too. DON'T. Your guests are going to see this as an opportunity for a vacation. It took me 8 months to figure that out and the whole time, I lived with what I call "Destination Wedding Guilt". When my travel agent confirmed room bookings with me two weeks ago and I saw that everyone but two guests had upgraded their rooms to either a better room or a straight out SUITE, I stopped feeling bad altogether.

Mexico is very reasonable. Our agent said it's the best option if you like food and hospitality because they have it down pat. Next up she recommended Jamaica.

Our resort and venue is the Hard Rock Riviera Maya. One of the pricier options, but we wanted the best bang for everyone's buck.

And look, as my MOH put it, people have to travel anyway. If they travel somewhere in the US, it won't be all-inclusive, so they'll be paying for their room, airfare AND food. At least with a DW, you can find an AI that takes care of two of those things for them plus a whole lot of amenities and activities.

Check out the Sarasota area (www.VisitSarasota.org).

Motel rates here typically drop at the beginning of May.

The best thing I did was hire a destination wedding planner.The planner works with travel agents to get you the best deals so you don't have to think about it!

There are so many choices for destination weddings. There are several great promotions available now that you can choose from. I would love to work with you and plan a fabulous destination wedding for you. Email me at *******@***********.***.