Large Destination Wedding Help!!

We did ours in Florida. Still super tropical but you have a lot more choices and aren't cemented into using just the vendors the hotel provides (as a lot of international venues require).

Don't get a venue for 150 then invite 250. What if more than 150 show up? Will they have chairs? Will you get shut down by the fire marshal?

Do you expect that many people to go? I mean really? I invited over 100 to my DW in Mexico and only about 18 are going. And I have been struggling with the customization issue at the resorts and they are a little more flexible than they look. My travel agent told me all I can do is ask and most of the time they will say yes (unless you ask for an elephant to be there which apparentely someone did and they said no).

I truly hope that many people will not go however about 50-75 of them include our bridal party and direct family members- give or take the extended family or friends that may decide to go. I get worried as my friend planned her DW in Albania- invited 240 expected only 100 to go and almost 200 people came from the states! Which hotel chain are you planning at?

If you're inviting 250, you need a venue for 250. None of this assuming and hoping 100 people don't come.

I wouldn't expect more than 60 people to come to a destination wedding. It is a very expensive wedding to attend so only your closest family and friends will want to spend that amount to watch you get married.

OP you need a venue that can support everyone you invite. We had an 85% "yes" rate. Don't count on people saying no

Do you want a tropical style wedding? What style are you looking for?

Second @Katie, what is your style? All you told us is that all-inclusive is not your style.

We are searching throughout the Caribbean. I am open to a beach wedding, garden wedding, cliff wedding- I'm not picky. Our biggest request is natural beauty, lush greenery. The one thing I haven't liked about the all inclusive that I have looked at is that you have to use all of their vendors- which weren't always my style of vendors. We are much more rustic meets elegance, while a lot of the vendors portfolios were very classic and not to sound snobby, but cheap looking and non original. I own a bridal company here in Chicago so I am super familiar with how wedding packages work and if I were to bring my own vendors, most all inclusive hotels/packages charge a quite large fee for bringing your own vendors. But if that's the only way to accommodate out party size, that might be the only way to go. I have toyed with the idea of having guest accommodations at an all inclusive and transporting them to another location/venue just for the wedding day? And transporting them back to the hotel at night of course. But that could get pretty hectic.

Eh if its your only choice I don't think transporting is the worst idea.

I had the same feelings re: vendors. I didn't want to get saddled into people I didn't like which is why I did it in the states. Made it easier for people to travel to as well.

I did my BAM today if you wanna take a look. Its prob on page 2 or 3 by now. We got married at the Marriott Singer Island.

Costa Rica? We looked there but then we had people that couldn't travel so we stayed local. Randy at Celebrations Costa Rica is amazing!!

We had my brothers wedding in Jamaica and it was awesome! They had about 40 people, but they did the wedding on the beach and bused to a restaurant (Rick's Cafe) and had dinner and dancing and a private area. It was a lot of fun! They used the free meal they got at the resort for a "rehearsal" dinner.

We are doing ours in Costa Rica. Although we will not be having that many people, there are reception venues within the resort that will hold that many. I have a wedding planner that I was assigned and they are willing to work with you and help make it more customized. We will also be bringing some items to add personal touches as well. Mexico and the Caribbean are probably more reasonably priced than Costa Rica but it may be something to look into.

ETA: Your wedding is pretty far off as well. Until they actually have their flights and hotel booked, you don't know your final headcount.

If you have a DW with 250 guests in attendance, you might be the first couple I've ever heard of who pulled this off (without being celebrities who paid for all of their guests' expenses).

Even 100/150 guests is massive when it comes to a DW. How can you be sure that this many guests are paying you more than lip service or are just dreaming and hoping for the best? I don't mean to rain on your parade, but just being on this forum has shown me that far smaller destination weddings don't pan out once it comes time for the guests to sign on the dotted line.

We arent expecting everyone to come however I have been to plenty of destination weddings, also worked plenty of destination weddings, where many more people than expected came and the bride was stuck in a rut or the hotel was sold out. I am actually working one this January in Mexico with over 200 people attending and the hotel has been sold out of rooms that were blocked for months and guests are very upset over it. I would rather be over prepared than underprepared.

What about Florida or somewhere else beachy in Mainland USA that would be easier to travel to and work with vendors? Or Hawaii? Less people would have to get passports and vendors would all speak the same language as you : ) (I've seen that be an issue on here before with destination weddings)

Never plan for less to attend than you invite regardless of where your wedding will be.

I just got back from my honeymoon, and we stayed at a very private upscale resort on Maui. A few days before we left, a huge bus arrived from the airport with like 100 people on it for a wedding that was being held there. I was shocked to see that many people came, because that resort was VERY expensive. Don't count on people not attending. (And I got married back home, and had a 99% RSVP yes rate, much higher than what I thought would happen.)

I went to a wedding in playa del Carmen at the paradisus resort. There were about 100 guests. It was amazing! They have a family side and adults only side of the resort so it was perfect for all the family and wilder party guests!

Hi Kayla. I'm in the same situation as you. We currently have about 275 people on the guest list. Were you able to find a destination venue(s) that can accommodate all of your guests?

Hi Kayla, If you are bringing your own vendors to an all inclusive and they stay on property, you can typically have those fees waived. Just a helpful tip!