Possible to get married in Caribbean on $5000 budget??

Check out www.destinationweddings.com. They specialize in that.

Thanks Lindsay, I have....STILL waiting for someone to get back to me

I'd say having a dw will be your best bet to stay undre $5,000. I would say talk to a travel agent or a destination wedding planner!!! mexico is a little cheaper and caters to d.w

I've heard amazing things about dreams and sandles resorts. Also keep in mind that if you are doing a destination wedding, the more people you have the more it will cost. are those 65 for sure or the amount of invites you will send out. Usually they say about half will come from the total amount of people you invite

Definitely!! You can invite your guests to an all-inclusive hotel. You can have your wedding on the beach & your reception in a closed off area of one of the hotel restaurants. The food is already included in everyone's package. She also got the club for an hour. A friend of mine just did this in 2011 at the RIU Ocho Rios in Jamaica.

You might spend $5,000 on everything including your dress & photographer. The hotel will have preferred vendors for your wedding. My friend opted to fly in her photographer. (He only charged her the cost of airfare &hotel.) The bigger cost, catering, will be absorbed by your guests who will need to pay for their airfare & all-inclusive hotel packages.

If you get on the ball you have enough time to inform your guests w/ package deals from a travel agent. They will have more than enough time to prepare. If you do it over a weekend some guests will make it a mini vacation. Be prepared for some guests not to be able to make it because of time off & cost

Thanks Justine, I'm feeling a little optimistic after reading ur comment. I'll start looking into venues in Mexico. My fiance's family is HUGE, and my family is big too (but no one gets along so I won't have too many people on my end.) 45 people from my fiance side are coming, as of right now...I'm praying to God no one else comes...and I'm scared that his family that was invited, might tell the family that wasn't invited. Hopefully everything falls into place. Thanks again Justine

Yardiegirl Oh I'm more than fine with people not making it... initially I just wanted my fiancée and I, our parents, and siblings to be there...but everyone found out "word of mouth". Not too sound like a jerk, but whoever makes it does and whoever doesn't OH WELL. Part of my reason of having a DW was to cut the costs. I'm not worried about my dress and my brother is a photographer...I'm worried about venue costs, rental of chairs n tables, decor stuff like that. I want a SIMPLE and CHIC beach wedding. SO glad I decided to post something, u ladies have helped me so much in just 20 mins. thanks!

Thats truely the beauty of a destination wedding! you can have the wedding you dreamed of for 5,000! and your crazy uncle who you have to invite but secretly hoping doesnt show up...doesnt show up. because they pay for it.

A few more tips

1. you said your family doesnt get along, don't do a villa. do a resort, a big one. that way people who don't like each other aren't forced to hang out for a week together.

2. flowers are going to be pretty expensive, there are lots of cute alternatives you can bring with you.

3. I would recommend doing a wedding planner, there are so many legal things that you have to know (example: in mexico you have to be in the country for so many days before hand, excluding weekends). Most work within your budget but make sure they have done a destination wedding before!!!

4. flowers are expensive there, think of cool alternatives that you can bring with you. (small ones of course) and get your family and friends to put some in each suite case

Also keep in mind. that your guest will have to pay for their own airfare & accommodations. If the folks that you really want to be there can afford it than cool, otherwise your guest are looking at a min on a 3-4 day weekend $900+ per person. That does not include passport fees (over $100 per adult) & it may not include transfers to/from hotel.

Also given the day of travel.. customs to/from can kill a day each way. This also may put a dent in your gifts.

We went to a destination wedding in Jamaica a few years ago..It was beautiful & she had a lot of guest. not sure how many. I don't think she got very many gifts though. I know it's not all about the gifts but you hope to recoup a little from what you spend. & it's nice to get something you need.

All in all we had a great time. I wish you the best. Oh & definately go for all inclusive. That will help your guest a lot too.

I don't think you sound like a jerk at all. You have the wedding you want with the amount of people you want.

I went to my friends wedding in Jamaica in September 2011 and it was around $740pp, flight included. However, I'm going to Jamaica next month for my family reunion and we're staying at the RIU in Negril and that is costing me $1100pp but that is because of the other popular celebrations going on in Jamaica right now.

Check the trends and see what your travel agent can do. If you have 10 rooms, you can get a group booking at a great cost once people put their $100-$200 down. The airfare is determined at the time of purchase. Most times the further out you purchase airfare, the better. Get a packet together for your guests w/ all the info

My friend brought her decor, a lot of which she got at dollar general , Party City, and Michaels the summer before for beach themes. She even brought ocean colored glitter to sprinkle on the sand. It was very pretty and we had a great time!

Lol-ing @ Justine "and your crazy uncle who you have to invite but secretly hoping doesnt show up...doesnt show up. " U have no idea!!! u hit that right on the money. thanks

Yardie do u know what venue that was in Jamaice where ur friend held her wedding?

I was going to have my wedding in PR, until I realized u don't need a passport to enter the country which would allow for more guests at my wedding then I could afford.

Have you checked cruises? A short 3-4 day cruise with a ceremony on the beach at a port of call might work for your budget if you're flexible with your date. If you happen to live near a port, that would save on airfare.

For Jamaica, you can check the Braco Beach Resort at vacationexpress.com. Best price I've seen in all the months I've been stalking JA vacays. lol

Are you looking for a "private reception"? If not, you could always do a "dinner show" or something like that. Or maybe a "party room" at a restaurant...I say this because during research for our DW, I found that you could do dinner for everyone at the same restaurant for half the price if you DO NOT mention the words "wedding reception". The perks for "reception" packages were not worth the extra cost for me.

Upon my research, I have found multiple wedding ceremony packages for $1-2k in Carribean. This is the only site I still have saved though because we decided on Hawaii instead.....

http://www.honeymoonsinc.com/All_Inclusive_Weddings.aspx

=)

Thanks Donna! Cruise sounds really good. Tiedaknot if I do have a "dinner show" or something of that nature, does that mean no first dance? Throwing of the bouquet?

Thanks!

It was the RIU in Ocho Rios. You can either book with them separately on their website and pay when you get there but you'd have to get your flight separately...or get a vacation package.

http://www.riu.com/

You don't need a passport to go to Jamaica but you need one to get back into the U.S. lol

That's doable.