Lauren: Why did you choose a destination wedding?

Melanie and Chris: We chose a destination wedding because it was different from your traditional wedding. We wanted a medium size wedding and if we did a traditional wedding we would've had double the amount of people. At our wedding in Mexico it was intimate and we were surrounded by people who knew both me and Chris. 

Lauren: How many attendees did you have?
What kind of experience did you envision your guests having? 

Melanie and Chris: We had a total of 63 guests attend our wedding. We envisioned our guests having a vacation and enjoying themselves. We were adamant that our guests only had to dedicate one day to us, which was wedding day. 

Lauren: What was one part of planning your wedding that you knew you couldn't have done alone?
How did having a Destination Wedding Specialist help with that?

Melanie and Chris: One part of planning my wedding I knew I couldn't do alone was manage everyone's room and answer every question they could have throughout this process. Chris and I are very thankful for Lauren and how much she made our booking and searching for the right resort process so smooth. A plus was that she was also very helpful with transportation. Lauren had transportation for all guests set up from when they arrived to when it was time for them to depart. Another thing I couldn't do alone was communicate with the wedding department. I learned early on it was easier to get an outside wedding planner so they could handle all communication. I noticed once I hired my wedding planner Diana the resort would respond quickly to her versus with me I would wait anywhere from 2 plus weeks to hear back. 

Lauren: What piece of advice would you give to couples who are just starting the planning process?

Melanie and Chris: The groom's piece of advice is whatever you think it will cost it will probably become double so to always be prepared for that. Coming from a bride's perspective I would say to have an idea of what you want and then trust the process. A destination wedding is stressful but not as much especially when you have a travel agent and a wedding planner. 

Lauren: What’s one “extra” you’re super glad you splurged on?  What surprised you the most about your wedding? 

Melanie and Chris: The one "extra" we are super glad we splurged on was the Mariachi band. Our guests absolutely loved them, they definitely got the party going. Chris and I did our big walk in with them, they stayed for an hour, they were able to sing a song at every table during dinner and had time to put on a show in the middle of the dance floor after.

What surprised us most about our wedding was that every single guest danced all night long. Every chair was empty, all our guests plus us were so shocked when the dance party was over we were ready to dance all night! 

Lauren: If you could choose three words to describe your wedding, what would they be?

Melanie and Chris: Our three words would be Fun, Intimate, and beautiful 

Lauren: What is your favorite memory from your big day?

Melanie and Chris: Our favorite memory from our big day is when it was dinner time and we stopped to look at all of our guests to soak up all the love that was in the room. Chris and I could not get over that all these people traveled to Mexico to celebrate our big day! We felt so thankful and loved!

A Note from Lauren: I am so thankful to Melanie and Chris for trusting me with their big day! It was a blast to work with them! Also, I love this last photo and how Chris is looking at Melanie!

Lauren: Why did you choose a destination wedding?

Kiley and Austin: We both love to travel and wanted our wedding to represent us both as a couple.

Lauren: How many attendees did you have?
What kind of experience did you envision your guests having? 

Kiley and Austin: We had 30 people attend! Since most of our guests were couples we envisioned them enjoying this as a vacation for themselves and being apart of our wedding.

Lauren: What was one part of planning your wedding that you knew you couldn't have done alone?
How did having a Destination Wedding Specialist help with that?

Kiley and Austin: ALL OF IT! We have only left the country on a cruise so this was MUCH different. There are so many moving parts to leaving the country and throwing a wedding in the mix did not make it any easier. With all the back and forth between the resort and our guests I would have not been able to do this on my own.

Lauren: What piece of advice would you give to couples who are just starting the planning process?

Kiley and Austin: Trust the process! It can be overwhelming and communication with the resorts is slower than you would get with someone in the states. Planning over a year in advanced was a huge help.

Lauren: What’s one “extra” you’re super glad you splurged on?  What surprised you the most about your wedding? 

Kiley and Austin: Our DJ! We are huge music lovers so the perfect DJ was a must for us and we did not regret it. 

I was surprised at how smooth it went! 

Lauren: If you could choose three words to describe your wedding, what would they be?

Kiley and Austin: Stunning. Timeless. Romantic.

Lauren: What is your favorite memory from your big day?

Kiley and Austin: Finally walking down the aisle! I had so much anxiety getting ready that morning that it felt like time stood still. 

A Note from Lauren: It was so much fun to work with Kiley and Austin to plan the wedding that they have always dreamed of!

Lauren: Why did you choose a destination wedding?

Kathie and Adam: We attended our friend’s wedding in Cancun a couple years before and had the absolute best time. We’ve lived all over so have friends and family that would have to travel no matter where we got married. We also really wanted to have the opportunity to allow everyone get to know each other over a long weekend.

Lauren: How many attendees did you have?
What kind of experience did you envision your guests having? 

Kathie and Adam:  We had 85 guests! Fun and relaxing

Lauren: What was one part of planning your wedding that you knew you couldn't have done alone?
How did having a Destination Wedding Specialist help with that?

Kathie and Adam: Coordinating the rooms and all the guests. Everyone came with their own needs- Lauren did an amazing job accommodating each guest (even if it meant booking a different hotel for them). It’s exhausting enough to plan just the wedding, it’s so helpful to have a travel advisor help with all the other stuff.

Lauren: What piece of advice would you give to couples who are just starting the planning process?

Kathie and Adam: Send out invites early to get a head count.  We did not expect so many guests to come.

Lauren: What’s one “extra” you’re super glad you splurged on?  What surprised you the most about your wedding? 

Kathie and Adam: The “all in” package for the wedding ceremony/reception.This saved a lot of headaches and number crunching. Most surprising thing was how great of a time our moms had 🤪 We also really enjoyed all the pre-wedding events we had at the hotel. 

Lauren: If you could choose three words to describe your wedding, what would they be?

Kathie and Adam: joyous, loving, beautiful 

Lauren: What is your favorite memory from your big day?

Kathie and Adam:  Our good friend Matias being our officiant and marrying us.

A Note from Lauren: Planning this gorgeous Destination Wedding in Cancun with Kathie and Adam was so much fun! I was actually able to go do a tasting with Kathie before the wedding and the food was phenomenal. It was so much fun to be able to help this amazing couple and friends plan this once in a lifetime event. Congratulations to Kathie and Adam on a beautiful ceremony!

Lauren: Why did you choose a destination wedding?

Tammy and Jhony: We decided on a destination wedding because we were on a budget. We wanted an affordable wedding with an open bar and we knew a destination wedding would check all of our boxes. Also, a destination wedding allowed us to have an intimate ceremony and reception with our family and close friends.

Lauren: How many attendees did you have? What kind of experience did you envision your guests having?

Tammy and Jhony: We had 24 guests total attend our wedding. We envisioned our guests having a great time and enjoying the open bar all through the night.

Lauren: What was one part of planning your wedding that you knew you couldn't have done alone? How did having a Destination Wedding Specialist help with that?

Tammy and Jhony: We wouldn’t have been able to choose a resort without the assistance of our travel agent! She provided us with so many resorts to choose from based on her own personal experience, which was extremely helpful. We decided to go with an adults only resort, which was a great decision!

Lauren: What piece of advice would you give to couples who are just starting the planning process?

Tammy and Jhony: Book a knowledgeable travel agent and physically travel to the resort. This will allow couples to personally meet with the wedding planner to ensure it’s the right resort/fit for you.

Lauren: What’s one “extra” you’re super glad you splurged on? What surprised you the most about your wedding?

Tammy and Jhony: We were glad we splurged on the flowers. They were beautiful and were used for both ceremony and the reception. The weather was surprisingly great! Our previous visits to Mexico always had rainy weather; however, this trip and our wedding day had the best weather.

Lauren: If you could choose three words to describe your wedding, what would they be?

Tammy and Jhony: Fun, Memorable, Affordable!

Lauren: What is your favorite memory from your big day?

Tammy and Jhony: The whole day was great! The ceremony was short and sweet and we had a blast drinking the night away at our reception.

A Note from Lauren: Planning this gorgeous Destination Wedding in Cancun with Tammy and Jhony was an absolute pleasure. This was a true testament to perseverance and flexibility as this beautiful couple was truly tested during the constant waves of the pandemic. In the end, they got to celebrate along with ~25 of their closest friends and family in what turned out to be a truly magical ceremony. Congratulations to Tammy and Jhony on a beautiful ceremony!

If you are dreaming of a destination wedding, then your head is already swimming with resorts, wedding packages, and potential costs. We are here to help you sort this out and provide some much needed stress relief!

Coordinating travel arrangements for your group of guests requires careful planning. As a Destination Wedding Travel Planner, I will help you find a destination, resort, and wedding package that matches your wish list and spending plan as closely as possible. Once I narrow down the options for you and you make your resort choice, normally, I will assist you in confirming your wedding date and wedding package choice with the resort through a wedding day contract. From there, I will assist you with confirming a group rate for your wedding room block and begin educating and assisting your guests on how they can book their room in your contracted room block. To ensure the best fit for you and your guests, two contract options are available to accommodate your type of group, number of travelers, and flexibility of schedule.

Check out part 1 of my destination wedding series here.

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WHAT IS A ROOM BLOCK?

Typically a group of 10 or more guest rooms that resort puts on hold at a specific “negotiated” rate for a group of people. While room blocks normally need at least 10 rooms or more to qualify for the potential special rates or concessions, some hotels will actually provide this with only 6 rooms.

These “negotiated rates” are typically a standard rate (sometimes discounted) set by the hotel or management company for wedding groups. So..in essence, they aren’t really negotiated haha.

Once this has been set up, you will either be given a link or promo code for your guests to book into your group. As a Destination Wedding Travel Agent, I would help all of your guests with booking and coordinating details for travel.

Traditional OR CONTACTED groupS

This is the perfect booking option for travelers that are traveling on the same itinerary who need a flexible payment and cancellation policy for the entire group. This option typically has more perks associated as there is a contact made with the hotel or tour operator.

A traditional group typically consists of:

• 10 or more rooms (20 or more people)

• All traveling together (but with various date combinations)

• Set price for all travelers with pre-reserved room block inventory!

This option requires a signed contract with the resort in order to pull guest rooms out of inventory. In this contract, you will need to guarantee that a certain amount of the rooms will be sold or you’ll have to pay for them regardless. The contract will state the nightly rate based on occupancy, the amount and type of rooms available to book, and the repercussions of not booking all of the rooms in the block. This consequence is often called an attrition clause.

An attrition clause is when a group doesn’t live up to the room block agreement and payment is required to make up for the rooms not booked. For example, some high traffic hotels might have a 90% guarantee, meaning that you must book 90% of the total rooms in your block. So, if you’ve requested the resort to block 10 rooms in the contract, then you will be financially responsible for 9 of them, even if they are not booked by your guests.

As a destination wedding travel agent, I will oftentimes negotiate something called a “drop date”. A drop date is normally about 6 months or so before your wedding. This allows you to return any un-booked rooms in your room block, with no penalty, so you’re not responsible for them. This is my job so try not to worry too much about it!

Flexible and courtesy Groups

They're ideal for small groups of 10 or more who want to vacation together at the same resort, yet need flexibility with their travel dates, flights, length of stay, or who may be traveling from different cities.

• No need to sign a group contract!

• Guests can book from any origin and the hotel will still see them coming as one group

• You can customize every booking to the clients' individual travel needs

Sometimes resorts will offer what is called a Courtesy Room Block, which is a block of a certain number and type of rooms that the hotel has set aside for you as a “courtesy”. You’ll sometimes be given a special rate for these rooms, but not always. These rooms do not have to be financially guaranteed that they will be booked by you or your guests. Even though you are not financially responsible for these rooms getting booked, you may still be asked to sign a contract.

The contract outlines that the hotel will hold these rooms for you at “x” rate and the date the rooms will be released to the public. After the rooms are released, your guests will not be able to book a room at the terms offered in your room block contract. Generally, hotels will offer 10 or so rooms on a courtesy room block, but it all depends on the specific hotel.

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Why CHOOSE a Contracted group when a Courtesy or flexible group has no penalties?

• Courtesy room blocks may not be offered at the resort that you have chosen for your wedding. Mid to higher end hotel chains and most all-inclusive resorts will not offer a courtesy room block as an option. This is most likely found at a lower end hotel or resort.

• Another reason to book a contracted room block is that the hotel or resort is at risk of booking up leaving your guests with no room availability for your wedding date. This could happen due to booking a busy hotel that fills quickly or the date chosen is during a busy week or weekend. Unfortunately, most guests will wait until the last minute to book their room. If you didn’t set up a room block, then they may not be able to come to your wedding.

• You require several rooms for your wedding group. Again, if your guests wait until the last minute to book, the rooms may be gone, and they may not be able to come to your wedding. Couples sometimes think that blocking a large quantity of rooms will give them negotiating power. If the number of rooms that guests book are not guaranteed, there is more risk from the resort’s perspective. The more rooms you request, the less favorable the contract terms will be in most cases.

WHEN SHOULD WE SET UP THE ROOM BLOCK?

Once your destination wedding location is confirmed, you should set up the room block for your group. The booking rate and payment terms are likely to be more favorable the sooner you contract your wedding room block with the resort.

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More questions? Check out part 3 of my destination wedding series with some frequency asked questions here OR email me at lauren@thatblondetravels.com.

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Why Choose ME

Lauren Bailey Travel and Event Co. (That Blonde Travels, LLC) is dedicated to ensuring your experience, as well as your guests, is seamless from start to finish. When reserving your destination wedding with us, you'll enjoy:

• Flexible deposit, payment, and cancellation options

• The best vacation prices—including hotel and activities

• Complimentary room upgrades and money-saving offers based on group size

• Customized itineraries and group activities

• Group Travel Protection Plan, protecting your travel investment

• You'll receive professional, personalized one-stop-shop service

To get started schedule your complimentary consultation today!

So, you just got engaged and you think to yourself immediately - DESTINATION WEDDING!

Next step, google “Destination Wedding” and you’re like whaaaaaa…hold up (la de da de da - please tell me you get this reference)…when more than 15 million results hit your screen. You think to yourself “wow, there’s a ton of info” and “where do I even begin” and “I’m already overwhelmed”. After you’ve clicked through a seemingly endless amount of websites, you’re more confused than ever. Where should I have the wedding? How expensive is this going to be? Where do I even start? Maybe I should just go to the courthouse..

If this sounds like you, then welcome! With so much information available, it can be hard to decipher what is what. This is where I come in! Hopefully, you had someone refer you in my direction, or maybe all your googling found me. No matter how you ended up here, I’m happy to have you and to help, so grab yourself a glass of wine (or champagne, this is wedding planning after all!) and read on.

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PLANNING PROCESS

STEP 1: CHOOSE A DESTINATION WEDDING PLANNER

Your destination wedding planner (or destination wedding travel agent) will help you narrow down location, choose a date, negotiate rates and concessions for you, etc. In order to get as many of your “must-haves” as possible, we will take a look at your spending plan (or make one) to guide you to the right location or venue.

Where you start this process, will determine how fun or how much of a headache the planning process, travel, and wedding day will be.

STEP 2: LET’S DISCUSS

We will jump on a video chat and discuss all things relating to your wedding. This will take roughly an hour, so grab a glass of wine and get comfy on the couch and let’s discuss all your wedding dreams!

There is so much to talk about. Here are some examples of things that we will discuss..

• What are your wedding absolute musts?

• What kinds of activities do you want to have for you, your guests, or even on your honeymoon?

• How many guests?

• Are children allowed?

• Is your wedding date flexible?

• Are you looking for an all-inclusive resort or an off-site venue?

• Do you want an outdoor or indoor ceremony and reception?

• Do you want a legal or symbolic ceremony?

• Are you planning on bringing any of your own vendors, like a photographer?

The biggest tip I can give is to BE HONEST! If you really want something or really don’t want something, you need to tell us about it or we won’t know (We don’t have ESP-N or something - lol). Another tip - and this is a huge one - please don’t lie about your spending plan! Most couples have a spending plan in mind, but instead of telling their destination wedding planner, they give us a much lower number to “see what magic they can do”. This is a HUGE waste of time, for both you and us. Give us the honest info and we’ll give you the best options we can find or we will tell you if that number just isn’t feasible for what you are wanting. Either way, honesty is the best policy.

step 3: DESTINATION WEDDING PLANNER GOES TO WORK

After we finish our video chat and you go relax, I get to work figuring out what locations and resorts work for your budget, guests, and wedding preferences. From here, we will narrow it down to a few options and I will reach out to the resort’s wedding department to inquire about wedding dates. This could narrow our search down even more as some of the resorts may not have your preferred date available.

Once we have 1 – 3 locations in mind that have your wedding date options available, we will put together room rates for you and your guests, based on the types of rooms that are available and the options you’ve asked for, and present them to you for review.

How does this happen? Sometimes, we reach out to the resorts directly and other times we work with something called a “tour operator”. A tour operator buys or owns a very high volume of travel components and will then package these components for travel agents to sell. In order to purchase or book this way, you need to be a travel agent (with a CLIA or IATA number).

Why would we use a tour operator versus booking directly with the resort, you ask? First, a tour operator books millions of dollars a year with these resorts, so when something goes awry, you have more than one avenue of complaining and being able to get a resolution. Second, they offer travel protection in the form of travel insurance to protect your investment. Last, the rates will be the same as when booking directly with the hotel so why not have a huge company backing your event to make sure that things go according to the way they are planned.

We then present these options to you and go over room rates, contract, wedding packages, etc.

STEP 4: CHOOSE YOUR VENUE

After reviewing all of the options presented, you say yes! to the venue! Once we get your approval, we will proceed with a contract to secure your wedding date and room block. Woot woot! Other than the legal stuff, this is super exciting!

How does this happen? Your destination wedding planner/travel agent will first re-contact the resort that you have chosen and ask them to proceed with a contract for the wedding ceremony date and time. The resort will need your exact names – very important – address, email, and phone numbers. A contract will be prepared with this information and emailed to you for a signature. Normally, there is a small window to get this contract signed and returned – usually 1 to 2 days. You’ll fill out the contract, signing each item, and return it. The resort will ask for your credit card or your bank information at this time and will charge you a small ceremony deposit – usually around $250 or so, but each location is different (here lately the ones that I have been doing are $1000).

Once the resort has received this information, they will email a confirmation of your deposit payment an you are officially on the books. Your wedding date and time is reserved and I will email over a confirmation receipt to you.

Once the resort has secured your ceremony date and time, you will, in most cases, be assigned an “on site wedding planner/coordinator” from the resort.

I pride myself on being super responsive to emails and messages. If you’re like me, then this is a super important message for you! Once your contract is signed and your date is reserved with the resort, communication from them will typically slow down significantly. This might drive you crazy if you let it (just like it does me!), but realize that they are on island time. As your wedding gets closer, the response time will get better and better. Just make sure to cc me on all of those emails and we will make sure that everything gets taken care of! *wink* This does not mean that you aren’t important! They just have a lot of Brides that they are working with that may have wedding dates sooner than yours.

step 5: set up your room block

After your on-site destination wedding planner receives your wedding confirmation, we send it on to the tour operator. They then proceed with the contract for the room blocks for your guests. If you’d like more clarification on setting up room blocks for your wedding, or why you should do so, check out part 2 in my destination wedding series that explains it.

The room block contract will be sent via email and again you’ll have a short window to sign and return it with the initial deposit. We can schedule a quick call with you to go over the contract and discuss any questions you might have before signing if needed. The room block contract will show the deposit amount, when it is due, all of the payment milestones along the way, and the date for the final payment. Any other costs associated with the travel - travel insurance, attrition rates, etc - will also be listed.

How much is the deposit? The deposit varies with each room block. It could be as little as $50 – $100 per room to 50% (or even the whole amount) of the room rate. This just depends on the resort you choose, how many days before your wedding you book, and a number of other factors. Normally, the further in advance you book your room block, the more agreeable the deposit.

Don’t forget, up until you have signed the contract on any part of your wedding – room pricing, ceremony details, airfare – the rates are subject to change. Travel components can change VERY frequently. There is such a short window to sign the contract because, until signed, the rates can change at any time!

Once your room block contract is signed and returned with payment, your destination wedding planner will receive a confirmation email. which we forward onto you.

STEP 6: SAVE THE DATES AND YOUR WEDDING WEBSITE

We set up your wedding website where you will send your guests. This will have all of the information about the wedding – the location information and photos, time of events, how to book their rooms and travel, info on transportation to and from the location, passport information, and just about anything else that guests need to know. You can fully customize this site and can also post information about yourselves, like how you met, photos of together, registry information, a timeline or itinerary, dress code, etc.

This will be the place where you can send guests that gives them all of the information and help eliminate a ton of texts and calls to you asking about anything and everything under the sun. You can just tell them to go to your website and if they still have issues give them my email and we will get it worked out!

At this point, you will compile a list of your guests and give it your wedding planner/travel agent -very important!

STEP 7: VISIT THE RESORT

If you have the time, and you’re able, I’d recommend taking a few days to visit the resort you’ve selected to check out the ceremony locations and chat with their on-site wedding coordinator. Once you’ve selected a specific resort as your wedding location, some will offer discounted rates or other perks for you to visit. This way you can taste the food, check out the resort and surrounding area, meet with your on-site coordinator, look at the ceremony options, come up with a Plan B option just incase, and then just relax and have a little fun.

Your destination wedding planner can help you set up a meeting with your on-site coordinator and book your trip or “site visit”. If you’re not working with a full service wedding coordinator, the on-site coordinator at the resort will be your contact for anything involving the actual ceremony and reception. He or she will take all your vision for your wedding ceremony and reception and assemble the on-site vendor team to make it all happen. If you do have a full service destination wedding planner, the on-site resort coordinator will still be available to you, if needed, but your full service wedding planner will be the person that is most in contact with the on-site coordinator.

STEP 8: GET TO PLANNING!

Between now and the wedding, you will be getting all of your plans in order (cake, decorations, photographer, DJ, etc.). Your destination wedding planner will be connecting with all of your guests and helping them to confirm their travel arrangements and answer any questions that they may have.

45 days before the wedding: All of your on-site ceremony and reception items will typically need to be chosen by 45 days or more before the wedding. Also, this is typically when final payments will be due for travel and wedding related items.

30 days before the wedding: The countdown is on at this stage of the game! Now, a new person will be assigned from the resort – the onsite wedding planner. I know it is unnerving to feel like you’re starting with someone new so close to the wedding date, but don’t stress. This is just the way most resorts work. Once your on-site coordinator passes you along to the onsite wedding coordinator, they will confirm all the services you’ve hired and they will be assisting you once you get to the resort.

2 days before the wedding: 48 hours prior to the wedding, you (the couple) are almost always required to be on site at the resort. If possible, play it safe and arrive to the resort 3 days before the big day so you can consider the possibility of any weather or other delays. After arriving, you will meet with your on-site wedding coordinator to confirm all of the details of your wedding ceremony and other events.

Step 9: sit back, relax, and get ready for an awesome day!

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Ready to get started planning your dream wedding? Book a consultation today!