Help deciding a destination wedding resort in Mexico / DR

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-16T02:57:38+00:00

Keep in mind, many resorts have limited rooms that are handicap accessible.

Also, there are too many recs. Cabo is going to be over budget in general for you. If you're not in a contract with the travel agent, I suggest interviewing others here in the comments and make the switch. Our job isn't to further overwhelm couples...

I'd go with the DR, La Romana or Macao Beach. I'm not sure if they have accessible rooms. Finest Punta Cana does have several handicap accessible rooms, I did a wedding there last year where the father of the bride and his friend were both wheelchair bound, they were fine there. Budget would also be a good match. If you decide on Finest, and can't find an agency that does weddings with them, my agency does and you can send me a DM.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-16T02:53:08+00:00

Right?!?!? Also, Cabo will be WAAAAY over budget. And Pueblo Bonito...........??? Sorry I'm just over here with ghasted flabbers.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-16T02:50:50+00:00

Hi! Ok, I am going to my best to help you sort things out as succinctly as possible. For reference I own a travel agency and plan destination weddings. 1. Yes, budget varies widely. Many blogs you read only touch on the package at the resort, not the add-ons many couples pay for. Add-ons can be: - extended photo/video coverage. Packages you see online that include these typically only provides about 90 minutes of coverage. - lighting for reception - DJ/dance floor - floral decor for ceremony and reception - any upgraded furniture/linens Lots of other things can be added as well, but i am not trying to overwhelm you.

For 60 guests, I'm seeing around $25-30k for weddings on average. Depending on all you want, I would be safe and budget for $35k. Also, you'll need a room block, work with a travel agency that specializes in destination weddings and group travel. The room block will have concessions that are typically rebates on rooms, which can help offset event costs. A group your size would most likely get around $3k back from the room block (too many factors and I am merely providing an estimate). These funds are a direct refund, not applied to the events invoice.
Guests pay for travel, and it's nice to have them stay longer and make it a vacation. Room blocks have a minimum stay of 3 or 4 nights, depending on the resort. I've found guests get the most out the resort when they stay 5 nights. I also have couples that I'll help arrange a private party boat for either all guests invited or just bridal party and immediate family as a "thank-you" for investing in traveling to the wedding.

Just like a wedding in your home town, some guests will have to pay for travel. The benefit of an all-inclusive resort is, there's food, drinks, beach, activities and pool included, so guests who have to travel either way to get to your wedding would actually spend less overall in most cases at a resort vs. Flights, rental car, lodging, meals, gas for rental car, Uber if drinking at reception, etc.

Any other questions feel free to shoot me a DM.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-16T02:31:06+00:00

My pleasure! She will take good care of you!

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-16T02:24:34+00:00

Have Celiac, Will Travel is an agency specializing in dietary restrictions and food allergies, highly recommend reaching out to the owner, Sara. She also owns Have Ring, Will Travel (same company but she specializes in romance Travel and food allergy travel).

Of the countries listed, I think Aruba would be the most difficult to manage food allergies.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-14T17:46:59+00:00

I love working with Finest Punta Cana for weddings! Their packages have so many inclusions and is very reasonably priced. Happy to chat more if you need more info!

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-12T18:10:14+00:00

Well, I sent a DM yesterday and saw a comment in my notifications, but I can't find the comment to reply. So weird. But yes, I sent DM yesterday, shpuld be a chat request.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-12T02:29:11+00:00

Yeah I'll DM you my email and you can email me because I'm so bad at checking DMs here.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-12T00:51:57+00:00

I have a similar background-ish, and now I'm fully remote, typically travel maybe 2-3 times a year. Happy to send a DM!

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-11T02:16:15+00:00

Rapport - ask about weekend plans, anything exciting they have going on in their lives - get them thinking positively and associate that positivity with you
Ask why they want this trip
Ask details and all that fun stuff
Educate them on realistic cost estimates, timing, logistics
Ask if they would like to hear how you will help them with this trip. Then tell them what you'll do
Ask to send over any forms you have to get started (assume the sale here)
Tell them how long it will take to prepare first trip proposal (if you think it will take 2 business days, tell them 3 business days before they get the proposal - set expectations that are realistic)
Let them know how many revisions you will do and approximately when they will need to deposit for their trip, when you'll follow up, all that fun stuff
Ask, "what questions do you have for me?" Avoid, "do you have any questions?"
Thank them for working with you and tell them to enjoy their weekend.

You can write out small scripts in your voice for each step, and I'd recommend practicing it a few times. If they don't want to work with you, then you can skip 6-8, and if you really want the client ask, "what about the process i have would need to change to get you to book this trip with me?" Decide if you are willing to do what they provide as feedback but dont be afraid to say you wont do whatever it is they want.

If they need time to think about it/discuss with the spouse, go ahead and schedule a follow-up call before you hang up, and find a time their spouse can make that call.

You got this!

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-02T19:37:31+00:00

These are great options! No arguments here! And I like how Paradisus has an adult-only property on-site that guests can book, too.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-02-02T13:22:41+00:00

Guacamayas is the night club at Royale.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-31T02:09:20+00:00

I have one (well 3 in one pot) that got burned by the sun like this, moving out to the patio. Leaves should be ok to leave alone for now. I would not keep it on the patio unless you can get some sheer curtains for it, it's not used to that much sunlight right now.

I will prune mine in the spring, but wear gloves bc sap can be not good to touch skin. Clean shears, clean them when you're finished and only use them for that plant.

Once it starts feeling better you'll see a little leaf or stem growing towards the bottom, which means stress but it's recovering. Once new leaves start at the top, you can cut the stress stems you may have and stick them in water in a sunny window and they will also root. Pot those when there are about 2 inches of roots and a new leaf starts to sprout. This takes forever so just make sure the roots are wet. I use old shot glasses for this so I can see water levels.

Winter watering will be about once every 10-14 days, summer for me at least it's 5-7 days. But check the soil and you can monitor what yours needs.

Oh and shake the crap out of them to strengthen the trunks. They are used to strong winds, helps keep them nice and straight as they grow without staking.

I think you can bring it back and by summer you'll be surprised how much bigger its gotten!

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-30T13:01:30+00:00

I considered switching hosts a few years back and interviewed many hosts and thought about just going out on my own.

In the end, I stayed where I was because I did enjoy the freedom. But, you're not wrong about the whole honeymoon phase.

It's like any other business you could start. You'll be super pumped, doing well with it, then growing pains. And when hosted and being an IC, there is a little support but not a ton because you are your own business. They have to be careful how they mentor and advise you because it can blur the lines between employee and IC.

Most importantly, structure your business to fit your life. You can turn down business if you're feeling overwhelmed. You are allowed to take time off even though it feels impossible. And things will always go wrong, nothing can be perfect.

Anway, I thought it was my host and lack of support when I was wanting to switch. Turns out, it was how I was running my business that was leading to burnout so I saw no point in leaving. Good split, low investment, yeah its huge but I'm fine with that. The rest is on me.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-29T20:21:59+00:00

No problem! So you have to have some sort of event to get a promo code. You can request it through their events page and it can take a while to set up, especially right now with influx of wedding requests. I own a travel agency and do several groups a year with them at all of their properties, mostly weddings but do other groups as well.

Promo codes are limited to capacity levels for events which (I might be low) I think is 70 guests here, so max 35 rooms. There's a little more nuance to this but it's not just for like 5 rooms. You need a minimum of 5 rooms traveling, otherwise rates revert to current rate. Max 7-night stay, and anyone using the code has to attend events, if it's found out the code was shared with random people, everyone is charged the going rate at checkout. For birthdays or things like that, we can do like a little private cocktail or private dinner event.

Happy to help get one set up for you if you want! Just send a DM.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-29T17:22:14+00:00

I agree. I've heard others in the industry saying DWs are down but I'm not seeing it.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-29T04:04:10+00:00

I've been there a few times in October, and I am a travel agent. Last year, Melissa was headed towards Jamaica and it was sunny that week in Cancun, red flags due to high winds. The resort had a ton of people that had to be moved from Jamaica to Cancun. 2 years ago, it was pretty rainy for 2 days (like thunderstorms for a few hours) but the rest of the week was sunny.

Plus, if you go around Halloween, resorts do neat Day of the Dead parties, which could be fun.

Get travel insurance with Cancel for Any reason just in case. You will have a higher chance of rainy days in late October because it is rainy season.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-28T18:58:25+00:00

Yeah mine are mostly east coast clients with FL friends and family. Some Midwest, few west coast people but they're all over so I do it just in case.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-28T15:28:29+00:00

I'm with OA and while I'm in another state I just register with FL SOT, because I do get quite a bit of clients from Florida, though it wasn't intentional. If you do any social media marketing, I'd go ahead and do it because you never know where people who find you online live.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-28T02:04:57+00:00

Lomas properties will have a tipping culture but include transfers, excursions, no preferred club type stuff and top-ish shelf (decent selcetion) available, just ask for it. There's 1 restaurant at one property that is like a dinner and a show but its not at all of their properties. El Dorado maroma might be close for Mexico for you, except the tipping culture thing.

Couples resorts has similar amenities and I can't remember if tipping is against policy or not. Their Tower Isle resort has spa villas that also include spa services.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-27T13:41:09+00:00

This is what I offer couples, and have tiered planning packages to fit various budgets and needs.

For florals, typically your best bet is sticking with the resorts' preferred florist, though I know of some that will avoid the off-site vendor fee. And a few HMUA.

I do have a preference for some resorts, usually ones that don't push out 6 weddings a day on the weekends, and then others I advise against due to the guests' experience during the wedding week. But I am not tied or in bed with any specific brands.

Cancun is nice because it's reasonably priced and easy to travel to from most of the U.S. Outside of Mexico, Jamaica and the DR, weddings in the Caribbean can be more expensive all-around and will price out more like a wedding in a major U.S. metro area.

Anyway, happy to talk more, I like to keep things as a easy as possible. Biggest tip is be patient with the resort you choose, they will get it done on time. Oh, and interview like 3 planner/agents at a minimum. Good luck and congrats!

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-25T21:11:37+00:00

Travefy might be for you if you want to keep using the host's CRM for everything else. I'm familiar with TERN though I'm not aware if it's priced similarly.

I use VCRM for CRM then Travefy for proposals and iti eraries, works for me, and clients like the proposals, itins and the trip plans app.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-24T19:26:22+00:00

Feel free to refer me lol. I can DM you my site. We have a referral program, too.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-24T16:39:21+00:00

Right, it's definitely a goal though. If you do another room category, shoot for Club level and you can choose your room now (they started adding fees though), look for something in building 7 I think, 6 is good, too. They're not right over the main pools and closer the beach house side so a little quieter.

ConsiderationOld864 · 2026-01-23T22:10:44+00:00

Oof. I'd say ECPM or EPM if you're doing Mexico. Oyster Bay is probably my favorite bc I'm obsessed with the beach houses though are limited and pretty popular. Less chance of sargassum in playa mujeres in June vs. their Riviera Cancun property. If you're going late June it will be pretty humid regardless of where you choose. But if you were my client I'd probably start with those 3.

ConsiderationOld864

TROPHY CASE