Are you planning a destination wedding? Chances are, because you're on our website, that is exactly what you're doing. I'm Shelley, owner and lead travel expert with Romance Travel Group. Today, I'm going to walk through the 10 most commonly asked questions couples have when they're starting to plan their wedding. You have questions, I have the answers. Let's get started. All right. Question one, the question everybody asks. How much does a destination wedding cost? So, this answer is based on averages. The average size wedding is about 50 guests, and the average cost that couples spend is about $15,000. We're including the couple's travel for the week, the ceremony, the reception, and the cocktail party. With this, all the basics that you need in order to host your wedding at the resort. These numbers are again based on averages and really you are in control of how much you want to spend for your wedding. If you have an endless budget and you love flowers and you love decor, you can certainly spend that budget if you would like to. However, if you are trying to stay a little more conservative with your numbers and be more mindful of your budget, there are ways we can help you keep that budget in check. The venues at the resorts are beautiful as they are. You have the ocean, you have the palm trees, you have the beach. There is nothing wrong with keeping things simple and using the aesthetics of the venue as your decor for the wedding. So, don't feel pressured into spending all this money or blowing your budget on all the decor, especially for the ceremony that's only going to last about 20 minutes. So, we can help you think through these things and get creative with how you're spending your budget in ways that make you feel comfortable and help you fall in love with the wedding that you're planning. So, the other things that are really going to uh determine your budget will be the resort that you choose. Um there's resorts at all different price points and quality and we can help you figure out what is going to be best for the experience that you're trying to plan. Um, your wedding date is also a really big um, indicator of price. There are peak seasons, there are shoulder seasons, there's low seasons, and the price of the resort is going to change based on the season that you choose. So, the more flexible you are with your wedding date, the the more opportunity we have to get your budget to fit into your wedding plans. And also, the destination itself has a lot to do with your budget. Um, there are destinations that are a little more budget friendly that are easier to get to. Typically, the more exotic or far away you travel to, the more budget you're going to need to allocate towards your wedding costs. Okay, question two. What is up with all these wedding packages? I know this one is a tricky question and wedding packages are so hard to compare. Every resort has them. They're all going to look the same and they're going to be really hard to differentiate and figure out what exactly is different between one package and the other. So, wedding packages are meant to be a base or just a starting point when you're planning your wedding. They're not necessarily intended to encompass everything or include all of the things that you're going to want for your wedding. They're just a starting point. And honestly, they're all going to look about the same and they're going to be hard to decide between just because they're so similar. So what one resort can do for a wedding, most other resorts can do the exact same thing. So it's almost better if you think of the wedding as a separate event. So maybe you build a Pinterest board and you keep track of what you want for your wedding and then you share that inspiration with the resort's wedding team. Every resort wedding team is going to be able to recreate that for you. So, it's not so much about finding a package or choosing the package because they can all do the package that you want or the look and feel that you want. Think of the package as the starting point and build upon that to create the custom look and feel that you want. So, one thing worth noting here has to do with the number of guests that are included with the package. So, when you're looking at packages, you'll often see includes 20 people or it includes 30 people. And couples will get confused thinking, "Oh my gosh, I can only have 20 people or 30 people attend my wedding." That is not the case. The good news here is most resorts will allow you to have extra guests, but you just pay per person for those extra guests. Typically, we're seeing about $100, maybe $200 per guest, depending on the resort and the package you choose. The more elaborate the inclusions, the higher that per per guest rate is going to be. But it doesn't mean that you're limited or that you have to have under the amount of guests that are listed in that package. The thing to note here though is that packages do max out at some point. So, you might be forced to go to an upgraded package if you have too many extra guests. That's just all based on the resort and that's something that we would definitely help you through and talk to the resort about if you are maxing out how many guests can be included with the package you chose. One of the things that often gets overlooked but makes a huge impact on your wedding budget and the package itself has to do with the group amenities and the group perks that you'll earn based on the room block and how many guests book into that room block. So, for example, resorts will often do free nights or free rooms. Like if you have 10 rooms that book, you get one free. That's all cash back into your pocket after the wedding that you can use to reimburse yourself for the expenses that you've uh incurred because of the wedding. Resorts also do things like free events, free upgrades, um different kind of elements that they will include based on your group contract as well. And the hard thing is these things aren't typically listed anywhere. They're not advertised on the resorts website. They're not included with the wedding package, but a good experienced travel agent does know these things and will be able to point these out when you're getting down to the end trying to choose a resort. These are the things that we'll bring up and make sure you're aware of that will really help you ultimately choose the best resort for you. Question three, which resorts do you recommend? The answer here is more about what you are looking for and what you need for your wedding, not so much the resorts that I like or the ones that I want to recommend. We spend a lot of time speaking with our couples, getting to know you, figuring out what it is that you really do need for a resort, for your wedding. We ask about familyfriendly, adults only, um things that are important to you like food or the beach or the swimming pool even. We use all of these cues that you share with us in order to handpick a list of resorts that really check all the boxes that you're looking for. And it has more to do with what you like instead of what I like. Because after all, you need to love the resort. and it needs to be a perfect match for what you're looking for for your specific wedding. You can go and ask 10 different people for their favorite resort and you'll get 10 different answers. What really is important is what you need and what's the right answer for you. Question four, what will my guests need to pay? This one again really depends on the time of year, the resort that you choose, and the destination. Your guests are going to need to spend money on their trip. Resorts typically have a three-ight minimum, and your guests will also need to pay for their airfare. Airfare into most destinations runs about $500 per person. This can definitely vary depending on the city that your guest is flying from and their travel dates. Resorts, on the other hand, often range anywhere from about $250 per person per night up to the higher end of about 350 per person per night. There's a sweet spot in there. It depends on the time of year. We talked a little bit about seasons and how there's a low season, a high season, and a shoulder season. And those seasons are really going to affect the price of what your guests are spending. So if you're flexible with your wedding date, we can find those sweet spots where the price dips a little bit and book your date on the lower price just to help your guests out in the long run. Question five, how will I choose the destination? This is where an experienced destination wedding travel expert really, really comes into play here. We travel. We get to go to these destinations. We stay at the resorts. We sample their food. We meet with their wedding teams. And that really helps us put a list of resorts together that are going to match the needs that you have for your wedding day. Mexico and the Caribbean islands are definitely known for having an abundance of all-inclusive resorts to choose from. The Caribbean islands mainly include Jamaica, Dominican Republic. You might have a few in St. Lucia, Antigga, Aruba, but really the further out or the more exotic you get, the more challenging it becomes for your guests to fly into that destination. And then that also it affects the cost overall for your guests as well. Question six, do I need to hire a wedding planner? So there are three different experts that you will encounter when planning a destination wedding. And couples sometimes get them mixed up. So the first expert is going to be your travel agent. and your travel agent will help you find the resort, help you book the date, get all of the room block set up and all of your prices locked in. They will introduce you to the wedding coordinator, but the agent will also help your guest, answer questions, do um payment plans for your guests. They're really the ones that are overseeing the entire process, and they're the first one that you are going to start working with in the whole wedding planning process. Once your wedding is confirmed, your agent will then introduce you to the wedding coordinator and they are an employee of the resort and they are going to be the one to help you plan all the details of the wedding itself. So things like flowers, menu, cake flavors, seating charts, entertainment, all of those details that you need for the wedding will be handled with your wedding coordinator and you'll work one-on-one with her just to make sure all of those details are handled. She'll also be the one on site that you'll be able to spend time with and she'll be there during your wedding day as well. The third expert is a wedding planner. And a wedding planner is someone that's optional and usually isn't necessary unless you have a really large wedding or a really complicated wedding with lots of elements and lots of details and moving parts and you just want a third person um to help you with all of those details, maybe be the liaison between you and the hotel or you and the agent. Um, wedding planners aren't necessary, but they do come in handy if you have a really large wedding or you just want someone on your side in addition to the wedding uh travel agent to help you with all the details when it comes to the planning of your wedding. Question seven, can I have all the wedding events like I would at home? And the answer here is absolutely yes. That's the beauty of a destination wedding. You have three or four days in the destination at the resort with all of your guests. So, there's plenty of time to host a welcome party, a rehearsal dinner, uh have the ceremony, cocktail party, fullon reception that goes as late into the night as you want, and then the next day you can turn around and either have a farewell brunch or maybe go on an excursion or go golfing with everyone. There is so much more time to be spent with your guests when you do a destination wedding and guests have such a great time experiencing all of these memories with you. Question eight. So what does Romance Travel Group do? Well, we are here to help you through every step of the way. We start at the very very beginning. We help you find the destination. We provide a list of recommended resorts based on everything that you share with us. Once we know the resort, we're able to get the date booked for you. We'll introduce you to the wedding team at the hotel. We'll work on setting up the room block. We'll do your website. We'll invite guests. But really, we are going to focus on you and your wedding guests while you are planning the wedding with the wedding coordinator. Your guests are going to need a lot of handholding. They're going to have questions. They're going to want to set up payment plans. We'll need their flight information. We'll send them travel documents. We'll really prep them to get them ready for travel. So, the question of what does Romance Travel Group do? The answer is kind of everything. We we are really here from start to finish to make sure everything happens, to make sure you're comfortable, your questions are answered, and just to get you excited and kind of hyped up for your wedding day. So, we do a lot. Um, but weddings are all we do. We're we're not distracted by other kinds of vacations or trips, so you really are in good hands with us, and you can really tell we love what we do. Question nine, what does this process look like? Well, hopefully you've enjoyed all of the answers I've provided so far, and you really are ready for that next step. The next thing to do is schedule a consultation call with us. You'll be able to speak with one of our experts. We'll spend some time getting to know each other and we'll start to get a feel for what it is you're looking for for your destination wedding. Once we know that, we'll be able to recommend resorts. We'll help you choose the right resort. We'll get the date booked for you and then we'll start to work on invitations and the website so we can invite your wedding guests. Our services to you are completely free, which is awesome when you're planning a wedding and you have all these other expenses. We get that. Uh we do get paid by the hotels when you travel. So that is how that how we're able to uh provide our services for you without charging you anything. We do have a small deposit commitment that we collect uh at the beginning when we do start working together, but that is refunded in full when you travel. So there's really no risk. Destination weddings truly are all we do. We are not distracted by other types of travel or vacations. So you're really, really in good hands when you work with us. We are solely focused on weddings. We have been planning weddings since my own wedding back in 1998. So we have a little bit of experience when it comes to planning weddings and we would love to be your choice and work with you on the whole wedding experience. Question 10. So hopefully you've enjoyed all of these questions and answers. And the last question you're wondering is how do I get started? So this is pretty easy. Go to our website romancegroup.com and at the very top click the button that says schedule consultation. Once you do that, you'll answer a few short questions and then you'll have access to the calendar where you can pick the day and the time to speak with one of our experts. Before you know it, you will have a resort chosen, a date booked, and you'll be ready to invite your guests to attend your wedding. I truly hope this video has answered all of your questions. But remember, you will have time to ask us whatever you need to ask us. We're here to make sure that you are confident and excited about moving forward when it comes to planning your wedding.