Me and h2b have decided we want to get married abroad, we’re looking at 2014 as next year is just a bit too soon (more for financial reasons really).
I’ve been and got a few brochures from travel agents but have seen a few people mention doing it all themselves and wondered if anyone knew the pros and cons of each? Is it loads cheaper if you do all the planning yourself or is there not much difference? To be honest if I was doing it myself I’d be worried about forgetting something really important!
Also, is 3k a realistic figure? We don’t have a very big budget and that’s about our limit :-( (although I do have a feeling that our parents will offer to help out a bit – but I’m not going to assume they definitely will, just in case).
Lastly – this is a really daft question and is really silly because it’s ages away yet! – but if you have your wedding abroad then what do you do about your hair and makeup, do you have to do it yourself or is there still somewhere you can have it done? (god I feel an idiot for asking that lol).
Thanks xx
CommentAuthorHa_x3
Hi hun, I got married abroad last month. we booked our holiday through the travel agents but we booked the wedding seperatly, using a wedding planner in cyprus (it works out MUCH cheaper.
I definatly spent much less than 3k but it depends what your after/want.
Our holiday for 2weeks came to 1300, our wedding ceremony came to 282 euros, our photographer was £500, we went for beautiful but cheap, we also had a tight budget. we went abroad just the two of us but our mums turnt up to surprise us. would of been alot more exepensive if we had guests because then you need cakes, food for everyone etc etc are you planning on going alone or with family/friends?
for our reception we went to a lovely resturant not far from the hotel & then back to the hotel for kareoke.
my wedding planner booked my wedding & photographer, and i booked my hair/makeup direct with a company online (a few ladies on here reccomended her to me)
xx
Mrs Lunn
08/05/12 was the best day of my life
& I love my husband with all my heart xxxx
CommentAuthorrachymoo
I don’t want a huge amount of guests (as that would just be too expensive) but we would like our immediate family there so parents, siblings, possibly my grandparents). Anyone that does some though would be paying for their own flights, accommodation though – that is right isnt it?! I was having panic attacks at the thought of having to pay for everyone!
The prices in the brochures confuse me to be honest. The brochure says you book a holiday as normal then add a wedding package on top – ok that sounds fine. But I don’t really know what they mean by ‘package’ – does that normally include the reception too or is that just literally the ceremony and that’s it? We are looking at Rhodes as a possibility and in one brochure they had a wedding package for just over £600 which I thought was very good. But I don’t have a clue if those prices include the whole day or just the ceremony. God I’m dim aren’t I! Lol.
CommentAuthorHa_x3
Yes thats right hun, thats what most do, i certanly would make them pay for themselves lol they get a holiday out of it afterall:)
Im not sure about that one hun, i would ask the travel agents exactly what the package includes, before making a desicion.
I would look around online hun & see if you can find websites etc to see if you could book the wedding directly.
we would of booked through a travel agent but simply couldnt afford it seeing as we wanted a simple ceremony seeing as it was just the two of us.
Unrestrict your profile hun so i can add you :)
Mrs Lunn
08/05/12 was the best day of my life
& I love my husband with all my heart xxxx
CommentAuthorMrsEvans13
we have booked our wedding abroad through a travel agent to get married at the hotel, the actual holiday can cost however much you want really depending on where you are staying. Our wedding package is through Thomson and its £750 approx but that includes Ceremony on the beach (which was an upgrade) bouquets, buttonholes, dinner for 2 (or hotel restaurant all inclusive), wedding cake, Admin fees, Sparkling wine for toast, Decorations, free spa treatments & room upgrade :)
That is in Kos all together the whole thing has cost about £3600 and then on top legal bits & dress/suit, but as i said it all depends on the hotel you choose :)
Ha_x3 thanks for your replies hun god people must think I'm a right thicko, this wedding lark certainly seems complicated, hope I get my head around it soon! Will have a look at my profile in a mo see if I can work out how to unrestrict it :-)
evans2b thank you that helps a lot, ok so another daft question alert - it includes dinner for 2, could the other guests come and have dinner with you too? Obviously I know the package wouldn’t include that but if they paid for it? xx
CommentAuthorb2bnicola
Try and look for rhodes weddings on google - i know kos have a dedicated website to it where u can book ur package through them, and then you just need to book ur holiday on top :) prices were very reasonable too! x
Happily Married! :) xxx
CommentAuthorMrsEvans13
If they are staying at the same hotel as you & it is all inclusive then the hotel just section off a part of a restaurant for you so your wedding brerakfast is still part of your all inclusive, the meal for 2 is supposed to be the night before the wedding just to sit and relax together before the big day. If your guests aren't staying at the hotel they can eat with you but it'll be a small charge i think (i think that they can buy a day pass to use all hotel facilities on the wedding day including eating in the restaurant, so its like buying all inclusive for the day.)
Sorry if i'm not explaining very well haha!!
xx
CommentAuthorTotallyLovedUp
im so glad more weddings abroad posts are comin up because we are looking into it ourselves. im totally clueless. so you book the holiday then book wedding on top??? ugh it seems so confusing :s dont suppose anyone knows about caribbean weddings?!?? x
CommentAuthorMrsEvans13
Not sure on caribbean (father in law got married there though) but yeah if you go through a travel agent you book a holiday and then at the same time add a wedding package on top so it all gets paid together, you choose your wedding package depending on your budget.
Depending on the island you have to be there a certain amount of time before you get married, i know greece is normally about 7 days.
xx
CommentAuthorTotallyLovedUp
i know the legal fees and time u have you be there etc, it was just the holiday bit that confused me lol. ive seen some where if you book the holiday, you get the wedding free, but for the british virgin islands, i couldnt find anything like that :s i thought i was going crazy lol
CommentAuthorMrsEvans13
haha i'm not sure about that we have had to pay for our wedding and there is only the 2 of us going. Some resorts may do it llike the caribbean as they are popular wedding destinations. Pop in and ask a travel agent :) xx
CommentAuthorTotallyLovedUp
yea i think i will have to lol my little brain is just turning to mush lol seriously though thanks xxx
CommentAuthorLittle Kettle
We did a bit of both. We went to the 'finders of Trail' initially and got what we thought was a good quote, then we went to the agents begining with V just to get a comparison. Then I came home and searched the internet for another comparison. Because i could evidence the better deals we would get online, both companies price-matched for us (I think there was something like 37p between both agents in the end). In the end we went with the V company, but didn't have the wedding package as the venue they offered didn't have the options we needed (mainly live internet broadcast and I think that the package they offered was overpiced tbh). So we booked flights, 5 nights in the MGM Grand in a Queen Suite and then a further 2 nights at the Four Seasons (we decided a bit of luxury was needed after 5 days on a harley davidson) for just over £2K. The wedding package was £232 which included internet broadcasting for 30 days afterwards too, photo's, flowers (we didn't use these as my mum made a crystal bouquet) and a non-religious ceremony. We booked the TOp of the World restaurant for their set lunch which was $50 a head, so $500 for the 10 of us, and also a sunset limo tour around Vegas for $300. I spent A LOT of time researching it all though, but it was well worth it to get the best deals. I also found a great hair/make up lady who was very reasonable - $150 for BM hair and make up, my trial the day before the wedding and also my hair and make up on the day. Feel free to ask my anything you want - happy to help! x
Vegas baby!
Moderator
CommentAuthorTotallyLovedUp
wow that is amaizing!!!! i was loking at weddings here and the cost of them is outrageous, especially considering if you go abroad it will be around the same for a budget wedding if not cheaper!! so for £3500 to £4000 i ould gladly pay that and have a wedding/honeymoon combo!! i am just findin it really daunting at the moment but i know if i can find what i want t a decent price it will totally be wort it x
CommentAuthorMrsEvans13
What swayed it for me was that a wedding here for what we wanted was double what we are paying abroad & then you need to book a honeymoon on top of that! Whereas abroad everything is included so much cheaper & it is more than likely guaranteed weather! xx
CommentAuthorrachymoo
Hmm all these replies have given me a lot to think about, thank you!
I'm still undecided. My sister works for Thomas Cook so she's pushing me to book with them and saying how great they are but then I've not heard great things from anyone else - others who have booked through a travel agent have all said dont bother, do it yourself!
I've had a Rhodes-based wedding planner recommended to me, their website looks brilliant and had a look on their Facebook page and there's so much good feedback on there so that's another one I'm considering. Just slightly worried as not sure if I'd be covered if anything went wrong, like I would be if I went with a travel agent. Anyone know? Thanks x
CommentAuthorHa_x3
Would you get a discount if your sister booked for you hun? That's worth thinking about!
As long as you get travel insurance & wedding insurance you should be covered I would assume!!
I booked my wedding seperatly to my holiday but didn't bother with wedding insurance, I took a risk but it payed off
Mrs Lunn
08/05/12 was the best day of my life
& I love my husband with all my heart xxxx
CommentAuthorrachymoo
I don't think I would to be honest - or if I did, it would probably only be on the holiday and not the wedding.
I am really leaning towards booking with the Rhodes-based wedding planners now! Seen so many good reviews! I won't have the deposit for a month or two so got a bit of time to think but they honestly look great. I could then just book the holiday through Thomas Cook and see if my sister can get discount for me :-)
Eeek I forgot all about wedding insurance - what's the approx cost of that?! xx
CommentAuthorKayleighW36
I booked my holiday through F/C, the insurance was offered to us for £30 which was half price and I paid and extra £20 for the wedding top up. So £50 for 2 adults, 1 child and the wedding cover. My wedding is separate.
CommentAuthorHa_x3
I found it so much easier going through a planner, she evn showed me around paphos after my paperwork meeting at the town hall, which i thought was really nice of her.
Just make sure you check the reviews etc :)
I didnt bother with wedding insurance, luckily it paid off but i advise you get it hun just incase. i couldnt afford any extra costs lol xx
Mrs Lunn
08/05/12 was the best day of my life
& I love my husband with all my heart xxxx
CommentAuthorSamanthaP40
me and my H2b are also verrry confused with this wedding malarky! we just dont know weather to book with a travel agent or with someone online.. your not the only one who found the wedding packages confusing, but i am pretty sure they dont include the reception aswell, unless it says. we will be having 15-20 guests including us, so i am worrying about the cost of the meal on the wedding night, from what ive been looking at it will end up costing more than the holiday!
its very nerve racking organising a weddding!! :/
xx
CommentAuthorHa_x3
Samantha, It all depends on money i suppose. We were on an extremely tight budget so we booked the wedding directly through a wedding planner based in cyprus, & booked our holiday speratly.
x
Mrs Lunn
08/05/12 was the best day of my life
& I love my husband with all my heart xxxx
CommentAuthorTotallyLovedUp
sorry to talk money but how ch is it goin to cost Ha_x3? x h2b ants a famiy holiday next year so if it isnt to much i might get them to tack it on with that pmsl. i have waied 11years i think it is about time i startd to get crafty pmsl
CommentAuthorKayleighW36
TotallyLovedUp I'm getting married in Greece. The Hotel is £1800 for 2adults and 1 child, 5* All Inclusive for 2 weeks. Wedding planner is £800 which includes all the legal stuff, translations of our documents into Greek, hair for myself, bridesmaid and flowergirl, make up for myself, and flowers for myself, other half, bridesmaid and flowergirl. The restaurant is costing 911Euros for 25 meals, cake, and a photographer with 100 photos (200Euros of this is a reservation fee). So, it is approximately costing £2600 for hotel and wedding planner and 911Euros for ceremony location and reception meal. Hope this helps.
CommentAuthorTotallyLovedUp
:D Thankyou. It looks like you have a bargain there!! so much cheaper than getting married here!
