Destination Wedding

[vam302]

My fiancee and I are charged with paying for our own wedding. We have tallied up the preliminary numbers and have come to the conclusion that weddings are outrageously expensive. We did some checking and we will save ~5k if we just have a destination wedding somewhere. We have chosen Cozumel bc flights to there from here (Houston) are really cheap, and certain family members can't fly more than ~2.5 hrs. We have been there a few times to go diving, but we have only stayed at one place - Casa del Mar. While the Casa is decent, we are looking for something a little more suitable for our wedding. So, I'd like to hear from some locals about what resort we should use. Anyone around get married on the island? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

BTW, not looking to get married u/w, just on the shore... thought I'd mention that before I get some Palancar reef wedding venues. Also, we are looking at early January 2011 as the time.

 

[billindenver]

We are getting married there in July. Are you intending to use a wedding planner and a private beach or stay somewhere like Iberostar or the Palace where they handle it all for you? There are up and down sides to both plans.

Here is a reference given to me by Dave Dillehay here on the board. He's the owner of Aldora Divers and one of the best people I've ever met....so I take his word seriously.

Dear Bill,

We highly recommend Fiona Lomax as a wedding planner. She is a very long time resident and has all the connections to make it go smoothly. She can be reached at Destination wedding coordinator of Cozumel weddings and Mexico beach wedding

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers​

We've met with Fiona in Coz and booked her to handle our wedding. She is the right kind of drama free, nothing is a problem type for us.

 

[vam302]

We were kinda leaning towards letting a resort handle everything, but are definately not set on that. We're making a trip down there at the end of May to meet with some ppl and see some other places. I think the thing she's worried about is finding someone to do her hair/makeup for the ceremony.

 

[billindenver]

We are going down in March, and while I'm making certain that the salt content in the water around the island is stable enough....she will be getting her hair/makeup done by Fiona's recommended people as a trial run. It's amazing how important that apparently is.

Then, while she and her mother are taste testing caterers etc...I think I'll do a survey of the sand content around Palancar Caves. They check out the cake person, I make sure the current at Barracuda is running in the proper direction....which is either north or south, it really doesn't matter to me.

Yeah, this wedding stuff....lots of work. I may need a new wetsuit if we require another planning trip after that one. The mother daughter pair are having a blast...and I'm supporting that effort by staying out of the way. It's difficult being the perfectly supportive man...but I manage.

 

[cicopo]

I don't know anything about the hotels or resorts north of town but have photo tours of most of the AI's to the south (not counting room photos). AI's make a lot of sense for something like this because you don't need to keep going out for food & drinks but that's up to you and those who will be there for the event Once you've narrowed down to what looks good maybe we can answer some questions to help further. Photo tours are here.

Picasa Web Albums - Larry

and yes weddings can get expensive. We just went through all of it starting with getting the "We're engaged" email last Valentines Day while staying at the Grand, through the wedding on Oct 3. A new car costs less.

Now one thing I can point out that you'll likely want to know is when shopping for the photographer, and there are some very good ones there, you need to buy the copyrights to the photos, and have it in writing assuming they will be digital files on a CD or DVD. Otherwise you'd need the photographer to supply the prints, which isn't very convenient due to distance etc. Negotiate on what's included, jpg's, RAW, some prints, post processing (can be simple corrections to major Photoshop stuff) etc.

 

[annlaur]

We are going down in March, and while I'm making certain that the salt content in the water around the island is stable enough....she will be getting her hair/makeup done by Fiona's recommended people as a trial run. It's amazing how important that apparently is.

Then, while she and her mother are taste testing caterers etc...I think I'll do a survey of the sand content around Palancar Caves. They check out the cake person, I make sure the current at Barracuda is running in the proper direction....which is either north or south, it really doesn't matter to me.

Yeah, this wedding stuff....lots of work. I may need a new wetsuit if we require another planning trip after that one. The mother daughter pair are having a blast...and I'm supporting that effort by staying out of the way. It's difficult being the perfectly supportive man...but I manage.

Don't know if you're being the perfectly supportive man (not that my POV matters anyway), but your efforts are impressive !

 

[BTravlin]

And it only gets better as the date gets closer!

 

[Christi]

I second the recommendation for Fiona and if she's booked up, you can also try Stephanie at Cozumel Wedding planner. Both have 10+ years experience with weddings on the island and have excellent hair, make-up, florists, etc. Both are extremely fun as well, but serious when it's time for them to get their jobs done!

There is only ONE judge that can do a legal wedding if that's important to you - so it's important to get the date locked in with the judge via a wedding planner or hotel as soon as you have a date and time you want. Fiona and Stephanie also book up early, give one or both of them a shout as soon as possible.

Congratulations!

 

[vam302]

A new car costs less.

That's no joke. We are going to put the money we've already saved up towards a down payment on our first house.

Now one thing I can point out that you'll likely want to know is when shopping for the photographer...

We got lucky on this one: my sister-in-law just happens to be a professional photographer. AKG Photography

We (She) will definitely want to talk to both wedding coordinators when we go there in May. We're planning on a 5 day trip, with 3 days of diving. That gives two full days to get things squared away. So far I've been pretty lucky in that she loves to plan out things, so my role is limited. Thanks for all the input so far.

 

[billindenver]

Don't know if you're being the perfectly supportive man (not that my POV matters anyway), but your efforts are impressive !

I don't understand. What do you mean I'm not being the perfectly supportive man? Did you miss the part about my checking the current? I guess, if it would make you feel like I was being more supportive, I could look into my rescue diver certification while they check out the caterers. Would that be more appropriate?

Still striving to be the perfect man.....and almost there.

Sometimes the trick is knowing exactly when she just wants you out of the way...and then accomplishing exactly that.