Don't Have A Destination Wedding Nightmare!!
I've been in the destination wedding
business for almost a dozen years and fortunately, I've seen
very few wedding nightmares. But being in this industry has
given me allowed me to be privy to a number of stories of
brides who ended up having disasters on their hands.
Let me share a few of them with you so
that you don't end up having your own destination wedding
nightmare!
Booking Air and Hotels
Separately
 Some
couples have made the mistake of purchasing the air tickets
before checking on the availability of the hotel (or vice
versa) only to discover that their were no rooms available
and they had non-cancellation air tickets. The reverse is
just a bad. Having a great hotel rates at a hotel to which
you cannot reach, because there is no vacancy. So if you have your heart set on the honeymoon suite at that hotel in bournemouth, or that beach hut on Bora-Bora
— book well in advance to avoid disappointment! Better safe than sorry,
especially for such an important occasion.
It can also be a wise to book your hotel, airfare
and rental car (if you will be renting one) all in a tour
package to save money.
Booking Directly with the
Hotels
It might seem like a
great idea to book directly with a hotel. After all, you
might get a better price that way. But it is actually more
likely that you will end up paying more. While hotels will
often offer some form of discount to groups of 10 or more if
you book directly, it is important to realize that they are
in the business to make money. And when you book a group
rate by yourself, YOU will often become obligated to pay for
the accommodations of anyone who decides to cancel.
When you book directly with any hotel or
vacation condo, you also run the risk of finding yourself in
an inferior accommodations with little chance to change
venues if it is not acceptable to you. When you deal with a
travel agent, make absolutely certain that they KNOW the
properties that they are booking. Most mainland travel
agencies only look at the "stars" after a property's name to
decide if it is worth the money.
If you book directly with a hotel, be wary of hidden clauses in hotel contracts
that could leave you with an enormous financial liability on
your hands.
We've heard of reservations being dropped by some overseas hotels,
thus forcing couples
and their guests to stay at two star accommodations.
 This
is why we have been doing our own travel for years. Susan at
Hawaii Travel 4U knows almost all of the properties that we
use. She has personally been in many of them, and has also
had lots of feedback from our Maui wedding couples so that
she knows which properties are most likely to make our
guests happy. It is so much easier booking from someone who
will give you an unbiased view of what a property is like.
Booking Directly with the
Airline
Once again, it would seem like a good idea to book your
flight directly with an airline, thus avoiding any travel
agency fees. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with
doing this. And it is likely that you will pay less with a
travel agent than with an airline, especially if that agency
specializes in "travel tours" towards your weddings
destination site.
Most airlines simply won't tell you everything. They will
also not inform you about travel insurance (or won't sell it
to you if you ask). But a knowledgeable travel agent who
specializes in your destination wedding location will know
about how you can get such insurance (and hopefully) will
recommend that you buy it. Take my word for it. You want
this insurance to guard against unforeseen emergencies.
Booking directly with an airline also
eliminates a lot of your flexibility. Some airlines will not
issue refunds, or will not tell you that the tickets are
nonrefundable, unless you specifically ask. Travel agents
who serve your destination wedding location are much more
likely to give you this information when you book.
 Not
too long ago, two airlines who serviced Maui went bankrupt
within weeks of each other. Of our wedding couples, those
who had booked directly with the airline companies were
stranded, without a flight and without a refund.
Fortunately, our wedding couples who had booked their travel
through us were able to get their reservations moved to
another carrier — without paying twice.
Make sure that you get and keep your
travel agent gives you a clear cut itinerary. We've heard of
two many couples who missed flights with no emergency number
for support. That's why its nice to have a travel agent who
is working for you. You can't call Travelocity if you miss
your flight and are wondering what to do.
Letting Your Guests Fend For
Themselves
Many couples tell their wedding guests when and where they
are getting married and let their guests fend with
themselves with accommodations and airfare. This can result
in some disasters. Like having the groom have to pick people
up at the airport or couples being booked on the wrong side
of the island, or couples being late to the wedding.
If you can find a destination wedding
travel agent for your locale who can coordinate all of your
party's bookings, you'll find that this will dramatically
improve communication and make it easier for everyone to get
to your wedding on time. We also like to ask our couples if
they want to be in the same location (or a different
location) from some of their family and friends, as some
prefer the privacy of not having to entertain their guests
on their honeymoon.
Who Needs A Destination
Wedding Planner?
Finally, I know of this wedding disaster
story on a more personal level. The mother of a wedding
couple booked our services for her daughter. Although we
never actually talked to the bride, it was a fairly lavish
wedding with mini buses hired to bring the guests to the
wedding site.
Unfortunately for this bride, Mom was a
control freak. And she was also on a mission to obtain a
lavish wedding production at a budget price. She nit-picked
everything that our coordinator had to offer her, constantly
asking for the lowest possible price.
She also asked our coordinator for all of
the contact names and addresses of each of our wedding
vendors. You don't have to be in this business long to
realize what she was doing. She was mining us for our
contacts, but didn't want to pay us for our services. Sure
enough, right before the wedding and the final payment was
due, she canceled our service, forfeiting her deposit. She
told us, "What can be so hard about coordinating on the day
of the wedding?"
All of our vendors were aware of the
situation and most chose to continue working with the
mother. We received word back from our photographer how the
wedding turned out. Mom had control of everything, but she
lost her cell phone so no one could contact her.
Unfortunately, the bride left her wedding dress in the bus
that had transported her to the site, which we had hired.
But because our coordinator was not there with the phone of
the driver (which we always have), no was able to reach the
bus driver. Mom was acting as the coordinator and she was
lost in traffic. Apparently it took quite some time for them
to finally reach the driver to have him return.
The wedding was way off schedule and no
one knew what to do. An onsite coordinator would have made
certain everyone was in place, but Mom didn't do that.
Finally, the photographer took charge and told all the many
guests where to go and what to do.
I could go on . . . but you get the idea.
Remember that is usually true that you get what you pay for.
Link
to Destination
Wedding Planning
WeddingsDestination.Net
Maui, Hawaii
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