News & Tips

Are destination wedding planners travel agents? Is a travel agent a destination wedding planner? The answer to both these questions can be yes and can be no. A better question might be, does a destination wedding planner need to be a travel agent?

Destination wedding planners certainly don’t need to be travel agents, but is it better for the bride and groom if their planner is a travel agent? Absolutely, especially when the wedding is out of the country in a resort type setting. The value a travel professional brings to the continuity of the whole “package” for both you and your guests is tremendous both in time management and in pricing.

Destination wedding planners who also manage the actual travel of your guests are the “wedding wheel hub”, connecting, your guests, pricing, group contracts, airlines, ground transportation to and from resort and the resort itself.

For weddings in Mexico and the Caribbean destination wedding planners, usually work with an on site wedding coordinator to first of all arrange for the date and the time of the ceremony.

From here the travel plans of the couple and guests begin to take form. Here are some of the typical questions we ask, and why we ask them:

1. Do you have a budget for the wedding itself? Depending on the budget a good wedding planner is going to have a quick idea which resorts are going to work into the budget.

2. Are your guests all staying the same number of nights and flying out of the same city? Depending on what your guests are doing there is a possibility for a group contract for the air and for the hotel. A group contract doesn’t necessarily mean a better deal, but what it does mean is the group is moving and staying as a whole, each connected to the next, very important. This is where you travel professional will shine.

3. How many nights are you planning on staying, and which room category? In planning a destination wedding everything depends on something else. So here, depending on the number of nights you are staying and the room category, you may qualify for a free wedding.

4. How many guests are you expecting? Depending on the number of guests, you might also qualify for a free wedding.

Destination wedding planners work in the ever changing world of travel and weddings. They know where the bumps in the road typically are and how avoid or at least lessen the impact of last minute issues. Weather delays, last minute cancellations, lost baggage, in destination emergencies, mechanical delays are some of the typically problems.

We destination wedding planners also know the really fun and cool stuff like the extras to bring along to set the mood for yourselves and for your guests, tidbits about the resort, and how to get a bottle of champagne waiting for the two of you as your private transfer takes you to the resort, and they know enough to suggest a private transfer in the first place.

For brides it’s about the security of having a person to call who knows the whole package, the whole deal, who is qualified to step up to the plate if needed.

Learn More:

Destination Island Weddings >>

Choosing a Destination for your Wedding >>

Tags: destination wedding, travel agent, wedding planner, weddings