CORAL Tips for Destination Wedding Planning

Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun Ocean Front Wedding Ceremony

Once you start your destination wedding planning, you may find that there are so many moving parts! Hiring the right experts to guide you through the process will eliminate a large burden from your shoulders. With everything happening (sometimes so quickly) here are just a few of our favourite tips that can help you get off on the right foot!

1. Get a special credit card for your wedding expenses. 

In many cases, you might be eligible for promotions which warrant "cash back". Resorts and tour operators will usually refund the credit card that you used to pay for your room at the end of the planning process. If you need a check or direct deposit instead of the credit card refund, there is oftentimes a fee (4%) to cover the banking charges. You can also opt for a credit card that will award you with points, so you can keep track of any kickbacks etc! To learn more about our “cash back” promotions, please visit our blogs here and here or better yet, book a consultation to learn all about destination wedding promotions!

2. Make a special email address for your wedding planning. 

In most situations, creating an email address is completely free! As you move through the planning process, you will be communicating with vendors and guests so it is sometimes best to create a wedding email address to stay organized and keep your "regular life" emails separate from your "wedding planning" emails. 

3. Send out E-Save the Dates. 

There can be a lot of confusion about the difference between a "Save the Date" and a wedding invitation. In the world of destination weddings specifically, the more time that you can give your guests leading up to your event, the better. For this reason, we will usually recommend doing an E-Save the Date instead of sending out paper Save the Date cards in the mail. An E-Save the Date is quick and easy and directs your guests to your wedding website so they can get more information about the trip that they will need to plan for themselves. In many instances, couples will then send Formal Paper Wedding Invitations in the mail so that they can be creative and provide guests with a physical keepsake. Coral provides a complimentary E-Save the Date along with a template to guide you through this process. For more details on Save The Dates please visit our blog here!

4. Make a free wedding website. 

When it comes to destination wedding planning, your wedding website is the central hub for communicating with guests. Guests need direction! Even if you think things are redundant, many guests will be new to the world of destination weddings and some will even be new to the world of travel. The more direction you can offer them, the better! You can make a free wedding website on websites like The Knot or Zola. Coral offers each of our couples a personalized complimentary wedding website where guests can get information about the resort, the location, they can book their room and make payments conveniently online. They can even book various types of transportation directly using the wedding website! Many of our couples already have a wedding website on The Knot or Zola and in those instances we are able to link the two. 

And if you are looking for more guidance, please book a consultation where we go over the destination wedding planning process in further depth. Our goal is for you to leave our consultations feeling like you have ownership over the process moving forward!