As a family-owned and operated travel company, we’re lucky to play a small part in other families’ celebrations. When it comes to destination weddings, we work with all types of brides with varying interests, design styles, and resort vibes they’re looking for as we work together to turn their dream into reality.
When we talk to prospective couples (like you!), they often have questions about “real wedding” examples. They want to hear about budgets, the planning process, pros and cons, and see photos of the events!
Meet Paige, an absolutely lovely bride who married her partner Jake in 2022 at the gorgeous Dreams Playa Mujeres resort in Mexico, one of the best resorts for a destination wedding.
Below is a summary of a recent conversation we had with Paige, or you can watch the full video on YouTube.
We chose our destination wedding at Dreams Playa Mujeres based on the reviews we read and their offering. It felt right and had everything that we needed for our guests.
We looked at the list of resorts provided and worked through a few places. We considered what Jack at Vacationeeze said about Dreams, and it sounded perfect for us. Jack introduced us to Marcella at the resort, who would be our wedding coordinator on-site.
We were a little stressed; most brides could not help but be stressed.
Jack told us Marcella from the resort would contact us three months before the wedding.
We didn’t hear from her immediately, so I became concerned. She contacted us about two months before the wedding, and I immediately stopped worrying.
Marcella was excellent and very responsive.
Most of our communication was through email – this worked for us. The planning process was smooth, and Marcella always responded to emails quickly.
As we got closer to the wedding date, we could tell that she was working hard for us – she was accommodating, and it felt like she took us under her wing.
We spoke on the phone two weeks before we arrived. There was nothing to stress about (which was hard!), but she reassured us completely.
I suggest other couples get there 2-3 days before the wedding day, which is exactly what we did.
Even though we arrived a few days before the wedding, others from our party arrived before us.
Having 2 or 3 days gives you time to settle in and explore the resort on your own time.
We met with Marcella for the detailed planning meeting the day before the wedding. The planning session let us go through everything in detail, and she could answer our final questions.
We felt great after this meeting and very excited.
I was worried about the rain; you never know, and we had discussed needing an alternate plan just in case.
However, we didn’t need to take that route because we knew the sun would come out for our day.
Marcela would have been great at working on a Plan B if we had needed it.
We went for the Beyond Memorable package, which was great and allowed us to customize it for our own needs.
We chose to host our rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, although we only spent a little time planning this.
We just had a few table centerpieces for our 50 guests. We had a few speeches on the night.
The food we selected for our buffet was delicious.
We selected a beach ceremony for the wedding day followed by a beach reception, which worked so well for us… We LOVED every minute of it.
Being outside on the beach all afternoon was a bit windy – so I would tell other brides to prepare for that.
We had cocktail hour on the beach after the ceremony, which was perfect for us.
I wouldn’t have changed anything – the whole day was just beautiful.
We were trying to figure out what to do about the dance floor. It felt like a big expense, and we spent a long time discussing it before deciding to proceed with it.
I would 100% recommend doing that if you are going to be on the sand. Dancing on a hardwood floor is much better than dancing on the sand…And we wanted as much dancing as possible!
We also chose to have a fairy light tent, which I have always thought beautiful; I would not have sacrificed that. On the beach for the reception, it looked so great.
We customized the food menus for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception, choosing a different style buffet for each event. One of these, we chose the Mexican buffet, which was super fun and delicious.
We loved every food item we selected – we felt the buffets were even more delicious than the resort food.
Our favorite restaurant was the Japanese hibachi restaurant Fusion – we loved it so much that we returned twice.
We also loved the ice cream shop – of course!
My favorite part of our wedding was having all of our special people there with us on vacation – the entire ethos of a destination wedding.
When my husband and I repeatedly remember that week, we feel so grateful to be in Mexico with all our favorite people.
Everything about the wedding went so smoothly. There was nothing for me to stress about, even though it was hard as the bride not to stress.
Everything was taken care of by the resort and the wedding experts we chose to help us. We adored Marcella, and we had a blast.
The feedback from our guests was very positive. From the early planning phase, they found all the information very helpful. Some guests would ask us questions, and we would forward the ones we couldn’t answer to Vacationeeze to help out. They were so impressed with the coordination at all points.
Some of our guests have never been to Mexico, and some have not traveled recently – but everybody made it.
The only thing I would change is that I wish I had gone out more with my friends and family. They were out partying from the first day they arrived, but I was saving myself for the wedding day.
Looking back, I wish I had scheduled one night to spend more time with them. I found it hard to have some of my family leave the day after the wedding, and I felt like I had not spent enough time with them.
We all talked about having a new year anniversary trip to the same resort with our guests- I would re-live it any day. It was a dream come true.
We hope our interview with a bride has been helpful to read and inspired you to consider a destination wedding for your celebration.
We find that one of the most important things about a destination wedding is for the couple to be able to hang out with their favorite people in the beautiful locations available- when we see our brides and grooms hanging at the pool bar or on the beach the next day surrounded by their friends, we know we’ve done our job in making their dream destination wedding a reality.
For the full video interview with Paige, click here.
Based on our years of experience planning hundreds of weddings, the Beyond Memorable package that Paige and Jake chose is one of the best destination wedding packages.
Our experienced wedding planners at Destination Weddings by Vacationeeze are with you every step of the way.
With decades of experience planning hundreds of weddings, our team understands what couples are looking for and how to navigate working with the resorts.
Our dedicated team will work with all your friends and family so you can focus on planning your dream wedding.
Ready to start planning your big day?
Call us at 215-454-2070 or get in touch with us here.
Jared is a certified destination wedding travel advisor and has been recognized as a top agent by Palace Resorts, Karisma Resorts, Lomas Hospitality, and Hyatt Inclusive Collection.
He caught the travel bug early in his life as his parents (the founders of Vacationeeze!) instilled a passion for travel and adventure in him and his siblings.
Our team has 30+ years planning dream destination weddings. For a limited time we're offering up to $4,000 cash for your wedding.
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