Things We Do As a Destination Wedding Travel Advisor That Might Surprise You

Destination weddings are an incredible way to celebrate your love with friends and family. But they can also be logistical nightmares. After all, when was the last time you tried to get dozens of people to an international destination at the same time? As a destination wedding travel advisor, it’s our job to make your wedding weekend go as smoothly as possible. We do so much more than help you find the best all-inclusive resort. We’re your guiding hand through the whole wedding process. From managing contracts to helping grandma get a passport for the first time, we’re a one-stop shop for all your destination wedding logistical needs. 

1. Find the Perfect Destination & Resort

When we start working with a destination wedding couple, the first thing we do is help them find the perfect destination and resort for their day. This is arguably the most important part of planning a destination wedding, so we take our time combing through all the options. We make sure to match our couple with a location that fits their vibe and then start digging into the resorts. Thanks to our years of experience, we know which resorts offer truly incredible wedding packages and which just offer weddings out of obligation. We help match couples with resorts based on everything from the ceremony spaces to their ability to handle food allergies. Every resort has its strengths and weaknesses. We sit down with the couple and find out their top priorities to make sure we find the perfect match. 

In addition to the standard wedding items that make a resort a good choice for a couple, we also ensure they consider travel logistics when picking their location. For example, we often have couples interested in an exotic location like St. Lucia, who then realize that guests will be unlikely to commit to the long and expensive flights to get there. (Flights are often 6+ hours and cost over $1000!). We make sure even the less glamorous parts, like the logistics, of a wedding weekend are kept in mind when choosing a resort. 

2. Negotiate Contracts and Insurance

Once our couples have chosen the resort for their destination wedding, we help them navigate the contracts and insurance. Wedding contracts can be long and confusing, so we really take the time to help them understand what they are signing. No one likes to think of worst-case scenarios like hurricanes (or a pandemic), but it’s important for our couples to know the resort policies if any of those things were to happen. We also help them secure the best possible perks in these contracts, like free room nights and even free receptions. Since we have long-standing relationships with these resorts, we can get deals that couples wouldn’t get on their own. 

It’s essential that our clients get travel insurance for their big day. After the contracts are signed, we help them to understand the different coverage options and providers. We match them with the right plan that fits their budget and allows them peace of mind in case anything were to go wrong. 

3. Build Your Wedding Website

Something our couples are often surprised we handle is their wedding website. Instead of creating a cookie-cutter wedding website on Zola or The Knot, our couples get a custom wedding website that we’ve designed especially for destination weddings. Each website includes an extensive FAQ, information about the resort, and the ability for guests to create their reservations. That’s right – no distributing room block codes! And, of course, we have our contact information right on the page, so if they have any trouble, they can come to us, not you. 

4. Communicate With Guests

Of course, the guest questions don’t stop when they’ve made their reservations. We continue to be a point of contact for your guests throughout the entire wedding planning process. We know you don’t want to talk to Aunt Sally about her bad back and whether the pillows are down feather. Whether it’s questions about their passport, the resort, or even legal questions, we’re here to provide information for your guests. 

We also help your friends and family problem solve. Does someone have joint custody and need to know if they can take their child out of the country? What about a family member with safety or financial concerns? We deal directly with your guests on all of these matters, so you don’t have to be involved. 

Fun Fact: On average, guests have 4-5 questions during booking and travel. If you are inviting 100 people, that’s almost 500 questions. 

In addition to fielding questions, we also reach out to guests on your behalf when necessary. We can even play good cop/ bad cop to enforce deadlines and track down payments. These conversations between family members and friends can be uncomfortable and really bring down the mood around a wedding, so we prefer if our couples don’t have to be involved. 

We also reach out to guests in the case of any errors. Most guests will book their own flights using points or miles, and at almost every wedding, we find someone who has booked the wrong date. We make sure to catch these errors as soon as possible and help the guest make changes. 

5. Act as the Middle Man 

Another task we take on as destination wedding planners is acting as a middleman between you and your vendors. Especially when it comes to the resort, sometimes responses are delayed. Since we have such long-standing relationships with them, we can step in and escalate the issue and get a quicker response. We have also communicated on behalf of our clients with transportation from the airport. While ideally, all of this communication is happening before the wedding, we have also stepped in during the actual wedding weekend to put out fires when necessary. 

Destination Wedding Planning with Alpaca Your Bags Travel 

As a boutique travel agency, Alpaca Your Bags Travel only takes on a select number of destination weddings each year. We do this to ensure our couples are getting our full attention and we can prioritize every one of our weddings. There is so much work that goes into being a destination wedding planner, and we wouldn’t have it any other way! If you’re planning a destination wedding, we’d love to help. Head over to our contact page to set up a consultation so we can bring your dream wedding to life.