You are getting married. Congratulations!!! We couldn’t be happier for you both and we know of all the work, time, and money you will be putting into your wedding. We know that you want to spend every dollar wisely for your wedding and for your family and friends. It is a lot for some people to be able to afford to come with you, and making sure they are comfortable too, is a huge stressor for most couples. With all of that in mind, lets take a jump into what all you are paying for and possibly even being double charged for in an all-inclusive resort destination wedding.

What two things do we need to know to tell if we are being charged for items that we shouldn’t be shelling out for? To start we need to compare the wedding services offered and your hotel/resort stay services offered. We will also need to consider all the vendors and services that they offer, both on resort and off.

Let’s work backwards here. What are some standard basic services that are hired for almost every wedding?

Officiant

Flowers

Music

Food

Alcohol or Beverages

Bartender

Service staff

Lighting

Décor

Cake/Desserts

Photographer

Hair and Makeup Artist

Most or all these services will be needed for your wedding, and each one is as valuable to the day as the another.

In a private venue, you will have to pay for each of these services individually and you will be hiring locals that can charge less than the resort will charge you.

In a resort wedding, you will be paying for two different invoices. One will reflect your entire stay including any calls you made, food or beverages ordered to your room, damage you may cause. The other charge will reflect the wedding cost, food, drinks, ceremony, music, etc.

If we look at the following breakdown of a typical package inclusion from a randomly selected resort. This is similar, might be slightly different in layout but is basically the same breakdown you will see with all resorts offering packaged weddings.

First thing you will notice is that the offer is often balanced 50/50 with regards to wedding related items and the non-wedding related items. In the case below, you see that out of the 20 items listed that you would receive for $4349, 10 are not even related to your wedding. Why are you paying for them in a package if you don’t even want them? It would be nice if they would let you build your own package to include only the items you want. For instance, if you don’t want 2 free, likely low-quality shirts that say the name of the resort so when you wear them you are advertising for them, you shouldn’t have the cost of them lumped into your wedding cost. Besides, after all that expense you are still getting a pre-packaged, cookie-cutter wedding, the same as the one before yours and the one they will have right after, and maybe even on your wedding day.

Now that we know that 50% of the wedding package we are buying, will consist of none wedding related items, lets move to what those same items would cost you in the exact same city and country, but without the extras. $2970 is what those exact items would cost if you were not paying for them in the wedding package. That is great profit for the resorts.

The second thing we said we needed to look at was your wedding vacation stay at the resort. In this scenario we are staying with the same all-inclusive resort. What do you buy in the resort when you book to come and stay for 7 days?

I am going to be sticking with the same resort and destination for eased, but I created a trip, just through expedia.com so I could just get a price and I got it. From Edmonton to Puerto Plata and a stay at this all-inclusive resort, for 7 days, in May 2022. As shown below, the cost is roughly $2000 per person and it includes all your food, including a set number of a la carts, domestic alcohol, outlined water sports, pool and beach access, etc.

Since the cost from Edmonton Canada to Puerto Plate for 2 persons, for 7 days is roughly $2000 per person, shouldn’t my guests eat free at the wedding, as they have all paid for their “all-inclusive “stay, which means they should be eating and drinking for free at your wedding. Why are you double charged for the day of the wedding? And why are you paying for non-wedding related services in your wedding package?

Now, before you get all in a twist as I have about this, remember that you also must pay an outside vendor’s fee if your best friend, who happens to be a photographer, comes to do your wedding photos. These fees can be as high as $1000 per vendor. YIKES

Example based on destination specific criteria and prices do fluctuate between destinations.

With an outside Venue, you will have a rental fee, and you will have to find your own vendors and such, but the savings can be huge, and you will be only paying for what you want. Save the money and hire a local wedding planner and have your wedding your way and with only your friends and family around you, as it should be.