Where Do You Start For that Perfect Destination Wedding?

Your Engaged!!!  Congratulations

Your dream wedding is on a beach and I know you're so excited.  You start searching on the internet and find this amazing beach location that you want.

That's it! You'll find out where it is and that's where you get married.

Are you sure?

Understanding your destination is just as important as understanding the resorts. 

For example, let's say that dream wedding beach front gazebo of yours is in the Caribbean and you want a sunset ceremony at 6:30PM in February.

Is the sun setting at 6:30pm in February? 

Another Question to Ask:

Is the resort even on the right side of the ocean to have a sunset ceremony? And if it is, does that gazebo face the right way?

These are common mistakes when booking a destination wedding that we don’t think about when we start looking at all the amazing pictures. 

There are some very important points to consider, here are two:

#1 - Not all beaches are created equal and understanding the type of beach will help determine the perfect destination for your wedding. 

If your dream wedding is in front of an incredible sunset, make sure the destination and beach location will offer you that sunset.

#2 - Choosing the right time of year and time of day is very important when you want to capture a specific look for your wedding photos. 

Most of the resorts will know the prefect time for what you want but make sure you do your own research and build your wedding timeline before making a decision.  You will want to make sure all your events fit into the timeline.

What more help figuring out where to start?

Contact us today for your free consultation

Feature Wedding - Amanda & Shaun

How they met & Fell in LOVE

Our story, like so many other romantic tales, all began with a smile… - Amanda & Shaun

They met online and Shaun began his search locally however some reason Amanda appeared on his match list, despite being in a city three hours away.  The first thing that caught his eye was her smile. 

"It was radiant, as if she was so full of life that she actually glowed.  I knew there was something special about her before ever clicking on her profile."   

The Bride

She grew up in Millet, Alberta. A bit of a princess but, at the same time doesn't mind getting her hands dirty.

The Groom

He grew up in Creston BC. Basically a man child, but I love him in spite of it - says Amanda

The Proposal

He proposed at Heritage Ranch in the exact same spot where we were when we walked on our first date.

Most Memorable Moment

Shaun says watching Amanda walk down the aisle with her dads. That is when the emotion hit him.

The most memorable for Amanda was Shaun reading his vows. They were perfect and as he read them you could just feel the love and that he meant every word. 

We were surrounded by some of our closest friends and family. It was the most amazing week-long adventure. 

A little Extra

They decided to do a trash the dress photo shoot because they loved how amazing the underwater photos looked, almost like art. They felt like the underwater cenote photos were very different and a unique to Mexico experience that they wouldn't get anywhere else.

Shaun is a fish and LOVES anything water so he was very excited to do it, even with the added challenge of Amanda not knowing how to swim!

To see more of this amazing photo session, click on the link below:

http://delsolphotography.com/riviera-maya-cenote-beach-trash-dress-amanda-shaun/

Their Experience

Saying our ‘I Do’s’ on a beach was our dream, but we didn’t think it was possible due to family opinions. We actually started planning everything in Red Deer, we had the venue, photographer, caterer, and everything booked. It would have been beautiful, no doubt about it. That being said, when we would talk about it, and plan - it just wasn’t our perfect place if that makes any sense - there was always something missing I guess. 

We decided to give Shauna a call and meet for coffee and talk about it. Her personality was such that it felt like we were just chatting with a friend right away. There was no pressure, just information. She asked us what we would like in a perfect beach wedding and said she would send us a couple hotels that fit the bill with quotes to give us an idea of costs and we could look at them at our leisure without us even committing anything! 

We were sold the minute we saw the picture of the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort gazebo on the beach! It was breathtakingly beautiful and so perfect we didn’t even want to look at anything else she gave us! That was it, we cancelled everything here. Lost all of our deposits, but we knew immediately we were doing the right thing!

Shauna was great, answered every random question and text I had throughout planning. She handled all of our guests concerns & travel bookings (some more difficult than others lol). Once it was time to deal with the hotel directly (3 months prior to date), communication with them was not always easy, they were understaffed and not great at responding to emails – Shauna would step in and within hours I would have a response and answers to my questions. I met other brides getting married at the same hotel whom were having the same communication problems, however they did not have a coordinator to step in for them and that added a lot of unnecessary stress to them! 

Fast forward to wedding week, the hotel was beautiful and everything we expected.

There were some hiccups at check in that they did rectify. There were also a few things that came up that I was unable to fix easily there, however a quick text to Shauna back home – she stepped in and had it rectified right away for us. Wedding day itself was perfect and all we dreamed it would be! 

We are so happy that we chose to do our beach wedding, and even happier that we chose to hire Shauna to make it happen. Having her to be able to advocate for us made all of the difference in those difficult situations that came up, and you know there is always something right? This was where she was invaluable to us! We highly recommend a destination wedding if that’s what you want to do, but NEVER without hiring a travel/wedding planner. Shauna at Rock-it Travel made our perfect wedding possible!

Vendor Recognition

Trash the dress - Del Sol Photograph - Del Sol Photography 

Photographer - Santiago Gabay - www.santiagogabay.com

Dress was Alfred Angelo - Your Wedding Place - www.yourweddingplace.ca

Resort - Sandos Caracol Eco Resort - https://www.sandos.com/sandos-caracol/sandos-caracol-eco-resort