You’ve always known that you were going to host the most amazing tropical destination wedding ever when it comes to your marriage, but now that you’re engaged, how do you go about pulling off the perfect party? No doubt you’ve researched the many resorts in the Caribbean, and yes, they all look like aqua-tinged paradise, but when you finally narrow down your prospects and decide to email them an inquiry, your frustration begins with a lack of response. You even call a few and they promise to send you information or call you back, but they never do. The few you actually hear back from tell you what an amazing wedding package they have for you, but when you tell them about your vision, the line goes quiet. Does this sound familiar? We spoke to Jack Benoff of Vacationeeze, a company that arranges destination wedding packages, travel and accommodations for his four steps to planning a fun, stress free South Asian Destination wedding, oftentimes with a plethora of free add-ons.
1. Work with a travel professional and/or wedding planner that specializes in South Asian Destination weddings. Planning a wedding is hard enough, but doing it in another country (sometimes with a language barrier) makes the process even more daunting. This is when you want to employ the services of a travel professional like Vacationeeze. Jack says, “We been helping our clients plan their travels for over 35 years. For the past 18 years, we have been focused on destination weddings. What makes us unique is that our teams constantly travel to the destinations most clients are interested in. Hence, we intimately know the vendors there such as event planners, décor vendors, DJ’s, photographers and chefs for Indian food. We have contacts for henna, a Hindu priest and even dhol players.
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How Vacationeeze Can Help: They will schedule site inspections, negotiate with the resorts and manage all aspects of the wedding and travel including coordinating custom travel plans for all of the guests. They can also add special activities such as spa days, sunset cocktail cruises and unique experiences like a zip line baraat.
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2. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. You might find a resort or venue that looks amazing on Instagram and you’ve spoken with someone at the resort who has told you they have hosted weddings for 100 people, but never a large South Asian wedding. Jack advises to stop right there. He adds, “Every resort will tell you they can host your wedding with multiple events and various cuisines. The reality is that most resorts can host weddings for 50-100 people, but most won’t meet, let alone exceed your expectations when you have 150 to 250 guests. Resorts will tell you they have a ballroom that will hold 250 people, but they are not thinking about the fact that you need a very large dance floor, two buffet lines, three bars and a mandap. Now all of the sudden the ballroom only holds 150 guests set the way you want it. There are a limited number of resorts that can do an amazing job of hosting large multi-day events.”
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How Vacationeeze Can Help: Vacationeeze has been coordinating destination weddings in the Caribbean for over 18 years and are intimately familiar with the capacity and capabilities of many of the area’s resorts. They can help you choose the best resort that meets your requirements including suggesting ones that have South Asian wedding experience. Additionally, they can also help you negotiate free add-ons like complimentary receptions for you and your guests, free rooms and more.
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3. Schedule a site inspection. Jack says, “It’s very important to visit a few of the resorts you are interested in to experience details such as how far are they from the airport and to talk with the onsite wedding planners to understand their process. Look at all the various venues for your events and ask about what they are like at the time of day you are interested in hosting. Find out if the resorts charge extra for various venues.” He advises to taste the food that is being served and check out the brand in the bars. Learn about their ability to provide Indian and vegetarian food, meaning do they have an in-house chef or do they cater from an outside vendor. Take a look at the rooms. Are the bathrooms large enough for guests to get ready in, are the beds comfortable? Try to spend a day or a night or two at the resort so you can get a better feel of the resort.
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How Vacationeeze can help: Firstly, they can help you narrow down your destination and short-list the resorts before you even arrive at the location, but best of all, Vacationeeze will often offer their couple clients a free stay at the resort for a site inspection.
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4. Pick a destination convenient to all your guests. Look at your invite list and determine the cities from where your guests will be flying? With most South Asian weddings, guests tend to be flying from all over the states, some from Canada, a few from the UK and even others from India, etc. Based upon that information, you can then best determine a convenient location to host based upon flight patterns and visa situations. For 2018, the top three locations for South Asian weddings were:
- Cancun/Riviera Maya Mexico
- Jamaica
- Punta Cana
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How Vacationeeze can help: They will help coordinate travel for all of your guests including flights and airport transfers. This includes managing the groups arrival and departure schedules, making sure the resort has the rooms ready and accommodating any last-minute changes leaving the couple free to enjoy the wedding festivities.
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Have more questions? Unsure of what is the best destination or resort for your group? Would you like to know which resorts will provide you free cocktail parties, free receptions for 200 guests with an open bar and also free resort credits for your guests? Not interested in becoming a logistical engineer for 200 hundred of your guests and just want to be the VIP at your own event? Feel free to contact Jack Benoff at Vacationeeze. He and his family have been helping clients plan their travels for over 35 years and would look forward to helping you plan an amazing tropical destination wedding.
Email: jack@vacationeeze.com
Ph: 215-454-2080
Follow Vacationeeze on social media @Vacationeeze
Images: Courtesy of Vacationeeze
