Where to have cheap tropical wedding for two?

November 11, 2010 5:42 PM

Where can I find a unique yet not ridiculously expensive location for an island destination wedding (for just the two of us, not a big full wedding)?

We're looking to get married somewhere tropical sometime in January-March. It seems like there are a lot of options out there, so it is kind of insane trying to find somewhere "economical" that isn't going to be a bust when we get there.

We are just looking for a trip for 2, essentially making it our honeymoon trip to follow the wedding (I've read that depending on the location, we may have to be there 2-4 days prior to the ceremony for them to allow a marriage).

I hope that someone has done this recently and can make suggestions as far as where we should go, however if you could point me to a website (other than Expedia unless you shopped around and they truly had best packages) that has destination weddings, I'd appreciate that as well.

Comments on the weather at the suggested locations (ideas include Hawaii, Jamaica, St Lucia, Antigua so far) in those months would be great too!

"Economical" to me is (and you can call me cheap, but this is based on a few things I already found) $500-1500 a person.

posted by anonymous to travel & transportation (9 answers total)

Does your budget include the flight to the location? If so, where will you be flying from?
posted by halogen at 6:07 PM on November 11, 2010

Fiji? When I was there last year, I watched a couple get married - and cried, despite not knowing either of them - and I know a few other Aussies who went there to tie the knot.

It cost around $2000 (Australian) for my week there, including airfares. YMMV, of course, depending on your location and currency.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 6:11 PM on November 11, 2010

We did Hawaii in August (many years ago). One advantage of HI is that being in the US, the paperwork hassles are minimal. Pretty much all the resorts there have wedding consultants on staff that do all the work. We were lounging on the beach at 4 PM, married at 6 PM. Couldn't have been any lower stress.
posted by COD at 6:12 PM on November 11, 2010

We did the Sandals Montego Bay (Jamaica) weddingmoon package about 3 years ago It cost us under 4 grand for a week's stay including flights! We flew in from Seattle so it was a pretty long flight too! It was all inclusive (food/drinks/wedding ceremony/wedding cake/upgrade to waterfront suite/free movement among all the sandals resorts nearby etc etc. Really the only thing i paid extra for was my wedding dress! There's even a spa/salon on the premises so you dont have to worry about hair/makeup etc.
For that price i'd do it again in a heartbeat! Check out other Sandals locations though scattered throughout the Caribbean. It really depends on what you're looking for. We chose Montego bay because we wanted to be close to the action/mix with the locals instead of one of the more remote resorts that was more isolated.
posted by ramix at 6:36 PM on November 11, 2010

Don't rule out the Dominican Republic if you are in the Eastern part of the United States. It's a quick and cheap flight, and a great time!

Congratulations!
posted by fyrebelley at 7:33 PM on November 11, 2010

Bali is probably kind of far, but they do a fair number of weddings for foreigners. It's a beautiful place, and can be done on the cheap. The people are warm and friendly, the food is amazing, and the weather is pretty fantastic. It's pretty warm year round, and there's a lot of English spoken. In terms of honeymoon/wedding equivalency, my wife and I looked at several places for honeymoons, and Bali was consistently cheaper than other places in the Pacific. A six night stay at a high end resort (tickets included) ran us $4000 total, which was $2000 less than something similar in Malaysia or Fiji, and unspeakably cheaper than the Maldives. Decent hotels can be had for $30-40 a night, close to beautiful beaches, or up in the mountains.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:18 PM on November 11, 2010

Sri Lanka is cheap and a lovely place to visit. Local regulation does not require you be in the country for long before you can get married - two days, I think.

On the assumption that you're in the US flights there will be a fair distance and not that cheap, though.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:13 AM on November 12, 2010

Seconding the Dominican Republic. Flights there are usually pretty cheap from the US, and the all-inclusive resorts are both luxurious and affordable. I got married at the Paradisus Punta Cana and loved it.
posted by tryniti at 8:51 AM on November 12, 2010

What about some sort of coastal/island wedding on the eastern seaboard of the USA? I don't have any knowledge or experience on this (hopefully someone else will chime in), but surely there is somewhere on the US eastern coast or somewhere in FL if you are trying to be economical?
posted by criticman at 7:14 AM on November 16, 2010