Destination Wedding

I was hoping that a bride or bride to be on here might be able to lend a helping hand :) FI and I got engaged back in February of '04 , and haven't had an opportunity to start 'planning' (decided to purchase a house first). Long story short, I'm back on the board b/c we're finally starting to TALK about making plans. FI and I are looking into a 'destination' wedding and are at the VERY initial stages of planning. We are considering ALL areas; key west, antigua, bahamas, Puerto Rico, etc. The problem is, we're not too sure where to start. We did some research on the internet, but haven't found anything extremely helpful. Is there anyone on here that has had a 'Destination' type wedding? If so, I'd really appreciate any information you can supply. Please FM if necessary.

TIA :)

We thought we might do one, here is an old thread that might help you

Thread #1

My sister is having a destination wedding. It worked out wonderful for her because she and her now Fiancee knew that if and when they got married they both wanted to get married on an an island. They chose Aruba because they both love it there. They got engaged while on a trip there and so were able to check out a bunch of hotels to pick the reception area. Most of her planning is done through a planner at the hotel.

If you have a place that you know you would like, just call them up and ask your questions. My one piece of advice is to get recommendations from people who have been to the island. My sister's friend just picked a place that looked pretty online and it was a disaster!

You should definitley start at a travel agent. If nothing else, they can point you in the right direction and then you can either have them handle the travel plans or you can do it on your own.
A word of advice, if you're only wanting a few guests like parents and siblings, go for broke as far as islands and resorts. But if you're hoping that some of your friends will make the trip, try to find something reasonably priced. You can always spend a week at a nice, but slightly less expensive resort with your family and friends, and then spend a second HM week at a more luxurious place. That's exactly what our friends did two years ago. They were married at Breezes Runaway Bay and then they HMed at Grand Lido.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. It will hopefully lead me in the right direction :) There's just so much to look into, it's very overwhelming. I want to contact travel agents, but am weary about doing so - I've heard some horror stories. Does anyone have a good agent they can recommend?

Februarybride - Can you provide any more information about your sister's destination wedding? You were a big help.

Thanks so everyone - we really appreciate your input.

Chrissy :)