April/May 2013 wedding abroad.. when should we book???

Hi,

The 2013 holidays come out this thursday, i have booed an appointment with Tompson as they said they get so busy its best to book to get the good deals, she said they have things like 20% off and free child places, we are going in thursday to book our hotel for next may Excited! xx xx

Oh good, I was worried that we would be penalised for booking early. Where are you thinking of going for yours ? x

I am going to Santorini for mine, i have the chapel and the reception venue so will be glad when i can book the holiday ? Yours sounds gorgeous tho in St Lucia!!... how many guests are going with you? xxxx

Hi Kayels, Santorini looks gorgeous ! I don't know if anyone will be going with us,we are going to book it and then tell people we are getting married in St.Lucia and if they's like to come along,they can. I doubt we'll get many takers because of the cost,to be honest,but we don't mind if it's just us. Either way,we'll have a great time and then we'll have a reception for everyone on our return :-) What about you,do you have family/friends coming with you ?

That will be nice ? Yeah we have guests with us, my mom and dad and brother and sister and there OH's are coming, and a few friends also, and my grandparents, and i think most of my OH brothers and sisters, i havent sent out my invites already so people have enough chance to save for it, i had put RSVP's in then so i could get an idea of how many guests we will be having so we know how much we need to save and budget for, all have replied on my side, but no one on OH's side have sent anything back yet, just say they are coming, kind of annoying,,!!!....

We are also doing a recepion when we get back aswell,!! cant wait to book it though! will all seem more real! xx xx

Yeah, I know what you mean...I sort of feel in limbo at the moment because absolutely nothing is arranged! Are your guests paying for their own travel and accommodation costs and are you all staying in the same hotel?

Yeahh, there paying for themselves, i could afford to pay for their accomadtion and flights, Santorini is quite prices really. I am hoping the majority of people will stay in the same hotel, but if not everyone is staying in the same resort, i have researched the area i want to stay in and got a list of hotels i like the look of for the travel agents to check out for me and i have also made a list of alternative cheaper accomodation for guests who may not be able to afford the same hotel as us, so there is a price option. I am excited to go tommorow and book up though ? It will feel more real i think when the hotel and that is booked!! xx xx

Oh,you are very organised ! It will be better for your guests if they all stay in the one place as there are probably good deals for a block booking-some places in the Caribbean offer a free wedding package and upgrade for the bride and groom if all the guests stay in the same hotel...not sure I'd want to see everyone every day though,lol :-) Hope you get booked up today ok. x

Yeahh that is the only thing, would be nice to have a few days to ourselves, we are going a few days early though which is nice,!! we are going to have a honeymoon over xmas 2013 aswell, hoping to do one week in jamaica and two weeks in mexico,!!! ? xx xx xx

Two honeymoone...that sounds wonderful,lucky you ! Did you get booked in the end? We are still trawling the net,lol x

Hi, Yeah we did. Went to Thompson's last thursday and booked up for two weeks at the Kamari Beach Hotel, looks a nice hotel and had good reviews!

im soo excited now i cant wait!!!!! im going on holiday in three weeks to Bulgaria so going to get stuck into the planning when i get back,, cant wait!!

I hope you find somewhere, your destination is gorgeous though so im sure you will find a fantastic hotel! xx xx

Cool, glad you're all sorted. We have been looking and still seem unable to get prices for St. Lucia for April and May next year! I'm sure that if we booked direct with the hotel we could do it and then book the flights later,but we have decided to wait as it seems the earlier you book, the more you pay- originally we were looking at Sandals and they are really expensive to book in advance. If we were going in 2 weeks time for example, it is thousands of pounds cheaper. I obviously don't want to wait right until the very last minute,but we are on an extremely tight budget and the thing is, it doesn't matter to us what date we have,where our wedding location is or even what flowers I have. We're just very easy going and ok to go with the flow as I don't want to be stressing about little details. Perhaps if I was in my 20s, I would be a lot more picky about it all but we're just looking forward to going away somewhere beautiful and having an amazing holiday. We were thinking of perhaps looking again in around October. What do you think? I hope we're not being too chilled out about it all,lol x

It depends who you're booking through, i mean if you're using somebody such as Thompson/First Choice, they have certain dates for the earliest you can book at. If you're using a private wedding planner, then they usually take your booking whenever you're ready to progess. We're getting married May 2014, and our wedding planner is willing to allow us to book it now. I'd be moritified if I missed the date, as that's the only thing we're certain about right now.

We are getting married in Greece in 6 weeks. We booked our venues in September 2011, but we had already decided on a date, had booked our flights and had sent the save the dates to give people plenty of time to prepare and gather money for flights. So basically between now and July is the best time I think! You need to pop over there at least once to sort everything out as well lol we went to Greece in September and then went again in February to book the rest, florist, dj,transport,photographer-videographer, favours etc

HI, WE BOOKED FOR THE SENSATORI MEXICO FOR MAY 2013 3 WEEKS AGO-AS SOON AS THE BROCHURES CAME OUT. WE HAVE PAID FOR OURSELVES AND THE WEDDING PACKAGE, WE HAVE ASKED OUR GUESTS TO PAY FOR THEMSELVES. WE ARE VERY LUCKY IN THAT OUR CLOSEST FAMILY AND FRIENDS HAVE BOOKED TOO.

Hiya, Im booking for Aug 2014 when it goes on sale in April! What wedding package did you go for? And is it legal ceremony? Did u manage to get a good deal on the whole package inc flights etc?

Jade