First, I think it’s important for me to note a destination wedding is not for everyone. I’m a laid back person and knew even if everything went wrong…my wedding day would still be perfect because I was getting to marry my best friend. I think if I was very picky about certain things, or like to control everything…a destination wedding could be hard to do.

How we decided on a destination wedding in Belize

Since I was a little girl, I wanted to get married on the beach. I’m not really sure where this dream stemmed from, but I love the ocean, sand and being barefoot, so a beach wedding always sounded amazing. Another important thing to me, is I’ve always wanted to be able to take our future children to the location where we said I do. I know we could take them to a venue or a church, but the open beach seemed more fun.

When I visited Belize in 2016…I knew I wanted to get married on the beach in San Pedro. As y’all know, it’s a gorgeous place and I love it. Steven visited Belize in late 2016 and luckily, he loved it too. It did take some convincing to get him to agree on a Belizean wedding, but he knew it was my dream and we both knew a destination wedding would be way less stress for me.

A lot of our friends had recently gotten married and I learned how much went into planning a wedding and how much stress it can be on the bride to plan the big day. By having a destination wedding, it decreased my stress drastically. We wouldn’t have to deal with all the little details (like food tastings, interviewing DJ’s, etc.) All we had to do was show up and that’s the way I wanted it.

First steps: Find a planner

The first step to planning a destination wedding is to find a planner. I can’t imagine planning a destination without someone who lives and knows the destination. To find planners, I used Wedding Wire. I read all the reviews, viewed their websites and stalked all of their social media profiles. Once I found about three I liked, I reached out for quotes. We knew we wanted to invite max 100 people, so that was my ballpark number when reaching out to planners.

After receiving multiple quotes and “interviewing” multiple planners via email, I decided to use Melody at Dulce Belize Weddings. Melody was amazing from the get-go. My mom and I plan a last minute trip down to Belize to meet with Melody and to search for a wedding location. Melody was so great. She met with us while we were in town and went and looked at different locations with us.

She went above and beyond to help me get my dream wedding location and the perfect reception venue. It was great to have someone who was able and talk to the owners and work out the details for me while I was home in the states.

Next steps: Everything else

After deciding on a venue for the wedding and the reception, we made our Save The Dates and mailed them out as soon as possible. We then made our registry, started working on our invitations, asked my friends to be my bridesmaids, take our engagement photos and other details like that.

We decided to get married on Oct. 20, 2018, because it worked for our families and it was a bye week for Oklahoma State and University of Texas. We wouldn’t be missing a football game and our parents wouldn’t have to miss a game. Priorities y’all.

When I got engaged, I joined a wedding planning group on Facebook and read the wedding subreddit. Surprisingly, this caused most of my stress. Many October brides were meeting with venues, caterers, DJ’s, florist and all other things. It was July and I felt like I wasn’t doing anything. It made me anxious that I wasn’t doing enough to “plan.” I had to remind myself that Belize operates on island time and this is how I wanted it! I wanted a stress-free planning experience and I was getting it!

In the meantime, I found my dress and my bridesmaid’s dresses. I knew my dress would get ruined in the sand and I could not swallow paying full price for it. I ended up buying my dress from a used wedding dress website. It was one of the best decisions I made. I saved so much money and the dress was already hemmed to my height. I didn’t have to have any alterations done, which still blows my mind.

Last minute planning

In July, I ordered gifts for our parents. I got these bracelets for our mom’s, this handkerchief for my dad and Piyama pajamas and Four Things totes for my bridesmaids. I also ordered these wooden wedding place name settings. Since I didn’t have to buy or pay for any extra decorations, I thought these would be a nice touch. I also bought this cake topper, which was perfect.

In August, I had a call with Melody to go over colors and the vibe of the wedding. She sent over a shared drive that had all the wedding details in it. I shared inspiration photos with her and then she got my quotes on things like flowers, cake, guitarist for the wedding and DJ for the reception.

In September, Steven and I wrote out our ceremony to share with the officiant, chose music for the ceremony and reception and decided on a menu with the restaurant we were having the rehearsal at. The Wednesday before the wedding, we did a walk through with Melody at the wedding location and the reception. We decided the way we wanted the tables set, where the dance floor would be and other little details.

My number one tip for a destination wedding is not to stress. There is so much out of your control, you just have to trust your planner and vendors. Below are the vendors I used and some photos from the wedding. Thinking about a destination wedding or have any questions? Feel free to leave a comment and I’m happy to share more!

Wedding location: Ak’bol Yoga Resort
Reception: Aji Tapas Restaurant
Planner: Dulce Belize Wedding
Photographers: Paul & Grace Photography (from Houston!)

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