Choose and compare a planner · 01
How to choose a destination wedding planner
Choose the planner whose operating evidence fits your wedding, not simply the one with the prettiest portfolio or fastest reply.
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Guides for US, UK, Canada and Europe couples
Independent guides for couples planning from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Europe—compare destination wedding planners before we handpick matches for your wedding.
37 standalone guides
Explore by intent
Move from a wedding brief to a focused shortlist, comparable proposals and a confident appointment.
Choose and compare a planner · 01
Choose the planner whose operating evidence fits your wedding, not simply the one with the prettiest portfolio or fastest reply.
Read this guideChoose and compare a planner · 02
Use these questions to learn how a planner actually works, where they are strongest and what still needs verification before you commit.
Read this guideChoose and compare a planner · 03
Planner cost only makes sense when you understand the scope, venue responsibilities and support level behind the quote.
Read this guideChoose and compare a planner · 04
Resort packages often include an onsite coordinator—but their job may not cover everything your wedding needs.
Read this guideChoose and compare a planner · 05
A private villa or estate can look simpler than a resort package. In practice it often needs clearer ownership of suppliers, access, power, catering and guest movement.
Read this guideChoose and compare a planner · 06
There is no single correct month to hire. Lead time depends on whether the venue is booked, how many guests are travelling, and how much production the planner must own.
Read this guideChoose and compare a planner · 07
‘Find a Caribbean wedding planner’ is usually a directory search. Directories get paid by the people being found. We get paid by you. This page is the difference, and the steps to start without a public catalogue of names. If a form promises twelve intros overnight, ask who bought the leads.
Read this guideChoose and compare a planner · 08
Planner proposals are easier to compare when every option is measured against the same wedding and the same responsibilities. Use this framework to find missing work, clarify fees and decide which questions matter before you appoint.
Read this guideExplore by intent
Work through destination, venue, budget, timing and guest decisions before they become commitments.
Plan the wedding · 01
Jamaica wedding budgets depend on region, venue model, guest count, supplier rules and how many events you host—not a single island average.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 02
Dominican Republic resort quotes often headline ceremony packages—complete destination wedding costs include travel, events and upgrades.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 03
There is no single best island. The right one is the one your guests can reach, where the ceremony type you need is possible, and where a hotel package or a villa actually matches how you want the day to feel. Choose that first, then we independently source a planner—before you commit abroad.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 04
A hotel package price is not the wedding. Complete destination-wedding cost is guest rooms, flights, events, paperwork and whoever you hire to run the gaps. That total ranges with guest count and hotel versus villa.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 05
December to April is the driest stretch for most of this map. Atlantic hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November. The ‘best’ month is the one whose weather risk you have actually contracted for.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 06
The wrong island, or the wrong planner, costs more than a pretty photograph. Start with four decisions, then a free wedding profile we can actually research against. You pay us. Planners do not.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 07
The first two weeks should produce a one-page brief, not a shared album. Couples who ‘just want to get started’ stall because they collect inspiration instead of decisions. Use this sequence, then start a free wedding profile we can research against—before you book.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 08
Destination-wedding markets sell complimentary ceremonies as if the wedding were free. The rooms are not free. What is included is a hotel ceremony package. This page decodes hotel packages in Jamaica and Punta Cana so you do not confuse a waived arch with a complete weekend.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 09
The couple’s favourite cliff is irrelevant if half the list cannot land before Friday dinner. Guest travel is the rude filter that magazines skip. Put airports on the brief before florals. A lawn without a published commute is a private party your cousins will skip.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 10
A two-person cliff and a twelve-person villa weekend are not a scaled-down Punta Cana room block. Intimate Caribbean weddings fail when couples buy an 80-night hotel package and hope the attrition line will be kind. Write the headcount as a number before you tour a resort.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 11
Hiring a planner is one decision. Running a calendar is another. This page is the month-by-month operating sequence: guest communications, holds, legal papers and guest flights. Read the hiring guide when you want the appointment trigger. Use this page when you want the dates on a wall.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 12
The money sentence belongs in the first family call, not in a footer on the invitation. Who pays rooms, who pays flights, and who pays the dinner are three different rows. This page is etiquette and cash-flow. Island cost snapshots live on the cost guides. Do not mix them.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 13
If you need a legally recognised same-sex instrument, that question is the first filter, not a polite paragraph at the end of a legal-versus-symbolic essay. Many islands on this map host symbolic celebrations and do not offer US-style civil marriage. Name the instrument in week one.
Read this guidePlan the wedding · 14
Use this checklist to see what has been decided, who owns the next action and what still needs confirming. It complements the month-by-month timeline: this page organises the work, while the timeline tells you when to do it.
Read this guideExplore by intent
Understand the questions to confirm for a legal marriage or symbolic celebration on each island.
Legal and ceremony guidance · 01
Foreign couples can marry in Jamaica after spending at least 24 hours on the island. The Minister’s Marriage Licence is the legal instrument—your sunset photograph is not.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 02
The Dominican Republic does not make you wait on the island to marry, but a civil ceremony is a paperwork project. A symbolic resort blessing is not the same thing.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 03
A blessing on the sand is a design event. A marriage is a legal event. Caribbean hotels sell both under the same English word. Your documents should not.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 04
Barbados is a UK-favourite island with west-coast lawns and a civil path that is often described as lighter than a Dominican apostille file. It is still a government process. Your sunset on the west coast is not a certificate.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 05
The Bahamas is sold as an easy US weekend wedding. Nassau access is easy. Out Island boats are not. The Registrar General’s process is a government clock, not a dock photograph.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 06
Saint Lucia is two airports, a volcanic spine and a civil clock often described as three business days. A Piton terrace is not a licence. Name the officer and the landing field before you pin Soufrière.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 07
Antigua is a sailing island with a UK-heavy guest habit and a civil path that is often longer than a Barbados weekend rumour. English Harbour is not a licence. Name the notice or special-licence route before you pin Nelson’s Dockyard.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 08
Turks and Caicos is a luxury-villa island with a civil clock measured in business days and a production model that imports almost everything. Grace Bay sand is not a licence. Name the registrar and the container lead time before you pin a terrace.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 09
Grand Cayman is a compact upscale island with a recognition landscape that is not Jamaica’s marriage licence and not US marriage-equality law. Seven Mile sand is not a certificate. Name the civil product before you pin a waterfront lawn.
Read this guideLegal and ceremony guidance · 10
Grenada is a quiet spice island with a civil path that still belongs to a government desk. A Grand Anse sunset is not a certificate. Name the officer and Maurice Bishop’s timetable before you pin an estate garden.
Read this guideExplore by intent
Guidance for couples coordinating a Caribbean wedding from the UK, US, Canada or Europe.
Plan from home · 01
UK couples planning in the Caribbean need clear communication rhythms, realistic guest travel planning and contract clarity—not only island aesthetics.
Read this guidePlan from home · 02
US couples planning in the Caribbean need East Coast and Florida routing, USD quote clarity and a planner who can work across time zones—not only a portfolio that looks familiar from Instagram.
Read this guidePlan from home · 03
Canadian couples often combine winter-sun guest travel with mixed CAD and USD payments. The planner brief should capture that before anyone quotes a ceremony package.
Read this guidePlan from home · 04
UK couples searching ‘getting married abroad’ are usually handed a Certificate of No Impediment. Many English-speaking Caribbean islands are Commonwealth destinations that do not use that certificate. Mixing the two checklists is how files miss the wedding week.
Read this guidePlan from home · 05
Dublin, Frankfurt, Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle are not Heathrow, Atlanta or Toronto. European lists bring different airlines, different home-side papers and a guest mix that the UK, US and Canada guides do not cover. Start here if those cities are on the RSVP, not as a footnote on a British page.
Read this guidePrivate planner search
Start with a free wedding profile. We turn your plans into a focused brief and show you the clearest route to a planner you can feel excited to work with.