As destination wedding specialists, Romantic Planet Vacations gets approached by about five to ten destination weddings brides and grooms a year who want to put the ban on having kids attend their destination weddings, which means, if you want to bring your kids, you're simply not invited.
There is certainly an appeal of having your destination wedding at a luxurious adult-only 5-star resort on the tropical beaches of paradise, minus the screams and cries of little minions running around. These resort properties, such as El Dorado Resorts, Secrets Resorts, Excellence Resorts, Couples Resorts and Sandals Resorts cater to such a market. The restaurants have mature and gourmet menus and no high-chairs, the pools are peaceful and calm with no prospects of unexpected pool splashes in your margarita, and the beaches are relaxing and clean from the clutter of little beach toys. The rooms are romantic, emphasizing king-sized beds, open shower plans, and unobstructed view balconies. There are no kids clubs and no kids pools. Everything is for the enjoyment of adults....only.
There was a situation recently that the bride and groom were getting married a second time around. It was going to be a small wedding and they preferred to get married at a Sandals adult-only resort in St. Lucia. In this particular case, the bride had a 17 year old daughter and the rest of the ten passengers were adults. The team at Romantic Planet Vacations contacted the General Manager at the Sandals property, the sales rep for Sandals, their boss and their boss's boss, and all said there was NO exception on their adult-only rule. The group ended up having to book at a 4 star family-friendly resort in St. Lucia instead and although the wedding was incredible, the bride returned feeling a little unfulfilled. And this is the case with most, if not all, adult-only resorts. If they make one exception, they have to make more and then they will lose the whole concept of the adult-only theme in the first place, so in most cases, they do not, even if it means turning away a whole wedding group.
What about the option of having those guests with kids stay off-property at another resort? In this case, the adults can come to your resort for the wedding itself, at approximately US$100 per person day-pass rate, but the children must stay away. Knowing today's moms, they don't like the idea of leaving their children alone, even at a supervised kids club, let alone in a foreign country at a foreign resort while their celebrating elsewhere. In most cases, it just doesn't happen.
However, when you work with a destination wedding travel specialist like Romantic Planet Vacations, they take great pride in being able to utilize their expertise, knowledge, training and experience from over the last nine years of serving destination weddings, to find the right solution to meet your needs and that of your wedding guests.
Take the case of Natasha and Will, married in Jamaica in February 2013. The bride had been dreaming of an adult-only resort for their destination wedding years before even getting engaged. Under all circumstances, it absolutely had to be a luxury adult only resort for their destination wedding. It was their first and only wedding so it was going to be done right. All plans were in place, engagement ring on the finger, and all guests onboard and excited. Then, her only brother had a child. Although thrilled to have a brand new nephew, she was in turmoil on what to do with her wedding plans as her brother's presence was a must. As a solution, Romantic Planet Vacations found the perfect resort to cater to their needs. The Iberostar Rosehall complex, near Montego Bay, consists of a 5-star adult-only section (The Grand), a 4.5
But what if you want zero, none, zilch, no kids, at all, anywhere near your wedding or resort? What if you want adult fun with your friends and family without having them run off to spend time with their kids? You can certainly find a diplomatic way of advising "adults only" on your wedding invitation, but know that you do risk that these parent-guests will not attend at all. Without getting upset that they can't go, the best advice is to just walk around the bear and her cubs, to avoid an all-out fight. Let the parent-guests know that you do love their cute little cubs but this is your dream from when you were a child and emphasize that you understand fully if they can't make it.
If you do have parent-guests that are able to make the trip as they have awesome babysitter grandparents at home, but they can't attend for the whole week, there is certainly the option to travel for a shorter duration. Your travel destination wedding specialists can find the airline and package that will cater to this need. At least in this case, they get a break too.
If you need a solution for the best resort to cater to your destination wedding needs, with or without kids, please feel free to contact Romantic Planet Vacations, specialists in destination weddings since 2004. They can be contacted at inquiries@romanticplanet.ca or www.romanticplanet.ca. They offer destination wedding packages to worldwide locales but cater to the all-inclusive places of Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Costa Rica, and Panama.
