Budgeting for Your Caribbean Destination Wedding

by Paris Permenter & John Bigley

Would you like to get married on your honeymoon? Destination weddings can not only be exciting, they can also be economical. Compared to the cost of a traditional wedding, you can find that the destination wedding can be a real budget lifesaver.

With a simplification of marriage laws in many destinations, you'll find wedding packages from just about every major resort around the globe. How much can you expect to spend on a destination wedding? Like a traditional wedding, the price runs the spectrum, starting with the marriage license. For example, in the Caribbean the cost of a marriage license ranges from $20 in the Dominican Republic to $284 in Anguilla. The actual cost of the ceremony may range from $35 to be married in the Registrar's office in the British Virgin Islands to thousands of dollars for a full wedding package complete with steel pan music, Caribbean wedding cake, champagne, photographs, and a sunset cruise. Most resorts offer both wedding packages and a la carte menus so you can pick and choose your add-ons, from $4 boutonnieres to $200 photo packages.

Some of the best wedding packages available are found at the all-inclusive resorts. SuperClubs, with locations in Jamaica and the Bahamas, always offers guests free weddings with ceremonies that include marriage license, minister, tropical flower bouquet and boutonniere, champagne, music, and a wedding cake as well as best man, maid of honor and witnesses if needed.

Here are some sample prices we found in perusing wedding packages throughout the Caribbean:

Complete packages: $700-$4000
Videos: $120-$300
Wedding cake: $35
12 wedding photos US$140
Additional flowers $20 and up
Bridesmaid's bouquet: $25
Flower girl basket: $16
Flower corsage: $10
Buttonhole: $5
Live music: $125-$200
Rehearsal meals $75 per person
Violin music: $150-$300
Classical guitarists: $200
Calypso performers: $200
Steelpan band: $100-$200
Horse and carriage rides $75-$400