HELP - Tour operator package or wedding planner?

Hi

I am fairly new to all this and dont know who to book my wedding package with.

I know where i want to go but dont know what to do next.

Can anybody recommend to use a tour operator or one of the many companies on the internet?

xx

I would definitely go with a wedding planner,as i have heard lots of bad stories re people booking through tour operators. I have a wedding planner, website is The bridal consultant.co.uk. I am getting married in greece in august, but they do lots of different destinations. Lisa is brilliant, you meet up at their office in this country and they have packages for all different budgets. its been totally stress free!!
hope this helps

claire x

I've used planet weddings. Mathilde is my WC. They are part of planet holidays who will be booking the holiday for me too when dates come out, but she is a wedding planner not a travel agent x

How would i get a proper quote (inc the ceremony and reception prices at the hotel)? Do i have to do that through the hotel myself or would that be done through the planner?

I got a quote for the wedding package throught thomsons earlier and its 400 more than wat is advertised and although what is included in it is good (all the usuals ie licence, decoratted reception etc there are things like massage, candlelit dinner, gift and 50% off the spa) i know that it would all be lovely but i cant help but think my money could be spent a little better!

I just dont understand how i would be given a package specific to my needs (i dont need phographer etc as my friend is a photographer) any details would be appreciated!!

Claire..where are they based over here?

Thanks Kazala i will have a look into them!

Where abouts are you looking?

Weve booked through thomsons to get married in sorrento, I can honestly say they have been fab and its a really personalised service (I was worried someone in a call center might end up organising it!) however the three girls in resort are brilliant and are so helpful especially when I'm emailing them constantly being a bridezilla!

The price in the brochure was £700ish I believe for the "package" which includes all the translations and documentation, brides bouquet, buttonhole, cake, prosecco, local fees for wedding etc. we don't want a cake as our reception venue is sorting us one so they're giving us extra bottles of prosecco instead. There's loads of "extras" too which we've booked like photographer (you chose which one you like), extra flowers (ridiculous amount of options), transport, musicians the list goes on.

We also got a massive discount for booking everyone's holiday through them too, discounted everyone's holiday, then knocked off over £500 off the wedding package so were only paying £200! Got deals for reserved seating for half price etc too.

Good luck x

Thats good isnt it! Do all of your guests have to book the same hotel though?

I am planning on going to Cyprus. I think i have decided to go with Thomsons as the planners were coming to roughly the same price and was selling their package to me as it had a few things more than thomsons ie extra bridesmaid bouquet, use of cake stamd and knife but in reality Thomsons are offering much more with having room upgrade, 2 rooms the night before the wedding, candle lit dinner an breakfast in bed!

Im soo glad to hear that everything has gone smoothly for you. Roll on April so i can book it!!

Good luck!!

We got engaged in Cyprus at the rock of aphrodite last summer. We met up with one of the wedding co-ordinations whilst we were there and she was lovely and gave us loads of info. They've got a Facebook group too, I'll fish out what it's called and pm you.

All of our wedding party is in the same hotel on the same bookings, we just kept asking for the best price they could do (16 people in total on our one booking). They discounted the holiday as low as they could then discounted the wedding package on top of that. Worked out at £200 for the package after the in store discounts. I'm sure depending on where you have your reception in cyprus they might have cake stand etc for you to use. I know our venue in Italy have a cake stand etc that we can use.

We're also getting another 7.5% off the total as I'm a teacher and my union has offers on for Thomson/first choice if I use their gift cards. Every penny counts!

I'm getting married in cyprus and am doing all the arrangements myself, its really easy to be honest. Unless I found a planner who would choose my dress, fit it and alter it as well as come round my house and find all my legal documents, I can't see what else they do. Admittedly though I'm not bothering with a photographer and the catering will be done at the villa we've rented for the wedding party so there isn't much a wedding planner would have to do for me.

Hiya

Definately a wedding planner as they are more specialist and personal and you do hear really bad reports on ( some ) tour operators
Where are you looking to get married ? xx

I would definitely choose a wedding planner. We're getting married in Zante and we booked ours with Frances at Tsilivi Travel. It's been so easy it feels strange as I keep thinking I should be doing something but she's done it all for me

Hi,
I think a professional Planner also. Before we were married in Rhodes we visited to have a look at the options and were struck by the difference between a TO wedding there and one using a local Planning company. The TO's were on the face of it offering a cheaper service, but the extra charges for flowers and photographers etc were way higher than the quotes we received from the local Planner. Also we visited our ceremony site to watch a few weddings and again the difference in the way they were carried out was very noticeable. The TO Planner (who coincidentally was also our rep from the hotel) when the bride arrived she pretty much stood in the shade and watched the whole service from the far end of the courtyard. The next wedding there was one of hers also and she just waved the first couple and their guests off and SHOUTED for the next party to come in! The wedding planner we finally choose was very different. She was so involved in making sure that her couple and their guests were all Ok and was on hand to pass out drinks and tissues etc throughout the ceremony. She also suggested loads of ways to make the ceremony more personal as it is so short. The difference really was so extraordinary. Also as Planners seem to have fewer weddings she left with the party taking them on to their reception.
One tip we learned from an ex-rep who worked on weddings in Rhodes was to haggle with the TO planners/reps over the price of your extras. Apparently they make a lot from the extras as they receive commissions from the suppliers they use and the prices are so high. We were told that one rep lived there permanently and had a mercedes jeep as her own car. My friend worked as a rep for years in Malta and when she heard this she almost fainted...lol.
I think we probably did the right thing booking a local planner. Our wedding day came in at a very reasonable price and the planner knew Rhodes like the back of her hand which helped us in so many ways. She was really attentive to us from day one when we met her on our little 'recce' that we felt like we had known her for years.
PS When we returned the following year to marry the same TO rep was working in our hotel still. We had told her the year before we were thinking of getting married there, when she found out that we booked with some one else she barely spoke to us for the rest of the fortnight

We booked our wedding with Thomson and unfortunately it was the worst decision we've ever made! They made massive mistakes and completely misled us. They provided us with outdated and incorrect information and, as a result, we are flying home the day after our wedding and some of our guests will be there for the ceremony but will need to leave for the airport before the reception. There are lots more issues, but the staff were rude and unhelpful and refused to accept that they were at fault (despite the company admitting fault on their behalf). It could just be that we were unlucky in our choice of branch, but Thomson have made us feel that they are interested only in the sale of a holiday and have little interest in ensuring wedding planning goes smoothly.

If you do go ahead and book with Thomson, take all the 'patter' with a pinch of salt and ask for copies of the wedding contract before you book your holiday (they are reluctant to do this)!

Good luck with your planning and I really hope you get the wedding of your dreams however you decide to book it!

I read the review above and just wanted to give my experience of booking our wedding with Thomson as it was completely the opposite of the above. Mrsf2b2012 I'm not trying to say anything against what you wrote but I only thought it fair to share my experience too.

We got married last year in Sorrento and our holiday and wedding package was with Thomson. The initial booking of the holiday/wedding however was actually with Thomas Cook travel agent (store) but holiday and wedding was via Thomson and we purchased most extras with them too in addition to arranging our reception venue.

In terms of the wedding coordinators based out in .sorrento they could not do enough for us during both the run up to the wedding, our arrival in Sorrento, the wedding day and the after service. We had some dealings with the Uk wedding team (although not a great deal) and on both occasions they provided a very good service and answered everything in a timely and nice manner.

I'm not sure where you're getting married but if anyone is considering Sorrento I would 100% recommend Thomson due to the excellent resort based wedding coordinators. Marissa was a star! People's experiences may different depending on resorts/countries.

Good luck everyone x

Thanks for all of your comments!

I couldnt decide therefore have booked to view my venue so that i can make a more informed choice based on how they co-ordinate it and obviously the cost. My only concern about using a planner was that i was handing money over to a company that id never met over the internet.

I am hoping that i will be able to find out everything i need.

Feel free to let me know of any good/bad reviews..particularly in eastern cyprus!!

Quoted:

I read the review above and just wanted to give my experience of booking our wedding with Thomson as it was completely the opposite of the above. Mrsf2b2012 I'm not trying to say anything against what you wrote but I only thought it fair to share my experience too.

We got married last year in Sorrento and our holiday and wedding package was with Thomson. The initial booking of the holiday/wedding however was actually with Thomas Cook travel agent (store) but holiday and wedding was via Thomson and we purchased most extras with them too in addition to arranging our reception venue.

In terms of the wedding coordinators based out in .sorrento they could not do enough for us during both the run up to the wedding, our arrival in Sorrento, the wedding day and the after service. We had some dealings with the Uk wedding team (although not a great deal) and on both occasions they provided a very good service and answered everything in a timely and nice manner.

I'm not sure where you're getting married but if anyone is considering Sorrento I would 100% recommend Thomson due to the excellent resort based wedding coordinators. Marissa was a star! People's experiences may different depending on resorts/countries.

Good luck everyone x

We're getting married in sorrento and I second what you've said about thomson. Marissa and the girls in resort are amazing sorting everything out.

We booked everything via Thomson (including the full holiday for every guest) the girl in store actually phoned the weddings department and secured our actual wedding day AND time whilst we were there booking the holiday part. We just had to wait for the written confirmation to posted out. They did say that if we wanted a different date they could apply for it and if we're given a date that wasn't suitable we could cancel the holiday part or they would reschedule it for everyone x

We used Thomas Cook & had the deluxe package. But I did take my own flowers out with me, so they gave us a table arrangement instead. I sourced my own venue for our reception. I used Stella at Zaffrons, who is also a wedding planner. Both of them I found to be very good. Our co-ordinator at TC was very thorough in everything he did. When we met up with him, he left no stone unturned & never left us until we were completely happy with what we had arranged. I can't speak highly enough of TC & Stella.