When and how should we start planning this destination wedding? Special circumstances.?

i never liked destination weddings. if i was invited to your "wedding",knowing you were already married,i would not go.

What a waste of time and money. Do it once, for real!

If your only concern is airfare, I would not hire a travel agent. You cannot really get cheaper fares from one. Airlines no longer give an agent a commission, so you have to pay her, plus they don't have access to much better info than you have. Use your smarts on the internet. Keep an eye on fares - and keep in mind that discounting does not happen this far ou

Ideally you should use a good travel agent and look into getting all of your guests on a single chartered airline flight Continue the process by booking them into the same hotel and then take the next logical step and come up with some kind of a food and drink package. Work up a price based on "x " number of people and go from there

Typically you would send out save the date cards about 6 months before a regular wedding, however since yours will be a destination wedding, I would add a few more months, possibly even sending them out a year in advance. This way, people will have enough to book flights and get passports since its going to be out of the country. The save the dates will be a way to tell guests what day the wedding is so they can start planning for travel. You don't put a lot of info, I've seen some where its a little magnet with the couple's picture and says something like 'Save the date for John and Jane's wedding on July 1 2011 in Trinadad and Tobago' Then you would send out the invitations about 4 months in advance (typically you send them out 2 months in advance for a stateside wedding). Be sure to include info about hotels and resorts the guests can stay at in different price ranges. If you want, you could set up a wedding website at TheKnot.com and list more info, possibly places to visit and sites to see while your guests are there. In the invites were you've put the hotel info you could put the website address so they can go there and check it out. I would start looking into making your travel arrangements as soon as you can. Do research on which airlines fly to your destination and when their rates go up and down. I've read that the best day to book flights is Tuesdays because that is when the rates are lowest, but don't quote me. You should go ahead and book the villa if you haven't already and find out if they have a list of vendors (baker, photographer, florist etc) that they can suggest for you. Or if your fiance has family in Trinadad, perhaps they can help you research those things first hand. Most venues that hold a lot of weddings and events keep a list of people they use. If you have the money, look into hiring a wedding planner who lives there and can take of these things for you-- again ask the venue if they have someone they suggest. Lastly, good luck! You are taking on quite a task but I'm sure it will be beautiful!