From Destination Bride to Travel Advisor: My Barefoot Bridal Story
Before I ever became a destination wedding travel advisor, I was a destination bride.
I knew I wanted a destination wedding before I was even engaged. There was something about getting married somewhere beautiful, surrounded by the people we loved most, that I couldn’t stop thinking about. I loved the idea of turning our wedding into an entire vacation we could experience together.
What I didn’t realize was just how much goes into getting 75 people to another country for your wedding.
I Had the Vision… But No Idea Where to Start
When I first started planning our destination wedding in the Dominican Republic, I was completely new to the process. I reached out to different travel agencies, received rates that seemed outrageous, and tried to understand room blocks, resorts, transportation, and how all of this was supposed to work for such a large group. I had so many questions.
Then I found Barefoot Bridal.
From the beginning, I finally felt like I had someone in my corner who actually understood destination weddings… not just travel. And there is a huge difference.
I needed more than someone who could book a hotel room. What I really needed was someone who understood what it meant to coordinate travel for an entire wedding group while also helping a bride navigate a process she had never experienced before.
Once we put our deposit down, the travel portion of our wedding became incredibly seamless.
The Part Brides Don’t Always Think About
When you’re planning your destination wedding, you’re thinking about your dress, the ceremony, the flowers, the photos, the party.
You’re probably not lying awake at night dreaming about spreadsheets and everyone’s flight information. But when you’re bringing 75 people to another country, their experience becomes a HUGE part of your wedding experience. Where are they staying? Did they book the right room? Do they know what they need to do? How are they getting from the airport to the resort? What happens when someone has a question?
The last thing you want is 75 people coming directly to you every time they need something. Barefoot took that weight off of me. My guests had their rooms, we kept the travel process organized, and we coordinated transportation for everyone. Once we arrived in the Dominican Republic, I could focus on the reason we were all there in the first place: I was getting married. Our guests weren’t just attending our wedding, they were on vacation with us.
We had a welcome dinner, a cocktail party on the beach, nights out together, a party boat, and then this absolutely insane wedding that people still talk about today. After the wedding, I remember writing that I wished I had a time machine so I could go back and relive the entire week. I still feel that way.
I Didn’t Just Have a Destination Wedding. I Had a Destination Wedding Experience.
That’s probably the biggest thing my own wedding taught me. A destination wedding isn’t just one day.
A Destination Wedding starts the moment your guests begin booking and continues through all the anticipation leading up to the trip. Then everyone starts arriving at the resort. Suddenly, you’re seeing your friends at breakfast and your family at the pool. Welcome cocktails somehow turn into two hours because nobody wants to leave. There are excursions, late nights, inside jokes, and, finally, the wedding day you’ve been dreaming about.
Our actual wedding was incredible. We were the very first couple to get married at Chateau Cap Cana, and we changed our venue just three days before the wedding, which is an entire story of its own. Somehow, everything came together beautifully.
But when I think about that week now, I don’t only remember the wedding. I remember the experience all 75 of us had together, and that experience changed the trajectory of my life in a way I never could have predicted.
From Barefoot Bride to Barefoot Bridal Travel Advisor
Years later, when the opportunity came for me to join Barefoot Bridal myself, it was a no-brainer. I wasn’t joining a company I had simply heard good things about. I had been the bride. That meant I knew what it felt like to be on the other side of the emails. I understood what it meant to trust someone with one of the biggest trips, and biggest moments, of my life. I also knew what it felt like to have dozens of guests who needed rooms, information, transportation, and answers.
Most importantly, I knew what it felt like to arrive at my destination and realize:
We actually did it. Everyone is here. Now I get to enjoy this.
That experience is a huge part of the way I work with my own Barefoot brides today as a Dedicated Wedding Specialist.
When a bride is overwhelmed, I get it. If she has 30 questions about her room block, I get that, too. Worried about whether her guests will book? I’ve been there. And if she’s looking for a resort that’s luxurious enough for some guests but still works for the rest of her group, I really get it… because that was literally part of my own resort decision. I’ve sat in her seat. Now I get to be the person on the other side, helping her create the kind of experience Barefoot helped create for me.
And Barefoot Bridal Today? It’s Not the Same Company I Used for My Wedding.
Here’s the crazy part.
I got married on June 30, 2018. While the heart of what Barefoot Bridal does hasn’t changed, the experience we’ve built around it has. Technology has changed. Communication has changed. Our systems have changed. Even the way we manage groups has evolved.
Over the years, Barefoot Bridal has taken everything we’ve learned from helping destination couples and completely revamped so much of the bride and guest experience. As someone who experienced Barefoot first as a bride and now gets to experience it from behind the scenes as a travel advisor, I have a pretty unique perspective on just how much has changed. And some of the things we can do for our couples today? 2018 bride Diana would have lost her mind. So that’s Part Two.
I’m going to show you what working with Barefoot Bridal looked like when I planned my own destination wedding versus what our brides get today, including all of the technology, systems, and upgrades we’ve added along the way.
Because if I thought Barefoot was amazing for me and my 75 guests back then…
You should see what we’re doing for our brides now.
