Why working with a travel agent is beneficial even when using an off-resort wedding venue by Barefoot Bride Sophia Wilder

Planning a wedding is stressful. People always say this.  However, I have a different opinion that has come to light recently. In my opinion, the process of wedding planning itself isn’t what keeps brides-to-be up at night. It’s all of the extra noise outside of the actual planning that can cause the most stress.

As a destination bride, it is important for me to ensure that we make the travel process as easy as possible for our wonderful guests who will be travelling overseas and states to come celebrate our special day. Our guests range from adventurous young couples seeking an inexpensive stay and a party experience to older family members looking for an all-inclusive relaxing retreat. And as someone who is certainly not an expert in the options of our chosen destination, Playa del Carmen, deciding to work with a travel agent has been a game changer.

We’ve been working with Sharon and she has truly been a blessing for us. The time of year we selected to have our wedding turned out to be the most popular travel season in the city. Many resorts and hotels were unwilling to provide a room block option for our guests and it was really disheartening to think that we might not be able to achieve our desired accommodations. However, Sharon was able to work directly with our resort of choice to secure a room block for our guests and she also helped provide recommendations for alternative hotels that our guests seeking a non all-inclusive option can stay at. Her process gifted us invaluable peace of mind and has allowed us to focus on the details of our wedding, without the added stress of securing a room block. As part of this, she also created a website for our guests to request a quote and a room through her. The website is easy to understand, simple, and we were able to include it on our wedding website for guests to start booking straight away.

Additionally, for our guests who are not avid travelers, their main concern has been the issue of safety. Although my fiance and I have always felt extremely safe in Playa del Carmen, those who don’t travel often have been a bit hesitant. With Sharon, she’s been able to not only help our guests book at a highly reputable, safe resort, but also provide transportation for our guests to and from the Cancun airport. This provided transportation has allowed our guests to feel safe and taken care of, and now everyone feels excited to come celebrate our special event with us!

Working with a travel agent, especially Sharon & the team at Barefoot Bridal has been such a wonderful experience. She’s worked hard to answer any and all questions we’ve had and has been a pleasure to work with throughout the entire experience. Our guests have had ease changing their reservation details when needed, and feel as if her team operates quickly and professionally. I’d highly recommend working with a travel agent to secure a hotel or resort room block even if you have booked an off-resort wedding venue.