One of my best friends from college is getting married in February 2005, and she's considering Jamaica. I will be in the wedding and would like to help her with the planning. Her bugdet is considerably limited, too, probably $2000 max for the couple. Any good suggestions where I could start?

First suggestion would be to move it to April.... Easter is early in 05 and rates (air and hotel) will drop precipitously after Easter.

Check out weddinglocation.com for ideas.

As someone who decided on a destination wedding last year, I congratulate your friend on making a virtually stress-free choice. Tom's suggestion about moving the date to off-season would save a lot of money, but it might not be convenient for the bride & groom to move it.

Is her budget for the wedding only, or does it include their airfare and accommodation, etc? If it is for wedding only, they're all set. If not, it'll take some strategic budgeting but it can probably be done. Each island differs of course, but the costs associated just with my wedding (not reception) were quite minimal. The license, fees & tip for the minister, as well as the "special license" that doesn't demand island residency, amounted to about $350. We stayed at a hotel that didn't charge for the wedding location, so we got married in a gazebo on the beach at sunset. The hotel gardeners decorated the gazebo and created my bouquet from flowers on the hotel grounds, for which they charged a nominal fee. Now, we also happened to have a reception for 40 guests that included buffet dinner, wedding cake, band, open bar, etc. but your friend could do a small cake, hors d'oeuvres, and a champagne toast for well under a budget of $2000.

Jamaica is also a good island for starters because it tends to be less expensive to fly to, plus it has a variety of good hotels and villas that are $150/night or less. My wedding was at a small hotel in Antigua that offered very personalized service and a really terrific rate--I'd be glad to recommend it to your friend if she is interested.

Hi, sounds like you are going to have a great time.

I would suggest checking with a local travel agent on hotels that might offer wedding packages, like the Raddison in Nassau. It is an AI and the wedding can be part of the package staying there. They have lovely grounds surrounding the hotel, and I have seen several weddings there over the years.

LOTS of hotels offer wedding deals, especially if you have the entire wedding party staying there.

I also agree that off season you would get much better prices, February is the height of the high season, so all the prices for everything including airfare will be much higher.

Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone for the replies, this will be a good start for my friend's planning.

The wedding date is actually been moved up to January instead of February, and I think they're pretty set on doing it in either one of those two months.

How far advance are they required to book for the hotels etc?

I just got married at the Round Hill Resort in Montego Bay, but myself and most of our guests stayed at the Coyaba Resort. Round Hill is pricey, but Coyaba is more affordable. Check out my review on tripadvisor.com. I would suggest that your friend checks out theknot.com and go to the destination message board. It was a great resource for me!
Good Luck!
CBM