4.9 out of 5 stars and 32 reviews
4.9
(32)Best of Weddings (1x).Offices in Costa Rica, Colorado, and servicing Worldwide
About this vendor
As a premier destination wedding planner in Colorado, our company specializes in creating unforgettable experiences for couples around the world. With our extensive knowledge of the industry and exceptional attention to detail, we strive to make every wedding a unique reflection of the couple's vision and style.
Our team of experienced and passionate planners will work tirelessly to bring together every aspect of your dream wedding, from décor and entertainment to food and venue selection. We pride ourselves on our personalized approach and ability to turn even the most ambitious ideas into reality.
Whether you're seeking an intimate ceremony in the mountains of Colorado or a grand celebration on a tropical island, we have the expertise and resources to plan your perfect destination wedding. From start to finish, we'll be by your side to ensure a seamless and stress-free planning process.
In short, our destination wedding planning company is dedicated to creating magical moments and unforgettable memories that will last a lifetime. Let us help you create the wedding of your dreams, no matter where in the world your heart desires.
We specialize in event design and destination management with experience working in dozens of countries, including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Portugal, Italy, Fiji, the UK, and throughout the US. No corner of the earth is too far or too great a challenge for us to create in.
Founder Aimee Monihan and her team have made a lifelong commitment to celebrating people and cultures across the globe. The ability to respect and take pride in other people’s traditions while at the same time feeling comfortable with jumping in the mix is a bit of what we do best. Marrying those traditions with experiences rich in meaning, adventure, beauty, and fun is what makes a destination wedding with us uniquely memorable. We can’t think of anything more gratifying than celebrating love. We hope to celebrate that love with you.
Visit our work on our Instagram Pages:
@aimeemonihan
@mountainoccasions
@tropicaloccasions
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
- Destination Wedding Planning
Planning
- A la Carte Wedding Planning
- Budgeting
- Day-Of Coordination
- Destination Wedding Planning
- Full Service Wedding Planning
- Honeymoon Planning
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Engagement Party
- Honeymoon
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Bachelor Party
Awards and Affiliations
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.9
out of 5.032 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
- Top reviews
- Newest first
- Oldest first
- Highest rated
- Lowest rated
Sort by
We got married in Manuel Antonio this May and couldn’t be happier with our decision to choose Karen as our wedding planner.
As foreigners flying into Costa Rica for the first time, and planning a wedding in a country we’d never been to, it took off a lot of pressure and gave us a lot more reassurance having Karen’s guidance.
Karen is extremely organized & she has documents for everything
- Guides - documents for specific processes we needed to understand (ex: how to DIY your own bar and bring alcohol from Costco to CR),
- Vendor List - the list of vendors she trusts and are the best in the area (DJ’s, caterers, makeup and hair artists, etc.) with links to their website, social media, and a photo of them/their work
- Budget Sheet - a very detailed and easy to follow budget excel sheet that she updated as we chose vendors
- Master Wedding Doc - this was EXTREMELY helpful. She uses a “master wedding document” where she keeps all necessary details so you’re always on the same page. Full transparency and a great guide to refer back to once you’ve made choices.
Karen’s also very prompt in responding to emails. Especially when she’s waiting for you to choose vendors - she keeps the ball rolling. We learned a huge part of the wedding process, when you have someone guiding you on deadlines and ‘what goes next,’ is really just knowing what you want - doing your research and making a decision that fits in your budget.
She’s also very straightforward and honest and we really appreciate that.
For our rehearsal she made sure all 8 people in our wedding party understood what would be happening during the wedding - we had a few family members asking her pretty ‘silly’ questions tbh and she handled them like a champ. She made my husband and I the focus and we felt confident she wouldn’t let anyone get in the way.
On our wedding day she was there from 7am to 9pm and her assistant stayed with us until after midnight to make sure everything was sorted.
Also, we had some troubles with our hotel’s concierge a few months before our arrival (we were struggling to find a boat tour and arrange all 18 guests van transfers) and when we told Karen she jumped right in and got us sorted. She sent us a doc with all the best boat options and she arranged all of our van transfers to and from the airport - we did not expect for her to do that and so quickly too. She went above and beyond for us!
If you’re getting married in Costa Rica and want someone who has the professionalism, connections, and expertise, choose Karen as your planner!
We had the BEST experience with Tropical Occasions. We can’t say thank you to Karen and Anahi enough for making our wedding dreams come true. They made the best day of our lives possible! They were there for us every step of the way and were so responsive, thoughtful, and fantastic. Hiring Tropical Occasions as our wedding planner as step #1 was the best decision we could have made for our wedding and we would highly recommend them to anyone! Everything felt so authentic and true to us and the vendors they recommended were equally amazing and high quality. They were absolutely right about everything and made us think about the little details we would have never otherwise considered! They truly went above and beyond what we could have ever envisioned and are incredible at what they do! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!
Karen and her team were amazing to work with! She was incredibly organized and responsive throughout the planning process, and was always ready to answer questions and provide helpful information and guidance. She ensured that we stayed on budget and provided comprehensive and up-to-date documents outlining previous and upcoming payments. She also helped us identify sensible ways to save money, while still ensuring that our vision was met.
Our wedding was an absolute dream and it went off without a hitch, thanks to Karen and her team! No detail was overlooked and we are so grateful to Tropical Occasions for making our dream wedding a reality. I would absolutely recommend them!
We can’t say enough great things about Karen and the entire tropical occasions team! So kind and easy to work with while keeping you on time with your planning.
Karen’s communication and expertise put us at ease from the very start of planning and made the entire planning process (that we were not excited about) a breeze. We were able to trust her recommendations on pretty much every detail and all of those recommendations from vendors, to timeline, to layout all panned out better than expected. Everything from rehearsal dinner to the last song of the reception went smooth and as planned with no stress. Karen and her team are top notch!
We are beyond grateful for Amy Siudak and her team at Mountain Occasions for executing an Indian wedding weekend that was truly beyond anything we could have ever hoped for! We had multiple events at multiple venues around Denver, over several days - with a long guest list. Amy's ability to organize all these moving parts, prioritize tasks, troubleshoot and still manage meaningful details with GRACE was remarkable. At certain points it was hard to imagine how everything would come together but Amy, with the support of Aimee Monihan and their trusted vendors, had the calm confidence and immense experience to make it all happen just as we hoped for. Most appreciated was the teams approach to learning and understanding us, our families and the special elements of a Sikh wedding - they were humble and patient, and it made for a celebration no one will ever forget.
We owe Aimee and Amy ALLL the kudos for creating and executing our dream wedding. From the initial consultation to selecting all of our vendors to the day of, it was apparent that they have a wealth of experience and connections in the area which translated into a seamless and flawless event. We were able to relax and truly enjoy every moment of the celebration. Anahi & Stephen were fantastic as well. Seriously cannot express enough gratitude. You all are thee best!
Karen and her team were amazing! My husband and I decided on a twist on a traditional Nigerian wedding with a vibrant, yet elegant theme. We planned the entire wedding weekend sight unseen, (to the surprise of our friends and family) with Karen acting as our meticulous and discerning advocate in Costa Rica. Karen is responsive and detail oriented, and her excel sheets are unmatched! (Much appreciated by this fellow excel sheet/list lover!) The level of organization and coordination on my wedding day allowed me to relax and enjoy the day. I received so many compliments about Karen and her team and how well-run was the weekend. As someone who never really dreamed of what my wedding would look like, I can honestly say that Tropical Occasions created a wedding that I could not have ever envisioned! Choose them—they’re worth it.
Aimee and Amy were extremely helpful for creating our dream wedding! Both my husband and I were so happy about our wedding weekend - everything was perfect. They helped us bringing our vision to life. The vendors that they know and regularly work with are also amazing which is a huge help. The wedding weekend was so magical and fun for us, and our guests (who have been to many weddings!) told us multiple times that this was the most fun/beautiful/magical wedding they’ve been to. My husband and I still think about our wedding, and it will be a forever special memory for us. Thank you Aimee and Amy for helping us create such a special moment in our lives.
Amy & Aimee helped execute our Indian fusion wedding in Vail, Colorado. Early on the team quickly understood our vision and what aspects of the wedding were most important to us and our families. As the weekend approached, they knew how to keep us calm, cut through the noise, and focus on getting things organized in an efficient way. The wedding was an amazing experience and went even better than we hoped for, which is a testament to the hard work and experience Aimee and Amy brought to the event. We highly recommend working with this dynamic duo.
We loved working with Amy to plan our Aspen wedding. I felt so relaxed on our wedding day because we were in the hands of stellar professionals. A year later - everyone keeps telling us how much FUN our wedding was, and I fully credit Mountain Occasions for making all events run so smoothly - from our Rehearsal Dinner, to Welcome Party to incredible Ceremony & Reception.
Amy and the Mountain Occasions team made my dream wedding a reality! I still pinch myself every day. It was so fabulous it was actually featured in the New York Times (if that isn't a killer testimonial, I don't know what is!).
They were kind, professional, and understanding throughout the entire process. They went above and beyond (especially to make floral work in our budget!).
I don't think I can say enough kind words about the impeccable duo that is Aimee and Amy.
First off in terms of capability, there is not another team more competent to get the job done. Our venue was 12,000 feet up on Aspen Mountain. One can't overstate the mountain of logistics that goes in to getting an entire wedding set up plus guests to a mountain top, via ski gondola, IN THE SNOW. From the start, Aimee and Amy were very clear about what was needed for this. They also were very respectful of our budget. They offered me choices where we could cut back to save and were honest about areas where they did not recommend skimping. It made me feel empowered to choose exactly the right type of event and know what I was choosing to pay for and what I didn't think was important to me personally.
They pretty much recommended every vendor we hired. And each one was fantastic. So don't hesitate to pick their brain. When it comes to knowledge of the best vendors in town, they have it.
They were communicative, supportive, professional etc. Every vendor that worked with them was happy to be hired and work along side them whether for the first time or a repeat; which I think says a lot about who they are behind the scenes. Professional people like working with like wise professionals.
I come from a performing background and have performed in huge productions in some of the greatest venue across the US. I know what goes in to putting on a successful, enjoyable event for your guests. Its a lot of work and takes a lot of knowledge and these two have it.
Hire them and then trust them to do their work. Relax and enjoy your day and know they have it under complete control!
We worked with the dynamic duo of Amy and Aimee! Look no further for an incredible team of wedding planners. Our Aspen Colorado wedding was something out of a fairytale and they made our visions come to life. They are beyond talented, have amazing connections in the industry, and truly care about the couples day. We wouldn’t have had the most perfect wedding without these two! 💕💍💒🫶🏼
We worked with Karen and Anahi at Tropical Occasions and cannot recommend them enough. Karen was so on top of helping us plan everything, guiding us through every step and choosing vendors/decor that matched our vision. She was a pleasure to work with and extremely communicative throughout the entire planning process. On wedding day, everything went perfectly and was exactly as we had envisioned. we could not be happier with the entire process of working with Tropical Occasions!
Karen with Tropical Occasions was an amazing wedding planner! She answered all of our emails promptly (and there were a lot of them) and she completely went above and beyond. She was able to make anything we asked for happen, like getting 6 pounds of coffee beans for our table gifts, arranging late night snacks, or even delivering our welcome gifts to 4 different hotels for all of our guests. She took our dream wedding and absolutely made it a reality. The design she put together for our reception was everything we wanted and it was beautiful. We did not feel stressed at all planning our destination wedding in Costa Rica, thanks to Karen! I would highly recommend working with Tropical Occasions if you are planning a wedding in the area.
Karen was absolutely amazing. She was so organized and had every single detail dialed in. I has minimal stress knowing she had everything taken care of. She is also a creative genesis when I comes to design, everything was more beautiful than I could ever imagine!
Grant & I had the most magical, flawless & beautiful wedding in a place where, without Aimee Monihan and her incredible team orchestrating the whole thing, could not have taken place. Aimee and her team at Tropical Occasions were a dream come true from the get go. They listen.. they are honest.. but more importantly when it came to hiring a wedding planning team they were organized, creative, and so much fun. They were vital parts in not only creating the vision of our wedding but they also gave the best recommendations when it came to photography, videography, florists, etc. They were the reason we had such amazing vendors and vendors that also wanted to work with the amazing Aimee Monihan. There were so many times when Aimee had our back and fought to make sure our vision became a realtity. She helped us stick to a budget and negotiated all of the items we wanted/needed from our venue in Mexico. Her ability to speak other languages proficiently was also a key part in the success of our wedding celebration. Aimee was amazing in every way possible and executed the perfect event for Grant and I and our friends and family.
If you need any more convincing- know that I, the bride, ended up getting a stomach virus the night of our wedding and Aimee was literally a godsend. She arranged for IV fluids and a doctor in the middle of Mexico. She did everything literally possible to get me feeling better so that I could participate in a first dance, cake cutting, etc. She discretely swapped my champagne with ginger ale for toasts and speeches.. and when I still wasn't feeling 100%, she coordinated how I was feeling with photography and videography team so that we could get some shots of me out on the dance floor and enjoying our special night. She went above and beyond and played the roles of friend & nurse. Aimee, Amy and the rest of the Tropical Occasions team from all over the world were truly amazing. They made our wedding - illness and all- a dream come true and a positive memory that I get to hold onto for the rest of my life. They are the best!!!
Amy and Aimee are truly special humans. We were so grateful to have met them less than 5 months out from our destination wedding in the middle of the pandemic. The stars aligned for us and we were introduced to them through our videographer just at a time when the weight of the wedding planning was becoming too much to handle on our own, especially with so many unknowns with it being a destination wedding, and adding the pandemic unknowns on top of that. We truly could not have done it without them. They stepped in and from day one they were a massive bright light and positive energy that instantly made us feel like everything was possible and we had nothing to worry about. They helped in every way, coordinating other vendors, correspondence with the resort, helping with invites, and beyond. Most of all, they unique eye for style and design radiated above all. They took the time to understand who we are as people, what we love, what our individual styles are, what our dream designs for our wedding include, and they made it all happen perfectly. On wedding day, and throughout the weekend, they made sure every little detail was on point and everything went smoothly. They made sure we didn’t have to worry about a thing, including helping a bridesmaid on the fly who had a problem with her shoes right before the wedding started. Aimee literally took the shoes off her feet to give to a bridesmaid so that she could walk down the aisle. Amy and Aimee are constant smiles and radiated joy at every turn. Nothing is impossible. Nothing is a stress. They really are top notch wedding planners, and every more amazing humans. They will forever hold a special place in our hearts, and are two souls we will remain in contact with for our lifetime.
Where to even start with our experience with Aimee and Natalie at Tropical Occasions?! They absolutely CRUSHED our destination wedding in Hacienda Pinilla, Costa Rica! Every single detail of the weekend completely blew us away, and we are still on Cloud Nine. Like, was it even real?!?! It was the most EPIC weekend not only for us, but for every single one of our guests.
There are SO many details and decisions that go into every wedding….endless vendor options, menu choices, types of flowers, floorplans, timelines, rentals, etc. It can be a lot for any bride & groom, but then when you add in coordinating travel to a foreign country and schedules and housing and transportation for 80 guests, it can take overwhelming to the next level. However luckily for us, we had the absolute BEST team in the game to keep all the stress at bay!!! Looking back on the whole planning process, yes there were plenty of decisions to be made and checklists to take care of, but I don’t reflect on our wedding planning with stress or tension. Tropical Occasions made it fun and exciting instead. My husband and I are both in the luxury weddings & events business ourselves in Atlanta, GA (Bold Catering & Design), so I know how it feels when a bride or client trusts you completely versus thinking that they know best. I’m so glad that we kept that in mind throughout the last year of planning. It was such a sense of joy and excitement going into wedding day NOT knowing every single little detail, and getting to experience everything for the first time right along with our guests. We trusted Aimee & Natalie to make our day & weekend magical, and what they delivered was far beyond anything that we could have dreamed of. I’m tearing up as I write this, not because we are sad that our wedding weekend over, but so content and overjoyed knowing that it was the absolute BEST week/weekend of our lives. Every vendor that Aimee curated was the perfect fit, every creative “wow factor” that they came up with was the perfect idea for our friends and family, every design decision that they made reflected our style as a couple completely, and every hour that they all spent on our wedding was filled with dedication, thoughtfulness, and care.
My husband and I interact with planners and vendors of all personalities and styles on a weekly basis in our own careers, but there is only ONE Tropical Occasions. They are rare gems in this crazy industry, and it’s not lost on us how amazing they are at what they do. Thank you to Aimee and Natalie for all of the back and forth emails, after hours calls and texts with timezone differences between Atlanta and Colorado/Costa Rica, and overall attentiveness to us. Being in this business ourselves, we know that wedding planners all have families and lives outside of their jobs, and we are so grateful that the ladies of Tropical Occasions still made us feel like their top priority and that we were your only clients…..of course we know that we were not!
Best of all, we connected instantly with Aimee & Natalie from a friendship standpoint. They both have infectious joy, passion for life, and hilarious senses of humor that my husband and I both were so drawn to and immediately comfortable with, both over the phone, in email, and most importantly in person. We feel like we have gained friends for life!
We can't say enough about our experience with Tropical Occasions, and we would recommend them a thousand times over!!!
- Alex & Lee Miller
Tropical Occasions and Karen were amazing! We had the most beautiful wedding on Tulemar beach in Costa Rica April 2016 and it couldn't have been more perfect. Karen was great to work with and I loved the Pura Vida attitude, made this bride relaxed and I didn't have to ever worry. The decor was stunning and the execution was flawless. I would recommend working with them to anyone. Our wedding will be the one everyone remembers and talks about forever!
OK first of all I'm a dude. The dude that got married to the girl who would normally write this. My biggest concern going to CR for our wedding was not stresing my wife out and having clear concise instruction on how to do it. I cannot speak highly enough of Aimee and her team at Tropical Occasions. Aimee met personally with us and got every last detail of what we wanted. When communicating with her our vision, she was sure to review every detail and make great suggestions because she is so familiar with the area (manuel antonio) and what would look great and also stay in our budget. ON the day we worked with Karen and she was a rockstar! straight forward and very accommodating. In the event some little detail didn't go right, she owned up to, offered an immediate alternative and we moved on (better than originally planned). We were so pleased and very thankful for making our wedding exactly what the Mrs wanted. We felt incredibly taken care of, important, cared for, and all while having fun. Do not waste another moment looking for another wedding planner if you're going to Costa Rica. To this day people are still talking about our wedding, and want copy it...I send them to Aimee immediately! Aimee and TO were the first to do it, are the best for a reason:Experience, creativity, attention to detail! Thanks Aimee and Karen!
We got married in Costa Rica and Karen was AMAZING! On top of everything! It was such a fun and easy process.
So let me start by saying how absolutely AMAZING these ladies are!!! My husband and I chose to get married in Costa Rica (for so many reasons) it was May 2014, we stayed at the Rui Palace in Guanacaste (amazing) and got married at the Pacifico beach club in Playa Del Coco ( stunning). So I had done my research on planners and talked to a bunch of them yet I always had an uncomfortable feeling of the thought of leaving my wedding in there hands then I came across Tropical Occasions... Just after my first conversation with Aimee I knew not only that we were a match made in heaven but that my wedding was in the hands of someone who cared as much as I did about it (which is extremely hard to find). I'm very detail oriented and extremely picky and Aimee nailed every detail as if she could read my mind and apart from that she was awesome to deal with. I was then put in touch with Jaime and let me tell you she was just as amazing she answered every question within a very reasonable time frame and was always available to Skype to go over details. I felt as if a friend was helping me plan my wedding. She was great at keeping me on point and no demand was too much for her. I dealt with Anahi for the design part of the wedding and she was awesome, super talented as well as full of great ideas that worked with our budget. As for the day of the wedding I don't even know where to start these two wonderful ladies made my wedding an absolute dream come true!! They were there every step of the way with beautiful smiling faces making sure everything ran smoothly and on schedule. When it came to minor hiccups (brides this is bound to happen so be prepared) they were there with an immediate resolution. They were like little angels and I can not thank them enough for going above and beyond for us. As a matter a fact all my guests were amazed by how wonderful and tentative they were, my moms still talking about them. All in all I could not have done it all with out them and I will always have a special place in my heart for this wonderful trio that helped me create a magical day that will never be forgotten.
When we began planning our destination wedding in Costa Rica, we quickly realized we needed expert help. I tend to be a frugal girl so when I looked at the cost of a wedding planner, I initially hesitated to spend the money. However, every dime was money well spent! We found Tropical Occasions online and were impressed by their website, which is the first of many details they have nailed. We worked primarily with Karen who has lived in Costa Rica for many years. Karen was always professional, quick to respond, and followed up on each and every commitment she made. The contacts Karen and Tropical Occasions have established are surely the best in the country. We were very pleased with every vendor we used. Aimee oversaw the design of the wedding which turned out to be even more beautiful than we had envisioned. Jaime oversaw our rehearsal, and did a fantastic job arranging and organizing the ceremony. The entire weekend was a very stress free process thanks to Karen and Aimee's hard work. We loved every minute of our wedding weekend, and we will remember it with great joy for the rest of our lives. It would not have been possible without the amazing people at Tropical Occasions. They are the best in the business!
Words cannot describe how wonderful and memorable our destination wedding in Costa Rica was because of the fabulous help of Karen and Aimee of Tropical Occasions. We knew early on that we wanted to get married in Costa Rica, but the idea of planning a wedding there on our own seemed impossible. Luckily we came across the Tropical Occasions website and quickly got in touch with Aimee and Karen. They provided detailed consultation and took the time to answer all of our initial questions. After our conversations with them there was no question who we’d hire to help us plan and execute the wedding of our dreams.
Aimee got us started by coming up with a design for our big day. We told her our tastes and ideas and she knew exactly how to make those ideas come to life. Karen took over from there and she was absolutely fantastic. She was extremely detailed and she responded to all of our questions quickly. When it came to the big day, Karen went above and beyond! She ensured the ceremony and reception designs were flawless and no detail was overlooked. It’s been a month since our wedding and our guests are still raving about how beautiful and fun the event was!! This simply wouldn’t have been possible without Aimee’s design and Karen’s flawless execution. We can’t thank them enough!
I can't even begin to tell you how much we appreciated having you part of our special day, week, and year! This single event created many memories for everyone involved, for a lifetime. The visual, organization, and all the special moments made, were all a result of your hard work, professionalism and vast experience. This trip brought our families, as well as some complete strangers together as life long friends. Your event planning, local knowledge and awesome connections, left us all with a bond that will never be broken. Also, thank you for keeping me calm on my day when I was feeling overwhelmed. It helped me so much!!
No joke! After this trip everyone wants to plan a trip in 2014 for a reunion, partially due to the smooth skills of one Karen Ogden and of course Tropical Occasions!
We miss everything about this trip! The location was PERFECT.
Again, thank you and everyone at Tropical Occasions for making our special day a dream come true!!!
We will not hesitate to recommend you to anyone who wishes to marry abroad. One of our best decisions yet!
It was sad to say goodbye. We hope that someday in the future we will see each other again. You are part of our family now. We will definitely keep in touch!
Lots of Love,
The Mitchell Family :)
I had the good fortune to hire Tropical Occasions as my wedding planner (for Tamarindo, Costa Rica). I did not want to have to spend part of my wedding budget on a planner. However, in order to plan a wedding in Costa Rica from Canada, I knew it was a necessity. And what an absolute boon this decision turned out to be. Aimee and her staff, Jaime and Anahi, were INCREDIBLE. The organization process was virtually seamless; so much so that it seemed like nothing had to be done! It just all managed to get taken care of, and I wasn’t required to do much at all beyond the big decisions. And I truly think their fees were extremely reasonable given the amount of work they put in on the actual day. Wow. They didn’t stop until the last guest left. Aimee, Jaime, Anahi… you turned my wedding vision into a reality, and I can’t thank you enough!
NOTE: When Googling reviews on Tropical Occasions, the first website to come up was an article entitled ‘7 Reasons You Should Not Hire Tropical Occasions’. I personally had really worried about this article, as I happened to find it after I made the decision to hire them. Eek! As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about (phew!). I’d actually like to address of few of the points mentioned:
1) I was married at the very end of the high season, and Tropical Occasions still had plenty of time for me. Keep in mind that they likely have a lot of clients. We had our scheduled calls (3 in all, I think) and that got the bulk of the planning done. When I had a question, I would shoot them an email. They certainly didn’t call me right back in an hour (usually not the same day), but they always emailed a response. Be patient; trust that things are getting done.
2) They certainly did not push the most expensive vendors. In fact, I had a fairly small budget, and not only did they recommend a reasonably priced photographer (who was FANTASTIC, FYI – Mike Blum based in San José), but they went out of their way to come with ways to stretch my budget (e.g. take the flowers from my bouquets and use those in my table arrangements once I’m done with the ceremony!). I will say this; if you are trying to do a cheap destination wedding, Costa Rica is NOT the location for you...and this has nothing to do with Tropical Occasions. It’s pretty much like having your wedding in Canada – there are no deals, and rates are inflated because they know you’ll pay. If you want cheap, do an all-inclusive resort in Mexico (where you’ll get a free room, and a wedding for $1500 all in!). But if you want to have a wedding your way on a beach somewhere, then Costa Rica is a great choice.
3) I thought Tropical Occasion’s fees were pretty reasonable. At first I had my doubts, because everything is done by phone, and you know that they already have these contacts so it doesn’t feel like they have much to do. That being said, when it comes to the actual day, both Anahi and Jaime were on-site first thing in the morning (right on time) and they didn’t stop until 12AM that night. They certainly earned their fees for my wedding.
4) They provided me with a schedule before I even got to Costa Rica and they followed it to the letter. We didn’t have to think about a thing – they thought of all of it for us, and then just pointed us in the right direction when the time came.
Hopefully, this review will help you make your decision to hire Tropical Occasions and have a wedding you’ll never forget in Costa Rica!
I’m an extreme researcher, I for some reason love spending hours on my couch with my laptop researching just about anything. I read all of the reviews I could about Tropical Occasions, I looked at wedding photographers blogs and found weddings that were done by Tropical Occasions, I talked to the photographers I was considering hiring and got their opinion, you name it, I researched it. But what stuck out the most, of any of the research I did, was when I actually talked to Aimee on the phone. Right then I knew that this work was her life’s passion, that she puts everything she has into each and every wedding that her company produces, and she takes incredible pride when the bride and groom have the time of their lives…that’s the person I want in charge of my wife and I’s big day.
So now for the fun reasons:
1. They’re on top of it, and I mean SUPER on top of it. Karen, our on-site coordinator could plan an event that included the leaders of the world….blindfolded.
2. Their designs are amazing. We had a few conference calls to talk about design, and for the most part we let Aimee work her magic and everything she proposed sounded awesome to us. We decided to stay somewhat low-key on the design details and let Tropical Occasions take care of that for us. They did not disappoint. It’s two months later and I’m still hearing from my friends how gorgeous everything turned out, it was straight out of a movie.
3. They worked within our budget. We were stretching the bank big time just to have a wedding, let alone the wedding of our dreams. Somehow, Aimee and Karen were able to keep the budget within our budget while also having all sorts of little details that made it so special. They helped us with ideas on what we could cut out, or substitute, to help save some money.
4. They can deal with an emergency. We had a little accident right before the wedding, the mother of the bride fell down concrete steps, severely bruising her face, breaking her wrist, and spraining her ankle. Karen was there to help us with whatever we needed, and day-of she came up with a plan that allowed the mother of the bride to still walk her daughter down the aisle without a cane.
5. They are able to keep the day of stress free. Karen set a rule to everyone the night before the wedding at the rehearsal dinner. No one was allowed to ask the bride or groom a question. Instead a representative was appointed by the bride and groom to field all questions and immediately call Karen to handle them. This was AMAZING. The bride and I were both feeling great before the wedding…not stressed out, no panicking, heck I was sitting in a pool with a beer in my trying to even out my tan. Karen took care of EVERYTHING, and we weren’t the wiser.
6. Their help doesn’t stop with just wedding planning. Aimee and Karen gave us a ton of advice on where we should go on our honeymoon.
7. They can plan the full package. If you’re not a planner and lose sleep at the thought of getting your guests from the airport to the resort, or putting on a welcome dinner or cocktail party, don’t worry, Tropical Occasions has you covered. They can plan anything you dream up...and then some.
I can safely say that there is no conceivable way that we could have even had a wedding, let alone such a perfect one without Tropical Occasions. At the conclusion of our year and a half of planning, there’s also no other PEOPLE, I would want to have shared that experience with than Aimee and Karen.
I used this vendor for my wedding in Costa Rica. Overall we were satisfied and couldn't have done it without their assistance. Having said that, I do have a couple of complaints about the design and decor. All events that they assisted with ended up being beautiful but after all the discussions about design/decor I felt like they ended up doing what they thought was best. For example, I said pink was my least favorite color and that was one of the dominant colors in the flowers and other decor. I also said no to a particular flower arrangement and sure enough that also was a part of the decor. I got a lot of compliments and it looked really nice but again, wasn't what I wanted.
Very helpful in narrowing down choices for me for my destination wedding. The only thing that I wasn't completely happy with was the DJ that they suggested because the DJ didn't play any of the songs that I sent her as suggestions.
Don't think twice, hire Tropical Occasions! Without a doubt, they enabled me to have the wedding of my dreams. They saw my vision, and made it happen, so that I could relax and enjoy my destination wedding. They are professional, talented and the "go to" people when it comes to weddings in Costa Rica. I'm forever grateful to them for all they did!!
Our wedding planners specialize in Costa Rica, they knew every little detail of things I could not forsee while planning a wedding in a different country. They made it easy, special, fun, and stress free!!!;Just know who you hire, and if you are getting married out of the counrty hire a planner..it is a must!!!!
Contact
Offices in Costa Rica, Colorado, and servicing Worldwide
Tropical Occasions & Mountain Occasions
Tropical Occasions & Mountain Occasions's photos