Vacations in Paradise Honeymoons & Destination Weddings

My husband and I always knew we wanted to be married on a beach, but what we didn't know was how hard it was to plan a destination wedding. We were overwhelmed with thinking about flowers, cake, dj's, personal touches, etc that goes in to a wedding. Then we realized on top of that we were going to have a major language barrier with a wedding in another country. Double the hoops and double the steps. My sister in law found reviews for Michelle at Vacations in Paradise online, and she recommended I give her a call. Best call I ever made...EVER! I was the bride that wanted to save pennies wherever I could, and was not sure if a travel agent was in my budget. If this is your mindset, I promise, you will spend more money with out booking her. I swear she has connections with every resort ever built. So, fast forward, and here I was now with a travel agent and no clue what I was doing, what I wanted, or where I wanted to get married. I met with Michelle a few times (yes she actually met with me 3 different times after work to look through pictures of EVERY resort in Cancun-literally), before we found "THE" resort. We were needy. We were basically "that couple". We wanted a wow factor, with out the price. We wanted it all and we got it all with Michelle B. Michelle was amazing and patient. She talked to all of our friends and families and helped everyone book flights, rooms, arrange transportation, and even went above and beyond. She mailed out gifts to every guest with a travel bag, itinerary, do's and dont's, and goodies. Every guest called and asked me where I found Michelle and if they could take her home. My answer was always- "she's mine" :) It was perfect! She also sent us a very nice leather book with everything we would need to know about the resort(and more). It was a very nice professional touch. The wedding was absolutely perfect, the resort was amazing, the accommodations are still talked about, and most importantly no hitches in any travel plans. Did I mention she got every guest free transportation from the airport to the hotel, round trip. Trust me, when guests are spending money to come to your wedding, they like to save too. If you want someone who can help you with your wedding, when you yourself don't even know what you want- she is your lady. I would recommend her to anyone and I do. She probably wanted to kill me a few times, but I never felt that from her. She is a true professional and has a great heart. In all honesty I am not one to do reviews, but she is definitely worth it. By the end of it, we were even getting her address so we could mail her an invitation to our wedding. I promise, you will not regret using her. Not only is she good at helping guests, but she is worth gold to translate your needs to the resort. I wouldn't trade her for the world, and I am still in contact with her today. Thank you Michelle for giving us the wedding that was better than our dreams. Carrie and Garrett Bary THE Royal- Cancun 4/20/2013

Beautiful, stress free wedding!! More than we could have dreamed of!!

In the first week of January 2013, my husband-to-be and 70 of our friends and family members visited the RIU Palace Tropical Bay in Negril, Jamaica. The resort was absolutely wonderful. Though it is a larger resort, the employees, maintenance of the grounds and beaches, and rooms were pristine. The food was good (not amazing, certainly not bad) and the drinks were awesome. We provided each of our guests with a big mug for the week so they didn’t have to refill as much and it was a big hit! From the wedding planning standpoint; however, the onsite wedding planner often took days or weeks to reply with very minimalistic responses. She comprised on very few things via email; however, when we arrived she was accommodating and cooperating. She ended up following through with most everything we asked for. The resort did not have much to offer in terms of wedding decorations for both the ceremony and reception and what they could offer they charge you an arm and a leg for. We brought all of our own décor, and the night turned out beautifully. For the big day, we brought fans, programs, beach balls, menus, place cards, lanterns, navy napkins with ribbon, and so on to ensure we would have the intimate feel we were looking for. I would give my trip a 10/10. 70 guests attended and all of them loved it. The guests varied in age, either mostly in mid-20’s or 50s-60s. All guests were pleased with the natural beauty of the resort- how clean the beach was and how clear the water was. They were all pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the staff was despite being at such a big resort. They also enjoyed the personal touches we were able to add to the wedding despite it being a destination wedding. Michelle Bouzek was our planner and she was absolutely amazing! She exceeded our expectations! She made me feel as though I was the only bride she was planning for. She immediately responded to all phone calls or emails, no matter the time of day. Michelle was both an advocate and a middle person with the wedding planner in Jamaica. She successfully booked all 70 of our trips, and made accommodations for guests to have 4 in a room though the resort only allows 3. She communicated with all of our guests throughout the process, and met their every need. She was able to provide valuable insight on what other destination brides have done in the past, along with solutions to various problems that arise in the process. She also provided us with complimentary VIP passes in the airport making the traveling 100x easier. Above all, Michelle is someone who is invested in her brides and will do everything necessary to ensure they have the best day of their life.

When my husband and I started planning our wedding we knew we wanted a small destination wedding. I had been to a bridal show and met Michelle at her booth. She gave me a lot of great information and tons of catalogs and brochures to look through. After looking through the information and scouring the Internet I made an appointment for us to meet with Michelle and go over our wants and needs for the big day. She spent about 3 hours with us as we made our decision. She carefully went over the pros and cons of each resort after we picked our location (Playa Del Carmen, Mexico). Michelle was in constant contact via phone and email as we moved forward with our plans. She set up a website for our guests to book through her which took a lot of pressure off of me. My mom is older and doesn't have an email account but was able to talk to Michelle via phone with all of her questions and concerns. This was a huge relief to me to have a person that you can trust arranging your guests travel, etc. Michelle stepped in several times to help my communication with our resort coordinator as we were dealing with a language barrier. As we know planning a wedding is a stressful time and Michelle made my life 10x easier! We booked our honeymoon through her as well and I have to say she did an excellent job in helping us find the perfect locations for both.

I used Michelle Bouzek to plan my wedding in the Riviera Maya. Michelle and Vacations in Paradise is great! I chose Michelle because she was the most prompt in getting back to me regarding my destination wedding inquiry. I had emailed a handful of travel agents about planning a destination wedding and Michelle literally was in contact with me within hours after my initial request. Other travel agencies I had contacted either didn't email me back at all or emailed me back up to two weeks after my initial inquiry. Michelle was wonderful in providing me with a bunch of information for different locations for my wedding. I gave her my price range and she stuck to it and still provided me with resort options and exchanges credit I wasnt even aware of. I was planning a wedding for myself, my husband and 23 other guest, some of which had never traveled out of the country. Michelle was amazing at answering questions my guests had regarding travel, what to expect after arriving at the airport and safety of the country and region. Before the trip, everyone received a great little package with travel documents, luggage tags and a backpack. After arrival, everything went as planned. I can honestly say I had a stress free and easy wedding thanks to Michelle. I would recommend Vacations in Paradise to anyone looking to plan a vacation whether it be for just your family or a large group of people. Not only are they prompt and friendly but they extremely knowledgeable. Thank you so much for helping me plan my dream wedding in Mexico! I could never have done it without you!

If your thinking about a destination wedding, there is only one choice---Michelle with Vacations in Paradise! Best thing you can do! She'll make the entire process painless and easy!

My husband (as of July 16th) and I met Michelle last October when we decided to get married. She was extremely helpful. Our story is a bit complicated so I will keep it short. We made reservations at one hotel but ended up using a different hotel which btw we totally recommend. It is called LA AMADA HOTEL. (If you are looking for a place to party this is not the place)...this place is romantic, great food, wonderful drinks, amazing service, the rooms are beautiful, the view is spectacular. Going back to Michelle, she helped us a lot with the change and I most say...that was quite the struggle with Funjet. I highly recommend her service...she is very patient and extremely helpful.

I had a super long engagement and planned my wedding over a two year period and Michelle was awesome every step of the way! She was great at handling all of the details and is super quick in her replys. Anytime there was a slight change she was always flexible in handling the situation. We had around 20 people traveling to Punta Cana from various states and she made sure everyone had what they needed at all times. Even if you are not in Texas, rest assured that Michelle will take care of you and calm all of your pre wedding anxiety. I could not have managed my dream wedding without her!!!!!

We couldn't have come across Michelle & Vacations in Paradise at a more perfect time. From the very beginning we knew we wanted to do a destination wedding. After going to many sites & trying several 'online' destination wedding services, we felt more confused then helped. Our guests were coming from all over the country & we needed to find someone we could work closely with. We looked for a local travel agent who would help us find a place that worked for all of our needs, & not push a certain hotel on us. After talking to Michelle, it only took a few weeks to narrow down our choice to Moon Palace Resort in Cancun. It fit everything we wanted & we could not have been more happy. For ease, I will break down the process throughout the year: Feb 2010- Picked the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun for Jan 16 2011 wedding. We chose to do it on the Sunday of a 3 day weekend. We went back and forth with Michelle confirming locations and times and signed the wedding contract. March 2010-April 2010: Sent out Save the Dates and told everyone to contact Michelle for deposit information. She took care of the deposits. She suggested the deposit be $150, since only people who are committed would put that much money down. May 2010: Michelle coordinated the deposits and helped get out the travel information. Many people started calling her regarding pricing and airfare. Throughout this time, she gave updates on who had put down deposits. June-September 2010: She continued to work closely to coordinate with the people that were booking the rooms and airfare. She also answered my hundreds of questions regarding details about Moon Palace and services they offered. If she did not know the answer, she was able to get one pretty quickly from the resort. She was able to switch around our packaged to make sure it fit what we wanted. October 2010: This was a crazy time because everyone’s money was due. As she suggested, we made the deadline about a month before the actual hotel deadline. Even so, there were still people paying several weeks after the deadline. We kept in constant contact about who still owed what and when it was all due. November 2010-December 2010: Michelle helped coordinate between the Moon Palace wedding coordinator and myself. She intervened several times to make sure we were getting the best services for the best price and kept pushing until everything was exactly how I wanted. It was extremely helpful to have her knowledge of the wedding process there, as I would not have known what was available. She also sent out several emails to the guests detailing how to travel through the airport and what to expect upon arrival. January 2011: Everyone received their documents and travel information in an organized pouch. I know everyone liked how easy it was to read and understand. Even when we arrived in Mexico, unexpected things came up and we had someone unable to come. I called her from the hotel and she was able to coordinate with the travel agency and on-site wedding coordinator to get everything figured out. Because of the pre-planning, there was not much left to figure out once we arrived in Mexico. Thanks to Michelle, it was a breeze once we arrived. Everything went smoothly, and even the few problems that did arise were easily taken care of. She was always available to answer questions and brainstorm. I would absolutely recommend her to anyone looking to do a destination wedding as she h