At first my preference was to choose an all-inclusive resort. We knew Aruba was going to be expensive and liked the idea of guests knowing all costs up front. We also thought it would be more conducive to a party atmosphere since people would be more likely to spend their time on the premises and those who like ‘to party’ would be able to do so more freely.

We started looking into it, pricing out the Occidental and Riu. (We didn’t investigate any ‘low-rise’ all-inclusives figuring we’d rather stick to brands we know – reviews on the other were all over the place from those that loved them to those that were appalled.)

Well we found them to be pretty expensive. Like $450 per night per couple which just seemed like too much. We had heard about what great deals you can get an an all-inclusive but at the time we were looking we weren’t finding any great deals for our date. Maybe its a different story as you get closer to the date. In our opinion an all-inclusive is best suited to those that party (drink a lot of cocktails) and we just didn’t have very many guests that would get their money’s worth. All-inclusives can save the bride and groom money (some offer a ‘free wedding’ to those that book at with them), and you can expect catering to be less, however it would make the trip too costly for some of our guests. We had also read reviews that said the ‘included’ food was mediocre but ‘a-la-carte’ food was great, so now that you’re paying for the a-la-carte restaurants its not really an all-inclusive anymore.

While we were walking from the Westin to the Marriott one night, we did stop by Riu. Let me say – its quite a monstrosity that doesn’t at all fit in with the rest of the area. Still, we walked in and it was pretty lively. Lots of people around having fun and a huge pool. So, what it lacks in character and good food it might make up for in fun. If it had been half the cost we may have put it on our list but really, we wanted more class.

What we decided instead is that we would work out a hotel package that included a nice breakfast buffet. That would at least get people started for the day. Plus we would already be buying them dinner at the reception, snacks at a welcome party and were planning an off-site sailing excursion for the day in between.