Redefining romance with Weddings by Iberostar as Imagined By You
Ann Ruppenstein
With the launch of Weddings by Iberostar as Imagined By You, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts is moving away from a package approach to debut a customizable destination wedding experience for couples. The re-imagined collection offers more authenticity and personalization across themes that embody sustainability for weddings in Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica.
To find out more about the new collection and what travel advisors should know, Travel Courier caught up with Loreto Lazo, Director of Romance for Iberostar Hotels & Resorts.
As a brand rooted in responsible tourism, this new program has aligned its offering with sustainability, customization, and extended celebrations to elevate the couple’s experience and their guests’ experience. As guests’ priorities shift, Iberostar recognizes the need to adapt to emerging trends and align with programming that reflects those preferences. The outcome is a collection of cutting-edge concepts that drive one-of-a-kind experiences.
Besides the greener aspect, we also saw the need of elevating and modernizing our wedding offerings and to showcase dream weddings at Iberostar. Instead of just having a list of packages, through the imagery captured in our lookbook, we want to highlight the gorgeous set ups and lush locations we have to offer in each destination.
Where competitors base their programs from a package approach, Iberostar has undone wedding packages in order to provide customization. Instead of telling you what we have, we are asking you what you want, ensuring every couple gets their dream wedding.
Achieving the Ever Green Wedding concept with such elegant and glamorous decor was something we are very proud to have accomplished. Also at a destination level, seeing look after look come to life is incredible. Green weddings are a natural extension of the overall brand identity. This program proves sustainability is stunning by creating an elevated look and feel with minimal impact on the environment.
Another highlight of our program is Wedding Week. In the interest of putting more time, love, and laughter into their happily ever after, Iberostar is proud to introduce wedding week, an innovative extension of the wedding day. This amplifies the group experience over the course of several days with an itinerary tailored to individual groups based on their interests. From cocktail parties to off-property excursions, to days on the beach with their own entertainment butler, the wedding team is able to handle every detail so their couples can enjoy every moment.
We have curated 12 looks based on the trends we thought would prevail over time and are already noticing in the first few weeks our inspirations have been out in the market that couples are leaning towards the Ever Green Look of Nature of Love and the Boho Chic being our top request at the moment.
Besides giving them a solid base of 10-12 different inspirations covering a variety of tastes, we also ask them their preferred colour palettes and the vision they have for their wedding day in order to customize the inspirations to their taste or create a complete new one if needed, all within their own budgets.
Iberostar is launching this new wedding program with a 15% commission promotion on all new Wedding Inspiration bookings, Honeymoon Collection bookings & Proposal Collection bookings with a booking window of Oct. 18 – Dec. 31, 2021 and Travel Window of Oct. 18, 2021 – April 30, 2023. The commission offer includes most of the elements of the inspiration the couple chooses for the total number of people they book plus agents can earn 3X StarAgents points for all wedding group bookings, minimum 10 rooms booked.
Certainly we have noticed an increasing interest in wedding date availability, even for this year, especially small ceremonies or elopements for the upcoming months as well as good size weddings of 40 or more for future dates. We have seen a booking tendency for our properties in Mexico, being the destination with more hotels as well as one of the ones with the most airlift.
The Iberostar romance team is ready to transition all current and new bookings under this updated and improved offering. The process is seamless and designed to take the all-inclusive destination wedding industry by storm.
Couples can also take advantage of the Iberostar romance experience with the Proposal Collection, including engagements in beautiful settings such as at the beach, in a luxurious suite, or the spa, among others, with a la carte options also available.
In addition to the special wedding inspirations, Iberostar also offers a wedding teaser experience called First Look, where couples can experience a preview of their celebration, receiving perks, benefits and credits towards their wedding ceremony.
And finally, the Honeymoon Collection has been built to defy industry standards, Iberostar is launching the most comprehensive honeymoon experience. The collection includes five interest-based options that appeal to foodies, thrill-seekers, those who just want to be pampered, and everything in between. Curated to give you the ultimate experience, the premiere package is the Starmoon, one that incorporates a little bit of everything, for the ones who want to have it all.
For more information and full terms and conditions on the romance collections and promos, travel agents can contact Iberostar’s dedicated romance specialists at [email protected] or learn more at iberostaragents.ca/weddings.
Loreto Lazo, Director of Romance for Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, offers some insights into what’s trending when it comes to romance and destination weddings:
- Numbers are booming, with more wedding inquiries than in 2019
- Those having to reschedule are reducing the size of their wedding and because of the smaller size many are opting to do a destination wedding instead
- Type of bookings have changed — last minute requests have surged, typically three-four months notice
- High choice in Mexico because of travel ease and lack of restrictions; DR is second for the same reasons
- Looking for buyout options (Entire hotel at boutique resorts or entire sections at larger ones)
- Willingness to go with smaller groups. After delays from pandemic, not willing to wait for those who need more time to travel
- Technology is increasingly important: Zoom calls, live feeds, etc.
- Also adding in virtual options for up to 100 guests with special amenities to make them feel like they were there
- Push for elopement options and micro weddings for couples who just want to get married without all the fanfare. Makes it easier with travel complications. With that, they’re taking budgets previously used for lavish events and pouring them into more intimate experiential events for fewer people
- With experiential opportunities booming, the need for a preview trip for the couple is heightened so they can fully customize something unique to them
- 18% of LGBTQ+ couples now want a destination wedding, with Mexico being first choice
- Average party size of destination wedding is 40
- 60% of destination couples pay for their own wedding
- $5,000 is the average cost of the honeymoon with average length of eight days
- There are approximately 350,000 destination weddings per year from US couples
- Boho and “Green” trends present in market as well as some classics
