If guests are putting money towards it

Ask for one quote, not a list of components

The tempting structure is a menu: guests buy "a night at the camp", "the balloon flight", "a massage". It feels personal and it creates two problems.

The first is that components get bought which then do not fit the route — somebody has given you a balloon flight in a region the itinerary no longer goes to, and either the trip bends to accommodate it or somebody’s gift is quietly refunded.

The second is that it fixes the itinerary before it is designed. A specialist works best with a total and a brief; a shopping list is neither.

A single itemised quote solves both. Guests contribute towards the trip; you and the specialist decide what the trip is.

Decide in advance what a surplus becomes

It is a nicer problem than the alternative and it is worth having an answer ready, because the default answer — an upgrade — is usually the wrong one.

1. Another night. The best answer nearly every time, and the one that changes the trip most.
2. A private vehicle, if you had not already taken one.
3. A guide for the whole stay, if the camps were assigning per drive.
4. Then an upgrade, and only then.

Practical notes

• We do not run a gift registry and would not pretend to — this is planning advice, not a payment product
• Payments are taken by the agency, not by us, on their normal schedule
• Get the quote before the wedding if you can: peak dates move, and a quote six months old is a historical document
• Deposits hold space; the balance is usually due some weeks before travel. The quote will state both.

Ask for an itemised total