Tracy_S

So Jodz were you able to switch your ceremony time Cause they should be able to accomodate you! Let us know how it goes...

 

Still waiting to find out about my upgrade... hopefully sometime today or tomorrow my TA will tell me its all worked out! My 16th guest is free so that will go towards our room upgrade!!! I am so excited that we get the swim up room now specially from your review Jen makes it sound all the better!!!

Wow where did you get your sandals from I would love that pair.. its almost exactly what I am looking for! If you could let me know that would be great!

Thanks!!

Yeah we have it in the works now to get the room upgrade... cause yeah we realized now its a total rip off!! Why pay for the exact same thing!! So yeah.. Free here we come!!! lol

 

You guys are so super lucky you all got married on your dates when you did with all this swine flu stuff going around... I am so hoping my date is far enough away that all of this will be dealt with way before that time... I don't know why they are making a huge deal about it though... like 40,000 people in the states die every year from the normal flu! Thats like 120 or so people a day!!!

Wow Jen! Good job! Keep em coming!!!

Thats so exciting!!! Wow that was fast too!!! You guys are making me want to get married LIKE now! lol... Do you have any you would want to share with us? I know they would be beautiful!!!

And yeah we are definitley going the free route... It makes no sense if you don't have too!!

Ok so we were talking budget last night, and have decided to go with the free wedding package... really what is the difference in the silver package and paying the 2500 for To us that seems outrageous for the exact same stuff, well except the bouquet, boutineer, petite cake and champange... but I was going to be paying for those anyways... what really is included in that 2500 does anyone know?? I think its a rip off and can't believe I was going to pay to have the same thing as the free one!! That now should free up some extra money for whatever else I could want... is this why you guys chose to do the free wedding too? Cause its basically the same package only you don't fork out 2500US for it??

So far I have got my 3 bridesmaids bouquets done up at Michaels.. the resort was going to charge me 150 per bouquet for real calla lillies... so I found the ones I wanted at Michaeals and had their florist designer come up with the bouquets from pictures I left her and they turned out great! And only 30 dollars each! They were on a spring stem sale too which is why they were so cheap! 1/2 price! As for my bouquet, I am gonna splurge when I am at the resort and get mine the way I want it but in real flowers... so I am for both ways... cause at least I was able to save some cost on the flowers!!!

Thanks for all the great info Jen!! Wow! Love your wedding review so far as well!! Yeah you really are setting the bar high for us brides and having to do our reviews as well!!! lol

 

I am actually glad my ceremony time is set for 3pm now.. although I know I had to set it at this time especially in Nov for the daylight savings time and all that... but that should be lots of time for good lighting for our photographer. Just got confirmation that all 18 guests are booked and ready to go.. well flights booked and deposits down for the hotel!!! We actually bought the flights for the 10 guests flying out of Calgary here, and are just having them pay us back... for each person though the cost of the flights is only 575! Taxes in! Not going through our TA on this cause she has to get her commission in there and bumped the price way up! So all in all our guests only ended up paying 1691! I am stoked about that!!!

Ok Nicky, Carolyn and Jen... I have come up with 4 more questions for you lovely ladies!! Here goes:

1. For those that used your IPOD for your dance.. what was the cost they charged you for the amplifying station and dock?

2. Did you guys see any other brides using the wooden aisle runner? If so was it the nasty dark brown color or the nice lighter color? Or do you know if I can request the nice lighter color?

3. Did you guys do up wedding programs? What were your favors? I want to do red fans with our names and dates enscribed in them, and my programs are going to be the fan type.. I want to place the fans on the seats so they can be used during the ceremony.. but should I have a second favor on the dinner tables?

4. Ok did you guys have a list of shots that you needed to have to give to your photographers? And if so was it worth it to do that? I have been compiling a list from everyones examples and would like to give it to my photographer.. would this be helpful for me? And also for those that did the TTD.. was the resort going to charge you the 500 fee to do so on the resort? My photographer is telling me that we have to do ours offsite as the resort would charge me the 500 fee... when my photographer is one of the approved ones

Hey welcome!! Its awesome to have another bride getting married there before me.. the more the merrier!!

I didn't even know there was a chocolate fountain thing... but I am not doing it.. that sounds like a very cool idea though!!! Have you got everything else planned and booked? Let us know! I love hearing what other brides have planned for their day at our resort!!!

I can't remember if I have asked this before or not.. but did you girls need anything other than your blood test and passport? No birth certificates or anything like that? And also I was wondering about your marriage certificates... if you had them translated there and fed-exed back to you here or did you just have someone certified back where you live translate it and stamp and seal it and all that? Just wondering if I should have the resort do it or just take it back home with me and have someone here do it... any advice ladies?? Thanks!

So Jodi,
How much planning have you got around to all ready?? I know as soon as I picked the resort I was off like a crazy person finding exactly what I wanted and all that fun stuff! I think I actually have everything down pat that I would like.. but then again things can always change considering I have 6 months left before the big day... I was just curious how planning was coming along and if we could help you out with anything!!! Let us know!

Hmm that seems weird to me, cause yeah Valeria told me if I did the white sheers that they would be included in the decorations.. but colored ones were charged for.. I wonder if cause they cream that they were considered a color...??

Hey ladies! Thought I would let you know I posted my dress finally... in the show us your dress thread!! Check it out let me know what you think!!!

Ok lets see if this works... let me know!

 

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Wow that was a very informative letter Carolyn! Thanks for that!

The only thing I think I will be purchasing ahead of time is the bows for the ceremony as I have told Valeria already that I want red satin bows and yellow organza bows on the chairs for the ceremony already. And she has actually given me a deal on the setup fee for those.. but as far as paying for them the second time I will deal with them when I am down there to see if they can simply move them over to the private dinner reception area... which yes we are doing by the way... makes me feel better about that choice with both of your comments on it! And now I will have to come up with some activities and such for after the dinner to keep the mood going... also did you get yours longer than 10pm as Jen's did? I was hoping to extend mine as well..

 

And by the sounds of things I won't be renting the dance floor now either.. its good to have brides with the experiences who can shed light for future brides! Thats a good idea about booking those beach beds right next to the portable gazebo.. I may have to get some of my early riser guests to go and save the couple for us!

 

And also I would love to share my wedding dress with you gals... any ideas on how I upload the pic?? Is my file to big or something Help!!!! lol

Hey guys, I was trying to upload some pics of me in the wedding dress but it keeps telling me the file is invalid... how do I do it?? Can you guys help me out Thanks!!

Hey welcome welcome!! Its nice to see more brides choosing the same resort! As you can see a couple in our little group here have recently got married there and have tons of insightful information!!!! Welcome... this forum has been a life saver!!

And Jen! Thanks for all the info!!! It seriously has helped me out tremendously and now I know what I can fight for!! I will be thinking of more questions cause I know I have them but can't think of them at this very moment!!!

CONGRATS Carolyn!!! Thats so exciting!!!! I can't wait to hear all about it!!! Man I am really excited about my upcoming wedding now.. since all 3 of your guys weddings have been amazing!!!! Yay!!!!

For our trip, we were planning on moving to a different resort for our honeymoon, but flights through points didn't really allow us for much flexibility.. so we are leaving the same day that all our guests are heading home.. then the last week in Nov we are gonna book our honeymoon somewhere different just for ease of using travel points...

I also forgot to tell you ladies that on sat I am going to try on my dress for my mom and sister... and we are taking some pics!! So I will finally be able to post some of them for you to see my dress!!! So excited!!

 

I thought of another question too.. when you guys signed your marriage certificate... did you use your maiden name or your new name to sign it

oh my goodness... mine would already be over that much.. wow thats a good budget!!! lol.. question though.. how come your blood tests came to 320? I was thinking they would only be 250 as the price was 125 each? And also the sand ceremony on lomas's website only says 45 dollars... oh I guess that is with the exchange, right.. gotcha now! lol.. my wedding seems way more expensive than yours so far Nicky... but I am not doing the free wedding thing.. so already my silver wedding package is 2500....

Ok thats awesome! I will reel and deal with them when we get there! What sort of things did you guys end up getting deals on??

 

Ok I have some more questions...

1. What did you end up using for your centerpieces? Did you like them?

2. What about your dress.. did you carry it on with you? Or have to fold and get it crumbled in the overhead things?

3. Did you have to repay for the chair bows and chairs for the reception or can they just be brought from the ceremony site and negogiate that when I get threre? They are trying to charge me twice for the same damn thing...

4. Did you have a cake? If so did you like how it turned out? And if you don't mind.. how much did you spend on it?

5. Again... I am trying to figure out if I am spending way to much on my wedding... what was your guys final costs for your weddings?? If you could let me know that would be awesome!!

 

Thanks ladies!!

Oh ok I will have to use that advice when we are down there then.. ok so you ready for this?? lol.... here goes:

 

1. Did you have a hair and/or makeup trial at the resort or just on the day of? If so, were you happy with the results?

2. Did you use your Ipod for the ceremony and dance music?

3. Did you book a dancefloor or do any speeches?

4. Did you do the private cocktail party and reception? If so which menu did you go with and did you like the results?

5. For your room category did you get the upgrade to a higher category or did you book the honeymoon suite? If not was the room satisfactory otherwise?

 

I think I will start with 5 and go from there... thanks in advance Jen!!

Well sounds like they may have closed that, cause they are now telling me they cannot customize any packages anymore... but Jen has given me the managers information so I may try and email them to get the photographers to customize it.. you know though I didn't even think of saying I don't want to go through Lomas I would rather just go straight through them... hmmm maybe I should give that a try too.. I have heard now from a couple other brides that maybe 3 hours would be long enough.. and my fiancee said well what if we slip him some extra money when we are down there.. sort of under the table to see if we could get him to stay an extra hour... so could try that too.. but so far I have asked for a quote on a four hour basis and haven't heard back.. but I will let you all know how it all goes down!!!