taratoons

I'm ASSUMING that these things apply to the free package as well, since Sharron knows that that's the way we're leaning. But it wouldn't hurt to specify, so if someone gets a direct answer to a question specifically about the free package, please pass it on! And I agree, keeping a record of EVERYTHING is key. I'm keeping a folder for all our correspondence with Sharron, which I'll be able to access down there if they try to pull something over on me... It seems to me that all these extra charges may be for a completely SEPARATE event. For example, if you held a rehearsal or welcome party, or if a business held a corporate or private event. For example, it says that the bride's bouquet is $90 in this same list of costs, but that's included in all 3 wedding packages. So I guess this would only apply if someone didn't want to use one of the packages, and wanted to build their own, for some reason....

Okay ladies, my fiance sent an e-mail to Sharron, here are a couple answers: QUESTION -->Tara and I saw in the wedding guide you provided to us that there is a 15 pp fee for chair and table set up. This only applies for rehearsals and parties other then the reception correct. As the cost of set up is built into ALL of the wedding packages and dinner options, am I right? RESPONSE --> Yes you are correct QUESTION (asked July 17, 2009, hopefully still accurate!)--> For linens and ties for ceremony and reception, are they provided with the wedding package, or do they have to be rented? What would the cost be? RESPONSE --> Chair ties $3/chair, table clothes $10/table. Tables and chairs are laid and covered white as standard without cost. Hopefully this information is still true, since the 2nd question (about linens) was asked way back in July... I would love to hear what everyone else gets in response to their questions, since consistency in answers would make me feel a lot more secure/comfortable!

Hey guys! So the set-up fee is ridiculous! I'm hoping that if you get one of the wedding packages, this doesn't apply, since a private reception is one of the main things you're paying for when you get a package... If anyone hears anything, please post ASAP! I did e-mail Sharron last week about the no dancing/music thing, and she said that it's only IN the restaurants that it's not allowed. She did not follow that up by saying that on the terraces, it's okay, but I'm hoping that's what's implied there....

Tam, do you have pictures of your mugs? Did you order them from that site you posted a while back? If you have photos, could you post them, or send some to [email protected]? It would be great to see a real product from them. :0) Thanks!

Annidas, congratulations and good luck! I hope everything goes better than you imagine, you must be SO excited!! Cheers!

jmcaulay, that dress is beautiful, as someone said, simple but very elegant! I bought mine off the rack too, isn't it such a relief? Tam I think that dress works perfectly for a TTD, and for the cost, wow! I bought mine through Sears, not flattering at all but it was $99 and I figure it'll be totally different when wet! Regarding the gazebo vs. beach, we chose the gazebo. We think it's beautiful, and to be honest, when we visited, I wasn't a HUGE fan of the beach. We've been a lot of places, and DPC is not my favourite of those beaches, which is too bad, because I REALLY wanted to get married on the beach! But for the extra $$ it costs too, we decided we really liked the gazebo. In terms of decorations, we are not using the red carpet they have there, and I think I'll just use some fake flower petals along the aisle. I thought about using some white tulle to wrap around the first 2 pillars, but I don't know who would be the one braving the ladder to get to the top of the pillars, so I think I'll leave as is. Thanks for the links to the linen sites, their prices are amazing! I think I'm going to go with the hot pink table runners and sashes. Has anyone started working on a seating chart? For anyone with 30-40 guests, are you doing a head table?

Tam I've never heard of that store, but that sounds like a great deal! I was looking online and found this website - Not sure what the prices are like to ship to Canada, I haven't gotten that far yet. H&H Creations of Custom Embroidery As for groomsmen presents, Bill thinks all the "typical" ideas like flasks and cuff links are useless, so I suggested maybe sunglasses and board shorts for each of the guys, or their sandals for the wedding. At least then it's stuff they'll actually USE again! I don't think I could EVER gather the courage to do BD photos, but I really wish I could! They are so gorgeous! Regarding the video, I'm not sure if we'll do that or not, I know of a couple of brides who say they watch it once and that's it, but others love theirs. We'll see! There's so much for me left to do, I feel like I'm totally going to leave out some vital part of the planning process!

Tam, I think your dress is beautiful! And I wouldn't worry about not liking it, you bought it because you loved it originally, and even you said it looks better ON than on the model! :0) Toya, WOW you are one popular girl! > 70 guests, that's awesome! I went to a destination wedding in 2008 that had 75 guests, and it was a blast! NSBride, that's soooo exciting about getting your dress in early! I've talked to a few people who've had the same thing happen, I think they definitely exaggerate the order time so that everyone won't leave dress buying until the last minute. Regarding the free room, I thought it was Dreams policy to give you one free room if you book 5 rooms for 7 nights, or if you book the Honeymoon suite? That's what I THINK we're getting, unless something's changed that I don't know about! Tam I looked at that mug website, thank you so much for posting! I played around on there for 5 min and came up with what I think will be the PERFECT mug for everyone! Prices are very reasonable too. What are you guys doing for bridesmaid gifts? I've been stressing over this issue for some time, but I think I've decided to get calf-length pink waffle robes embroidered with their names, and then pay the $30 for the day pass to the spa the day of the wedding. I will get my MOH the same, and then pay for her to have a body wrap or facial or something too. I myself will get a white robe embroidered, of course! :0)

Hi there, everyone! Hope you all had a great Halloween, did anyone do anything fun? I dressed up as a bubble bath and had a couple friends over with a Halloween inspired meal. We only got 5 trick or treaters (and we were giving out FULL SIZE chocolate bars!) but we had a good time anyway! :0) Now onto the next big holiday, Christmas. I get so stressed around Christmas-time, but I also love it sooo much, I want to put my tree up the second the Halloween decorations come down! I'm skimping a bit this year what with the new mortgage, and the wedding coming up, so Secret Santa with family it is! Tam, where are you getting your travel mugs? Are you getting them printed with any message or anything? I want to do the same thing instead of favours since I think they'll get used more and will be good tools for identifying people who are there for the wedding, but I'm having trouble finding good prices through companies that ship to Canada. :0( Any help you could give me would be great! Jocy, your dress is breath-taking! Who's the designer? You look gorgeous in it, even though it's miles too big for you (as evidenced by all the pins at the back!). Absolutely gorgeous! I haven't been able to post photos on here (no idea how, I don't even have a profile picture!) but here's a link to mine: Aria - by Maggie Sottero Hope that works! I love it but of course the model is wickedly skinny, doesn't look quite the same on this girl. ;0) Good luck to all of you who have your fittings this weekend, I hope it all goes well!

Hi Ladies! Things seem to be progressing well for everyone, and I'm happy to hear it! I haven't had a chance yet to look into excursions, but my fiance works for a travel agency, so I'm hoping he has all the info! Welcome, Debs! You are from Brockville? I'm originally from the big town of Gananoque, and my wedding date is April 12, one day before your SIL's! We will be there at the same time! Small world! :0) We found our bridesmaids dresses on the weekend, now it's just a matter of convincing all the girls that they are worth the $238 + tax. I let my MOH choose the dress, and I think it'll be flattering on everyone, plus it's EASILY wearable again. The cheapest one we looked at was $198, it's craziness!

Thanks so much Erin, I did receive your e-mail, and can tell you I will certainly be practicing my parts before the wedding! A map of the Dominican, now that is an AMAZING idea! Would you be offended if I hijacked that idea and pitched it to my fiance, to see what he thinks? I agree with you about the photo book thing, totally didn't think of the fact that it would end up being one signature per page! You are so creative, great thinking! :0)

Hi! I have no information regarding weddings in Ocho Rios, but I have been to the Riu there, and have tons of pictures. If you want to see any of them, just PM me your e-mail address and I'd be happy to send them to you. I'll need a PM since I'm not getting married in Jamaica and therefore probably won't see this thread again, I just happened upon it because it said you were an Ontario bride like myself. :0)

Ebredhawk, BEAUTIFUL bouquet!!!! You're very lucky that your Mom knows how to arrange flowers. I would love to try to make my own, but I'm sure it's not easy! How are you transporting them down to PC safely? Also, would you mind sending me the wording through e-mail? For some reason I can't open it... [email protected] Thanks. :0) Has anyone used Michaels for their bouquets? I'm just wondering about costs through them... What are you ladies doing for guest books? I want to do a photobook, but I can't find an affordable one that I like, plus it would be $150 to do the engagement session with my photographer... I've read some creative ideas for guestbooks, just wondering what you guys have decided to do?

Man, I just noticed that I actually wrote "eh" in my last post. Noting that many of you are not from Canada, I'm sure that's just asking for trouble! LOL

You ladies are such wonderfully organized planners! Most of you have wedding dates later than mine and are soooo much further ahead in the planning process than I. I just bought my dress on the weekend, off the rack (and thank goodness for that... Most places were saying it would take 4-6 months to get the dress in, let alone alterations, and since my wedding is 6 months away as of today, it was getting to be crunch time!). We haven't really decided on the guys' outfits yet. Seems like everyone is pretty well going with linen for the men, eh? Any ideas where I can find some good deals on the guys' outfits in Canada?

Ooh, ooh, me too on the welcome kit, please, Ebredhawk! [email protected] Thanks! Tara

Ashley, keep us posted! It was a huge decision, legal vs. symbolic, and we're still back and forth with it! I heard about a list of cake choices? I didn't realize there was a choice, but if someone could send me that to [email protected], that would be great! :0)

Good morning, ladies! I love all the activity on this board, but it's hard to keep up with! Every time I come on, I have about 3 pages to catch up on, and have to start a Word document just to keep all my points! Ebredhawk, thanks for the info about the dance floor, that makes total sense. I think I would have thrown a fit if I was required to pay extra money to use space that we're already paying for! Yes, Sharron is my specific coordinator, she's the only one I've had correspondence with, and she did my site inspection in June, and I specifically requested her. She said it shouldn't be a problem, since she was the one in charge of assignments. Regarding the menu prices, I think this has been asked before, but I can't find it this early in the morning: Does "pick one" mean you pick one meal for everyone to eat? I'm assuming this is the case, but what about allergies, will they do substitutions for those people? I know I'm going to want shrimp as part of some course of the dinner, but I have one guest with shellfish allergies... Will they give an alterative to her, does anyone know? I'm a little nervous about going to MAC, I've been in there and looked around, and it looks amazing! However, I'm used to buying whatever mascara/foundation/nail polish is on sale at Shoppers, so it'll take a lot to get me to suck it up and buy their stuff! But you get what you pay for, I guess, and my wedding day makeup has to be different from my day to day makeup! Thats ok, nsbride, all my friends call me "ta". Just kidding, but I don't mind! :0) What did you do to your poor finger? El patio is a very nice terrace, and althogh the pond is beautiful, i worry about drunken guests falling in! Does anyone else have this problem? LOL.

Wow ladies, major activity today!!!! xxashley, you look beautiful in your dress! It must be such an nice feeling to have found the perfect one. As for your question regarding hair and makeup, I think I'll be getting my bridal party to do mine, after a couple trials at the hair dresser and MAC, hopefully. I might change my mind on the hair part though, because I have heard good things about how DPC can do hair. My only problem is that I went to a destination wedding last year (not at a Dreams resort) where the bride's Mom had her hair done by the staff, and hated it so much she ended up wearing a big hat. So I'm terrified of that! Pynklemonade - WELCOME! I think I was in touch with you over e-mail regarding photos of both resorts, right? I am working with Sharron, and she has been outstanding so far. She e-mails me back within 2 days at most, no matter how minor my question is. I met her when I visited DPC, and she was very honest and organized. Irdavis23, would you mind forwarding me the e-mail of the 2010 prices? I'm having trouble opening the attachment. Also, I'm looking for a bit of clarification: Does the "dance floor - $450" price mean we have to pay extra to have a dance portion at our reception, before heading to the disco? Or is that for a specific set up, and if we don't want the set up, we can just dance our little hearts out on the terrace where we hold the reception? Does anyone know? I like the idea of the fire show or circus show to have during the rehearsal dinner or welcome dinner! I'm happy you finally found your dress, and I'm sorry it was such a terrible process! I'm terrified of going, because I'm worried I won't find anythign easily either, and since I'm now less than 7 months from my date, time is getting short!

nsbride, I'm sure they would be fine with your bringing your own flutes, I'm not sure if you'd be able to find them there though. There are some super cute ones that I've seen, beach related ones and whatnot! Thanks for the info Ebredhawk, we're looking at doing something like the towels, or a customized mug or something at the start of the trip for everyone, instead of favours at the actual wedding. I also thought custom ebroidered robes for the wedding party would be cute, since I want to take them to the spa, but I haven't been able to find anything reasonably priced. Is anyone out there getting married April 12, 2010? I have yet to find any date twins! Speaking of dates, I have yet to step into a SINGLE wedding dress! How are you guys all doing for that? For those of you who have been out shopping for dresses, how did it go for you? Happy FRIDAY, everyone!

Hey ladies! Hope everyone's planning is going well! Ebredhawk, I may have missed this (brain not functioning at full capacity this morning), but where did you order your bags/towels from? They seem reasonably priced, and I'm hoping to do something like that for my guests as well.

Hi guys! I've been MIA lately (we bought a house, and we move in less than a month, so wedding planning has been replaced with house planning!). Everything is looking great on here! Thanks for sharing photos of centerpieces, bouquets, etc, they are very inspiring! Ebredhawk, where did you get your towels/bags? I want to do something like that instead of a favour, like a customized mug or something, but I'm having a hard time finding anything reasonably priced.

Hi ladies! When we booked (back in June) we were told that they used to do a deposit via credit card, but something had happened and the government had changed their regulations, so we didn't need a deposit unless that changed. I've had no further information about needing one, so I guess I better write Sharron to confirm! Autumn 1, I'm not sure about the cost for extended reception, but I'm definitely curious about the answer, if you could send it along if you find out! All I know is that the reception has to be over at 11 pm, and since we're not getting married until 5 pm, we could only really do about 6:30-11 pm or so... Hope everyone's doing well, we are picking up our boarding pass invitations today and sending this week!!!!!!! EEEEEEE!!!! :0D Tara

I'd love the chair sashes if they are still available, and I'm thinking about the bouquets too, but I'm not sure how much shipping would cost to Ontario! :0S

Hey everyone! I wasn't sure exactly what to do stationery-wise either, but was so happy when I made my decision! I wanted to do something with the destination wedding theme, so we did luggage tag shaped save the dates, are doing boarding pass invitations with RSVP postcards. I love that from the get-go, everyone gets the feel of destination wedding! I used TAGZ, a custom stationer here in Ottawa. I have pictures of our save the dates, but I don't know how to upload photos to this site, so if anyone would like a look to get an idea of luggage tag shaped save the dates, just let me know your e-mail! :0) Happy planning! I'm finding the stationery part very fun, exciting, but also a bit frustrating, just trying to figure out what information to put where! Cheers! TP