brandynd

Oh hunnie don't sweat it! I found my dress on ebay (I'm all about being frugal!) and it's PERFECT! I actually just found another one like 5 minutes ago that is a bit more formal, so I think I'll wear that at the ceremony and my other one at our AHR. As long as it's from a reputable seller, and you've checked the measurements it's going to be fine! I was freaking out before mine came too.....what if it isn't packed right? What if it's stained? But it all worked out okay! Worst comes to worst you're only out 74 bucks. There are way worse things that could happen, yeah? Think positive, I'm sure it'll be gorgeous!

I'll take all of the bags, both pink and green! PM me and we'll figure out shipping and such!

Hey ladies....so it's 2:15 on a lovely morning in Omaha, and I'm up stressing about wedding stuff. My MOH backed out of my wedding earlier this evening, and I'm left with a nonrefundable trip. Also, we're having difficulties between the moms, and there's a very strange stain on my carpet in the corner of the room that is staring at me and daring to be begging to be scrubbed with some woolite. This is oh so random....I just feel like I'm losing it. Every little thing makes me crazy. Got into a fight with FI tonight about shades of teal..he went ahead and reserved the ridiculously expensive turquoise chair covers that I HAD to have, and I freaked because they were in the wrong shade....WTF, who fights about a color like that? Too late to call my mom and get her to talk me down off of this bridezilla trip I have going on. If anybody is awake....some mindless chit chat would be nice, because I think I'm losing my mind. Is it normal to get this frazzled still 6 months out?

I will take the BM dress if you still have it. I'll PM you now.

Laura, They are different parts of the resort. The Palace is a bit more upscale (all suites), and is situated away from the rest of the buildings on the property, also at the Palace you have access to the Tropical, Colonial, Beach, and Caribbe. If you stayed at the tropical you would not have access to the Palace. Both are very nice properties, though, and they both have different reasons that they're appealing. The tropical has a bit of a better beach, and is closer to all of the water sports.

I would try [email protected] that one goes to Xhail. I emailed her the other day and she got right back to me. I'm pretty sure that Gabriella is [email protected], but don't quote me on that.

Oh oh, don't use that email! That one goes directly to Ana, who is the senior coordinator in the department, and she has a tendency to take FOREVER to answer. Each WC has a distinct email. I just called yesterday and got the email directly to Xhail. I will wrangle up the phone number at some point today (FI has my car with my wedding folder in it.)

Thanks for the advice ladies! FI has stood up to Momma, but there's only so much he can say without her turning around on him and telling him how he's being so mean to her. She doesn't respond well to criticism at all, instead she turns it around and comes back at you with it. Called this morning at 6:45 and woke us up to ask FI if he'd come put together some piece of furniture for her. She knew we didn't even get back in from Chicago until about 11 last night. WHO DOES THAT?? I don't even know what to do. I've tried being nice to her, I've even taken the approach of talking to FI about why she hates me so much, and what I can do to change it, but he just says that she's difficult, but she thinks I'm great. In what world do you treat someone that you like this way!? Call me crazy, but growing up in MY mothers home there were certain things you just did not do....like calling people at 6:45 for any other reason than that someone had died. The woman is creating a giant wedge between FI and I. The other day I finally got mad. She came over and proceeded to tell me that my livingroom was a mess and that she'd get her cleaning supplies and come over and clean it so it was adequate. Okay....I had just been watching my three year old nephew all damn day. They make messes....that's what they do. And the mess was confined to a small area (I make him a play corner when he's over, so he doesn't thrash my house). Other than that, it was still immaculate, as FI is OCD and he can't stand it when things aren't where they should be. The minute she left I called FI at work and told him exactly what I thought of his mother, in some not so nice words. I know, I know, I shouldn't have done that. But the woman makes Cybil look like the picture of mental health. Oh the next 40 years are going to be good ones...can anyone say monster in law?

God I hope one of you has some words of wisdom for me. My fiance and I are getting married in just under six months, and I swear his mother is ACTIVELY TRYING to make me crazy. She always has to be the center of everything, and gives her two cents when it's anything but warranted. She has always been very cold and distant towards me, and won't even acknowledge my presence when Andrew is out of the room. It is just progressively getting worse. She continuously tells me how I should be doing things for the wedding, and everything that I want to do for our big day is nowhere near good enough for her, yet she isn't willing to fork over a dime to pay for anything, even the rehearsal dinner. I'm trying SO hard to be a good sport about everything, but it's difficult to be pleasant to someone who is anything but in return. We agreed to pay for her trip down to Mexico for the wedding (when I say we I mean Andrew) and what does she do? She books the highest room class available, and refuses to room with anyone else. Her trip cost us almost a grand more than our own, which wouldn't be such a big issue, but Andrew and I are both just finishing up college. We're trying to pay for our wedding and simultaneously save up for a down payment on a house. I'm at a loss. The woman is insane. She throws temper tantrums like a three year old, and calls Andy on average of 12 times a day (I'm not exaggerating, I've counted.) Things have gotten worse as of late, because Andrews father passed away about a month and a half ago. They divorced 20 years ago, and he served as a great buffer for us. Since he died she's been getting more and more volatile. I'm sorry....I don't mean to rant, but I'm so frustrated. I love my fiance more than anything in the world, but I don't comprehend how he came from such a cantankerous woman. Is there any way to politely tell her to back off a little without sounding like the fiance from hell?

Oh my goodness....you all make me feel like I'm so behind. Done Trip/Wedding/WC all booked Dress purchased and received Save the dates sent MOH and BM trips booked and paid for AHR booked Caterer Booked Cake Decorator booked Photographer Booked Not Done Lose 25 lbs. Send BM's in for dress fitting Get the boys in for suit fittings Send out AHR invites Book DJ Purchase centerpieces OOT Bags etc. (basically everything we need for the trip is not done) Fight with the TA about the horrible flights he booked us for. Get Passports renewed. Yeah....I'm behind. Things are not looking so hot at this point in time for me, and to top it all off I got into it with my MIL today.....the woman is making me CRAZY. She seems to think that Andrew and I need to pay for her entire trip for our wedding when she booked a master suite at the hotel...the same room category as the future hubby and I. Any advice?

Oh yes I've heard of Xhail, I haven't heard of Ana though. I have Gabriela and so far she's been good. Are you a part of the Unnoficial Barcelo forum? They are SO helpful there! No, I'm not a part of the forum. I haven't even heard of it until now! Do you have the web address for it?

Quote: Originally Posted by RCBlondie Hi Everyone, Thanks brandynd - good idea to watch the travel websites. I assume some of your guests are taking care of the trip themselves? Our TA will probably have a block of rooms but I think this means that the rooms are only available in the block until a certain date and also a deposit will be required. If anyone know differently please let me know. We are not overly concerned with having everyone together in the resort. One of the reasons we are looking at something that has a total of 500 rooms (some resorts look like they are 500 rooms but they are part of a BIG resort, like the Iberostar(s). Beautiful, but easy to get lost and never see your guests. We figure it is a holiday for them too so they may very well like to have a bit of space too. Barcelo for $600 is a great deal! Where is it flying from? That flight was flying out of Omaha and then connecting in Atlanta to Cancun, and they even included the transfers to and from the barcelo in the price, which made it a steal. The only downside to the flight is that it leaves Omaha at like 5 in the morning, which is gross, because with check-in here they have to be at the airport by 3am in order to find parking and take the shuttle, which in itself takes almost an hour anymore. We went back in today and the prices have skyrocketed. I booked my MOH's trip and put down the deposit this morning, and for a four night package I ended up spending a thousand dollars.....not exactly horrible, but definitely not was I was expecting after seeing those low rates. As for your deposit issue, the hotel company that I work for has a block available until a cut-off date. Once that is reached the rooms are available on a first come, first served basis, and they will not guarantee availability. The deposit situation varies based upon how many rooms you have blocked off, and what system the company uses to book their rooms. I know that normally the way we do it is that only rooms that are blocked off for a business function require deposits. Anyways, I better run, I have to head out to my mothers for a little barbeque and boating. I hope this helped at least a little! Brandy

Quote: Originally Posted by Sandra&Mario I'm fairly certain it is just 4 days before your wedding, I haven't heard anything about days after...we're not having a legal wedding there. It doesn't make sense for us since it's just a hassle having it all sent to NJ and waiting. So instead we opted to have our legalities here which is basically just signing some paperwork at town hall with a witness a couple weeks before. We'll consider our wedding THE DAY of course because that's when we're exchanging our vows and I'm wearing my beautiful gown Hi Brandy!!! Is my wedding day the date you're arriving? That is not creepy at all, lol. You're more than welcome to sneak by and catch a glimpse Welcome to the site, you're going to love it!! There is sooooooooooooooooooooo much great information! Good luck with all your planning I'm in the midst of painting maracas, lol. How exciting! We're actually flying in on the 7th. The 8th is Andrew's birthday, and we really wanted to be able to just spend some time together that day instead of spending it traveling. I'm looking forward to having some time to just relax and do nothing before the day of the wedding (if I'm not running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything done!) so with any luck I will be spending most of that day where I belong....by the pool with a cocktail in hand.

Yes, our date is confirmed. Funny story on the coordinator though. Our first travel agent was a bit shady, and kept changing the amount they wanted for deposits and stuff after we had called ahead ten minutes earlier, so we went to a different company. Somewhere in the shuffle we lost our wedding coordinators info. I think her name was Xhali....something along those lines, it was a really unique name. Now Ana has taken over the plans for our wedding. She seems really nice, but I've heard some not so nice reviews on her work in the past, which is making me a little uncomfortable.

Hey ladies! I've been reading through your posts, and I thought of a couple of different things that might help. When Andrew and I were looking for our resort, the first thing we did was go talk to a travel agent who specializes in destination weddings. This helped us out a great deal. As for keeping it affordable, I would recommend the barcelo riviera maya for a number of reasons. First of all it is very affordable, and family friendly. Also (and this was a huge selling point for me, because I have an overbearing future mother-in-law) is that they have different categories of hotel, so if you were to stay at the palace you could still go visit and spend time with your family, but they can't necessarily get in to you. Selfish, I know, but it works. No matter where you stay though, the biggest advice I have for you is to watch the travel websites closely. many travel agents will match wholesale prices for the cost of travel. Many of our guests watched the prices on orbitz, and then brought a printout in with them to the travel agent. I know my mother got her 6 night stay at the Barcelo for $600 plus the cost of transfers, which is more than reasonable. I hope that some of this helped you out at least a little!

Hey Sandra&Mario! We're only 5 days apart! I'm getting married on the 13th, so I'll be there for your wedding. Wait....that sounds creepy. Hopefully pricing for 2010 comes out shortly. My lovely travel agent gave me out of date pricing.....gotta love it. That and I can't get a straight answer from my WC. She said that she would be emailing me updated prices within the next week or so..but that was almost a month ago.

Hello everyone! Oh my goodness there are a lot of us, and that makes me feel so so so much better! Cara, you and I are sight buddies! I'm getting married at the Barcelo Riviera Maya Palace on January 13, 2010. I am so excited! I'm just a little concerned, because my wedding coordinator has been a little slow on getting the ball rolling. Maybe I'm just being paranoid though, since the wedding isn't until January. I'm just a nit-picker....everything has to be perfect....so on and so forth. We only have a small number of people going at this point. 22 have booked, and I don't know how much higher that will get, because most of our friends are finishing up their senior year in college. Anyways, just thought I'd stop in and say hello really quickly! Brandy

Hello everyone! My name is Brandy, and I am getting married on January 13, 2010 at the Barcelo Maya Palace in the Riviera Maya.