Lindobride14

Quote: Originally Posted by Sandra Lue Hello ladies! Another May 2011 bride here. We are going to the Riviera Maya this week to do some site inspections and will post my findings. Here is my list of resorts: Grand Palladium, Barcelo Maya Palace, Occidental Xcaret, Iberostar Paraiso Maya, and Riu. Wish me luck! Sandra Welcome and good luck! We are getting married at the Lindo which is immediately adjacent to the IB Maya and shares the same pool, etc. Can't wait to hear your review! In particular, I'm interested in hearing what you think of the restaurants/venues that you can have a private reception there. We are going in July to do our site visit. I know we are doing things backwards, book our resort and then site visit, but such is life. This way at least we will be able to pick out our reception venue, menu, flowers, etc. and not have to worry about a thing the week of our wedding. Have a great trip! Safe travels! Tara

Quote: Originally Posted by Margret Hello Ladies in Canada, I was able to get some good rates from ITravel 2000 through West Jet for next January. I was quoted $1411 taxes in. I will still wait for Air Canada and Sunwing and hopefully they will go down even more. My TA keeps telling me to wait till August. I told my guests to do the same. So far no complains...good luck! That's a good rate ! If I were your guest I'd be happy w that! Are those two sites in Canada only? What resort(s) are you looking at ? I am getting so anxious to book already! We decided to get STD/travel info packets out around mid May and include whatever the current prices are b/c our TA will price match if rates come down more! Hopefully they will! I hadn't heard about waiting till Aug. Did your TA say rates typically go down in Aug?

Del Mar Brides- Is it true that you only get one ala carte restaurant reservations for a 4-night stay?? Maybe this is a new rule? My TA just spoke with them yesterday and this is what the head of their group department told her.

LDeeken- So I just talked to Reyna and good news, they have no issue with me transferring the deposit over to the Del Mar, as long as our date is still available. Still waiting on that. She did say that since the Del Mar is different managment than Lindo, we have to book everything through the Del Mar's coordinators. Stinks because I developed a good relationship with Mayra. She's so sweet. How have you found the WC's to be at Del Mar?

Quote: Originally Posted by LDeeken That is why we decided to have our wedding at the Del Mar. We loved the Italian restaurant and wanted to have our private reception there. We didn't have to put down a deposit, so I don't know what their policy is on switching. My fiance and I are staying at the Lindo and getting married at the Del Mar. The WC told us it was not a problem. We also liked the fact that our guests had more of a choice of where to stay. In fact the majority of our guests are staying at the Del Mar. We did just book the Presidential Suite at the Del Mar for the Day/Night of the wedding for $300. Since most of our guests are staying at the Del Mar and I wanted the girls to have a bigger room to get ready in, we thought this would be perfect! It is right by the Italian restaurant too, so if we need to go back for touch ups or something we are close. Just something to think about! Yeah the deposit it seems is new for 2011. I have an email in to mayra so we'll see what she says about switching. What stinks is that my site visit isn't until July 26 so I won't get to actually see the venues till then, but I'd like to get our STD packets out next month, which will include all resort/booking info. *sigh* Decisions, decisions. . . Thanks for the tip about the Presidential Suite. I will definitely do that if we go this route!

Hi all- So I'm thinking about possibly moving our reception to the Del Mar because I love the Italian for private reception. The problem is that I paid my deposit and reserved the date through the Lindo. Is it a big deal to change this? Anyone personally do this? Another plus is then guests on a budget can stay at the Del Mar/Beach and not have to pay the guest pass to go to the wedding at the Lindo. I think the WC at Lindo had wrote in a past email that the Bride & Groom must stay at the resort where the reception will take place? Is this true or can we still stay at the Lindo and have our reception at the Del Mar?

Quote: Originally Posted by Britt1222 Hello Tara, Do you mind sending me those pictures? We picked out everything and now we are considering changing to a private venue two months before! My e-mail is [email protected]. Thank you, Brittany You've got mail )

Quote: Originally Posted by prettypigpig Lindobride, We picked the Royal Playa Del Carmen, because it is located right on Playa Del Carmen, so we can save on cab if we wanna go clubbing or shopping. Its sister resort is next door, so guests on budget or with kids can stay there and come over for my wedding. Sascha Gluck is great, similar style as Elizabeth Medina (of course her pics are very stylish and nice too, but it was over my budget), my god brother is a pro-photographer too, we picked Sascha after going thru a lot of portfolio and price/quality comparison. Ivan Luckies is good and very very good price too, but for $1000 more I would prefer Sascha, because I prefer his takes on light and contrast. Del Sol too was on my list, but again they are a bit over my budget. As life continues after wedding, I can't really too overspend. Well put. Life continues after the wedding is going to be my new mantra whenever I get a little too "wrapped up" so to speak. I love Elizabeth Medina and Del Sol but just can't see spending 5k for photography. The Royal looks beautiful and you can't beat the location. Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know if they do catholic ceremonies (chapel onsight)? Have you chosen your reception spot yet? Restaurant, beachfront?

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a huge guest list! It's not even that many of our friends, just that we both have large families. His parents are from Poland and if they had it their way we'd be inviting 700 guests (they had 750 at their wedding and that was 32 years ago!!) It 's definitely a cultural thing. We allotted them 100 guests and that's not even all their first cousins! Then as for my family, my parents have been divorced since I was 2 years old, so we've got to invite my mom's side, my stepdad's side, my dad's side, my stepmom's side . . . snowball effect! I seriously hope we don't get any more than 75 either. I'm not really stressing it though. Our parents are wonderful and they don't ask us for much. We'll basically just be out the postage on all these STD's and invitations. And I hate to sound greedy because this is not my motive at all, but a lot of those that can't make it will send us monetary gifts. (Also cultural, Polish people tend to stuff envelopes)

Quote: Originally Posted by prettypigpig WOW beautiful dress! did you order it from HDgate? I was so busy for the past few days due to risk committee meetings and other projects. Today, I put a deposit for the engagement shots photographer, Cecilia Dumas, and my wedding photographer, Sasha Gluck. Therefore...Hotel wedding spot, reception spot BOOKED, photographers BOOKED, on site inspection BOOKED, STDs SENT!!! yeah~~~ Of course still have to find my dress! My sisters already picked their BM dresses. Bonnie- Congrats! you have a quite a bit done. You are way ahead of the game. What resort did you choose? Sascha Gluck is in our top three photographers too. He does very nice work & competitively priced.

Quote: Originally Posted by debbmach I have a question about when the deposit is due on the resort. From what I understand, once you're happy with the price that the TA has quoted then you have a limited time frame (about a week) to put a deposit down. What are you guys doing about this? Are you putting down the deposit yourselves and estimating how many rooms you'll need? OR Are you calling/emailing your guests and telling them they have to put a deposit down if they want to go? My TA did say that if you need more rooms than the number you put the deposit down for then you can get them, but the rates aren't guaranteed for them, meaning they may increase. My FI and I don't feel comfortable putting down a deposit on a certain number of rooms based on the people that say they will be coming, because they may change their minds and decide not to come. I just don't want to lose that money. Just wanted to know what everyone else is doing. I just wanted to let you know that I'm staying at an iberostar too but in MX and the group rates from the resort were barely discounted. TA said it used to be that you get a great discount for booking large groups but it's just not the case anymore. She said that although w group booking you have the security of the resort selling out, your guests will almost always get a better deal booking individually. For this reason we decided to book individually. I don't know if that's true across the board but worth having your TA look into for you.

FurtureMrsRobart- OMG, I LOVE your dress -- it's absolutely stunning. I'm a big fan of the one shoulder! Congrats on scratching such a significant thing off your list

Quote: Originally Posted by josietoms 250!! Did i read that right - lol! U will have to keep us informed as to how many confirm. I only have 18 coming but then i suppose we are travelling from England; if i was getting married in Spain or Greeece where a lot of European DW take place im sure we would have many more friends and family coming. Good news on the early bird discount - we dont have anything like that here :-( I know . . . it's crazy. Watch we get 150 in Mexico -- hahaha Yikes! It's honestly more so just going through the motions since we're not doing an AHR. I will keep you posted on how many are RSVP-ing.

Hi all- I already posted this is in the 2011 brides thread, but I went to Funjet's website (for the 1,000th time LOL) on Sunday just to check out rates and noticed that they now have a 25% off early booking discount on a lot of Riviera Maya resorts. Go to their site and see if yours is included! Mine is . . . Hurray!! For a week with nonstop flight, the rate is down to about 1720! Still above my 1500 goal, but a damn good improvement from what it was!

Michelle- I haven't been checking this thread too frequently lately . . So sorry to hear about the issues you've been dealing with . . . Keep your head up, Love. It'll be a nice release to pop out the bubbly with the ladies tomorrow

Quote: Originally Posted by cjb0arder13 So I rushed to the site to see...and OF COURSE my resort is not included . Boooooo to that! I'm still being patient, and hoping for the best! BOO! That stinks. They WILL go down. It's just a matter of time. For what it's worth, I hear Azul is fabulous! Nanda, my TA at Beach Bum Vacation, used to work for Azul and very highly recommends it!

Thanks for all the advice, ladies! My situation is a little different in that we r not having an AHR so we are inviting all 250--yes, 250!--guests to Mexico. Talked it over with all our parents & decided these were the people they'd want to invite to our shower and in my opinion you cannot invite someone to your shower and not the actual wedding. We know for a fact that probably only 50-75 will come but no one can say they weren't invited:) so we r going to hold off just a bit longer bc changing the date even by email for all those people would be a circus! Good news is Funjet is doing a 25% off early booking special at our resort so prices are starting to come down! Check out their site & see if your resorts are included in this

Quote: Originally Posted by hamster Hi, my dress has lace shoulders and, more importantly, a low V back. I would like advice on accessories. Click to see the dress: My dress - model picture 1. Do you like the idea of wearing a back necklace with the dress, or do you think that would make it too "busy"? 2. What style of veil do you think would work best with such a dress? Birdcage? Cathedral? Or maybe no veil at all? 3. Sorry to be personal but I am really fretting about the bra issue! The dress shop told me to shop for a bustier online but I have had difficulty finding one that is low enough in the back!! This is the lowest one I have found so far: low backed bustier I don't know if it's low enough for what I need. What do you think? If not can you suggest anyplace to look? I am a D cup and need to wear a bra, unfortunately. Please do not feel a need to answer all three. If you can just answer any of them I would be grateful. First off, GORGEOUS dress! So unique. I never thought of trying this kind of style, but am having serious dress envy ! My opinion is a back necklace can look beautiful and really "make" your look, but with your dress being such a statement already, if you do go for this look, do not wear a veil and choose a simpler style necklace. Saw this one on a photographer's site. Don't know who makes it though.

Quote: Originally Posted by ursula Hi lberostar Brides, I'm actually a May 2011 bride but I was hoping since most of you are getting married this year you would have this info already. I'm looking for pics of the private reception areas. Reyna sent me one picture but it was very dark, plus im hoping there are other options than just one restaurant. maybe a patio or poolside. i've tried to search the forum but im not finding any pics. and i've read that theres a chapel or gazebo near the shopping center and one above the wave pool - does anyone have pics of this too? Thanks so much for any help!! Ursula- Welcome! We are getting married January 22, 2011 at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo. I was sent pictures of all of the Lindo's private reception areas. Keep in mind though that while all of the Iberostar properties share the chapel for ceremony site, each resort has separate reception venues available. So if you're interested in the Del Mar/Beach or Grand, your reception choices will be different. If you're interested, I would be more than happy to forward you the email from my WC Mayra with photos of all the available reception venues at the Lindo. Just PM me your email address and I will send it to you. Good luck in your search! Tara

Quote: Originally Posted by finleys7 Leaving in a week for the Iberostar Del Mar - I will have a full review for you ladies upon my return. Hope all is well!!! Oh my gosh . . . the final countdown! So excited for you! We can't wait to hear all about it

Raychel- Have you tried Badgley Mischka? They have some fabulous shoes. Piperlime has a good selection of them. I think I may go with these: BADGLEY MISCHKA HYDE Wedding Shoes and HYDE Dyeable Bridal Shoes WHITE Looks like you can get them dyed on this site as well.

Just wanted to let anyone waiting for their rack rates to go down -- Mischaka, I think you are -- Funjet is offering a 25% off early booking bonus on a lot of RM resorts, mine included! Go to their site and check it out. Even with this promo, prices are still a bit high, but this is a great start.

Quote: Originally Posted by Glowwbug Hi there, I'm at the very beginning of the planning process, but we're hoping for a Sept./Oct. wedding in the Bahamas. I have a ton of questions about the best place to have the wedding and reception, which place has the most reasonable rates for our guests, etc. and would love advice on any and all of those topics. However, right now I'm wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a good travel agent that our guests can use to book their travel. Money is definitely an issue for some guests, so we're trying to keep it as affordable as possible. Additionally, I saw that there is a deal out there for free companion airfare to the Bahamas and I was wondering if anyone has taken advantage of this offer for themselves or their guests. Thanks in advance! I look forward to meeting all of you. Angi Angi, Welcome! I just started planning our wedding last month, and this forum has helped me tremendously. I initially was using a local travel agent not very experienced in destination weddings as was getting extremely frustrated with her lack of follow-up with my questions. I hold nothing against her; I just don't think weddings are her forte.

I think it's going to be "Lucky" which I see is quite popular or "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. I orginally wanted "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice, such a passionate and emotional song. Then I realized that the line I thought said "Do you know that I love you" was really "do you know that I loathe you." How romantic. Oh, I think we're going to walk in to "Tequila" Pee-Wee Herman style