sarah2012

Hello! We got married December 9, 2011 and it was AMAZING!! We had Valeria and she was absolutely wonderful. She did exactly everything we asked of her and the wedding was perfect. They set up was exactly as we requested and the day was wonderful. Do not worry! Valeria is awesome!

We got married at SMB on December 9, 2011 and I have to say it was amazing!! All of our guests raved on about how wonderful the week was and we agreed! We used the resort DJ and he was great. He played all the songs we requested and also took requests throughout the night. The sound system was excellent quality as well. If you have any questions feel free to message me... I am trying to work on a review now

I wouldn't be worried so much about what the hotel says, I would be more worried about the potential number of complaints you might get to the manager from other guests! We had our wedding there in December and it was by far the most wonderful all inclusive hotel we or any of our guests have ever been too. The reason I say to worry more about guest complaints, which will get the hotel's attention, (not to mention you have to go through security and reception to get into the hotel) is because one of the most common things I heard at the resort was people commenting on how great it was to not have kids around. I hope for your sake that guests are understanding about it being a wedding and that the children aren't actually staying at the hotel. Have you checked with Valeria what their policy is? She was wonderful and organised everything perfectly for us.

Amazing

We're doing paper bags too. I love how simple it looks with a nice ribbon. I figure most people will leave their bag behind so I'd rather spend the money on the items in the bag.

I've really got to start posting more. I'm miles from 150 posts! Dying to download this.

Hi I am also from Canada and have booked through a wedding TA. We found the same thing that it is not any cheaper to book room and flight separate so reserved the package. I do know that it was a couple hundred cheaper for guests who only wanted to go for half the week - so that might be an option for some of your family. We ended up getting a great deal for SMB but it still has out priced some guests but having a destination wedding is going to out price people no matter which resort you choose. One thing to bear in mind though (as an example) initially my grandpa and his wife were looking at staying at other properties to save money but in the end they decided to just go for it and booked. Another thing to mention is that we ended up changing the time of year to save guests money. Originally we were planning for March 2012 but the TA found a smokin' deal for December 2011 and we went for it - so changing the time of year might help too. Only downside with that move is a few people had already used all the holiday time for the year so despite the more affordable price won't be able to come for other reasons. So many things to consider but just remember, no matter what you end up deciding you sadly won't be able to please everyone. Hope that helps

So not fair! I tried on so many dresses and would have loved to have pictures of me in them. It is such a silly policy so many stores have but oh well... I have my dress now!!! Can't wait till I'm closer to the wedding to have it fitted and altered to perfection

I love the idea of a taco bar! Your guys style is totally what we want - just not sure if we are going to wait 6 months after the wedding for the weather to get better to have the party or just rent a hall is it will be winter right after the wedding and do the whole thing indoors... hmmm

So glad I found this thread! So much fun! I think everyone looks way better in their dresses than in the stock pics, the models NEVER look happy - it's supposed to be your wedding day, SMILE for goodness sake!!! haha So here is the dress I bough 2 days ago... eeekk!! Hence the reason I was allowed to take pics - Any other brides in the UK or Canada not allowed to take pics unless you buy?? Anyhoo - bought off the rack and is a couple sizes too big but once is taken up and in a bit will be perfect!!! Yipppeee

Okay Starrysim... I have to ask... HOW ON EARTH did you convince the people in the stores to let you take soooooo many pics without buying?? I've been shopping in both the UK and Canada and NO WAY are you allowed to take a picture unless you buy.... I mean it's a pretty ridiculous rule they have as all the photos are online anyway so if you really want to copy the dress and make it yourself you still can... Just curious is all Oooo and I bought a dress a couple days ago so I will definitely be adding my pics to this great thread

Congrats! Your pics look beautiful (and so do you!!) Question - where did you get that foot jewelery (looks like a flip flop without the bottom????) and what would you call that? Looks like a great alternative to jeweled Gladiator sandals which is what I was thinking of doing....

Wow that's intense! I really can't believe they would do that, no wonder you're angry!! And the bragging about it??? Yeesh.... But good for you for trying to be mature and diplomatic about it and feel free to vent away I guess just try not to take it as a personal attack against you for completely disregarding your clearly stated wishes. Be the better person, don't stoop to their level, etc etc. Or maybe just smack the two you know whats upside the head, kick 'em in the ribs while they're down and threaten a worse retaliation the next time they cross you ... haha just kidding, don't really do that Just take it all in stride, you can handle it

Your pics look amazing! I can't wait to see more if you post them and read your review!! LOVE the isle with the starfish!! Is that part of the basic package? Also do you recall what the different options are for the Hupla? (I think they call it a hupla or something that sounds close to that?? Basically the arch thing you get married under) We are doing the ceremony on the beach, I love the look of it so much and am even happier with our decision now that I've seen your pics. Who did your photos btw? Am starting to research photographers now... were you happy with whoever it was? CONGRATS btw!!

Thanks for the info Jenny!! Do you know if you have the dinner next to the gazebo can you put some lights up and turn it into a dance floor? I love the idea of dancing it up in a gazebo Though the light up dance floor has always seemed like a lot of fun hmmmm....

OMG those are incredible!! I would never have the patience to do all that... you just might be my new hero haha

So here is out dilemma.... For the AHR we really just wanted to do an informal BBQ party at my future in-laws house. They have a nice yard/deck and some space indoors as well. This would have been great for us as originally we were planning the wedding for March 2012 and figured we could do the BBQ 2 months later in May. Now due to pricing issues we have decided to move the wedding up to December 2011. The weather isn't going to be nearly good enough in Vancouver to have a BBQ in Feb and we really don't want to wait 5 months until the weather gets nice again in May. What do we do? Not really sure we want to rent a hall as that just adds to the cost and makes the whole thing seem much more formal than we originally wanted and the in'law's house just insn't big enough without the option of people being outside..... Ideas, thoughts, suggestions welcome!!! Thanks

Hello!! I just booked recently... I live in the UK now but have booked through a TA in Vancouver as I am moving back there before the wedding and most guest will be travelling from there anyway. Message me if you have any questions and I'll do by best to help

Hi Jenny, The video looks amazing! We are getting married at SMB on December 9, 2011!!! So a couple quick questions for you and any other SMB brides out there... The chairs at the ceremony - I LOVE the look without the covers! Are they the standard chair that comes with but just without a cover? DJ - Who did the Djing? was it the one the resort recommends? Reception - I couldn't tell from the video but where did you do the reception? We have requested the poolside Gazebo - I think this is where you had your ceremony? I could go on and on, but let's start with those CONGRATS btw!!!

OK, so one more post closer to my signature

What a great idea and you are soooooo organized! How did you get everything planned so far in advance? I can't even get prices yet for March 2012. But maybe as we're flying from Vancouver we need to do packages so that makes a difference? Very impressed!

What a nice website... very well done. We are just now trying to decide which provider to set up our website through. Are you happy with wedding wire? Any real positives/negatives?

Wow these are all so great! Thanks to everyone for posting some many ideas!!

I've been BM & MOH a few times and it was half and half on whether or not I paid for the dress. Every time I was in a wedding where we paid for the dress most of the BMs complained amongst each other about having to pay for the dress (esp. when they don't like the dress), cost of wedding, shower, stags etc and these weddings were at home. I couldn't imagine the complaints and b***hing that would go on behind the bride's back if they had to pay to attend the DW PLUS pay for the dress. In our case we will be paying for the dresses. Despite the fact that yes I have been a BM in a few weddings we are only having 2 BM/GM each. MOH will be my sister and BM will be a long time friend. Even if I were having a large group of BMs at my wedding I still would pay for the dresses as they are forking out huge bucks to attend the wedding.... Just my opinion anyway

Initially when we decided to have a DW both my FI and I felt guilt about pricing people out number 1 and number 2 deciding whether or no to have adults only or family friendly. We don't have kids but quite a few of our friends and cousins are starting to have families. In the end we are going with what we want and that is Adults only. We still haven't booked as we are waiting for prices to come out for March 2012 but have narrowed it down to our top 3 choices. So obviously I would agree with most and say go with the resort you want. Simply by choosing to have a DW is going to out price a number of people regardless of where you hold it. It's hard to do when you want everyone to come and don't want to leave anyone out, but in the end it's YOUR day. People always complain about the cost of a wedding even when it's local ("I have to buy a dress, gift, shower gift, stag night/weekend, drinks if it's not open bar etc etc"). No matter what you just can't please everyone.