saskbride

Enjoy Hayley! We might scope out you wedding! We arrive on December 7 and wedding date is the 11!

This is all so amazing! I wish I would have started thinking about some of this stuff ahead of time- instead of two weeks out!

Has anyone had any contact with the wedding coordinators lately? I had emailed some things last week and have had no response- and my wedding is a month away! Getting a bit impatient!

Hi everyone! Welcome to anyone new! I have been MIA for so long I need to go back and get reacquainted! I am in full panic mode! We leave in 40 days and have done nothing for months! School is just insane this year and coaching volleyball and many other side things have got me off track! We have also been having more difficulty tracking down Kenya then the past wedding assistants- but when we finally heard back this week it was reassuring! Up this week is getting the girls and my dress fitted.. I finally went and picked up girls dresses froma friend inEdmonton who had picked them up at Davids Bridal for me in early September! I am freaking because my daughters dress looks so short and I can't try it on her til Wednesday because she is with her dad! I am getting my dress fitted on Thursday. While I was in Edmonton I did pick out a wedding band so another nessesity done.. now just to get on DF to find an outfit! Do you think it is to late to order something from online?! You will be hearing a lot more from me in the next month- can't believe it is coming so soon! ashleyLynn- I was going to say we missed each other by a day- but it is actually a year and a day! Lindsay

Is anyone having an outside vendor come in for hair and makeup or are you using the spa on the resort? I definetely don't want to do my own but right now just planning on using the spa!

Wow! That is crazy! Do they get big breaks at other times of year? I am really behind! I am hoping that when we go to Saskatoon tomorrow we will have time to stop at Michaels so I can get some coordinating paper to start some of the things wanted to make!

I don't see any harm in getting the stuff in earlier- that way if there is any questions or they bring anything else to your attention you have time to make choices! I erally have to get on that- I really thought would get more done this summer but renovations and beach days have been eatting up my summer! Only three weeks left til back at school!

Please share the answers with me!

How many people are you thinking you will be having? There is a lot of different packages available and most offer some sort of free package for a certain amount of guests. The catch there is that the free packages are for 10 people (or something) and you need 30 to get it so end up paying for the extra people anyway.. but there is many different packages to look at! What are some of the most important things to you about the resort? One way to save money at the DW is getting married before(or after) and having a symbolic ceremony. Another way to save money is to plan wedding in off season- do you have a date in mind? Good luck planning!

Welcome Okotoksbride! To bad you didnt find us sooner- but please fill us in on all the details from your wedding and offer us advice! We have our own little Canadian community going on here! Yeah summer would be the perfect time for a teacher wedding- except in my case my fiance owns a small business that does all its work from April-November so pickings were slim for us.. All school holidays are to expensive so had to take a week off in December! It is awesome that you can have so much time to enjoy your wedding!

I have been hearing mixed reviews about the beach. It sounds like there are a few different areas of the beach and the area that has great snorkeling is a bit rocky (from what I understand). From the pictures it looks like it is beautiful and my TA had recommended this beach over some other resorts.. I don't think that it is small but I guess I don't have much to compare it to- the last resort we stayed at we never even went to the beach and the sister resort had a small beach littered with people selling stuff! lol Good luck playing your wedding! I see you have it narrowed down to area and month already! I suggest emailing Andrea and she can send you pictures of what ever you need- they are awesome!

The deposit deadline was last week in June and we have 34 people booked and I think we will get at least 2 more couples coming and one family is thinking about bringing kids so I think we will have between 35-40. Final trip is due at end of September I think. Can you look directly on AirCanada site and see what they have for flights there now?

We have never been to Riviera Maya- so when looking at resorts we asked for our TA help in narrowing down resorts. We actually consulted three different TA and then reviewed all the properties that they had suggested. Grand Sirenis was on two of the threes list- and all the properties on the thirds lists were out of our price point. Things that we looked for were: - a private location for wedding - large property with many activities on site - many choices for food. The one negative is that it is about an hour from the airport so not excited about that but I guess not a huge issue. I have known large groups that have gone to Grand Sirenis and been happy so took that into consideration too.. The information that they give you is very complete and the wedding coordinator/planner is amazing! She has sent me numerous pictures and price lists and gets back to you in the same day always! I fell in love with the palapa so that is how I chose the Grand Sirenis as my final choice!

I haven't asked but was thinking about that. Maybe on the first night we are there for supper. I don't feel like we need a rehearsal dinner the night before but would like something early in the week. Most of our group booked on the last few days! Actually most booked a day after the deadline but Transat honored the price! Lol We were in the city and one dress was in at David's Bridal. I decided I love color now and am happy went with it! Lol

Gibbs150- I hope you found that information helpful. Let me know if you need anything else. Calgarybride- How many bridesmaids do you have? I feel that our weddings are very similar- I wish you were coming the week in December that there is 3 of us on here getting married! lol

If you send me your email I can send you all the information I have received from the resort as far as pricing and packages and such.

That was going to be my next question on this board! We are also having a symbolic ceremony and have been debating whether we should come clean or not with our guests. Also we have been debating when we should 'actually' get married! I asked Andrea a few questions about this - I was wondering if guests would be able to tell from the format of the ceremony that it was symbolic. She said that you still sign a paper just you don't have a witness sign it as well.. I haven't seen to much discussion on this site about symbolic versus legal but I know on another site most of the members were outright rude to those who were planning a symbolic ceremony.. Andrea also said that we don't have to show any documentation of actually being married before we go so now I am wondering if we should actually get married after the ceremony instead of before like we were originally planning. I love your dress! It does have a very beachy feeling to it! My bridesmaid dresses are very similar! Our wedding party is our daughters so my daughter will be my bridesmaid (maid of honor according to her! ) And my fiances daughters will be standing up with him. These are the dresses that we picked: http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Short-Crinkle-Chiffon-Dress-with-Front-Cascade-F14847?cm_vc=PDPRCTV http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Sleeveless-Short-Mesh-Dress-with-Side-Cascade-JB5657?cm_vc=PDPRCTV My daughter was not impresses she didn't get the same dress as other girls so we tried to match it up as close as we could. We went with the spa color. Welcome to the site Gibbs. A symbolic ceremony is a ceremony with no legal . It will look the same as the legal ceremony except for that you won't have a minister marry you- I am not actually sure who preforms the ceremony. Some places you need to be legally married before going to do a symbolic but Andrea said that you don't need to be at Grand Sirenis.

I had felt the same- but I guess in the end you are actually paying for the service of having a private meal so staff waiting only on you- and having a private location for your reception instead of a semi-private location. We debated on which to do and origianlly when it was just going to be immediate family we had thought would do a semi-private meal in one of the restaurants for about 15 of us.. now that we have closer to 40 we have opted for spending the extra for the palapa. I am not sure what the blood tests cost- but do remember someone- I think FortMacbride mentioning it in her posts.. Andrea email is [email protected] Her email is under Maria Rodriguez name as she is filling in for her maternity leave. she is awesome and answers any questions you have promptly. She will also send you additional pictures if you are unsure of something. There is a slide show of flowers, meal options and cake options. There is also a sheet to do upgrades so many on here have decided to go with a cheaper option and just add the extras that they personally want. Some of the packages include things that aren't that crucial such as a special breakfast or a bottle of champagne. I would think that booking through Grand Sirenis directly you will have better rates. I

Yay! That is great! I bought my dress at a local dress shop. I had tried some bigger dress shops in Edmonton and at West Edmonton Mall but when I looked at pictures after the less I liked them! I tried on way to many dresses though. I will post a picture of my dress on when I go get it fitted but this is a link to the dress. http://www.jaibridals.com/style.php?sty=9154 I really liked the bottom of this one- I found I liked top of most dresses and hated the bottoms! lol Yes- I heard back from Andrea and she said beer and blended drinks are included in all the packages. The higher packages have higher grade alcohol to put in blended drinks and premium beers- not a big deal to me!! Gibbs- the travel agent initiated contact with the wedding coordinator and got all the package information and then I picked what I wanted and paid the 500$ deposit and have done the rest directly with Andrea at Grand Sirenis.

Oh that makes sense! Then the cost should be a lot cheaper then if had to ent the health bar or beach bar- that was almost as much as palapa! I agree about the price should be minimal since we are technically already paying for it once! I did check with Andrea that the bar would have a blender to make blender drinks- My daughter can barely wait to go back to Mexico to drink all her 'virgin' drinks!! Are your bridesmaid dresses an easy color to match or are you bringing ribbon from home? I went with a funny color and now I see my second choice (more aqua blue) posted everywhere on Sirenis pictures! I went with more of a sea green.. I get so flustered when I go dress shopping I really had no idea what I wanted for color when I went in and then thought maybe coral or aqua blue! Somehow I ended up with a green.. lol. My fiance wanted Roughrider green (since we met at a Rider game and are very passionate football fans- but I wasn't willing to go there so maybe the lighter green is a compromise!

Most people are planning to have a cocktail hour/ party between ceremony and reception- are you booking one of the private parties (health bar or beach bar)? Or what is the difference between that and just a regular cocktail hour.? Andrea sent me prices for national, international and premium cocktail hours but was noticing on extra cost sheet there is some options for private cocktail parties? Also- has anyone picked their cake from the slideshow or are you waiting to get down there to do that? Some of them look a bit hideous I was thinking about asking for cupcakes with a starfish on them.. I am getting so excited now! I want to go back and try on my dress!

That would be super annoying!! I wish our flight would change for an earlier time but would be irate if I suddenly had a non-direct flight! Good luck with your travel agent! You would think she should be able to do that since that is what you paid for and so far in advance there is likely still room! That brochure would have been handy in planning!! I don't think we were given any rates from Air Canada- just Transat, WestJet and sunwing. Our travel agent advised us against Sunwing- and WestJet had the best price but would only hold seats for 30 days. SInce we had booked so far in advance I wasn't ready to do that- and our TA was able to get Transat to come within 100- with the exception of the child rate being a few hundred more.. Transat 'supposedly' has a better room selection and is called the 'Sirenis Le mirage' but haven't found any evidence to back that up! If we had a big number going from Saskatoon I would have asked to find us a better deal but since it is just a few couples it wont make a difference for our bonus credit.

We made that error thinking that would just be able to add another city but Transat only flies from Saskatoon from Christmas on! Oh well its not a big deal just glad that they are coming! I would like to get chocolates made of even M and Ms in our colors. I am a huge chocolate fan!

What is everyone doing about favors? Also has anyone inquired about bringing extra decorations? Will they incorporate them into their own decorating scheme or will we be responsible for doing that? I don't think that I am going to bring very much extra but was thinking about some lanterns and possibly jars for a candy buffet-if I figure out how to get my candy there! lol

Have you checked out their website? I found a website called Adventure Photos which is probably the same thing? I can't find Grand Sirenis on their site but you could check out pictures from other resorts to give you an idea. What I like about Grand Sirenis is that there seems to be beautiful locations for photos! I also googled Grand Sirenis wedding pictures to get an idea of what there was for locations and some ideas. We are paying for a niece to come and take pictures. She is just getting into photography and had gone to Now Saphire a few months ago to do a wedding and I loved those pictures! It sounds like we are having pretty much an identical wedding! I am a teacher and on summer holidays now so really starting to get excited and plan things! Yes she did say that you pay for all guests.. I also inquired about upgrading to gold package if then got a disccount on the meal because gold already includes a private meal- the answer is no- so I think we are doing the right thing by taking the free package (silver) and just upgrading what we want! I believe she said free was 10 double rooms for a week. We have some guests flying WestJet from Saskatoon and some Transat from Edmonton. This affects the discount that we get from airline but not for the guests for the wedding.