calgarybride2015

@@yycbride2016

You'll do great! You've got to live a little too don't forget! But a good compromise to indulge but to keep your bachelorette is check is fantastic but also surprising - maybe my friends are mean haha jk! What did you guys do?

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Hey!

I think your dress is gorgeous. She did a fabulous job and it looks awesome on you

With respect to hair -- I think what you do with it depends on how your hair holds in humidity. Most don't. Even Perian just mentioned her curls wouldn't hold either. I may consider an up do for this reason!

For BMs. Why not just say you will pay their hair and leave it at that. Let them know makeup is available if they prefer it done professionally and give them the cost. I told my girls their options (self vs salon) and gave costs and all jumped on booking. No one was upset as for their weddings we paid our own too!

I agree with Ann, if the men get a golf excursion you ladies should get something too for gifts if you want ideas - maybe a piece of jewelry for their dress? Or a little pampering gift pack of stuff for Mexico in a nice make up bag? A beach bag or swim suit coverup? Some have found sunglasses or watches cheap too! Hmmm or like the golf help pay for the excursion.

With respect to tanning -- you should start soon rather than later. Depending on your skin tone it can take a while to build up time and thus a tan. You'll need 2+ months!!

Good luck. It'll be here before you know it

Heheh I realized I gave ideas before for the BMs. I'm sorry!

And love those shoes. A slight different in color won't be noticeable as you've said since there is a gap!

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Could everyone please pass me their fb names? I'll put the group together

I can invite you if she didn't have you on her Facebook. (Deleted my name for trolls) will PM it.

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Oh look we are both in Calgary how fun!   With weather like today I am sure you are dreaming of the gorgeous Cuban beaches.

My biggest piece of advice, like I said above, is realize it's Cuba.... It's not as 'high end' as Mexico or the like, but it's so authentic and beautiful.   I believe you will have a great time. can't wait to hear about it.

HAHAHA  I guess some of your family will feel at home. I am soooo glad my girlfriend gave me a heads up on that or I would have been shocked.

You could probably almost fill the catamaran yourself with 50 people.  I wonder if there is any way you could contact the company before hand and maybe get something private. Canto Del Sol (I think is the spelling?) did our catamaran trip which we booked thru the hotel. Also with Havana.    I would probably try to speak with your wedding coordinator first or find the companies online to see what they can do for you -- 1 with pricing but 2 to keep you all together

Good luck!

You are welcome....

Some pointers -

- Cuba can't be compared to places like Mexico. Yes you've booked a fantastic resort but still won't be identical so just remember that. No Starbucks and the like which is what I love about Varadero.

- don't bring gifts to tip no matter what people say. It just feeds the black market and scams there!

- Cuba's currency is closed so you have to bring your currency and exchange there. I'm Canadian and it was 69 on the dollar

- anyone who wants to sell you cigars or drugs is a scam. Only buy cigars from legit stores usually in malls or if your tour guide points one out

- like other countries, use bottled water

- off resorts you'll be hard pressed to find a toilet seat so be prepared to squat lol. Also they will want you to pay for toilet paper -- I always have Kleenex, wet wipes and hand sani on me to provide myself. Sometimes they try to make you pay to use the bathroom - if you can just walk past them

- we did the catamaran, jeep safari, and day trip to Havana with Tropicana show - all fantastic. Catamaran and Havana my faves

- a day trip to Varadero is perfect too. You can cab it but there is a double decker bus that runs the peninsula all day hop on/off for $5 cuc a person

- night life -- in Varadero the Beatles bar or Calle 62 are fun. There are some actual clubs - like Havana club - but we haven't been

Enjoy!! It's a gorgeous country full of fantastic people! Personally I haven't seen whiter sand or more turquoise waters

Ohhh and most say you don't go to Cuba for the food. Our first time was meh but could find enough to get by. Our second time was at the same brand resort but a higher rated one and I really loved the food. I went to some a'la cartes twice they were so good.

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Meant to say...

Shawn and I are pretty easy going. Anything under $2000 PP, ideally under $1800 solely cause we've never paid more but are open for the right resort

Typically for us it's easier to travel on breaks/holidays as the kids dad doesn't live here so they don't miss school but I realize those often drive up cost so we are flexible with whatever works for everyone. They'll be in grade 6 and I think at that age missing some school isn't going to hinder them!! My kids are on a year round calendar so tend to push normal holidays (i.e. This year xmas break ended mid January)

Otherwise a beach, sun, sand and great times is all we care about

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@@TinkerSofi so nice to hear from you. Tell me more about school? I started back In September then got on full time with AHS so life has been busy!

I was just throwing the Rui out as one we considered. Totally open to anywhere that's affordable lol. And that said as mentioned night life close by may not be necessary as we will have our own party!!!

Since there would be lots of us I'm totally ok with adults only. Shawn and I went to one alone and found it a bit quiet - I think we were there during a geriatric convention though hahahah

I told Shawn and he got all excited. He's like what if everyone invited friends too - we could have like 200 people bahaha ok stop dreaming

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Anything that's close! Akumal was not haha

We looked at Rui Cancun for its proximity to the night club area of Cancun.... But I was solely driven on that so I'm sure there are some great resorts

Temptations? Hahahah Kidding!!!!!!!!!

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No I haven't but know some who have and enjoyed it. Very beautiful. If I had a choice id rather stay in Cancun as I've never been and hear the night life is fun!!!

But I do know Cancun sometimes can come at a cost. I did find some decent prices for January 2016 though.

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Welcome and congrats

I've been to Cuba twice. Once in 2014 and once just two weeks ago! We had no issues whatsoever and to us Cuba seemed no different.

That said I have seen the reports and reviews of what you've mentioned but with your resort I think you will be just fine. It's a very highly rated brand and in Cuba a highly rated resort.

Some of the issue is that their tourism is up but they can't handle it. We didn't feel this whatsoever. The service and the food were fantastic. We stayed at Melia Varadero which is the same brand as the Paradisus.

A lot of the reports lately of people being sick were not in Varadero and mainly with a different resort brand. But it can and does happen everywhere. Just be prepared. I always prepare my gut before we travel and since its your wedding maybe even over prepare (for ours in Mexico I even got an rx for antibiotics just in case and did dukoral) typically I just do lactobacillus and pepto!!

If you've never been to Cuba and want some practical pointers let me know

I think you've picked one of the best for Varadero and won't be disappointed. Good luck

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hello everyone !

i feel like a major weight has been lifted off my shoulders, the priest has received our papers and all is in order for the religious wedding ! wow that was a lot of work !

ok, now, i have 2 options, the silver or the gold wedding,

both will come out at about the same in the end, but they will be different

with the gold most of the things will be included, and but we will have the wedding, the toast, and the restaurant for 4 hours, (adding the dj) to the mix.

plus included in the package is spa time, vip status, rehearsal dinner.

with the silver wedding, we will have the wedding, the toast, the restaurant for 1.5hrs, and im adding the beach cocktail, and lights after, make-up and hair,

any advice or thoughts anyone has would be welcome !!!

I've been told (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that if you even get a VIP. wristband it does nothing. So I wouldn't get hung up on that part.

Is the rehearsal dinner important to you? I didn't have it in my package but my WC on the down low booked one for us. You could ask?

I think either package works well. Depends what you want -- do you wanna be inside all night or do you want the ambiance of being outside dancing?

If I had to choose I'd probably go silver and do the cocktail party after for the fact I was outside. But if the gold package offers all you want and is more cost effective then that may make more sense.

Sorry I wasn't any help at all. Let us know what you choose.

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I posted on Facebook but will here too....

Happy wedding day!!!!! Hope your day is everything you've dreamed of and more. Can't wait for pics and to hear all about it

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Your ladies tastes may be too expensive for me

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Woohoo!!!!! In the double digits

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@ KitCat - I have a travel agent. She would suggest some resorts and I would contact them for Wedding Packages, and then decided from there. I have direct contact with the resort on the wedding planning, and my travel agent is booking all the flights, hotels exc for all the guests. Our agent could be the contact at the resort too, but I just thought it would be easier if I could be asking them all my questions instead of going through my agent then to them.

 

@CalgaryBride2015 I am from Prince George but now live in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

 

I think we got comparable rates, as I have been snooping around the internet and to book a trip to NOW around the same time are going is anywhere from 1500-1700+taxes.

 

Where did you get Married?

 

41 people! that is wonderful, I am surprised so many people are coming to ours. We still have some friends who are going to book outside our "group" closer to the date.

Awesome. I was born in Terrace but grew up mainly in Fort St John! Now live in Calgary. I was married at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya one year ago today

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Awesome love it!!

@ haha mine is the same BUT I still have my obsession. So should you hehe jk

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Hello,

 

I struggled with the same issue! We are getting married Nov 16, 2016 in Riviera Maya @ NOW Sapphire.

 

Our guest flying from Prince George, Vancouver, Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Toronto - Prices are around 1800/per person taxes in (prices across the board for our guest from each airport only varied around 50$).

I spend months and months trying to find somewhere to go budget friendly for our guests....Its SO Hard. So I finally decided I was going to go to where I wanted and so be it. We thought maybe a small group would be attending as our hotel wedding package only includes 25 people. But are we ever surprised, we have 54 signed up guest who put down deposits!

 

Now where I am worried, is that our dollar is SO low, and the resort packages are all in USD....This is where it will get pricy.

 

So I think you should go where you want, your guests will join if they have the time off & extra money. None of our guests said it was too pricy, I think as long as its under $2000/per person you should be ok.

 

We just attended a wedding in Toronto - with flights, hotel, car rental, food & booze we spent around $3000 for FOUR DAYS - after that I felt ok asking my guests to spend $1800 for a week long all in vacation.

Where are you from? I'm from northern BC and have lived in Prince George

You got a great rate!

I agree as well. That you'll never make everyone happy. So find something you would be comfortable paying and that's reasonable and you may be surprised

We wanted to stick around $1500. Got just under for Toronto and just over for Calgary. We also were surprised and 41 people came

We also would have everyone traveling and all that adds up so this seemed like the best decision.

It'll all work out.

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Welcome and congrats!

I have never stayed in PV but I am Canadian (though I've done research on it we've just never ended up booking) I must be honest and say I've never seen an AI package as low as $800 even for the low stars - maybe a last minute sell off but that's risky in your case. Do you want an all inclusive? If yes I think you'd need to up your guests budget quite a bit. Having said that, if you get a group rate and are flexible with your week of travel and resort you may be able to get something between $1200-$1300 a person. But I think it would be safer to budget closer to $1500. This will limit your choices of course and then you also need to ensure its a resort that can fit the vision of your wedding unless you do that off site.

That said a $12000 budget seems super reasonable even with resort/flight package included in that budget. You'll find a lot of resorts wedding packages include 10-20 people before you pay overages so you may get lucky there with your guest count.

For our Jan 2015 wedding the cheapest quote I got was $1250 for the Grand Palladium in PV.

Biggest piece of advice is to get a travel agent asap -- as you mentioned. Even better if they specialize in destination weddings and they can help you narrow down resorts based on your must have lists. And they can usually help you get all the wedding info you need too. I have a lady I used in BC but not from Vancouver. Hopefully a Vancouver bride can pop in to help. The site also has Canadian travel agents you could contact thru here.

I am in Calgary so pricing may be different based on that but I feel fairly certain for an all inclusive you won't find $800 even with a better dollar.

Good luck.

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@@snswedding2016 HAAHAHH! I'm laughing at your comment about the way back. The EXACT same thing happened to us. I'm like.. can I just have water? and she was like "well the drinks are free though.. you might as well take them" so she convinced us to take to cans of beer home with us lol and we did.

Same and also for food!

Hi Alex, I can't answer them all but I can try.    When I got married (1 year tomorrow) it was a Wednesday and we got the palapa but I did hear they changed the rules  They must do that Mayan dinner in there on Wednesday.

See my answers below....

Wow. That bad review definitely gave me butterflies in my tummy - not the good kind. Hoping that all works out, and we have a great wedding. Same goes for everyone who has an upcoming wedding at GS.

 

All this talk about the free package - and upgrading - has got me thinking. We have 80 people attending, and unfortunately have booked for Wednesday May 25th (they don't allow you to book the Palapa on Wednesdays). We may change the date so we can upgrade to the Palapa. I do have a few questions that will help guide my decision:

 

1) How many people does the Palapa hold?   We had 45 and it wasn't full.  I would say 80 should fit, but by 100 you are getting tight on space. If they moved the tables after dinner there would be enough room to dance. That said, if you didn't have the buffet (but a plated meal) that would also save space.

 

2) Has anyone had their reception on Yalku beach? Do you have any pictures?  I don't think I have read a review on here of people having the beach reception, but I know I was given photos of it's set up before we booked. Maybe the wedding dept. can send some?

 

3) Has anyone had 80 + guests attend? What did you do for your reception dinner?  

 

4) Are you able to upgrade the ceremony location to Palapa beach? My wedding info from back in 2014 said no you couldn't, but I am sure they make exceptions if no other brides have it within their packages for that day

 

5) Does anyone have any pictures of the restaurants. Adriana sent a few, however of ones that can no longer accommodate the size of my group. I want to see  - Bayou Cajun, and then Steak House: El Rancho.   The cajun is no longer. I thought I read on the FB group that it is now Thai, but that some locations swapped, so I would confirm what space actually now is the Cajun just to make sure you get accurate info.    The steakhouse is by the Riveria Maya pool - it's used as a lunch location during the day.  It's a fairly large space that would hold 100 people and if you could use the outside space by the pool that would be great. Not sure you can, worth asking.  (I can see if I have a picture)

 

6) What have you ladies done for an isle runner? Petals, wood etc? Any pictures/suggestions?    I believe your options are sand or cloth island runner. Personally I just wanted sand and didn't upgrade to the isle runner, but the WC put it out for me. I am not mad she did, it was nice in pictures but we had two people in the wedding part trip on it hahaha!    I also had petals sprinkled down the isle and my flower girl added more as she walked down.      Check out the links below for my wedding pictures to see the isle runner.

 

Thanks ladies and happy planning!

 

Alex

Yes that included the buffet for 45 people. Wasn't a plated meal which would have cost more. The buffet was nice for selection and second helpings haha!!!

I actually crunched numbers off every package. I knew what I wanted for timing and extras and sat down and figured out each package and nothing was cheaper than doing free and adding on. Really just depends what you want .... And if the extras in the presidential package are something you would like

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@@yycbride2016 If you don't mind me asking how much do you think your looking at with upgrading from the free package? We had initially gone with the presidential but I am wondering if its more cost efficient to just do all the upgrades, Thanks

With the upgrade to palapa

Extending reception to be 6 hours

Cocktail hour

Mariachi band

DJ 6 hours

Flower upgrade for me

Extra bouquets and bouts

Petals for flower girl

Hair trial

Hair and make up for wedding

Golf cart

Chair ribbons

2 day passes

Hmmmmm what else did we add on

Anyways it was about $5500-$6000 Canadian which was less than the presidential package and with that I would have still needed upgrades

This was for 45 people and the buffet

I think guest count plays a large role as it can up the price a lot.

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I married here 364 days ago (tomorrow is my one year anniversary). We had no issues with our wedding or the DJ. I feel for Tara 100% and the struggles she encountered but for all you upcoming brides remember there are also plenty of positive reviews. Try not to stress yourselves out and enjoy this time as its over in a flash. Welcome to answer any questions.

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TEQUILA!!!!!

Love it

And holy crap that's a lot of food. Did anyone end up eating it?

Glad you got the February flights sorted out geesh! Curious re names wrong on documents - I swear our TA emailed 5-6 times to check haha!!

Sounds like it started off well and I can't wait for more.

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Yay!!! Today is the day you leave for Mexico. I'll be stocking your Facebook lol. Enjoy this special time and remember to slow down and take it all in. Congrats

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