krystalball

Happy Anniversary!

The weather in Toronto last night was beautiful, and your food looks delicious (though I'm craving cake now, lol). Looks like it was a great night

@@Catface1027 I'm getting married just 10 days before you at the Grand Sirenis, using the free (Silver) package and upgrading as required.

I've received the extras pricing for 2015 and it was unchanged from the 2014 pricing so the info received from @@calgarybride2015 should be correct for your wedding.

Happy planning!

April 9, 2016 at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya

Just sent out the invites so people can put down deposits and bought my wedding dress on the weekend. I feel like I did all the important stuff super early and now I have over a year of waiting - and I'm not a very patient person!

@@tygrrlily The video is amazing! Really seems to capture the entire day (which is getting me so excited for my own wedding by the way). Everyone looks so happy! And while I'm totally in the same boat when it comes to watching myself in videos, I think you looked great in every shot!

I love the video Lily! Your videographer truly captured all the emotions throughout the day and did such a great job piecing it all together. Thank s to you, I have something to help convince my fiancé that a videographer is a must lol

Great idea! My FI has been pushing back on the idea of hiring a photographer, let alone a videographer. This seems like the perfect video to show him and hopefully change his mind 

I've had mine forever at home too because it was a sample gown and I think it've tried it on like 5 times already haha. Sometimes you just forget what it looks like and it's nice to have it to try it on

I'm glad I'm not alone on that! I'll take your comment as permission to do a party-of-one fashion show in my living room when the FI is out of town 

I love it!! I love how the fabric just falls. This is exactly how i found mine! Totally unplanned haha 

Thanks! I'm seriously obsessing over this dress and how lucky I was they had it at the sample sale. Best part? That ribbon belt comes with the dress and looks perfect as is, so I saved a couple hundred on a separate belt too!

Only downside to the unplanned dress find is that it was a last minute shopping trip, so my sister (MOH) and Mom weren't able to make it. Oh well, just creates an opportunity for me to put on the dress again so I can show it to them in person, lol 

Wasn't planning to buy a dress more than a year before my wedding date, but there was a sample sale and the dress of my dreams was $350 off! Now I just need to resist the temptation to try it on again since it's in my house until I get it altered many months from now, lol

This is the dress on the model since the lighting isn't great in my pic. http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=4MC844

I love that the bottom of the dress becomes sand coloured 

@@JennyZ Thanks so much for this info! I've been having the same dilemma about photographers, so I'll definitely check out “Be Photography” - their photos are gorgeous!

Wow, those are some great deals!

I keep meaning to visit those outlets but just never get around to it. I have a serious Fossil addiction (among other pretty things) so thanks for the incentive to get a new purse at a great deal too, lol.

Sent in my paperwork yesterday and am just waiting for confirmation that we can have the date and time we requested. Can't wait to send out my STDs and start planning!

Thanks @@calgarybride2015! Didn't realize that guests would have an opportunity to upgrade to an ocean view after the fact.

Did anyone that booked the Grand Sirenis get pricing for both the Mayan Beach and Riviera Maya sides and allow guests the choice? I want lowest price and limited walking for some guests (so they would book under Riviera Maya) while others will have the cash and want the ocean view rooms close to the beach (so they would book under Mayan Beach).

Do I have to cater to the majority and make everyone book under Riviera Maya (most people will be happy)? Or maybe I'm over thinking things here, lol

@@calgarybride2015

Thanks for sharing! Based on your note and the one from @, I was about to say "screw it" and just book at the price quoted.

Then a few minutes ago my FMIL emails me to say she asked her personal TA to price the same location and date and the price quoted was $35 less! I'm happy to have a lower price (I've asked my TA to match it), but I'm bummed that my FI was right! And he keeps rubbing it in, lol

I'm definitely going to lock in the new price and get this process moving! Thanks for all the feedback ladies.

Thanks for your insight @@kcole123 - much appreciated! Did you see much of a price change from when you got your quotes originally to when you finally locked down the prices?

I'm planning on booking the same resort as @@calgarybride2015. It looked great online, but her review and detailed information about the day really sold it for me   

My only issue now is actually deciding on the quote from my TA, and I'm getting no help from my FI who is super skeptical of everything the TA says because he thinks she might be taking us for a ride...

I just want to book and start planning before my procrastinating side shows itself, lol

@@calgarybride2015  How far in advance of your wedding did you get lock in the rates from your TA? Do you know if the resort and/or flights tend to book up later since the place is so big? 

I've received quotes from my TA for early April 2016 and they seem ok, but higher than I was expecting ($1,495 leaving mid-week). I like my TA a lot (she's amazingly responsive), but she's telling me that the Transat group rep is saying space is filling up and we need to book soon and I'm a little skeptical. The flights haven't even been released to the public yet and I can't imagine that many people are trying to book 13-14 months in advance!!

I just want to book things asap and get started on planning this wedding, but don't want to fall for a tactic and regret not waiting for better prices in a month or two...

Thanks @@Wafflesmom!

My travel agent was also taking up to a week to respond to emails at the quoting stage of the relationship, so I've gone ahead and found another travel agent that's much more responsive and hopefully can get me better deals. So far her quotes have been a bit less, but not by much.

Seems as though it's the dollar causing the increase in pricing, though both travel agents couldn't or wouldn't give me an answer as to why there's been a huge jump in price from one year to the next. Apparently the increase is generally 8% - 10% max and I'm seeing 15% to 30%. Too bad the airlines aren't passing along the decrease in fuel costs...

Hi 2016 Brides!

I am currently in the very early stages of planning my wedding, all I've done so far is narrow down to Riviera Maya (with Punta Cana as a second option) sometime in April 2016. I've engaged a destination wedding travel agent to get quotes on travel packages since I'm from Canada and we generally book our flight and hotel as a package with the airlines. 

I'm trying to pick a resort based on location, amenities and reviews, but most of all price. Since I want my guests to be able to afford to come, I'm trying to stay at about $1,400 per person (I'm estimating about 40 guests at this point). My travel agent got quotes for about a bunch of resorts and the quoted prices were all much higher than I expected. I had been basing my short list on the prices online for April 2015 and the quoted April 2016 rates are 15% to 30% higher, and all at about $1,500 or above. The travel agent said she thought they were high too, and suggested I wait until April of this year to get new quotes since they may be lower then.

So for all my Canadian brides planning a 2016 wedding - did you come across the same issue when getting quotes? It seems like many others on this forum were booking over a year in advance so I'm not sure if I should ask another travel agent for quotes to see if they can get better pricing... I know I can use any perks to offset the costs for my guests, but I was hoping to have some of that money left over to hire a DJ, photographer, etc..

Appreciate any insights - I want to start planning sooner than later as I'm a procrastinator and I need all the time I can get, lol