jes0912

@ the service provider is Air Canada Vacations so hopefully my wedding planner comes back with a complete list of what's included becus there must be some standard inclusions...

Thanks Ladies! The more I look at the 3 rings together, the more I love it! 

John and I have also decided to stay for 10 nights at Moon Palace, we're arriving 1 day earlier than our guests to arrange and setting everything up for our wedding, and then 2 additional nights after as our mini-moon.

I've just been reading some other forums that you ladies have written and I feel like I'm missing a lot of details about the travel of our guests...

We're working with a wedding planning group called 'The Wedding Butlers' here in Vancouver. They specialize in planning weddings as well as arranging travel for their guests.

Here is some of the information that i have from my wedding planner:

- Travel with Air Canada Vacations

- Travel from Toronto approx. $2100, Vancouver $2300

- Free room upgrade

- 12th room free promotion, we receive reimbursement on the 12th room based on double occupancy. We receive this at the end when our guests have completed their final payment. The room price is determined by the supplies upon final payment, so for example...if they value the room at $300/night then we would receive $300 x 7=$2100 for every 12th double occupancy room booked for the whole 7 night stay

- There's no price drop guarantee included within our booking (unfortunately...)

- We weren't required to put down any money in order to secure our room booking; I really liked this because with all the expenses for the wedding, I don't feel like we could spare the extra money just to secure additional rooms for our guests. 

Resort Incentives:

- $1500 resort credit per room

- Free private events for groups (can be applied towards cocktail party, dinner reception, welcome party, etc...)

I've read that a lot of you ladies have received more details about the travel like priority boarding, seat reservations, compartment for brides dress, but my planner hasn't mentioned any of these details-- I've sent her an email inquiring about it, but i'm a little worried since she hasn't come to me with that information up front...

Maybe i'm just a worry wart  , hahaa. Will keep everyone posted on the details! 

@@ashhtayy Congrats to you too, your wedding is come up shortly as well! I hope you're excited! Yah choosing a resort was definitely the toughest part, we even considered the Azul hotels as well. I'm trying to be as organized as possible but still don't feel like we've really solidified anything as of yet. I've read your planning thread as well and wish we were a little more persistent in getting a lower rate for our guests (we ended up picking something more expensive around $2100 from Toronto and $2300 from Vancouver) 

You should definitely check out the rings at Winners, it was on clearance and they only had one....but TBH if you're not picky about the ring being gold or diamonds, you should actually look into berricle.com which is where i bought my 2nd wedding band. They use rhodium dipped sterling silver so it shouldn't tarnish either...and they're about $50 (AND they always have coupon codes for 30-40% off) STEAL 

@ @@calgarybride2015 Thanks ladies! It helps to know that others have gone through similar situations. I kept joking with John saying that as long as him and I are there, everything will be fine 

I also happened to get my other wedding band in the mail today (teehehee!) I put them along together and it's super blingy...almost TOO blingy?! is that even possible?! hahahaa Let me know what you guys think 

Hey Ladies,

I also planned my outfit for the legal marriage in Vancouver; we're going to have this in December 2016 closer to the Holidays so our family from Toronto can fly out and spend some time with us then as well...the outfit was inspired by Olivia Palermo's wedding. I'm going to do a tulle floor length skirt with a fitted fine knit sweater.

 

I ordered the tulle skirt from chicwish.com (http://www.chicwish.com/amore-maxi-tulle-prom-skirt-in-beige-4471.html) Can't wait to try it as soon as I get it Will keep you guys posted on how it looks 

 

 

@@acw271011 Congrats on your vow renewals! Thanks for your insight on the resort-- yah i definitely think we were hesitant because of how big there resort is. But i think we decided that you can never make a resort larger if it's small but you can always just stay in one area of a large resort to make it feel smaller. hahah! I'm clearly mind tricking myself here...but i think we picked the perfect resort. Lots to do and plenty to keep our guests occupied! 

Image heavy Update!

So I've started creating mood boards to outline the look/feel that I'm going for-- just thought I'd share them below

Colour scheme: pink/nudes/blush tones with navy accent

I don't plan on using the navy as heavily as it is here in the image, but just as a slight accent for contrast

Thanks @@calgarybride2015 ! 

@ @@Wafflesmom Thanks for the support Ladies!

I'm also SOOOO tempted to get another ring to stack after seeing @ 's beautiful stack set! 

@@deecol @@Danielle1 Thanks for all the support Ladies! 

Quick Little Update/Mini Rant: 

So-- I'm really starting to feel like things are coming together. Our quote expires tomorrow and our wedding planner is just getting together an 8 & 10 day quote for John and I so for a little "mini-moon". We've spoken to most of our family and mentioned our plans and they all seem super excited even with the trip costing so much (approx. $2300 from Vancouver, LOVE YOU ALL!)-- minus my MOH/older sister (married 2 years ago, just bought a new house, with a baby on the way). I can only imagine that she must be stressed as well but she's expressed that she might not be able to come down for the 7 days, worried about her vacation time/mat leave, asking if we can get married on the Sunday or later in the week instead, thinks that guests won't want to stay for the full 7 days (...because she can't) and etc...

I'm honestly not worrying about this at all, and approaching this with the "it is what it is" attitude. I'm sure she will make it down either way even if it's a shortened trip... But at the end of the day, you can't please everyone! So we're just going to move forward with our original plans and what John and I had planned for everyone in the first place. As disappointing as it is to be getting so much push back from my sister. Our wedding is our special day and something that we're putting 1000000% of our efforts into making the best week for all of our guests.

Remember ladies-- this is YOUR day. #dontstress #cantpleaseeveryone lol

@@Wafflesmom Yes!! We're booking at Moon Palace Our deposits are due Wednesday but our wedding planner is gathering rates for John and I on a 8 day stay and a 10 day stay. We're planning on going down 1 day early to set-up and stay 2 days after our guests as a "mini-moon" and YES-- I would love the contact of your jeweller! Thanks for all the help! 

@@calgarybride2015 hahah no worries! I'm definitely going to set up that whatsapp group! I think you guys are all right about it being a vacation for all our guests too. So they're going to want to do their own thing some nights and I think that with a larger resort it gives the option of hanging out together but also the ability for guests to have their alone time if needed; as a smaller resort won't work the other way around  

Quick update as well:

We met with our wedding planner today and all my fears are GONE. She's was amazing-- answered all our questions and all our fears just melted away. John and I both left the conversation feeling really great and super excited about our wedding. So excited that...we picked up my wedding band on the way home (?!?!?!?!) I know-- CRAZY, right?! 

My engagement ring is Tacori-- and I've always imagined getting the matching wedding band for the engagement ring which costs an outrageous $2500-$3000 just for the band itself. I mean who REALLY looks at a wedding band? Usually people are more fixated on the engagement ring itself. John and I stopped into Winners and managed to buy my wedding band 14k white gold with Swarovski for $100! WHAT A STEAL!! And you really can not tell that it's crystal vs diamonds! Also because my engagement ring has a subtly unique band, I think the mismatched engagement ring/wedding band actually look quite unique together. It's a little big right now so needs to be resized..but I'm not worried about that at all! If anyone knows any reputable jewellers who resize in Vancouver, please let me know!

Let me know what your thoughts are!  

@@Wafflesmom Yes the wi-fi! I think that's going to be a huge help when we actually get there, so people will know where/when to meet etc... I'm almost 99% sure we're going to book at Moon Palace. It's better to have more than enough things to do than to have not enough things to do. hhaha, I mean..at the end of the day too-- you can't please EVERYONE lol!

@ Thanks for the reassurance! On one hand I wanted to commit so I could get moving with other planning details, but on the other hand was scared I was rushing into booking a place just for the sake of booking, lol

Hi ladies!

Thanks so much for your responses. I was initially hesitant to start a planning thread in fear that no one would respond, but it's so encouraging to see that people actually genuinely care to help! <3 

@ I moved in January so it's almost been a year now and time has passed so quickly! I really only miss my friends and family from Toronto since Vancouver is such a beautiful place to live!

@@Wafflesmom It's been super helpful reading your thread and @@tygrrlily 's as well, @@calgarybride2015 thanks for the tip!!

Choosing the Destination

(This is by far the most painful part of the process)

So although we've quoted for Moon Palace and are 99% sure that we're booking here sometimes I still find that we have little reservations about securing our bride/groom and wedding deposit that makes this real (and of course it's because it's all non-refundable).  

We initially wanted a small intimate resort mainly because of what I had envisioned for our wedding day (rustic, garden, romantic), but as mentioned John's priority is guest experience, we compromised since I too started to realize that I didn't want guests to just remember the trip for our wedding day only, but for the entirety of the trip experience itself.

Some of our top priorities included:

- All-inclusive

- Gourmet dining/fine dining 

- Have a Mexican feel to it (not too modern/chic where it could be mistaken for Vegas vs. Mexico)

- Large enough resort that keeps guests busy with fun activities and things to do

- Be able to cater to our wedding preferences (style, design, decor)

- Family Friendly

- Under $2500 but closer to $2000 would be great!

- Very clean and well kept resort (rooms and resort grounds)

The most appealing part about Moon Palace, are the resort credits they offer per room; $1500 for guests. Initially John and I were planning on treating our guests to a group excursions and the moms to a spa day. But this resort credit is a huge incentive for us since it definitely takes the worry out of thinking that the guests would have nothing to do. 

Our other concern now is how MASSIVE the resort is. Almost too big? @@Wafflesmom any thoughts or reservations on the size of the resort? We googled mapped it through satellite and it is H.U.G.E.!! I don't think I've seen any resort quite like it. hahahaa, hopefully the place isn't overwhelming-ly big. We want to make sure that we're able to spend time with our guests and not spending the time arranging on where to meet, etc... I'm confident we can hopefully overcome that though, with some better planning and scheduling. 

Hi Everyone!

So I've decided to start a planning thread to help keep myself on track and also because I've read some other ladies' blogs (@@Wafflesmom and @) and they've been extremely helpful in sharing their wedding planning process and have encouraged me to do the same for others as well. 

So just a little bit about myself-- my name is Jess, recently moved to Vancouver from Toronto; my fiancé and I have been dating for almost 6 years now and were engaged in Toronto in November 2014, and got to celebrate with our families before we moved to Vancouver. I studied in graphic design so I want to be the DIY/craft type bride and try to customize and design as many things as I can myself.

The Engagement: 

My Fi, John, proposed on November 14, 2014 where we had our very first date in Toronto down at Dundas Square. We sat in the exact same spot as we did 5 years ago. Although we both knew the proposal was eventually coming, I was completely caught off guard and surprised. That night, they were rehearsing for the Festival of Lights so Dundas Sq. was filled with dancers, lights, music...it was a really nice environment to be in. Funny enough-- our friend who is a photographer was shooting for the rehearsal and saw us just after the engagement happened for an un-planned engagement photo opp! 

Thanks in advanced!!

Hi @@jeffandrobyn !

I'm also in the process of planning my wedding and am pretty torn between Azul Beach and Now Sapphire. 

I'm curious to know what the biggest difference was between the two? 

Thanks!!

Hi @@Canadorecc I'm also planning a destination wedding for 2017. 

I found a local wedding planner that specializes in destination weddings and she's pulled some rates for me already and our top picks were Now Sapphire and Azul Beach Hotel. 

Let me know how things work out for you!