Any brides from the UK

[donutdjn]

hello everyone,

 

i jus spotted this therad and wanted to say hi, i live in walthamstow, london and was brought up in essex, getting married in july in Jamaica - all booked via virgin and additional things added on direct with hotel, liaising with wedding coordinator all the time so hopefully all will go to plan if the volcanoe behaves itself. We have 34 people coming from the UK and about 50 people attending from Jamaica. My fiance was born there and moved to england with his parents when he was 5. both parents are back in Jamaica now. My mind is all over the place one minute excited the next nervous and emotional! look forward to talking to all of you on here debbie x

[char79uk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soon-to-be-McRae Some of you ladies will have read my previus post regarding the Gran Caribe and first choice, well i am back and armed with lots more knowledge than when i started lol. Ok....so i went to Thomas Cook who advised they could book the Gran Caribe via Cosmos or First Choice that was until this morning when Cosmos have now pulled all flights to Cancun and there seems to be no insight into if they will be signing them up again the lady in the TA said it could be they have decided to sign contracts with someone else for another destination, so back to booking soley with First Choice as it is cheaper to book direct with First Choice rather than going via Thomas Cook. Regarding the wedding side of things i emailed the hotel direct and a lovely lady called Doreen emailed me back the same day and said she would love to help me with our wedding plans and gave me lots of information price lists etc but 2012 prices are not available yet so been going off 2011 prices as a guide. So as it stands at the moment i will have to stick to booking the holiday with first choice and the wedding direct with the Gran Caribe and for now keep an eye on thomas cook/cosmos. Although i have 2 years nearly to plan my wedding is there anything i should be doing now i feel in limbo, i dont know where to start for making a list and things what i need to get etc.

Hi I'm so sorry I haven't got back to you about the Gran Caribe info, I've been revising for exams so have had to try and push the wedding to one side. I also have received loads of information from Doreen, not sure what you have received, but I have pictures of the standard cake, boquet etc if you would like me to send them.

I also went to Thomas Cook and they pretty much said the same thing to me as they did to you. I was considering booking the wedding direct with the hotel and then booking the 'holiday' part with the TA, but Thomas Cook said to me that if for any reason something happens that will mean we can't get out there (volcanic ash for instance) then the hotel will not refund you back any money you've paid to the wedding, because as far as they are concerned it is not their problem you can't get there. Whereas if you book with a TA and anything happens you are fully covered.

One other thing the TA said was that there have been occasions where people have booked their wedding direct with the hotel and when they got out there dates were changed and guests missed the wedding because they were only over for a week and the date had been changed to the following week.

Thomas Cook may have been saying this because they want my money, but it is just something to be aware of.

It's great to be back on this site x

[Nicyx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by char79uk Hi I'm so sorry I haven't got back to you about the Gran Caribe info, I've been revising for exams so have had to try and push the wedding to one side. I also have received loads of information from Doreen, not sure what you have received, but I have pictures of the standard cake, boquet etc if you would like me to send them. I also went to Thomas Cook and they pretty much said the same thing to me as they did to you. I was considering booking the wedding direct with the hotel and then booking the 'holiday' part with the TA, but Thomas Cook said to me that if for any reason something happens that will mean we can't get out there (volcanic ash for instance) then the hotel will not refund you back any money you've paid to the wedding, because as far as they are concerned it is not their problem you can't get there. Whereas if you book with a TA and anything happens you are fully covered. One other thing the TA said was that there have been occasions where people have booked their wedding direct with the hotel and when they got out there dates were changed and guests missed the wedding because they were only over for a week and the date had been changed to the following week. Thomas Cook may have been saying this because they want my money, but it is just something to be aware of. It's great to be back on this site x

I know exactly what you mean about TC saying it for the money BUT like you say its something to be aware of, they do have a very valid point and i would rather pay it all off in one place so we would be covered if something were to happen etc. I asked TC what would happen if the volcano does stop us from going next year and they said basically they would cancel the exicting booking completly and book us for the next avail 2weeks and sort wedding out etc... hopefully tis wont happen but its nice to know that the whole thing would be moved and we wouldnt loose out on any days etc and like TC say if that did happen and booked wedding direct through hotel then you would have to pay seperatly for another wedding package and you wouldnt get refunded for the 1st one!!
(hope that makes sence)

We have booked EVERYTHING through TC, hol, wedding, ins & wedding ins.... so i only have one point of call for everything. Me personally i just feel more comfortable doing it this way.

Hope your revision is coming on ok? what are you studying? (sorry if i have missed this anywhere) :-)
xox

[Soon-to-be-McRae]

Hiya

 

Charmaine thank you very much for all the info you recieved from Doreen some was similar to what i had but the cakes, bouquets and menu's were a great help, thank you.

There is a possibility that our wedding will be brought forward to November 2011 as my original plan was March 2012 but i keep reading loads of info on spring break and that cancun is like one massive party for american college students and this isnt what a want when going to get married!!

 

May seems to be far to hot for us and the children who are coming and june-October is hurricane season so feel a bit limited to Nov-Feb and Nov is apparently when it is the most quiet just after thanks giving, just hope everything is still running kids clubs etc and that the water in the pools is still warm.

 

It sounds like a good idea to book with a TA for the reasons you mention and is gives peace of mind in the long run as well, might look at booking the basic wedding package with first choice and adding on when in resort, or do you add on while still in the UK?

 

Also anyone getting married at the Gran Caribe Real do you know how the bride arrives at the ceremony, horse and carridge etc or is it walking??

[leonie1986]

Hi!!!! We are getting married July 2011. I didn't bother checking prices with any of the travel agents I have contacted wedding planners and hotels in mexico directly. I found this easier as I got a response from them late in the evenings and if I had any questions I could ask them directly instead of going back and forward to the travel agent. I'm not sure if it works out cheaper but the prices I got were very reasonable and they can send you photos of previous weddings and all the info you need. We booked a hotel that isn't available with the travel agents in the UK and so you also have more choice.

 

I am soooooo excited x

[Nicyx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leonie1986 Hi!!!! We are getting married July 2011. I didn't bother checking prices with any of the travel agents I have contacted wedding planners and hotels in mexico directly. I found this easier as I got a response from them late in the evenings and if I had any questions I could ask them directly instead of going back and forward to the travel agent. I'm not sure if it works out cheaper but the prices I got were very reasonable and they can send you photos of previous weddings and all the info you need. We booked a hotel that isn't available with the travel agents in the UK and so you also have more choice. I am soooooo excited x

Congratulations and
Where have you booked to go? Do you have many guests from the UK going with you? :-)

xoxo

[Sukhi]

I'm so happy someone started this thread!!! I too am a UK bride, orginially from Canada but now in london. I'm having a lot of trouble deciding who to use to organise this whole wedding thing and there's not much time left as we'd like to have a wedding first week of Jan 2011. I also need a TA who will be able to organise my Canadian wedding guests.

 

I've spoken to TA's at both flightcenter and thomas cook but haven't found them to be the least bit helpful. This website is a lifesaver! Most recently the TA i spoke to wanted to know exact numbers of people who will be travelling but i'm not quite sure how i'm meant to do that when i haven't even finalised a wedding date/hotel?

 

I was thinking the Moon Palace in Cancun but now TA's are recommending the RIU hotels to me. I am so confused, as i've never been to this area of Mexico. Any help would be much appreciated!!! Do i really need a travel agent to organise all this?

[Nicyx]

Welcome Sukhi,

Personally i have used Thomas cook to book my wedding. But as leonie1986 says a couple of post back, she has done it directly through the hotel. There are a few different ways to do it really! I was just more comfortable haveing just one point of call for flights and wedding etc. I have only had to get prices from around this country to sort for wedding not out of UK too so i dont really know who to reccommend to do this... Sorry....

But if you do have a place in mind, go to their website im sure weding packages will be available for you to choose from then book flights as and when?

Or go to the Moon Palace thread on here im sure there are plenty of brides who can help with different was to book?

 

Sorry ive not been much help really xox

[leonie1986]

We have booked the casamagna marriott, its so difficult booking somewhere when you don't know how many guests will be going so we booked for 35 and then once we have the final number as long as you tell them 30 days before the wedding you can add additional people, we are expecting around 45-50!

 

I requested packaages from aout 5 hotels and then read the hotel reviews on here and trip advisor. At first we were on a small budget wedding but after researching and from photos of previous wedding locations and the more options I was given in packages, we soon changed our mind. All TA's in the uk love RUI hotels, i've never been my mums been enquiring through thomson and they have been trying to persuade her. From my experience, I have been to mexico twice and I have never had a problem with any of the hotels and each time the staff are fantastic, mexicans truley nice people they would do anything to make your day.

 

The only hotel i found useless at geting back to me was the dreams cancun and also read they have so many weddings there, they can take weeks to get back to you and on the actual wedding day they got a few thing wrong.

 

You might find on youtube videos of weddings at some of the hotels. Theres so many different packages and also to legally get married in mexico you have to have blood tests some hotels say its just for HIV, Syphillis and blood type and some say its for all STD's and you have to have this done in mexico at least 3/4 days before the wedding.

 

xx

[josietoms]

The RIU hotels are good as i have to a couple in Europe but agree the TAs do push them over here in the UK as my understanding is that have some kind of contract with them; especially Thomson.

I have booked through Thomson as I have been to my chosen hotel before and we went with Thomson and feel a bit more comfortable that if anything went wrong we have them to fall back on especially as we are going in January and if we have snow like we did this year if i the flights are cancelled if we booked the wedding direct with the hotel we would have lost all our money for the wedding at least going through Thomson we would get our money back for everything. Though generally i have to say both Thomson and TC were useless when we were booking they only know about the holiday they know nothing about the weddings - even the wedding departments are not that knowledgeable.