2013 & 2014 Iberostar Laguna Azul, Cuba Brides!

[csho]

OMg Jolene! Thats crazy! I would be soooo mad and would have been freaking out too! So glad you got such a good price! I was gonna say $1200 from Calgary even $1500 is good since its quite a bit further from Cuba then the east coast!

 

Kay how do you find the flowers from Afloral? I have been talking to a lady at Destination or Not flowers (out of BC I think) and she has been really great. I just need a wedding bouquet and two bridesmaid bouquets and like 3 or 4 bouts so it won't be too bad. But then I was looking on Afloral and saw all the flowers and thought.... hmmm maybe I can do this. (I am honestly like the least crafty person ever, but this wedding thing and the prices are making me think otherwise and bringing out my crafty side I think lol). But yesterday I was reading a review of Afloral and this girl said the flowers weren't very nice and she ended up sending them back. So I am just concerned about the quality of them.

 

Kay what did you mean when you said you added the flower heads and then the steams? Did the flowers not come with steams?

 

I was thinking about doing the silk petals on the table. I think it looks sooo nice but simple and super easy to transport... my only concern is where we are having the reception on the beach I am wondering if it is going to be too windy and then they'll all blow away! I might go with the crystal pieces instead because it will add some colour to the table but they won't be flying away!

[csho]

Oh Kay how was Alex as a photographer? Are you going to hire them for your wedding? I had been emailing him previously, but now that I am not getting married in Varadero I am not sure. I know they said they would travel to Holguin but I really want someone who is going to photograph the wedding before and after as well as the reception, but I know he said that when they go out of Varadero they don't do receptions so that kind of sucks and I also want to do a trash the dress the next day so I am not really sure what to do! Maybe I could ask them to stay the extra day and pay for their stay... I am guessing it would still be cheaper then bringing our own photographer from Canada with us. I think this is going to be one of the hardest things to decide on. As I think photographers are sooo expensive but at the same time I really want to have beautiful photos!

What are you guys doing for photos?

 

And have you guys decided on wedding colours? I had originally wanted pink and orange, but I think I have decided it might be too bright as we are going to have the wedding on the beach with a palm arch. So now I am thinking of going with coral bridesmaid dresses and add in other touches of pink and orange but on a lesser scale. And incorporate a little bit of the green from the palm arch! Although I keep changing my mind all the time loL!

 

I am with you Jolene with so much time left to plan its like its hard to make decisions because I know nothing has to be made today and then to more I look around the more cute things I see and change my mind, so I am finding it difficult to focus I suppose hahah! I guess maybe I should sart by choosing colours and then going from there loL!

[Kay6356]

Originally Posted by csho 

 

OMg Jolene! Thats crazy! I would be soooo mad and would have been freaking out too! So glad you got such a good price! I was gonna say $1200 from Calgary even $1500 is good since its quite a bit further from Cuba then the east coast!

 

Kay how do you find the flowers from Afloral? I have been talking to a lady at Destination or Not flowers (out of BC I think) and she has been really great. I just need a wedding bouquet and two bridesmaid bouquets and like 3 or 4 bouts so it won't be too bad. But then I was looking on Afloral and saw all the flowers and thought.... hmmm maybe I can do this. (I am honestly like the least crafty person ever, but this wedding thing and the prices are making me think otherwise and bringing out my crafty side I think lol). But yesterday I was reading a review of Afloral and this girl said the flowers weren't very nice and she ended up sending them back. So I am just concerned about the quality of them.

 

Kay what did you mean when you said you added the flower heads and then the steams? Did the flowers not come with steams?

 

I was thinking about doing the silk petals on the table. I think it looks sooo nice but simple and super easy to transport... my only concern is where we are having the reception on the beach I am wondering if it is going to be too windy and then they'll all blow away! I might go with the crystal pieces instead because it will add some colour to the table but they won't be flying away!

 

 

Hi Csho,

 

I should be receiving my Afloral flowers early next week so I will let you know.  I only ordered the orchids from Afloral, not the white roses. The white roses I got from ebay 60 flowers for $30.  The quality for these are pretty amazing.  I totally think you can DIY, super easy.  Yes, the rose just came as rose heads, so I purchased green wired mesh roll from Michaels in the floral department, add hot glue and stuck it in the flower head to create a steam. worked perfectly.

 

 

 

(The one on the right is what I used for the steams).

 

This is the video I viewed before trying out my bouquet.

 

 

http://video.about.com/weddings/Make-a-Wedding-Bouquet.htm

 

 

As for the silk flower petals you could always make a DIY runner type thing.  Check out a forum on this site called "No mess aisle runner" I think this would also be good used for doing the petal down the centre of the table, especially so your flowers dont blow away if it is windy

 

As for Alex, he is AMAZING! We were almost set before getting our engagement pictures done on our site visit, that we were going bring our own photographer.  Alex is amazing, and you don't have to worry about him not being there.  He assured us that he would be there for bride/groom room pictures-ceremony-after pic's with family on beach-car photos to the mansion-dinner & some reception.

 

Here is Alex's packages:

 

 

‪#1 ph (day and night) 1300cuc

 

 

- approx. four hours of daytime coverage and three hours in the evening

 

-Two photographers to better cover the whole wedding

 

- We will start at the hairdresser's followed by the getting ready by the groom and bride's room, if there is enough time between the getting ready and the ceremony, we would take photos of the bride and the groom separately close by the rooms, photos during the ceremony, group and familly photos right after the ceremony.

 

- garden and beach shots after the ceremony (time permited)

 

- One hour (included) in a classic antique car with one photographer out to Dupont house for some more photos outside the resort (extra hours are optional to pay the driver)

 

- DVD with approx. 500 photos (or more) of full resolution for later prints (80 of our choice edited)

 

- DVD with slideshow with photos of wedding highlight

 

- 24 prints (6x8) in album plus two prints (8x12)

 

- DVD with photos ready for internet use (with our watermark logo)

 

# 2 PH (daytime) 1000cuc

 

 

-Aprox. four hours of daytime coverage

 

- Two photographers to better cover the wedding

 

- We will start at the hairdresser's followed by the getting ready by the groom and bride's room, if there is enough time between the getting ready and the ceremony, we would take photos of the bride and the groom separately close by the rooms, photos during the ceremony, group and familly photos right after the ceremony.

 

- garden and beach shots after the ceremony (time permited)

 

- One hour (included) in a classic antique car with one photographer out to Dupont house for some more photos outside the resort (extra hours are optional to pay the driver)

 

- DVD with aprox. 400 photos (or more) of full resolution for later prints (70 of our choice retouched)

 

- DVD with slideshow with photos of wedding highlight

 

- 24 prints (6x8) in album plus two prints (8x12)

 

- DVD with photos ready for internet use (with our watermark logo)

 

Wedding photo & Video packages

 

 

#1 vph (day and night) 1700cuc

 

 

-Daytime coverage +night time reception of approx. seven yours total

 

-One photographer one cameraman

 

- Photos and video by the groom and bride's room when getting ready, during the ceremony, group and familly photos and candids along the way

 

- Garden/beach shots after the ceremony

 

- DVD with 500 photos (or more) (80 of our choice edited)

 

- DVD with slideshow of pictures hightlighting wedding

 

- DVD with web-ready photos with our watermarked logo

 

- 24 prints (6x8) in album and 2 prints (8x12)

 

- Edited dvd with full function menus

 

- DVD with the HD clips of videos

 

# 2 VPH (daytime) 1300cuc

 

 

-Four hours day time coverage

 

-One photographer one camera

 

- Photos and video by the groom and bide's room when getting ready, during ceremony, group and familly pictures and candid

 

- Garden and beach shots after the ceremony

 

- One hour in Classic car (included) with one photographer (no video) out to Dupont house for some out of the resort photos (extra hours are optional to pay the driver)

 

- DVD with 400 photos or more of full resolution for later prints (70 of our choice edited)

 

- DVD with slideshow of pictures Highliting the wedding

 

- 24 prints (6x8) in album + 2 prints (8x12)

 

- DVD with photos ready for internet use with watermark of our logo

 

- Clips of videos taken in HD

 

- Edited video with fully functional dvd menus

 

Wedding Video prices

 

 

#1 V (day and night ) 700cuc

 

 

- Aprox 7 hours coverage

 

- Edited video with full dvd function menus

 

#2 V (daytime) 500cuc

 

- Aprox 4 hours of coverage

 

- Edited video with full DVD function nenus

 

- DVD with clips of video unedited

 

As for the TTD, Im guessing its the same charge for what we paid for our engagement session, which was $100/hour & $50/hour for any additional time.  Our engagement session was an hour and a half and Alex only charged us the $100.  We got 50 edited images and about 200 unedited on a disc.  He also had a nice large print out picture (BEAUTIFUL) of one of our photos for us.  

 

Any other questions feel free to ask away! 

 

Kay xo

[Kay6356]

My wedding colours are a dark purple plum

 

 

AND royal blue.

 

Purple is my main colour, with some accents in the blue in different areas  I am trying to decide weather to do the purple on the ceremony chairs, or blue.

[csho]

Wow Kay! Thanks sooo much for all the information! I am definitely going to look into making my own bouquets! It will be a lot cheaper and I think can still look beautiful! Also I am going to think about doing the diy yourself aisle runner... I didn't even think about doing something like that but thats a really good idea!

 

I love your colours! Is that the dress you are going with for your bridesmaids! Thats exactly what I am looking for!

[csho]

ohhh just watched that video! That was super helpful and really super easy! Now its just to find flowers I like!

[Jamdrea]

Hi Ladies

 

Just join the site as I will be getting married at the ILA in Feb 2014. My sister and her bf went to the resort last year and absolutely loved it!

 

I have emailed Lisset at  bodas@laguna.co.cu 2x times and have not heard back (its been 2-3 weeks) to request if a few dates are available in Feb 2014 for our wedding. I want to lock down the dates so we can send out Save the Date cards to our guestlist.

 

Has anyone else had problems getting a response?

 

Did most of you ladies contact a private TA or book with a TA through travel website (like sunwing or tripcentral). I'm just starting out and since I've never been to a destination wedding just trying to figure out where to start.

 

Talk soon

 

Andrea

[Kay6356]

Let me know what flowers your looking at using and I will keep an eye out for you. Yes those are the dresses for my bridesmaids, my maid of honor tried it on and she and I love them. It's a venus dress style BM1277, go to the venus website and search for store locations by you. Than I called all the ones on my area to see which stores that carried venus actually had that style as a sample got trying on with the lace up back your girls won't need alterations

[csho]

Oh nice! I looked them up! That particular dress doesn't come in the colour I want... and my sister hates lace up backs but I know we can find something similar. I am hoping to go out in the next few weeks while she is in town visiting to look for some! Sooo excited!

[jolene028]

Originally Posted by Jamdrea 

 

Hi Ladies

 

Just join the site as I will be getting married at the ILA in Feb 2014. My sister and her bf went to the resort last year and absolutely loved it!

 

I have emailed Lisset at  bodas@laguna.co.cu 2x times and have not heard back (its been 2-3 weeks) to request if a few dates are available in Feb 2014 for our wedding. I want to lock down the dates so we can send out Save the Date cards to our guestlist.

 

Has anyone else had problems getting a response?

 

Did most of you ladies contact a private TA or book with a TA through travel website (like sunwing or tripcentral). I'm just starting out and since I've never been to a destination wedding just trying to figure out where to start.

 

Talk soon

 

Andrea

I am not getting married at this resort so can't help with contacting, but welcome to the site congrats!

 

I personally used a TA that we book all our travel through I heard that some of the websites to do direct is a pain because you have to be the contact for the group everything has to go through you, questions, deposits, payments.

 

Good luck!