Roxielees

Thanks for all your helpful replies ladies! VariaStudio, your photos look amazing. If you hear of another bride who is looking to go to Holguin/Santa Clara during late Jan/Feb 2009, please let me know. I would love to do a share. Since we are topping up the trip costs of our guests, we are going to have to keep photography costs down, but if I could afford it, I would book you right now. TeacherBride, thanks for the offer. Unfortunately, my FH's brother isn't available to travel for the wedding until Jan 22nd or later so it looks like we will be booking for the week after you. CayoLargo, thanks for the link to your resort. I am going to take a look. As I said, we are dead set on Cuba, but otherwise open. I think that we have settled on not Varadero for our location. We decided that the R&R and some time together is just what our group is looking for. However, we still haven't booked so I am getting a bit scared. I guess we just have to make the call as to whether our dream resort is a bit too pricey or not. To make matters more complicated, our second choice resort has a far more pricey wedding package (about $1200) than our first choice (about $450) which makes it far more attractive just to top our guests up that much further to go for PRDO. Argh, I am procrastinating to the extreme. Thanks for keeping me sane, gals.

Thanks all for the quick replies. I am a bit overwhelmed at this point having really only researched resorts. We are open to other resorts besides RHE and PRDO. Because we won't be booking for another month or so and it is getting late, I want to have a few options out there. Maybe you girls can help add to my list. These are my criteria in order of importance: 1. Gazebo overlooking water in a somewhat private area; 2. Cuba; 3. adults only; 3. nice pool with swim up bar; 4. nice beach; 5. decent food; and 6. price. I am open to Varadero, though it isn't as important for our group that there is a decent night-life off the resort. This is a R&R trip for most. However, you do bring up a good point about lack of things to do off the resort. My FI and I are planning to head down a week before the rest of the group arrives. Do you think that we should stay at a different resort just to change things up? Because this is a quasi-elopement (8 people counting us - though I have a nagging and somewhat confirmed feeling that my mom might show up) price isn't a major factor, though it is a factor though we will be topping up four of our six guests so we don't want to break the bank. Amarillis, I am also working with Megan Crouse although we haven't booked yet. I am sending you a PM.

We too struggled with the idea of Vegas or a tropical vacation mainly for cost reasons. This is how we made our decision... If having the most people there with us as possible was the most important to us, then we would pick Vegas. If having the wedding where we always imagined we would - on a beach overlooking the ocean - was most important to us then we would pick the tropical vacation. We picked the tropical vacation, but if our brothers wouldn't have been able to afford the beach vacation, we might have changed our minds. Everyone's circumstances are different so our thought process may not help you too much. Good luck in your decision.

Hi gals. I am not planning on getting married at the Valentin, but I did stay there last February. I didn't witness any weddings while I was there, but I know that they were preparing for some while I was there. The chapel is stunning and I still think wistfully about their dusk ceremony on the beach. The best things about this resort are the grounds, the food, the decadent rooms and the huge pool. At the time I was there, the resort had only been opened for a few months, but it seemed as though they were still ironing out some service issues. I have noticed a few reviews on Trip Advisor about weddings at the Valentin. Some were negative about the premises not being ready in time for the wedding and the service quality not being there. However, I would expect that they would have fixed these service issues at this point. Feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

Well, after becoming totally overwhelmed with resort reviews on the web, we have finally picked Cuba for our January/February 2009 wedding. We are just taking our brothers, their girlfriends and two friends so it will be small affair. No invites. No gifts. No speeches. But, lots of drinks and hopefully sun. We have narrowed down our resort choices to two: PRDO and RHE. PRDO is our first choice, but there is a chance that it might be too expensive (we are topping up the cost of the trip for our brothers and their girlfriends). What was most important to us was that we be married on a gazebo that overlooks the water. Anyone know of any other Cuban resorts that have a similar idea. We would really like to bring our own photographer, but I think we can realistically only afford to split one. If anyone would like to split a photographer in Cuba in the last week in January or the first few weeks of February (we aren't booked yet so we are flexible), please let me know. For anyone else, let me know if you have any advice for navigating through this process ...

Hey all. My guy and I decided on a destination wedding when we became engaged a few weeks ago. We are bringing along just our brothers and their girlfriends as well as two close friends. We have decided on Cuba and have narrowed it down to two resorts. We are hoping to book something in October or November for our January or February 2009 wedding. Are we crazy? Anyone else have to deal with disappointing people who assumed they would be invited but won't be? Am I crazy thinking that I can find a dress in October for a late January wedding? I would go shopping now, but I want to book first. I have been a lurker for awhile and I want to thank you for all the help I have received thus far. Roxie