nina874

nishabella - I used thecaribbeanwarehouse.co.uk , they have been really helpful and they hammered everyone else on the price. I am having issues with Thomsons at the moment, but it is complicated, partly due to the way that I am trying to link bookings together. You will find that most Uk tour operators dont give the actual names of the guests to the resort until a 2 months before you travel, which makes linking bookings a pain. Kerry - I am actually in Cornwall now I used honey cole bridals because they had the best images of the dress that I like. I know what you mean about the pictures, I -much a s I hate having my photo taken - love photo albums! Could I ask what you are paying and what kind of package you are getting?

I just found these on a uk bridal forum, they are liseted on ebay , I dont know that they are everyones cup of tea, but they are certainly very sparkly and unusual! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Crystal-Wedge-wedding-prom-shoes-NEW-sizes-4-5-6-7-8-/110705235460?pt=UK_Women_s_Shoes&hash=item19c68bd604#ht_500wt_1146

Hi Shay! I just spotted this post! I am a Feb 2012 Gran Caribe bride - well vow renewal but we are going for the full monty! I have booked for 2 weeks from the 9th of Feb We have booked the gazebo at 4 o clock for the ceremony on Valentines day We are on the Luxury Wedding package - you can do the basic and add all of the bits that you want, but I liked everything on the package! We have 22 confirmed and booked guests so far, dont know if there will be any more? I am in the process of thinking about meals, flowers etc but haven't really done anything concrete. I have booked my makeup and hair with MPV - they are awesome - I had a skype conference with them last week to start bouncing ideas for the look on the day, and also we are doing an unusual TTD ( all our kids are doing it with us) so we talked over the funky stuff that we might do for all the girls for that . Their attention to detail is amazing! I have booked my photographer - we are using fineartstudio, I looked around - a lot - and the packages that they offer are superb value for money and more importantly i love their style. They are already in email communication talking things through with me, and they have also agreed to liaise with the makeup artists for TTD locations so that we get exactly the feel that we are after! They are very patient and answer all of my questions very happily so at the moment I am very happy with them. Have you had an contact with the wedding coordinators yet?

I had my skpe first measurements with Lyn last week, she is lovely and has all sorts of ideas about what kind of dress it will be but we know it will be based on this design http://www.honeycolebridal.co.uk/ContentPage.aspx?PageId=41&articleId=74 I am getting really excited now! I also had a skpe chat with our makeup artists MPV, they are amazing!! I had a long chat with Melissa and Edgar about the various looks, they are really excited about it all and are looking forwards to the TTD session too, they will be doing the makeup for all the girls on it and we are going to have my daughters wearing fairy wings running through the rainforest, we are doing an urban and a rainforest TTD - I know I am greedy but it will be so much fun. this is the slideshow that inspired us. http://www.fineartstudioblog.com/oqeypopups.php?oqeyid=14 Melissa has asked me to send her pictures of the dress - once we have designed it so that she can help me find the right 'look' for my hair and makeup for the day - wild woman of borneo being my usual style - she is really enthusiastic and has loads of ideas. she set my mind at ease as well by saying that the makeup for the day should enhance what I already have - not make me look like someone else. Fabrizio from fineartstudio has been fantastic, he is liasing with Melissa and Edgar to work out the looks and locations for it all. He has also set my mind at ease because I am really camera shy, so he has talked me through the way that they will do it on the day, which is basically much more photojournalistic, with a few semi posed shots. I still havent sorted out the problem with the rooms but the wedding coordinators have handed me to the onsite coordinator, which is a bonus I suppose because at he Gran Caribe you dont normally get handed over until 30 days before the wedding. I have got to sit down and start thinking about food, flowers and all the other stuff! We are thinking of throwing a big party in May over the extended bank holiday -kind of a combination of DH's birthday and an AHR for those that couldnt get to the vow renewal - do you think 2 months later is too late?

Hi ladies, it feels like ages since I have been on so I have had to read through a lot to catch up! char - I was laughing at your bored at home posts, that novelty wore off quickly! I love the ideas that you have got for the flowers and jewellery, and your bridesmaid dresses are DDG - where did you get them from? I was getting worried for you when you were talking about the financial pressures and then WOW I got to the end and you had all that good news!! You must feel so relieved and present Char must be so thankful that past char was so sensible! Now you can just relax and enjoy planning your dream wedding and honeymoon! It is a nightmare isnt it when your 2 halves dont match up, I normally wear separates but I really want a dress for the day! Michelle - your pictures are amazing!! You all look so beautiful and happy, did it go just as you planned? It made me wish the time away when I saw them, but then I realised that I have nothing planned really so I need all the time that I have left!lol Sounds like you had a brilliant time at your AHR too, where did you do it and where are the pictures! How flamin annoying that they didnt do the final alterations and that your mum had to fix it, I would soooo be looking for some money back. Leasexy - I cant think what the boys can wear at the moment I am leaning towards linen suits and white shirts so that they dont get too hot. It wont be long now until your dress fitting, I bet you cant wait! What are your wedding rings like? Waybuloo - where are you pictures? I am so nosy but I love looking at them. I cant find your review either but then I am always amazed when I manage to find this thread, I am not that adapt on computers. It sounds like you really enjoyed your day, when I find the review I will have a proper read! Herbie - OMG Hollie is actually edible, she is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! Hope that you had a good time on your hen, but didnt do a Char! Sam - I lol at your post about wanting october to be here so you can afford to go out again! Are you going to give us a glimpse of the dress when you have your fitting? I love seeing pictures. 3 hours writing invites! Wow! I have just rung the people that we are inviting lol. God I am so slack, I am telling myself that it is because it is a vow renewal, not that I am too idle. Lynds - I just looked at your photos and they are gorgeous!

Kerrry - sorry hon I missed your post, do you want to give me your email address and I can forward the information that i got from the vendors to you. If you let me know your budget I will know whose to send, but to give you an idea the ones that I have talked to so far have packages that start at about $1500, other than Del Sol who were waaaaay out of our price range at $950ph!! I know they are amazing but Ijust couldnt justify it as I want a photojournalistic photographer so they will be there all day!

Nicyx -I am sooooo thrilled about the dress, it is a dream come true!! We are doing the skype thing at the end of next week and I can't wait! In answer to your question we have DD 22, DS 20, DS16, DD 13, DS11, DS9 I also have a surrogate DS who is my dearest son age 20's best friend who has lived with us for the last 3 years since his parents emigrated and he didn't want to go! In addition to that I am the unofficial home for waif and stray teenage/early 20's boys so we have another one moving in for a month before he goes off to uni. I also have 5 totally bonkers dogs 3 of which are Newfoundlands! to say that our house is raucous is an understatement, never a dull moment here! Selina - not as far down as me i am right down in Cornwall, about 25 miles from Lands End! Have you got any ideas on dresses that you like or are you going with a totally open mind? I would leave it for the bridesmaid dresses, it is bad enough having wobbles about your dress never mind the whole colour scheme! You may find that you fall in love with a dress that doesn't go that well with blue - you never know! I cant help you with the legalities as we are doing a renewal! Samcalv - I absolutely insist that you take loads of pictures for us so that we can all ooooh and ahhhh over your loveliness! You must be so excited! Smart thinking on doing the hair trial and then trying on the dress/ veil combo, you will have a much better idea then! Michelle - I am sorry that you had some hiccups, but I am thrilled that your day went so well. I have to say let MIL from hell dig her own grave, I did with mine and she aint coming to the renewal and DH is 100% behind me - they do see the light eventually! What are you doing for your AHR, are you having a big knees up, or is it more of a formal reception? Have you got a theme? I want to do a TTD session with my photographer, but in light of the recent development dress wise there is NOOOOO WAAAY that I am swimming in my real dress, would you believe that I won a Susannah Neville gown on ebay for £33!!?? It arrived today, and yes I had the same problem with it that I have had with all the dresses, but for the TTD I can get a dressmaker to turn the top 5 buttons into a lace up corset type fastening and hopefully you wont be able to tell! I have to say it looks really nice and it has made me question what skirt type I want on my dress If i work out how I will try to take a picture and post it!

Hi Selina, welcome to the forum! Which hotel have you booked for, you will probably find that in addition to this thread you get a lot of information about how to plan from the thread to do with your hotel as they all seem to do things differently! Iam booked at the Gran caribe Real for Valentines Day next year, we are renewing our vows and having the dream day that we couldn't afford when we first got married! Herbie, cant wait to see the pictures hon, I love seeing wedding dress shots! Are you getting really excited now? I had some unbelievably good news regarding my dress hunt yesterday! I have been having a nightmare trying to find a dress that will fit as I have got a big bust and quite a small waist so I am in essence a dressmakers 18/20 on top (highstreet 14/16) but only a dressmakers 10/12 on the bottom (high street 8) which means that we would have had to order the dress in the biggest size and then get it taken in. Sounds simple enough, but the dress that I want is corseted and they cannot take it in more than 2 sizes without ruining the corset. It has been a nightmare. Anyway i ended up tracking down the design studio of the dress to ask what could be done and I only got to speak to the designer herself!!!! I had a long chat with her ( Lyn Ashworth) and the minute I described my problem she understood, she was intrigued about the fact that after 17 years of marriage and 6 kids we have decided to renew and we got chatting about all sorts, she has only offered to design me a made to measure dress that she will do all the fittings and everything herself!!!!! I am so excited about it, she was absolutely lovely understood all of the fears that I have been having about wearing something too girly ( I am after all a 42 year old mum of 6) and reassured me that she will make me look fantastic! I am ringing her today so that we can sort out the initial consultation, she is going to do my measurements via skype because i am miles away from her and then make up a mock dress, then i will travel to her and she will tweak the mock, then we decide which design and she will make the dress to my exact measurements!

Carrie - I hope it does all sort out, I cannot believe that they will wait until 2 weeks before. How are you wedding plans coming on? Samcalv - at least I am not having to worry about the legal side of things it sounds really complicated! Have you chosen your colours and dress etc yet - sorry if I am waaay behind the times! Kerry - what kind fo a budget do you have for a photographer if you dont mind me asking, I have had emails from loads of them with their price lists which I can share with you if you want. Nicyx - I read one of your earlier posts about looking for your holiday for next year, sounds like a brilliant antidote for the mother of all post holiday blues! Herbie - Only 7 weeks! What dress have you chosen, when are you having your fitting? All very exciting! You must be so proud of your son, what an achievement! Michelle - Mrs Page!! LOL at the husbands comment, yes they are arent they! Looking forwarsd to your low down on the day, hope you get back into Uk time without too much stress! Char - I read back on your posts to find out what you did to your knee, I almost peed, you are totally off your rocker girl. I am sorry that it is still giving you grief though I hope that it heals soon. Good news on the revision turning back to annual leave and wedding planning front though, definitely a silver lining to that particular cloud! I had a very frustrating day regarding my bloomin tour operator, I have already done a whinging post on the main forum, but on the bright side I have chosen my photographer, I think I have chosen my dress and I have chosen MPV for my make up and hair, so all is not lost! xx

Herbie, I had to reply to your post and give you a cyber (((hug))) My eldest daughter is bipolar and we have been through very similar times with her, the awful thing about it is when they are manic they dont want to take their meds because they feel so fantastic, and then of course they come crashing down - sometimes with devastating consequences. All I can say is that my daughter learned from her mistakes (admittedly slowly) and she is now studying Law at Manchester and keeping herself fairly level. The most important thing you can do for them when they are on a down cycle is listen - my daughter feels totally worthless when she is down - tell her how much you love her and that you will always be there for her, but also that she has to learn from the whole cause and effect lesson. I check on a constant basis that my daughter is taking her meds, and also make sure that she is reminded of the consequences if she doesnt, not in a nasty way, Just a gentle nudge or an almost joke, but so she knows that I am involved and behind her/ keeping an eye her. I hope that she feels better soon, don't ever feel guilty herbie , you cant make her better, you can just try to help her to heal herself. xxxx

I wonder if any of you lovely ladies can shed some light on this unbelievably frustrating situation. I have booked my vow renewal with Thomsons holidays, through the Caribbean Warehouse, I have paid a fairly hefty deposit for 20 people travelling out and 8 rooms to be held for them all for 2 weeks. I rang the hotel because as we booked through a travel agent/tour operator they only had a contract with the hotel for the bottom grade of suite and they told us that we would have to upgrade direct with the resort. Fair enough. I ring the hotel to organise that and tie down some more details only to be told that they have no record of our booking, I assume that is an admin error and ring my TA to ask her what is going on, she rings Thomsons to be told that they do not confirm the booking with the hotel until 14-21 days before you travel !!!!! WTF!!!!! I have to confirm my wedding package with the Gran Caribe Real 60 days before we travel!!! The package costs swing to a degree on how many guests are staying in resort, in addition they need confirmed guest lists which they double check to make sure that they are all Real Resort guests or you need to get Day Passes and pay extra for them. I had this situation a few years ago when I booked the holiday of a lifetime with Virgin (the Maldives, glass bottom water villa, business class flights the works) only to be told 2 weeks before we were due to travel -having paid in full 8 months earlier - that the resort was overbooked and we would have to take a holiday of the same value somewhere else. Upon ringing the resort and going bananas they told me that they were sick of Virgin not taking up their allocation until the last minute and that they had released my room to another tour operator who had the decency to confirm when the client had paid for the room. They said it was standard practice for tour operators to hold onto their clients money for as long as possible before paying/confirming with the resort. I have vendors that I am trying to book and they all need deposits and I don't even have a confirmed booking at the bloody hotel!! What if they release even one room?? I will be totally flippin banjo'd thats what!! What can I do? I cant afford to cancel and then to book all the flights and the hotel direct separately as the flights have to be paid in full up front and I dont have that cash just lying around! On top of that I might lose my deposit and it was just over 5K. I am tearing my hair out!! The Caribbean Warehouse are running around trying to sort this out but Thomsons are saying that they wont change standard practice, they will give her an email to show to the WC to prove that I have booked, but the hotel reservations (who are the only people who can sort out the room upgrades etc ) are saying that until it is confirmed to them and they have a reference number they cant help me as I am not on their system cos i dont have a confirmed booking!! Its like a bloomin merry-go-round. It was actually Edgar from MPV ( what a fantastic guy!) who suggested that I post on here, he has very high regard for all you ladies and reckons that one of you will be able to help! If one of you can I will be eternally grateful. xx

To everyone who has jetted off or is getting close I hope that you have the day of your dreams, to all those who have recently returned I hope that your day was perfect. I am so behind on this thread, I have been trying to liaise with vendors in Cancun to get things nailed down, but I have just spoken to the resort and they have a record of our wedding but no record of any of the rooms that I booked through our TA nearly a month ago!! I have paid a £5K deposit to hold 7 rooms and the flights for 20 people and they have no record at all of those rooms being booked WTF??? I wanted to add an extra room as I have decided that the combination of children that we have in 2 of the rooms is a recipe for disaster if not outright anarchy and mayhem. I thought add an extra room dissolve some of the more fiesty alliances - no worries. I am gobsmacked! My main worry is that we had this happen 2 years ago when we booked to go to the Maldives with Virgin, 2 weeks before we were due to go we get a letter saying that the resort was oversubscribed and we would have to book an alternative - turns out that Virgin routinely do not confirm their allocation until the last minute thus ensuring that they get to hang onto your money for as long as possible, only that time the resort resold the rooms to another tour operator and we lost out. If that is what Thomsons have done I am going to go nanas, finding a holiday at the last minute for 2 people was bad enough, can you imagine id they cock this up? I have got to wait until Monday now to speak to Blue Bay Travel to try to get to the bottom of this, thank god I haven't paid any of the vendors deposits yet! Sorry about doing such a selfish post, my head is frazzled!

I am getting our vows renewed on Valentines day 2012 and I cannot wait! You both look gorgeous!! Good to know that it is still warm at that time of year as well, I was a little worried about our February ceremony. My DH will be wearing a linen suit too I will get him to check out Debenhams! You look amazing Nicyx, you both look so happy, have you come back down to earth yet? How talented are you!! Did you make them yourself?? I could never do anything like that, you should watch me trying to teach the kids to knit....... I hope that your No 2 dad is going to be ok hon, I have got my fingers crossed that he has an uneventful surgery and a speedy recovery so that he can be there for you on your special day.

I wonder if she is back off maternity as she is the person who has been e-mailing me? I am glad that you like her, makes me feel a little less nervous... May I ask, do you have to pay the outside vendor fee for everyone including hair and makeup?

Hi I am a UK 2012 bride, well almost, I am doing a vow renewal on Feb 14th. We are also going to Cancun, we are staying in the Gran Caribe Real. Have you booked yet?