RIU RM Palace Brides??

Thanks Josie, I decided to jump on the bandwagon!

Question for everyone... did anyone have any problems getting their guests to commit with deposits for awhile? We got some super good rates, and I told all the people that said they were definately coming, thinking they would be as excited as I am, and put a deposit down right away. Most people said they would like to wait awhile though, and now we might loose our 'group' status. I don't really get it because they all said they would definately come, so why does it really matter when you put the deposit down? I'm getting a little nervous that people might end up not going after all. What do you think ladies?

Chloe- I decided that the "group rate" wasn't the way to go, for me. My guests are traveling from so many different locations, staying diff amounts of time, that it wouldn't be worth the stress of trying to coordinate everyone. Plus getting them to fork out the deposit by force... I would have lost my mind doing it, and I wasn't able/willing to put down the deposit myself for everyone. My advice: if you lose the group rate, just roll with it and don't even worry about it. You tried

Kelly- I also seem to be having a problem getting my guests to commit to a deposit. While the majority of them gave their deposit by the "deadline" we gave them, there are still some that want to wait for some reason...which I don't get, since they also said they will definitely be coming. It's kind of annoying actually. I guess it's their loss though, because if they don't put a deposit down soon, they risk losing the group rate that we got, because our TA can only hold our block of rooms for so long.

Shelk- I was actually wondering the same thing about MsBettyB! I think it still says she is getting married at RPRM, but I really wonder what happened to her and why she hasn't come back on!

Josie- I love you legal day dress! Very cute and perfect for the occasion!

P.S.- Everyone got me in the mood to change my siggy pic too, so I had to do it!

Cute new pic, Katie. Wanted to tell you I love your wedding website, tons of great info on there!

katie, chloe & shellk - I like your new siggy pics!

Chloe - I did go with the group rate and we are having problems with people booking to but if you told them how it is all we can really do is let them wait if that's what they want to do. My 3 sisters (which are 3 of my 4 BM's) have decided to wait to book even though I got the best rate ever through our TA, they think if they wait longer they will get a better deal. I think they might not get a room/flight.

Anyway I have come to conclude the any way it goes the couple getting married is the ones who will get the blame put on them. If they book now and they can get cheaper rates later they will be pissed at you, if they wait to book and they have to pay more they won't be happy about that either. Ah well, what do you do!!!

Kelly-

We also did not do a "group rate" but I can tell you one thing....expect the unexpected. My best friend and MOH still has not booked, and my weddings in like 4 months. My grandma, and 4 other members of our bridal party arent booked either and I obviously know they're all coming. Then, of course, completely random people booked in the first 2 weeks, including my kindergarten teacher (don't ask....my mom wanted to invite her!) I stopped stressing and just told myself not to expect anything.

However, if I were you and the whole group rate was at risk of being lost, I'd talk to people closest to you that gave you a definite "yes" and I'd ask for their consideration & explain the situation!

Good Luck & Keep us posted

Thanks girls, as always, you're right! My matron of honor is convinced that there will be another outbreak of swine flu in fall and the prices will go down even more. WTF?!?!?! It all worked out in the end I guess. Our TA got the tour company to accept the 10 deposits we had ready to put down to hold the whole group till September 30th. I think that's pretty good, and it's less than 5 months before our wedding, so hopefully most people will be ready by then. If not, their loss. Our group rate is 400pp less than posted rates, so I think it's worth all the stress. I don't know what it is about this wedding, I'm normally a very rational person, but if it seems like anything is going wrong with it I totally freak out!

*** I agree with everyone, best looking brides and grooms at RPRM!