SunBride

Quote: Originally Posted by B&J2008 The only thing I'm really concerned with in decision making is the welcom dinner on friday night before the wedding. I wanted to include this in the welcome letters in the OOT bags, so I need to decide where to have that. I think that I will either do it in the World Cafe (I think that is what it is called, the buffet one) or in one of the ballrooms, then have the bonfire on the beach. I had asked Landy once before aboout the ballroom for the welcome dinner and she didn't say it was the private event fee, just $12 pp (I think). I have changed my mind so many times about everything that now I think it probably is just best to make all other decision when we get there! I still need to get my tulle this weekend! I haven't found the color I'm looking for anywhere (fuschia) and I'm starting to get nervous about it. I'm surprised you were (maybe) quoted 12$ per person for the ballroom. As per the guide (and I think when other people asked) any group meal would be 20$ per person for the standard meal (or 55$ for silver or 65$ for gold). I thought this included any restaurant or ballroom. Did you check out idearibbon for your tulle? that is where I got mine and I remember they had fushia. I only bought a small roll, for bows, and the color was beautiful Tulle Bolt 54"x40 Yard wedding tulle <font color=red><b><br> From $16.95 Per Bolt</font></b> I just checked and hte color seems more like strawberry pink than fushia for the big bolt. I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a bad pic. My small bolt was really bright fushia. It was a beautiful color. Quote: Originally Posted by latinalocany i have chose the ultimate wedding package for our wedding. are there any extra fees that i would need to know about thats not included?? or maybe something that it doesnt include that i would definately need? 50$ for judge's transportation and 150$ for the blood test if doing the legal ceremony, that's it! (oops, those are the 2008 prices, check the information on page 1 for 2009 prices, they are just a bit higher, I think 170$ + tax for the blood test). These have to be paid in cash Quote: Originally Posted by Melissa24 Does anyone know the dementions of the gazebo? I am trying to figure out how much tule and stuff I need to buy. I'm totally guessing here, but I would say like 8' high, and maybe 8'x8' square or 8'x10' or 10'x10' To do a set-up like mine (check my pics in my signature, check my review for more info about my set-up) it required approx 2 bolts of tulle 40 yards each (I brought the turquoise one, they supplied the white but they only had the amount they used for my set-up, so even if you have all white and a set-up like mine you should bring one bolt to make sure they have enough). Hope that gives you an idea of how much to bring to do whatever it is you want to do.

I have a beagle who is almost 1 and a half. I heard so many bad things about beagles (hard to train, stubborn, etc) but at least the most important thing was good, very friendly and never aggressive. Anyways, so I finally gave in and our beagle is awesome. He was trained fairly quickly. By the time he was about 9 months he had calmed down so so much! Now he is 1 year 4 months and he is so calm. Sleeps like 22 hours a day. The only remaining problems we have with him are that (1) he still destroys stuff around the house (not all the time, but once in a while). We have to keep him in the entrance (using baby-gates) when we are not home (we didn't want to crate him, even though I know many people think it's a good thing). The second bad thing is that he jumps on the table for food, and bothers us when we eating on the couch. so he's not perfectly well behaved, but in generally pretty good. Really, what amazes me the most though is how calm he is. Many people think he is much older than he is. He can be hyper and playful sometimes, but generally it's when we get him going.

Welcome! If you haven't found our thread yet, here it is: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t25646 You should introduce yourself there too, as not all brides will see your "newbie post" here I hope you don't mind I'm adding you to our DT bride list (on the first page of the thread). It's fun to keep track of who's getting married next and also which weddings are close to eachother (some people have plans to meet up since they are there at the same time!)

sorry to post AGAIN, but my recommendation to you would be to get Paul Schrank at Playaweddings for 5 hours for 1800$. I know you wanted 8 hours, but 5 is still lots (although I understand, not as much as you want). Anyways, I had Paul and was very very happy. Plus you will get an edited highlights video included in that price.

Here is a post I did several months ago when I was searching for videographers. Maybe you could look into these ones. I know some of them were like 200-300$ per hour, so you should be able to get 8 hours for under 2000$ (as they should give you a discount when you pay for more hours). http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...6-2#post280102

you may be able to find a videographer which only requires you to pay his travel - it would likely have to be somebody with no DW experience. But I assume you can find somebody as there are often photographers who come on here and offer to photograph weddings for free, and only charge travel fees. There must be videographers willing to do the same.

Quote: Originally Posted by pdcbride09 She also recommended for us to have the 5 hour package so that we won't feel rushed. I don't want to spend that much money and I think 3-4 hours is plenty. Why not ask if they can come for 4 hours instead (and charge you halfway between the 3 hour and 5 hour package). I think you would be rushed getting photos of your supper with only 3 hours (especially if it's at another location and you have to include travel time).

I think you should check with the resort but sounds to me like it should be allowed. Basically they are going to save money since they won't have to pay for the minister because you'll have to arrange your own if the ceremony is off-site.

Quote: Originally Posted by B&J2008 I'm thinking we may just do the pool for the reception dinner so we can have music. There are just so many decisions to make. Honestly, having been there and seeing the set-up photos for both options, I don't really think there is that big of a difference between the El Patio Terrace and the pool. I think they are very similar in set-up and atmosphere. One advantage of the pool would be that when it's dark it will look so beautiful all lit up. Since you are there in October when the sun sets early it will likely be dark enough to look beautiful for your reception. In terms of making decisions, just remember that so much of the stuff can be decided when you get there. Some stuff can't (in my case it took so long to find out if I needed to bring my own tulle for the gazebo - and that was important to know because I didn't want to buy the stuff and haul it down there for nothing! and I didn't want to show up and find out it was impossible to do becuase they didn't have the tulle and I didn't bring any). You might totally change your mind about the locations once you see them in person, and that is fine, it won't really affect anything if you change your mind last minute. Another example in my case, I was totally dead set on having the caribbean trio for my ceremony - I knew I wanted it even before I started planning the wedding! It was one of those things that was non-negotiable. Well once I got there and saw another wedding that had speaker music, and then spoke to landy, I changed my mind, the day before the wedding! No big deal at all, Landy canced the trio and no charge. It's funny how the things we think are "so important" during the planning stage are often totally un-important when the wedding day rolls around, and especially afterwards when we are thinking back (except photos - I honestly think photos are the one thing that brides will NEVER regret splurging on and getting the best possible!)

I completely understand the need to have the ads to support the forum, but I do wish that they were not flashy ones. I do understand however that the businesses paying for the ads I'm sure like the fact that they are flashy. I think it would be better if they were at the top. The way they are now, on each side, it makes the main part of the forum more narrow (as Abbie mentioned). Also if they were at the top they would be slightly less distracting when reading messages. Anyways, like I said, I completely understand the need to have the advertisements, and I think it's a great idea to generate revenue for the forum, and for those businesses to advertise services that are usefull to the members of this site. Seeing as this is Tammy Host's forum she can do whatever she wants with it!

wow, beautiful! What a steal for 150$!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by pdcbride09 IHowever, I just received a PM from a bride on here and she is not too pleased w/ her pics from Citalli(Claudia Rodriguez) this is what she said: I just got my pro pics and honestly it did not exceed my expectation. I guess I got used to seeing pictures from Sol Tamargo's website and she is awesome (also much more expensive). I paid $1,850 for Citlalli, but I think I got the highest package (5 hours). Depending on what you choose, it'll be cheaper. I guess for the price I paid, they were good pictures, but nothing special. Although some photos came out very nice. Most are regular. One of my friends had a nice camera with great lens and I liked some of his photos better. wow, I think that is the first review I read of Claudia's team that is not completely positive. But it's great, so often we only read positive reviews, and people who aren't happy don't say anything (who came blame them? Some of you will remember reading about what I went through after posting a review of my photographer). she must have booked a long time ago though, because when I was booking last december teh price for the 5 hour package had already increased to 2200 or 2300$ and it was the same price for the other photographers. I tried getting a discount since Claudia herself wasn't busy but she was firm on the price even for her associates. I personally would definitely go for Claudia (she is who I planned on getting before booking my photographer). Vanessa's photos are good but Claudia's team seems to get a much larger number of AWESOME photos. Keep in mind, you may regret splurging on other stuff that doesn't matter so much, but it's very rare that a bride regrets splurging on photography!

Okay so I've been doing a little research and it turns out the DC15 is the animal model (well one of them, there is also the DC14 animal and DC07 animal). I am tempted to just get the cheapest model I can find - I mean I hear all Dysons are amazing so maybe it isn't worth paying an extra 100-200$ for the best one (in Canada the cheapest Dysons are 500$ and the most expensive, the DC15 Animal is 700$!!!) I don't know which to choose! But I am definitely getting one. My husband did the stairs yesterday with the central vac (while the rumba was doing the hardwood floors!) and this morning I noticed that they are still so dirty! I'm wiling to buy a dyson just to get clean stairs!!!

The thing that works best for me is a perscription acne gel called "Clindoxyl". It's really great at preventing pimples, but not so great at making them go away once you get them. So the key is to use it on all acne areas (for me that's forehead, nose, chin) every night. As long as I do it every night than the rest of my skin care routine doesn't matter (well, I still wash my face twice a day, but I can use pretty much any face wash, I don't find any of them make a difference). It costs about 30$ a tube and lasts me a about 3 months. Luckily I don't pay as I have insurance for perscriptions.

Quote: Originally Posted by B&J2008 OK, they really need to get their facts straight cause I just got an email today where I specifiaclly asked if I could have music if I am having my reception at El Patio terrace and she said the only place I can have music is at beach or pool terrace...ughhhhh! I also asked about having a bonfire and welcom dinner on the beach on night before wedding and she told me that I would have to pay the private event fee, I'm assuming she meant the $750? She never said anything about $50 for the bonfire and so much per person. I'm getting so mad and frustrated with them I could scream! Wow, that is definitely frustrating. Hopefully Tammy can help you. Otherwise you will just have to get it all figured out when you get there. It sucks for planning purposes (especially if you want to give your guests an itinerary in advance) but it will all work out fine in the end and you will be mad at yourself for stressing! Just try to remember that. I'm thinking MAYBE the reason she didn't mention 50$ for the bonfire is becuase you said you also wanted to do a welcome dinner, so obviously you have to pay 750$ for the dinner on the beach (since it's a welcome dinner, not your wedding dinner, which they would do for free with either Ultimate or Dreams of Love package) and she just figured they would throw in the bonfire for free with that. I'm just guessing. Second, about the music and El Patio, I remember another bride saying they had it all to themselves and never paid 750$ (sorry, forget who said this. I think it was one of the brides who went just after me, or maybe a 2007 bride). So I think maybe you will get charged the 750$ if you have just a small group but they won't charge you if you have a huge group. i.e. if the restaurant / terrace capacity is like 75people, and you have 75 people, then by default it's a private event because there is no space for anyone else. This is much different than if you are a group of 25 and you want a private event and they have to turn away guests even though there is space. Anyways, this is just a guess, but would maybe explain why some people don't end up paying the 750$ for private event at El Patio.

I knew somebody had done a bonfire recently, so I checked out the last few reviews and found it, it was Chibi411. She did it on her wedding night and was charged 30$. See her review here. she talks about the bonfire at the end: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t23169

It sounds to me then like the cost of bonfire is 50$ + 12$ per person for food and drinks (optional). 50$ to set-up a bonfire sounds pretty cheap to me! I mean there is not only the fire but also chairs or logs (to sit on) to set-up. And I agree that you should totally just bring your own snacks and have your guests go to the bar (the pool bar next to seaside grill or the Sugar reef bar on the other side of the pools - so whever you are on the beach there is a bar within 1 minute walk). Don't forget to bring some sort of pokey stick thing for the marshmellows!

you'll post before and after pictures for us I assume? I've always wondered about this

remember you can sell the parasols after and make back some of your money! That's what I did! I sold them for 6$ each and people I had SO many people who wanted to buy them, I definitely could have sold them for more. So that helps make up for the fact that shipping is so expensive. You can probably get like half your money back!

That really sucks. We said right from the beginning we were only doing it if our parents and sisters were coming, everyone else (including best man and maid of honour!) were negotiable, but our immediately family was not. Lucky for us none of them (our family that is) backed out, I would have flipped out! Our best man and maid of honour weren't able to come, and that was a huge disappointment (once it was confirmed we decided if they couldn't come, then nobody else would be invited, parents and sisters only) but it wasn't one of our "requirements" so we were able to accept it even though it was a big disappointment. Hopefully you can move past it and enjoy your DW with the few guests who do come.

Babycow used Vanessa Vargas. She just posted the following link in her review (in the wedding review section) babycow_bucket/TOP WEDDING PICS - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Okay, so everybody loves them, but what about the question of the DC25 versus Animal versus Slim? I was thinking of getting the slim simply because it's smaller...

Hi ladies, I finally got a concrete answer about getting the photographer for more hours! I got an answer back from Andrea, the same person who gave some info to sisterofthebrideerica. They said they can offer 6 hours of coverage for 979$, including 80 photos (she did not specifically mention the CD, but I assume it is included because that's what I asked for). I will ask for confirmation about the CD being included, and also clarification if that price is the same no matter which wedding package you have (which obviously it shouldn't be, people with the higher packages should pay less for this package seeing as some photography is already included free)

Many brides have mentioned being very happy with Tammy, the host of this forum (Wright travel Agency, look up her usename, Tammy Host) Then again, I'm sure if they weren't happy they wouldn't post it here on her forum But I'm sure they are all happy, somebody great enough to put this forum together must be a fabulous agent. I wish I had used a BDW travel agent!

Thanks for posting Corri, I'm sure all the brides will appreciate it. I'll put the link and a link to this post with the description of photos in the brides list section.