Ana

So yesterday night we went for our Marriage Prep course. It was totally different than what I thought it would be like. 1st of all it was a huge class, with 38 couples! It was more of a lecture-style class than anything. We had two men talk to us about their experience with marriage and then Father Dion said a few words. We didn't have to do a FOCCUS test or anything, we were a tad disappointed actually because the night before we went online and found a bunch of practice questions from it...so felt really prepared lol! I guess it doesn't really sound so good to that we were trying to cheat but we didn't want to get ragged on yet again. Anyways, we got the impression that they were just trying to get us to open up and talk to eachother, and also to learn from other people's experience. So I'm actually really excited to go home tonight, grab a bottle of wine and do the homework with my FI. I almost feel a little bit silly for thinking it might be this horrible experience

Quote: Originally Posted by Cabo OR Bust I was just quoted $28/pp per event for Dec 2008, does anyone know if this is the rate for this year? Yesica from Dreams quoted me the same rate, so I'm assuming it is correct.

Quote: Originally Posted by jennyFTB Adinu, that is a big problem too...hmmm...So are you paying the higher amount Thank is nuts...If you/friends/family know of any TA's in the Toronto area I would check it out...thanks for the offer.... No we're not paying the higher amount. I wrote an extensive email to our guests this morning and explained in detail why, in our opinion, they shouldn't pay the higher rate. I want to wait until the end of the summer to see how many people would need the land-only rate and then get a group quote, either from a reputable TA or through the hotel directly. With that said, its up to everyone whether they choose to go with this TA's rates, if so that's their choice but I've given them all of the information, so they can't say they weren't told. I will get back to you as soon as I hear anything about the toronto area ta's

to the forum! Starting the research and planning early always helps! Happy Planning!

Welcome! and happy planning!

Thank you so much for the FYI I never would have known that. I will contact Yesica just to doublecheck, but at least we'll know in time. Well I guess that shoots down my idea of getting parasols and lanterns from Chinatown

Quote: Originally Posted by jennyFTB I have read this thread and have found it pretty helpful....I still have a question hopefully someone can let me know if this is normal My TA told me that when a great deal comes up...it may not last more than a couple days...she said that if she calls me with a deal I need to let her know how many people "i think" we are going to get. Based on the number for the group rate...I have to put down deposits for everyone?? That is a lot of work for me, and a bit of a financial concern....what is people back out and i lose that cash....shouldn't I have my guests call her and make their own deposits? WTF..... I know that prices can fluctuate, but I was never told that it was within a day or two. I interviewed a couple of TA's before deciding on the lady we are with now. Our travel arrangements are a bit complicated too, because we have people flying from Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, and then another bunch flying in from different parts of the US and Mexico. Our travel agent started off really great, we had her do some research for us and she was quite quick and responsive to all the emails and calls that we made. Now that is nearing the end (today being the last day that people can make their deposits for Sunquest for the gr rate) she is starting to slack. More importantly she is starting to also lie and try to make our guests pay more money so that they can book through her. I asked her 4 weeks ago for a "land only" rate from the hotel, so that I could include that for the out of Canada guests. She never got back to me with any of that information. So I spoke to Yesica (the WC at Dreams) and she gave me a rate of $210USD pp for a block of 10 rooms. I gave that information to our invites, and then the TA got angry at me for contacting the hotel to get the information!? She told me not to bother the people at Dreams because they are busy and since she'd already asked them the questions then I was making them do the work twice?! Then she said I should just let her handle this and that she had given me the rate she got, which was $246CDN pp. 1st of all, she never sent me any information because I would have known, I was waiting for it for 3 weeks! and 2nd why is she giving us a different rate? The CDN dollar is higher now, so the rate that I got is significantly cheaper and if people are booking for 7nights (which most are) it will end up costing them $700 more to book through the TA. Does that even make sense? Sorry for the rant, but I'm super frustrated, and since my FI hasn't done any of the coordination/planning for this I guess it all falls on me. On top of it all, our TA never emailed any of our guests, she gave me the info and I did all of it. I emailed them, called to make sure they were booking, answered questions etc. As far as I am concerned she's done the bare minimum. Its sad too because I guess there's no way of knowing how they will turn out in the end. It helps to use a TA that has a good track record and that comes recommeded by others. I am relatively new in Vancouver and so we did the research ourselves...and obviously didn't do that very well Jenny, I have all my family and alot of friends in the Toronto area, so I can always ask and see if anyone knows a good travel agent. Let me know if you want me to check

We have not sent out the official invites or the save-the-date cards yet. We needed to have as many people as possible put down a deposit for the flight+hotel packages so we sent out a few emails letting everyone know the plans etc... This has been going on for a few weeks and although some people have said they cannot come, we are still keeping them on the mailing list. I think we will still send out the invites to everyone too, just as a courtesy thing, and also because you never really know. We had about 6 people tell us that they couldn't come when we sent out the initial email, and whom after we sent a second email with pics and the deposit info have changed their minds. We just received our final "booked" list from the TA and all of those people who said they couldn't make it actually put the deposit down, and oddly enough, some of the ones that said they would be there didn't! haha! so i guess you never know, and we'd rather keep everyone informed and in the loop because alot can happen in a year's time

welcome to the forum and congrats

mmmmm cake

those are really cute good job!

that sounds awesome! its even better than Dreams, they quoted me about $7pp with the possibility of it changing since our wedding isn't for another year

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I've been trying to decide to use Jen Hatton for cake as well. I emailed her about a week ago, but I still haven't heard back. What sort of prices does she have? Would you say that they are reasonable?

Welcome to the forum! There are lots of Mayan Riviera brides here that have lots of good info. The EDR and also Valentin Imperial Maya look really nice, and I they offer outdoor receptions goodluck with planning

Welcome! Your wedding is sooo close, you must be super excited!

Well, today is the big day! hehe! I just found out last night from a friend, that another couple she knows is going to be attending the same sessions as us. Apparently they're in the same living situation as us. I don't know why (of if its wrong of me) but I feel soooo much better and more relieved knowing that we're not going to be the only "black sheep" in that group. lol! I'll keep you all posted on how it goes

I don't agree with all of the teachings of the Church either. I went to Catholic elementary and highschool where we not only had to attend mass and so on on a weekly basis, but also had to take courses on religion. I don't think that if you attend mass, or live seperately before marriage, or wait to have kids until you are married, it means that you are any less spiritual or that you are less of a good person than someone who does abide by those rules. I kind of made some of those points clear at the meeting, but I don't think it went over too well. LOL! I don't even want to know what he will say when we tell him that we are doing just the 30min Marriage Rights instead of the whole mass for our wedding ceremony I'm so glad that I'm able to share this with you guys and get some feedback to your experiences etc...

hmmm, I wonder if its done the same way in Canada. The way that the priest described it to us was that we would go into sort of a "group-talk" setting. It would definatley be alot nice if it was a bit more one on one. I guess I'll find out more once we go tomorrow :S My friend did it about a year ago, and they asked a bunch of different questions and apprently when her and her FI didn't totally agree on them the priest made them feel really bad about wanting to get married *ugh

I think alot of people don't get counselling and that's ok. My FI and I are going to do the Marriage Prep course at our church nearby because if we want to have a Catholic ceremony its pretty much required. Otherwise I don't think we would do it. If you have relationship with good communication and openess you're probably doing all the right things. With that said, I've met alot of couples that once they get engaged focus solely on the wedding prep, or at least focus a lot of time on it, and don't focus on the relationship. Some of them end up just looking at eachother after the wedding and going "now what?" because they have become so disconnected from eachother. So I think in cases like that couples should maybe do some counselling. It can't hurt.

wow! I didn't even realize that this guy PM'd me until I read this thread :S so not cool

thanks for the code! I'm ordering tonight when I get home. I tried doing some online VS shopping during lunch from my desk, but my male office-mate was oogling so I decided to put an end to that. haha!

Welcome! I'm not getting married there, but my FI and I are looking at travelling through Europe (Sicily included) for our honeymoon! Are you or your FI from there? Happy planning and congratulations.

here's my siggy, the first one ever that I've done I'll figure out how to post more wording in mine next time!

I've also seen other interfaith couples who chose to have one ceremony and two different people marrying them. One was a Rabbi and one was a Priest. The ceremony was actually really beautiful and it was nice to see the two different faiths working together. (I think I saw it on A Wedding Story on TLC...I used to be obsessed with that show when I was in highschool)

Quote: Originally Posted by lucy106 For my first marriage we got married in the CAtholic church, we had to do precana but it was special ed precana because my ex-husband had been previously married before me. So my experience with special ed precana was it was kind of a joke. You had to go through a workbook and we sat at tables with other couples and went through our answers. The good things about it is that it made you talk about some things that some couples dont before marriage (kids, money, etc) so I guess it is what you make of it. My ex was an ass so he blew it off, guess if we had taken it more seriously maybe I wouldnt have made the mistake of marrying him. awww! ever since I was a little kid my grandfather always used to tell me how there was a special person out there for everyone, and that God had put someone aside for me. I really believe that, now more than ever, so whatever happened before was probably just a way to bring you that much closer to your true love thanks for your experience:) i really appreciate it