CaraW

Thanks everyone, it has been really tough the past little while, but it's nice to have a good TA on our side. I think everything will work out in the end. Cara

Thanks so much! I will let you know about the first aid kits. Ladies, you will never imagine the ordeal I went through yesterday! I almost didn't have a wedding!!! I posted about it here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...9/#post1215362

I would like to write a review on Signature Vacations. Not only did this company lack any form of customer service, they nearly ruined our wedding day. My FI and I booked our wedding in July of 2009 with Signature Vacations. The first issue that we had with them, was that they had provided us an incorrect quote when providing us with travel prices for the resort and the dates of our wedding. When they sent the quotes to me, I knew there was an issue, because they were WAY too low to be right. You know when people say, “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.â€? Well, that was definitely the case here. So I questioned Signature on the quotes to make sure that they were correct. (The quote was about $1000 less than what we had been quoted everywhere else). I asked them to double-check their prices that they had provided us. When they got back to me, the rep and Signature Vacations assured me that the quote was correct, and needless to say, I was ecstatic. The catch was, they gave us & our guests a deadline to put down our deposits of $150. We sent an email to our group, telling them of the amazing prices and the deadline. Shortly after, Signature Vacations realized that their quote was, in fact, incorrect, and tried to take it back!! Our travel agent told them that they had already honored the quote, and we even double checked to be sure, and they came back saying that it was correct. She told them it was THEIR error, and they needed to honor the rate. Signature eventually, after much hassle, agreed to honor the rate. People started to phone our travel agent and the number of guests was growing! Soon we reached about 20 people, and Signature Vacations phoned my travel agent and tried to tell us that we were not allowed any other guests. They claimed they were already losing enough money on the quote, and any more guests would be impossible. I began to cry, how was I supposed to tell my grandparents, my aunts & uncles and close friends that they couldn’t come with us on this package. What would I say? “You’ll need to find your own way.â€â€¦. Did they really expect me to tell my guests that?? Our travel agent told them that they could not do this, and that we were told we had until the deadline to put deposits down. They then agreed, but still tried to put a total on the number of guests that we could have. They told our travel agent that if it gets to be around 40 or 50 then we will have problems. So our travel agent gathered all of the deposits, and we ended up with 55 guests who put deposits down by the deadline. And everything seemed to be fine. Our travel agent sent an email to Signature informing them of the number of guests we had, and a room list, and they took it well. We were, once again, ecstatic. Over the next few months, nothing really happened because this was back in July, and we waited patiently for flight information. Eventually, near the end of the year, I started to email my travel agent asking if they had any information about the May travel. She told me that Signature and Sunwing were merging to one company, and that it may take them longer than other companies to provide the flight schedules due to that. We were told by Signature, that they had to sort out their planes, and figure out which ones they wanted to use now that they had Sunwing planes as well. So we were ok with that, we were told to wait until the New Year and we would have them soon after that. So in January I followed up, still nothing, still the same excuse. I kept waiting patiently. February, to my shock and my worst possible night mare, my father passed away suddenly. So obviously, I didn’t follow up with them that month at all. It was truly the last thing on my mind. I even considered postponing the wedding. But after much consideration, I realized that my dad would want me to continue. He was so excited all along for my wedding, and I know he will still be there. So I eventually got back into the planning mode. In March, I went onto Signature Vacation’s website and looked up flights for our dates that we would be traveling, and there were flights online. Yet, I hadn’t heard anything about our group flight. I emailed our travel agent again to see if we had any updates, she checked with Signature, and we received good news! The told us that they were 85% sure that we would be departing Calgary on May 9th, but that they would confirm on Thursday(yesterday). We were looking forward to finding out our flight information on Thursday, and also told our guests about the recent news. Thursday morning they phoned our travel agent stating that they do NOT have a contract with the Barcelo Maya Palace, and we are not booked at that resort. They said that there was nothing that they could do, they only had a contract with the Barcelo up to April 24th. How can a company do that when they have been telling you all along that you are booked at the resort, and ready to go?? We even sent a copy of our tour operator manifest to the Barcelo after we had put down our deposits, and the Barcelo knew that we were coming to the resort in May. Did they just suddenly decide not to renew their contract with the resort? How could they possibly do this to someone?? Our travel agent phoned around, and amazingly, she was able to have the price matched through Transat Holidays. However, the catch was that Transat’s plane leaves on May 7th and returns home to Calgary on May 14th, which is our wedding day. The panic set in. We had to phone over to the resort long distance to see if they had any available time for us to change our wedding day. This was such a hassle trying to get a hold of someone over there, and trying to make changes so suddenly. Luckily enough, they had a free spot on May 13th, at 4:00pm. We have now decided to book with Transat Holidays, and hope that everything works out in the end. These past few months have been more stress than I ever thought I could handle. I’m just glad that we had our travel agent on our side, or I can quite honestly say that we wouldn’t be having the wedding that we dreamed of. We’d be trying to find something on our own, at a different resort, and we’d have to change all of our plans completely. Thank goodness, our invitations haven’t been printed yet and I can still adjust the date. What a catastrophe. Because of Signature Vacations, we have to change our wedding date and time, and also change our vacation plans. I had to phone our photographer, to make sure that he was available on the 13th, and now we have to see if our guests can change their vacation that they have already booked from work. The whole thing was an utter disaster to say the least, and I can honestly say that I will not be using Signature Vacations again. I wanted to post just so people are aware of this situation. Hopefully it doesn't happen to any other bride. Cara

Quote: Originally Posted by springbride2010 hey there ladies....I too am a May 2010 bride....May 3 Holguin Cuba....getting close now...did you ladies get a destination beach like dress or traditional? My dress is definitely not a destination dress. It's a gown, still not a huge gown, but it's A-line, and has some bead work on the bodice. I love it. I wanted a gown, I am only getting married once! Cara

Quote: Originally Posted by NRLanders Hi ladies!!! I have been trying to sit back, relax, and take the advice of previous brides and not stress out. Of course that hasn’t been working out for me. I have a question and was hoping someone could give me some advice! I have read through a lot of guest trip reports from the unoffical barcelo website. After reading through a lot I found that when people call ahead to try and request rooms they don't have any luck. Some people will ask for a 1st floor room close to the beach with a king size bed only to get there and get a room on the 3rd floor farthest from the beach with double beds. I could care less where our room is located. I know in the wedding package we are guaranteed a king sized bed, but I am mostly worried that the older people in our party will be stuck with double beds. I know the WCs try and put all the guests close together, but do you guys think the WC would help in arranging the best rooms for the guest too? Or do you think it is just the luck of the draw? Ughh…. Little things like this bother me! Good question!! Some of our guests are single guys, and they're not going to want to stay in a double bed together!!! Gulp....

Me too! A lot that I didn't want to know about some people, but then again it's probably for the best that I know.

Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Sorry, actually we had 3 groomsmen bail. Mad? I'm am piiiiissssed. These people had over 2 years to save, plan etc. One of them has tons of money and says he can't get time off work (which is BS) he's going to a DW a month prior for 2 days and a girl he works with is coming to my wedding for 5 with no issues. The next groomsman literally fell off the face of the earth, I haven't heard from him in a year so, bye bye. The third groomsmen didn't tell me he was coming until I emailed him letting him know I bought a tie for him and then trying to say he told my FI he wasn't coming, which he didn't. Soooo... yeah, good old flakey men. I had a lot of fickle people, originally had 65 RSVP, down to now 40 booked so a lot of people have a lot of lame reasons. No I'm not bitter... hahaha Brutal, brutal, brutal!!!! Some people are so inconsiderate. In my opinion, people these days don't know what the word commitment means. In many situations, but this is also a commitment. A commitment to be there for your friend and stand beside him on one of the best days of his life.

Did it make you mad when the groomsmen bailed? We just had a groomsman bail last night, and even though he says he really wanted to go, but just can't afford it, a part of me feels a little hurt because he's known about this since October of '08 at least... and how could he not save?? Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart 2 of FI's groomsmen bailed, really sad. We're totally uneven but I don't care anymore

Just had another weddingmare last night!!! That we were at the reception and everyone was late, and I was calling people to come but it seemed like no one wanted to come to the reception, and then I looked down and noticed that I was in a t-shirt and jeans and not my dress... (lol) so I tried to get my bridesmaids to come back to the room with me to help me put my dress on but they were all pre-occupied with drinking and visiting so I went alone! And the food at the reception was terrible... what a bad dream. lol.

Hey!! It was great to meet you & Suzy as well!!!! hahah he definitely was shell shocked, he was totally out of his element with all of the wedding talk. I teased him after about it. lol. That's awesome, if you could check for me I would really appreciate it. I might have to buy more though because I will have about 35 OOT bags, depending on how many people come, and how many drop out on the deadline for the full payment... GULP...

Well your hair looks beautiful in your siggy pic, so maybe I will try them out. That was actually a lot cheaper than I thought they'd be. Someone at work told me about $400... and that would be way over what I want to spend, if I could find a good deal I might consider it. I'll see what my hair dresser can do for me. Thank you!!

I dreamed that I went to meet the wedding coordinators but they weren't at the resort, they were in the city and I had to take a train there, for some reason I went alone. And let me tell you, if Mexico looked like it did in my dream I would not be going! I went to the building where the wedding coordinators were, and tried to find their office but couldn't and I was getting harassed by all these drunk homeless people, and then got shot at by some gangster.. lol.. so I decided to leave but couldn't find the train back to the resort and no one would help me find it. Everyone was so mean! lol. I woke up panicked...

Hey Kris, I'm pretty sure I remember reading in your review that you have really curly hair, but you got hair extensions before the wedding. Am I right? I'm wondering because I have really curly hair also, and always straighten it, and I'm so unsure what the heck I'm going to do with it for the wedding! If I straighten it there, it'll just become really frizzy due to the humidity. I'm thinking about getting some extensions but am not sure what to get, or where, or if it's a good idea. So hopefully you can help me out. Thanks, Cara

Thanks TammyB!!! I'm so excited to go there! I've heard nothing but good things about this resort, and I can't wait to see it with my own eyes.

Thank you karla for posting! Do you have any photos of your sand ceremony frame from your wedding? I got the same frame, I'd like to see it with sand in it. Was it easy to set up to put sand in it? Cara

Wow, wow wow wow. What a great review! You have no idea how much this thread has helped me, thank you. And the memory frame template is perfect. My dad just past away a little while ago, and I was trying to find ways that we can include him in the wedding. i will definitely be using that. Thank you so much.

Quote: Originally Posted by JT3 Hey ladies... Is anyone else feeling a little panicked... I am at work and it has hit me that I only have March and April to get this whole thing together... AHHHH Well I hope everyone is doing great... I completely know what you mean. We will be leaving the 2nd weekend in May, so I really only have March & April.... GULP. I feel like I'm so far behind.

I hear ya, I haven't heard from Gabriela in a LONG time. I'm going to try to email her again and hopefully she'll reply back. Thanks Esther. I did start doing that process, but once we got to the menu, I asked her some questions about it a few months ago and didn't hear back. I'm surprised you could have that many people in the Brazilian restaraunt. I thought there was a limit to the number of people? We will have between 55-60 guests.

Hi girls, do you know if Gabriela's email has changed? Maybe the've all changed to [email protected]? (Bodas1, Bodas2, etc)? And does anyone know if you have to book a buffet in advance if you're having a welcome dinner for your group there? Just so they can plan to block off a certain number of tables? Thanks Cara

Oh Christina, I am so sorry that you have to go through this. My heart is aching for you and I am thinking of you. Although your situation and mine are different, they are both extremely hard, and one thing I found helped me was to rely on the support system I had from my friends & family. They will be there for you through the tough times. And I am sure you will need them. Try to find strength in knowing you are loved. Quote: Originally Posted by ChristinaP Cara-I just read back a bit and saw your post about your father- I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I can't imagine what you might be going through right now, but I am glad to hear that he was so excited about your day. I'm sure he still is for you and will walk you down that aisle on your day as well as hold your hand for the rest of you and your FI's beautiful life together. Thank you so much. And it's so true, he will walk me down the aisle. Which, for him, was a big thing. He was wheelchair bound by cancer that he battled 10 years ago, and he always wanted to be able to walk again, so now he can walk me down the aisle. I know he will be there, standing beside me the whole time.

Hey Suzy, I had thought about doing a bouquet picture frame, I would love to see a photo of your extra one if you could send me one? That would be so great. I have seen some reviews on this forum where people had lost a parent before their wedding and used a bouquet picture frame, and i thought that was so nice. How much would you want for it? You can PM me if you'd like about that. <3 thanks so much. And thank you to both of you for suggesting Dollarama, maybe I will check it out this weekend and see what they have. I think I need about 35. thanks for the website too, I will check that out. Cara

Thank you so much Echo. That's good advice, I will have to do that because I just keep thinking of all the things I have to do, and don't really even know where to start at this point. So if I take one thing at a time and get it done before I move onto the next task, that might work better for me right now. And I still have 3 months so I can take my time for most things. So first task I guess.... anyone know where I can find some good canvas tote bags around town? I need to get some for my OOT bags, I have some of the contents that I got a while ago, but no bags yet. I found some online at cheaptotes.com but the shipping is $35, and I figured if I could find some here that would save me a bit of money.

Wow I've missed a lot on this forum... I haven't been on for the past 3 weeks. My dad just recently passed away... and obviously planning is the last thing on my mind right now. But unfortunately the wedding is so close, that I don't really have a choice, I have to plan..... It's so unfair... My dad was SO excited for the wedding. He'd talk about it every day, and things were going so good and now this... I don't even want to think of the wedding anymore. I told my FI after my dad passed that I wanted to postpone the wedding, but obviously that is pretty hard with a DW.. hopefully in 3 months I will be a little more ready. I still have so much to do... Luckily my MOH is being very helpful, and doing anything for me that she can so I don't have to think about the wedding right now. it just makes me depressed. I need some motivation to start planning again......

Quote: Originally Posted by echo2_62 Is it a Cardel home by any chance? A brand new build? I just ask because my girlfriend works for Cardel and I know that she's been busy with homes down there for a while That'll be awesome having a direct bus from your area too, especially one that has seats! That's a rare occasion for my ride home. It's actually a Morrison built home, and it's a 2006 so a few years old now. I hope the bus works out for me! Because there isn't a c-train in the SE so I don't really have a choice... lol.

Thanks everyone for the congrats! We've been wanting to buy our own place for a while now so this is a long time coming! Lots of saving for the down payment and things like that, but it's finally happening. Quote: Originally Posted by echo2_62 Yay Cara that's awesome!!! Where did you guys buy? What kind of house? Give us some details!! We bought in New Brighton, the brand new area in faaaar SE. LOL. It's by Cranston and Copperfield. The nice thing is, it has a direct bus to downtown!!! And I've heard from my friend who takes it that it's great and there are always empty seats all the way to downtown. I'm hoping it will work out well. I currently take the C-Train...and I hate it! It's a 2 storey home, corner lot and has a 2 car attached garage. It's got a really nice bonus room on the 2nd floor (one of my favorite parts.) Can't wait to move in! Cara