echo2_62

thanks Karen77! I think the biggest confusion is that I'm torn between two styles that are very different and highlight different features on me. Everyone keeps asking which I like better but the problem is that I like them both for completely different reasons!! I'll just keep at it and last resort, I might take a flight down to Seattle since I think that's the closest retailer for a line of dresses that I really REALLY liked! We'll just have to wait and see!

Yah I'm glad to read this tonight! I went dress shopping today and it was both good and bad. This was day #2, stores 3 + 4. The first place I had a girl helping me who was very nice, didn't often even offer an opinion but was young and honestly might not have been able to know what changes to a dress would work best for me. But I found two dresses that are on "the list" of ones that I really liked, but just don't know if I LOVE them. The second place I didn't enjoy. They try to give you a more upscale experience by creating a semi-private environment for you, except that it also meant I wasn't really allowed to go searching through the dresses in the room - I had to tell the woman what I liked/disliked and hope that she brought me something close. There were a few details that I knew I didn't like upfront, and after trying on a couple that still had some part of those details, I finally just refused to even zip up, lace up whatever. The sales girl was not too impressed that I flat out told her not to bother lacing up one dress. Finally, FINALLY she started to get the idea of the shape I wanted and then said 'oh sorry we don't have time for more' because it was about closing time. I'm fine when a store needs to close - I worked retail long enough - but I was really unimpressed that they had half the lights off already and that when I got into my car, it was ten minutes earlier than their actual closing time. It honestly felt like she was just tired of trying to help me. Needless to say, despite liking one single dress that I tried on, it wasn't a perfect enough dress to really make me want to return. I'm just starting to really feel bummed out by the whole dress event. There are lots of dresses that I like part of, and some that I like all of... but there still hasn't been the ONE. It makes it more difficult to keep going back, you know?? Ugh, definitely need the glass of wine tonight!!

Too funny that I saw this thread! I was out shopping for a dress today and my girlfriend with me LOVES lace dresses, and they just aren't my personal style. Don't get me wrong, some of them are absolutely gorgeous - just not on me! But yes, I still tried some of them on just for her, sadly they just didn't have any stunning effect on me. Another day of dress shopping - still no luck. I'm so jealous of those of you who have your dresses!

I'm just curious - does everyone just take their OOT bags down with them, or has anyone sent them by courier ahead of time? I'm just worried that I won't have enough luggage space for all the things I'll need to bring with me!

Quote: Originally Posted by GinalynL We asked guests to RSVP by 2 months prior to our wedding date. We decided on that date because it gave us time to buy everything we needed for OOT bags. I was also a big DIYer so having the 2 months helped. You are right that some people will want to wait for vacation sales closer to the date, and thats fine...but you will need to at least have them confirm that they will be coming. Gina - Oh I totally can't wait so long to start ordering for the OOT bags!! Thankfully we have a fairly good idea of who is coming to the wedding already so that will help me get started with a number of things. Another open question - When paying the deposit for the wedding package, is the only option to use the email form sent from Jacy (basically a photo copy of your credit card as well as photo ID) or had anyone called her personally to give the credit card number. I'm not really comfortable with sending that much personal information on emails.

Quote: Originally Posted by jerseykitten FI has let me do everything by myself, but he wants to pick his own clothes. He is on the formal side, and cannot imagine getting married in anything less than a suit... But FI said to me the other day when I came home from trying on my dress..."I have to pick out my suit, and it's price tag will have a comma in it"! I was like "Dude, my dress didn't even have a comma in it, you might want to rethink that!" He looked surprised, but I think he got the message. Just a week or two ago Fi had to buy a suit just to attend another wedding, and I never want to be his helper again!! Haha! He is SOO picky about his formal clothes. But I think because we're both happy with everyone being more casual, he doesn't mind if I'm being more direct about what I want him to wear. And he hasn't even asked or commented about the price tag for my dress (which I haven't bought yet). I think he knows that I'd be really torn if I found THE dress, but it turned out to be more $$ than what he wanted or thought was ideal. It's probably just as easy that he stays quiet about it

we're going with the mostly casual look too I think. I told my FI that I'd still like to have him in a white shirt and black bottoms, even if they are black khakis (rolled up ankles of course!) or black shorts!! I still don't have my dress yet so I don't know how formal mine will be but I'm so totally open to whatever, so long as there aren't 20 layers! As for the BM's I'm hoping to find a simple sun-dress style and for the GM it'll be tan khakis (shorts or pants) and short sleeve shirts. We're leaning towards purple as the main wedding colour so I was thinking of putting the girls in dark purple (that's what I want for my flowers!) and the guys in a lighter purple. But the very best part about choosing all of this... my FI was actually ok when I basically told him 'this is what I want you to be wearing'... okay maybe it was more 'this is what you're going to wear'!!!! Hahaha!

Quote: Originally Posted by marryinghimagain I will let you know what I find out. Hopefully, very soon, I can get the answers to all the questions and nail down all the details of everything. I just want it all set so I feel like I know what we are doing before we leave. (I will also do a full review after we get home from our trip.) We also booked everyone on our own. We have guests coming from three different states. It worked out just fine, actually I think it was MUCH easier than dealing with the TA we originally were going to have handle everything. I'll be the same as you.. I will totally need to know what's going on!!! And I'm really glad to hear that you also booked your trip without the help of a TA. I have some concerns that people will leave it to the last minute and everything, but then I guess that's their own choice. Another question for the group... did you all set a date that you asked guests to RSVP by, and how did you decide when that should be? I know some of my friends will want to wait for vacation sales closer to the date, but if I'm ordering things like OOT gifts, I need to know how many to get! Comments??

Quote: Originally Posted by jawhite77 Meghan, Congrats on getting your date!!! I just got an email from Jacy and unfortunately the 5 pm dates on april 23 and may 1 are taken So now I am trying to decide if I should take one of the earlier options or pick another date, or *ugh* another resort. Do you know where you are planning on having your reception? I guess I wouldn't mind the earlier times if I knew I could still have the reception @ the Mexican restaurant. Just for some feedback, what time did other people get married? thanks! jen Hi Jen! We're going for the 3pm time. As with you, the later times were already taken for our date but we're both actually okay with that. We're just hoping that we can have our group together for dinner at any of the restaurants other than the seafood one. I don't like seafood and it's my wedding!! HAha! And honestly the seaside grill sounds awesome to me because it's got the ocean view (so they say!) and I'm sure would have foods that everyone will enjoy. For timing we figured - 3-3:30pm wedding ceremony, 3:30-4:30/5pm cocktail reception, cake, first dance, casual pictures etc., 4:30/5pm-5:45pm free time to freshen up for dinner (it'll be hot in that sun!) and then 5:45 meet for dinner. We don't mind if we're in the restaurant with other hotel guests anyways. And if something like that doesn't work out for dinner, then who knows! We'll figure it out soon I guess! And if you could only book a 1pm time on the date you really want, maybe look into booking a small biking tour for your guests or seeing if the resort can help you arrange something for your guests by taking advantage of the activities around the resort. Think how fun the pictures would be to have all your friends and family dressed up and riding bicycles around the resort! Oooh! Or plan something like a scavenger hunt to keep everyone moving and in a festive sort of mood! Make sure everyone takes pictures for proof!! Okay I'm getting carried away maybe but remember to just make the most of everything the resort and surrounding area has to offer! You'll find lots to keep everyone happy if you need to fill some time in between the ceremony and dinner reception.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jenna20 Hey Meghan, that would be great if you could PM me the pricing! Hey Jenna... check your inbox!!

P.S. Sorry for the super long quote in my last post!! I forgot to edit out a bunch of it before sending!

Quote: Originally Posted by marryinghimagain On with my question.... has or is anyone just going with the complimentary wedding package that comes with the room bookings? I would love to hear how this worked out for you or what your details are. I right now have a deposit for the complimentary package but was considering the next higher package. However, I don't need/want all the things included in that package. We have a total of 17 (including us) people. I can't seem to justify the almost couple thousand extra (Ours is a vow renewal for our 35th anniversary but still want it to be very nice.) but I do want to have a private reception. As far as the cocktail hour, we can just go to one of the bars before dinner. I just don't know if by the time we pay for a private dinner and extra flowers (2 extra bouquets/2 bouts) if it will be close to the upgrade price anyhow Then there is the music issue. I know that we can use an Ipod but will that work for music in the gazebo for the ceremony? Can it be heard when we are walking down the aisle? Is there a place to plug in the docking station? The only things we really want are the cake and toast, a private dinner (would like it outside), the few attendant flowers and the smallest photography. I have my own decorations and small centerpieces, also an ipod if it is feasible. We would like to do a "first dance" at the private dinner. Did any of you do this when only having the "free" package? Geez, it seems like so many questions. I am starting to feel stressed that this is going to be a mess. I was hoping that maybe someone here has "been there, done that". I have emailed Jacy but never seem to get the answers I need. I am kinda scared to wait until we get there. I want to know what we are doing and be all organized. HELP! Well I haven't officially received my confirmation number from Jacy yet, but we're in conversations to book for April 16, 2010!!! YAY! We're planning to go with the complimentary package for ours and sounds like we have some of the same ideas you do. We're planning to have our ceremony in the afternoon, do a cocktail reception and a first dance or two, then head off to dinner. Neither one of us is terribly formal so that's why we didn't opt for one of the higher packages. I'm hoping we can work something simple out with Jacy and when you do finally hear from her, I'd love to know what she says so I don't turn around and ask the same questions!! And if you don't seem to be getting the answers you need, I'd personally just get as specific as I possibly could for what I wanted and just keep at it. From what I've heard, everyone has had a great experience so even though I'm sure to have my stresses along the way, I think it'll all work out. My first hurdle is making sure everyone gets booked. We didn't go through a travel agent since the pricing seemed considerably higher than booking individually through a good tour operator. With guests coming from three different provinces though, I think it was just as easy this way. We'll see....

For those of you that did the symbolic ceremony (not the legal one), were there any requirements for how many days in advance you needed to arrive before the actual wedding date?? I couldn't find it anywhere on the DPA site...??

CnC... good to hear that you and your FI were able to work out what priorities each of you has! That is definitely a good place to start and will weed out a lot of resorts along the way I'm sure. And I loved your comment of him saying "hope you still want to marry me" because I'm pretty sure that we've said the same thing a few times as well after our 'discussions' But cheers to him for figuring out what he could do for you and going ahead with it. One hurdle down...

Thanks Ginalyn!! I knew the downloading had something to do with points or posts, but didn't quite know for sure so the link helped! I could spend WAY too much time going through this forum so I've been limiting myself a bit, but I guess that's just a habit I'll have to change

We just heard back from Jacy as well and have the options for earier times on the 16th of April. I was a bit worried that it might be a little warm in mid-day like that, but I'm thinking that I'll just get creative with my decorations so that all my guests have shade and waterbottles or something too! I'm not sure what dates the other April girls have picked out though (but of course I'm curious to find out!!). Now if only Geoff weren't out golfing right now I could actually run all this by him..... !!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jenna20 Hey Echo...just thought I'd give you an update. I have also still not heard back from westjet. It was sounding like I may hear something by the end of the week, so I will see if anything comes through tomorrow! On another note Ethos did mention that it would take 6 months to order a dress, and from other friends who have bought at other stores in the city, that seems to be the standard. I know...pressure! Esp if you need alterations, that would put us around the time frame of end February, beginning of March...wedding April...? I'm not sure if you have seen the billboard for the Calgary Bridal Fair in Sept. I believe its on the 27th, I hear they have sample sales, however not sure if I would want to take my chances on it and not find something? Jenna, I have two different quotes from WJ now, so if you'd like to get an idea of what prices they are offering I could email them to you PM?? The first quote took nearly two weeks, but this new one took them about three days?!?! So now I'm considering another call to Jacy about getting the actual date we want. I just want to get something booked and in stone!!!!!!! As for my dress, I had earlier thought that I might wait until September to even start looking but then realized that if I had a six month window I wouldn' thave much time. I think I'd heard about the bridal fair in september but no details really. I'll keep shopping in the meantime and if I haven't completely fallen in love with one by then, I'll for sure check it out! Have you heard about any trunk sales coming up at all? I wasn't sure if those are only posted by individual locations... more homework I guess!

That was my guess from reading the many other posts here, but I wasn't quite sure! I'll be so much happier once I can get my date confirmed and my flights booked. Then it's on to the fun stuff!

011-52-(984) 875 3000 is the number for the front desk and then just ask to be connected to their wedding department. I didn't understand their welcome at all because i speak almost NO spanish, nevermind quickly spoken Spanish, but they understood me well enough If no one answers your call in the wedding office, it will just hang up on you not transfer you back to the front desk. I think it has only ever taken me two (maybe three?!) calls at most to get connected to someone.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kim08 Thanks echo2_62 I sure hope they honor my Marina Honeymoon room. Maybe the change is only for 2010 brides? I emailed Jacy. I will probably have to wait a week to hear anything *sigh* Ugh yeah the waiting around is killer!! I'm just trying to get an answer back on my date requests so that we can get our flights booked while the prices are good! Even when I talked to the other girl, she just said that Jacy was very busy and she would pass on my message. At least I tried! But really I shouldn't feel too bad about it since that means she's off making another bride's day perfect and that's the same attention we all want as well! -meghan

Quote: Originally Posted by Kim08 Did anyone do the complimentary wedding package? And what room did you book? I booked the honeymoon Marina view room and now I am freaking out cuz their website says Ocean view to get the package. But the info I received from Jacy said reserve a Honeymoon Suite category or higher nothing about ocean. I hope someone can calm my nerves It also stated in the travel book from the travel agent marina view or ocean view honeymoon suite for the complimentary package. I'm looking at booking the complimentary package too! This is what I pulled from the website this morning for the 2010 packages (which I think was just posted recently!). Since we have about 30 people coming down for our wedding we are going to go with the option of booking 5 rooms in any category to fulfill the requirements. This package is complimentary when booking a Honeymoon Ocean View or Preferred Club Ocean View category or higher for a minimum of 7 nights or if 5 rooms are reserved for a minimum of 3 nights in any room category, this package also applies for renewal of vows ceremony. Also, in a previous post you were asking about doing the legal ceremony in the USA and just a symbolic one at DPA. I was just on the phone with someone in their wedding group (not Jacy, but I couldn't catch a name) and she said that they did NOT require any proof of marriage to do the symbolic wedding and still receive the complimentary package. The only difference from the civil to the symbolic ceremony is that one is legal and the other is not. Since we had already considered getting the legal part done here in Canada, I think we'll go that route now. Of course I still plan to get all this confirmed in writing just in case Hope that helps a bit!!

I'm having troubles trying to open the attachment for the wedding guide here. Can someone please help me figure it out?

It sounds like a lot of other people are having an AHR, but we decided that both of us were happy not going that route. I remember a comment from a friend of mine that she made about many of our coworkers when she got married.It sounds a bit harsh maybe, but I thought was rather true at the same time. She'd said "you generally work with people out of obligation/necessity and you all work best when you all get along well - so naturally you will develop your 'work friends' but if those friendships don't really extend past the walls of the office, then how well do those people really know you as a couple and how important is it that they are attending one of the most important days of your life?".In continuation of that she also said that if the borderline friends were people that you like to be around if you happen to see them, but wouldn't make your invite list for the big summer bbq bash in your backyard, then do they need to come to your wedding? Neither of these things are to say that you don't enjoy that persons friendship or that you don't value them, simply that it might not be the worst thing in the world if they don't get invited.

Quote: Originally Posted by palmtree I was thinking of having travel mugs created so that there would be less waste/ a nice souvenir. We were thinking of getting them made through Coffee Mugs, Shot Glasses, Wine Glasses, Beer Mugs, Promotional Products, Tote Bags, Champagne Glasses, Wedding Favors , Sports Bottles, T-shirts, Promotional Pens & personalized Glassware.. Has anyone ordered from them? I totally can't remember which page it was on, but someone used the same company and had the link listed as DiscountMugs.com so you might be able to use the search bar and find the comments/reviews on them?? I am pretty sure that this is who I'm going to use to order mine. They have TONS of options which is awesome, and for personalized stuff they have pretty good pricing!!

Quote: Originally Posted by shoyum So I've been looking everywhere trying to find bags, and I was having no luck. I thought I was going to have to resort in buying the ones from dollaramma that I wasnt a huge fan of. So I was in Walmart today saw the resuable tote hanging by the till and it was perfect!!! And for only 97 cents!!! They are all blue and made from plastic bottles. They are beach themed with a beach unbrella and loungers as the picture. I love them and I love them even more because they are under a dollar! And also people can always use this bag when they get home. How big are the bags?? I wonder if they have other colours too?!?!? Hmmm, might be squeezing in a walmart trip into my evening to check them out!