TropicLover

Yay congratulations Sandy! I'm so excited that there's someone else getting married at the resort too! Lol I've been feeling like I was the only one. I'm getting married on May 11, 2012! We're staying on the Turquesa side, but I think the common areas are shared (?). So you loved the resort?! Do you have any pictures? I haven't been, but everything looks fantastic from the website. I'm thinking of doing our ceremony on the rooftop terrace, but I'm kind of concerned that it would be too windy - did you find that? How did you find the restaurants? Were there any that you would recommend for a reception? I really like the Creperier and the Privilege restaurant, but I'm waiting to hear back on how feasible it would be to have a reception there. Okay I'm going to stop myself from asking a billion questions, haha I could go on forever. I'm excited to hear about your trip and planning details!

Hey! The ceremony time really depends on how you want your day to flow and how many extra hours you want to pay to keep the bar open. Personally I want to get the bulk of my photos done before the ceremony so I've opted for a later time at 5pm (also the sun is scheduled to set around 7:15pm so by 5pm the lighting will be great!) I'm thinking my day would look a little like this: 3:00 - 4:30pm B&G pics and wedding party 4:30 - 5:00pm Beauty touch up ;-) 5:00 - 5:30pm Ceremony (hoping it will be closer to 15min, lol) 5:30 - 7:00pm Cocktail hour & family pics 7:00 - midnight Reception (dinner served around 7:15 then follow by dancing and cake!)

May 11, 2012 at the Ocean Coral & Turquesa! Yay!

Hey ladies! Our wedding is booked for May 11, 2012 at the OCT! The Save-the-Dates are mailed and website is up and running - it's been a busy couple of weeks! I wanted to check with previous brides on the ceremony locations. I really like the roof top location, however I'm worried about how windy it would be up there. Will it feel like I'm in a wind tunnel? Also, are there other nice ceremony locations that aren't located on the beach? Any help is great! Thanks!

Surprisingly, most of the rates were higher than I expected. $1800 - 2200 per person. My planner did manage to find a quote for the Ocean Coral & Turquesa at $1600 for May (however it's over Mother's Day 2012). That's the lowest one she managed to find and I have a little over a week to finalize with a deposit. I've been engaged and looking at rates since Christmas 2011 so I'm totally going to book it because I really don't think I'll find something more reasonable. Also with booking incentives I may be able to decrease the cost per person by $50 - 100 depending on the number of people who book through her.

I totally know what you mean. I think I get bombarded by guests at least once a week asking what the plan is. I feel really bad that I haven't been able to get them an answer yet and it's totally stressing me out. I've actually scraped the Jan - Feb months and started looking at Apr/May. I got a really good quote for May; however it falls over Mother's Day (May 13, 2012). It's not the best timing, but definitely not a deal breaker for me. The other option for you is to book with the higher rate (just so you have a date) and tell your guests to do shop around before committing. I'd think the Jan 2012 prices would be more reasonable by September this year. Good luck!

Great information! Thanks ladies! I'm hoping to get married at the Barcelo May 2012 - just waiting on pricing. It was originally Feb 2012, but the prices were way to high so we decided to push it to May in hopes that we get something more reasonable. Quick question about the Gazebo at the Palace. Does anyone know how you'd walk into the Gazebo for a wedding ceremony? Do you go down steps, through a hall, is there an aisle? The reason I ask is I'd like to get a few more flower arragements to make it feel more like a wedding aisle and right now I'm not sure where I'd place them.

Thanks LisaandJeff...that text is just what I'm looking for!

Wow sounds beautiful! Can't wait for your pictures!

Thanks for the suggestions!

Great, thanks so much for letting me know!

Hi Everyone! I love the Boarding Pass STD's and would love to do something similar for my Feb/Mar 2012 wedding. Originally I thought I'd do them myself, but I'm having second thoughts. I'd love to hear some feedback from the DIYourselfers in terms of time spent creating and cost savings (my invite list is about 100, but there are a lot of couples so it's more like 60 mailing addresses). Also for those that used paper/invite company's let me know how your experience went too. Was it worth the cost? Does anyone have an average price/invite? Lastly if there's anyone in the Vancouver with some card vendor recommendations, please let me know. Thanks so much!

Great job! Love the colours!

Beautiful pictures, I love your work! Are there many brides that have a second dress for the TTD session? I'm thinking of getting something cheaper for a TTD session (like a lot cheaper, lol).

I'm having the same problem with quotes...everything is so high. My first set of quotes for Feb/Mar 2012 were sent to me at the beginning of Jan...and they were around $1800 pp including tax...which again was $300 - 500 more than the 2011 prices. The travel agent I was working with said to wait another month or two for the prices to come down. I'm currently waiting to see what she finds. As you can probably tell I haven't settled with one TA. I've been in touch with a few more to see what they can do for me. One of the most recent replies I received was to book the hotel and flight separately - this is mainly because the 2012 flight schedule isn't out yet. I haven't fully decided on what to do. Realistically I'd like to see the dollar figure as a package and then an estimated figure if we booked separately. Another Vancouverite from the "Recent or new weddings at NOW JADE" thread: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/69363/recent-or-new-weddings-at-now-jade/10#post_1566732 said she knows a really good Canadian TA. I've written her back asking for the contact. When I get it I'll let you know!

I'm in the same boat too. The prices I'm getting for Feb/Mar 2012 are close to $1800 including taxes. I'm looking for something $1500 max per person taxes included. They keep telling me to wait, but I don't want to let it linger. On another thread a few people suggested booking the hotel and flights separately that way you can nail down the wedding date. I'm still torn.

Hi irishdonna! I'm in Vancouver looking to book a Feb/Mar 2012 wedding and would love your TA contact. Private Message me or whatever works. Thanks so much!

Very helpful!

It's different, but it sounds promising.

Has anyone done tall centerpieces with branches, hanging crystals and some flowers? I've seen them in magazines, but I'm not sure if it's something a hotel would be able to do. Maybe I should look for outside vendors.

Cool idea!

Thanks AmyG. That's really good news! I do love the Now Sapphire, it's quite beautiful. I'll see what my TA's come back with in terms of pricing, but I'll probably do what you did and have them book the room and flight separately. I like the idea that the guests have a bit of flexibility if they're wanting to book with the TA or on their own.

Thanks Sharon99, I'm still waiting to hear back from a few other agents (they say it will take from 4 -10 business days)...when I do I'll definitely ask them about booking a block of rooms.

Thanks ladies, I think I'll go ahead with it on our wedding website. I totally forgot about the wedding shower, lol wow so many things to consider :-)

I'm running into the same problem. We're already getting guilt trips from my future sister in-laws that it's going to be too expensive and hard to save for (wedding will be Feb/Mar 2012). As an alternative I'm looking into the hotels that have different price points to accommodate different income levels. I hope that satisfies most parties, but I do expect complaints. I've gotta work on my smile-and-nod technique