murmel

Welcome to another January 2011 bride! Can't wait to see you on the January 2011 forum and learn more. Hope your planning goes well, this site is very helpful!

I think it must be a tradition for GM to stress the bride out. My FI has 5 GM, and 2 of them booked on the last day! I made a point to start reminding them about a week before the deal closed and telling them FI was counting on them, it was not going to be much cheaper, and you only have to put down $200 now, etc. I know the feeling....but hopefully it all works out for you. Â

 I will have to look into the 2 meal option. I was always under the impression you could only choose one dish as the main. Gosh, that would make my life so much easier if we could offer a choice!  And congrats on the mulit-post and thanks again for all the pictures!  Love the stencil idea. I will have to look into this. I am currently sewing my OOT bags myself. At the start we figured on 30-ish guests....LOL we are now up to 57 and counting, so I have a bit of work to do, but more importantly I need more fabric.  Sorry to hear you couldn't get your orginial quote of $800, but $1285 is still awesome. We are staying for the 2 weeks and our price is way higher (I think it's about $1570). If your FI is so worried about the cost, you could always fly home after the week, and then do a last minute selloff (but of course you don't know what will be offered). Hopefully he will take some time to look at prices of other resorts and just compare. Good luck!  Talking about venting and stress, the last week has been insane. I finally listed my house for sale, and it sold conditionally in 36 hours (selling my house, cause I moved in with FI). Anyway the buyers inspected the house mulitple times over,and then today told me I had to reduce the price by at least $10000 to redo the boiler/furnace system to what they wanted. Keep in mind that the furnace/boiler both work right now. There were a few other little things, and I agreed to reduce the price slightly. But the buyer told me that wasn't enough. I don't know what they are expecting...you buy a house, and then choose to do improvements yourself, you can't expect a 70 year old house to be perfect! Sigh....anyway the deal's off, and I am hoping another comes soon! I just hope it sells soon, so I can concentrate on wedding stuff Â

Sorry to hear you are having difficulties. But I would have to agree with the girls, it's not worth your stress. Concentrate on those people who are willing and able to make the journey to join you, and enjoy them and their company. As rude as it seems for her to not return the favor of being your BM, there is no rule to it. If she says no, move on. Plan your wedding with your other girls and enjoy!

Welcome to the forum! Hopefully you'll find what you're looking for. I can't tell you much about the Sunset Princess, but the RIU's are very nice. I have stayed at the RIU Yucatan, and we did a site inspection at the RIU Palace (be careful there are 2 RIU Palaces almost right beside each other). They are both beautiful. I would suggest advising your guests ahead of time you are planning a destination wedding so they can start planning for it. Also take a quick look on a travel website for pricing on the resorts, what would work better for you and your guests and maybe tackle your decision that way. We had to include a resort which was kid friendly, so that changed a lot for us. (I think the RIU Palaces are adult only-but you should double check, the other RIU's are family resorts.) Good luck!

Get better soon Jamie! Â I found my dress, but it was so accidental. Originally the plan was to find a few dresses I liked and then travel to show my future MIL and my sister, and let them help me choose. It was on a day when I was just out looking for different styles that I found one I feel in love with. And I was on my own. So don't worry, you'll find the right one in due time. The only thing to worry about, is that the closer you wait to the wedding, it just means you will likely have to buy one off the rack, ie. what's in store. Because ordering a dress usually take 4-6 months. (that's what I was told, but I am sure they can rush order things too) Good luck. Â

Bride and groom count. As well as kids, but not infants...best way to think of it- anyone taking a seat on the plane counts! Good luck. Â Sorry to hear you have had so much trouble! I hope it all goes well now, and at least with Air Canada, make sure to tell your TA it's for your wedding and hopefully you'll get bumped up to business class for free (if there's seats available) A lot of our friends are holding out til the last minute, but we have passed our group rate deadline, so their on their own now. Â Many people can't afford it as one payment now. But might be able to save up and then pay. So you never know, you might end up getting a few last minute additions. We were stressing about our group rate deadline, we had reserved space for 25 out of Toronto and 10 from Ottawa. We didn't think we were going to hit our numbers, and then in the last days we got 23 out of Toronto and 15 from Ottawa....plus guests from all over...we are up to 57 and counting. So don't count any of your guests out yet, they may surprise you like they have been surprising us! Â

I wish I had thought about it earlier in the summer. Most of the stores have the fall/winter browns and blacks in already. So I think I will have to try online. Sort of nervous about fit though.... Â For any of you wondering about heels on the sand. One of the to-be-brides doing her site inspection was nice enough to try it out for us. She says most of the resorts, the sand is fairly hard packed and she had no problems walking on the beach and standing (mind you can't put all your weight on your heels, but normal walking not a problem). Hope that helps! Â

Jamie-first off, Thank you so much for all your hard research and great photos! It is greatly appreciated. Â The inside of the rooms is all the same. The only bonus is the hot tub on the premium side, and to be honest the aromatherapy is cute...but do you need it....hard to say. I know FI and I are staying in the premium side because we want the hot tub. That's our reason. Also you get free Wi-Fi on the premium side, just have to ask for the code. Otherwise I think the cost was about $10-15 a day. Â Everything is included. They do have many premium drinks, but not all brands. For instance they have many good brands of vodka, but not Grey Goose, etc. Rum is likley the same. So if there is something you want specifically you may need to order it from them in advance and that is at extra cost. But whatever is on the bar, is fair game! Â

Wow! Congratulations on your wedding. You did an amazing amount of work...I love your OOT bag tags, might have to borrow that idea. Thanks so much for sharing everything.

Thanks for the heel testing Jamie! Great information to have. Can't wait to hear how the tasting went and what other details you have gathered.

Wow! Great pictures. I will have to take a look for them. Thanks so much for the info.

I have been looking for a spot, I will have to check them out. Were their prices reasonable? Some places I don't think I can justify the amount of money they want to charge. Â

I am having a hard time finding shoes as well....sigh. I really would love to have turquoise heels to match my bridesmaid's dresses, but no luck yet. Guess I'll just keep looking. Depending on where you live, you could try Zappo's (online shoe store). Â

Thanks for the link to "how to use Word". Greatly appreciated!

So good to know! Thanks. I was trying to figure out what to wear. I am super short (5'3") and my FI and maid of honor are both over 6'...so I really want to wear heels. Â These came out beautiful! You must be thrilled. Â I am so sorry to hear this. I would not let this issue go though. I truly believe your written emails are enough to prove you were intend promised these things. Talk to the manager, or higher if necessary to get what you and your guests deserve. Â I have been a little frustrated with our TA's too. They seem to take their time to response to everything, emails usually 24-48 hours. And usually I have to go back and confirm things, because they never really answer the questions. Our guests (many trying to book on the last day...sigh) got the TA's voicemail, and thank goodness our TA was a least kind enough to still give them our group rates the day after, but that was their fault for the slow response to my guests requests. Â

I agree. It's so much fun to see who's coming! Although I have to say it's been a bit hit or miss for us for the RSVP. We decided to ask people to RSVP online on our website. Funny, lots of people have RSVPed and then others I know are coming, cause our TA sends me an updated guest list, have not RSVPed. Â Maggie-congrats on gettings the invitations out! It's always nice to have one more item checked off the list. Â

Very pretty dresses! I would share some concerns as well about ordering them from afar. I have had a few girlfriends order things like that...some have been fantastic, some not so much. Try finding a review of the seller/dress designer and see what others report. And as long as you have a good seamstress at home, minor changes shouldn't be too hard to change, if it's not perfect! Good luck. Â There are a few spots. I remember one is the yoga area, so the head table is usually set up on the wood deck and then the other tables on the sand (that's what we were told). Then they also said for smaller groups you can set up towards the premium building. But they suggested that to a maximum of 5 tables. Then there's the beach bbq area. Â Quote: Originally Posted by KittenHeart Hi girls! Â Remember me? Hahaha, man I've been sooo busy lately it's ridiculous. DH and I decided to up an move last week as well and we're moving in 2 weeks and working 12 hour plus days and he's gone in Nebraska for a business trip... anyways enough about me! Â Good luck with the move! Hope everything goes smoothly and things slow down. Just yesterday I realized it's September....where did the summer go? Sigh... Â

Usually they will only give you a group rate for 10 people and up. We did a group booking (in May), through Signature vacations, but flight is with Sunwing. We had to put the deposits down to hold the group rate til August 31, if we didn't fill our said number of deposits, we just forfeit the extra deposits....but don't lose the group rate. (ie. We put down $5000, $200 each for 25 seats. We need 25 guests to book by August 31, if not we don't get the extra deposit cash back. So if we only have 20 guests book, we would only be credited $4000, and lose the extra $1000) Â But if your guests have already paid in full, I can't see them charging them more after the fact....it seems really strange to me! You may lose the lower price promotion, but that's it. I would personally call Sunwing directly and find out if the price of your package can go up. But usually a full payment is a full contract and can't be changed in my opinion! Good luck. Let us know what happens.

Beautiful pictures! And I LOVE the shoes

We're doing a beach ceremony, and had original thought a beach reception....but FI wants to have the reception in the patio area of the Mexician restaurant! Which I love...this was mine first choice, but they told us a maximum of 40-45 guests....and I think we might be over that number. So I am now changing plans to be a the Zavas Plaza as well! Â

That's awesome! Please let us know how it goes. I would love to hear how the food looks and tastes. FI was a former chef...so he's a huge foodie! One of the main reasons we picked the Sensatori in the first place. Overall the food is really good, especially for an all inclusive! Â

Oooo...that' tricky. Since you say the destination wedding will be for only the closet family and friends, maybe talk to them directly. As for the wording..."We're getting married in....! Hope you can join us for our special day and some fun in the sun. And if you're not able, don't worry we're still having a small reception at home on May..., 2011." Good luck.

You don't sound harsh at all. I can understand how frustrating having to change your plans might be. Plus if FI has 3 younger sisters, it makes it a tricky situation. Perhaps invite all 4 girls to join you at breakfast and make sure they are included in the family photos after, but leave it at that, to make sure no one is offended! And I don't know if you plan on writing a wedding day letter/card for your future husband. But perhaps they can be the special messangers and deliver the note to him.

Perhaps she can have a special role on the day of your wedding. Have breakfast with you and your bridesmaids and get her nails done. Or perhaps she can do a reading. Just because your dad wants you to include her, doesn't mean that you have to, or that she has to be a bridemaid. She's only 11, she likely doesn't want to hang around with you all day anyway.