DeanSanderson

Welcome to the forum Annick! As for resorts?? It really depends on budgets and so many other factors... I would suggest talking to a travel agent as well... If you want one that specializes in DW Travel, PM me with where you are from and I'll see who I have on my private list.. And I also want to give a shout out to Oriental Mandarin .. Roxanne there is amazing and the resort is awesome (five Diamond)... One couple had everyone stay at one resort and then had the wedding there... anyhow, it is off the beaten path so I thought I would mention it.. good luck! -dean

Hi Cindy, Congratulations and welcome to the forum! ... I hope this helps! As for response times from the Resorts... It is not all that unusual for it to take quite a while for them to get back to you. And feel free to send a few messages. Probably won't affect the response time a lot, but don't worry.. .they will take care of you when you are there.. -dean

Another way to save some money on the photos is to use the resort photographer for the day of the wedding and do a TTD with an off site person... Usually you can also talk the resort into just a regular day pass for the photographer. For instance, my wedding packages start at $1,500 for three hours.. but my TTD's start at $500 for an hour in the pool.. as a couple bucks for a walk on the beach in your wedding dress before jumping in the pool and you'll have great photos.. One problem.. hair and makeup.... if you're ok doing your own, then it is a great idea ... -dean btw. The main reason for the difference in price is the number of photos. For every hour of shooting there is 3-4 hours behind the computer. Good photographers take good photos and make them great after. And your resort photographers, most of them will take the photos directly from the camera. I hope this helps...

Jessiphi, use a travel agent! Some of your guests are going to NEED one, or you will be organizing and hand holding a lot.. and it's your wedding and you should be partying, not making sure your aunt and uncle are in the suite they were promised...Or that they even got out of the bloody airport.... Also when you are with a group at the resorts, you have a lot more pull because they respect that you are there with 10 other rooms and that's a lot more money than the one couple standing at the front desk... -make sense? They can also make sure those who want to be near each other at the resort are near each other.. (and might I say, those who want to be further away are further away..) btw. If you use a travel agent, nothing is stopping those who know how to from using a website. Anyhow, that is my advice, I've been to several DW's .. staying at the resorts, or not and heard a lot of stories ... so my advice, get a travel agent. Feel free to PM me if you want.. -dean

Sorry to hear so many girls are having problems with your TA's... I actually have a decent list of them and if you would like some names, numbers, email addresses, etc... to see if you can find a good fit, please PM me or email me and I will try to send it your way.... They are from all over Canada and I don't really think it matters where your travel agent is. So long as they know what to do, that's the important thing... cheers, -dean

Amie P603... congratulations on having a date! a Ring and a Date ... now the real work begins... If there is any way I can be of help, feel free to PM me.. good luck. -dean btw. what time is your wedding?

This is my first post on this forum and I want to be helpful and not soliciting... so if you have any suggestions, please PM me... thank you Honestly, $1500-2000 is a real tight budget for everything you want... and the fact that this friend of a friend will only be making $300 and will likely be spending more than that if he goes out of the resort, basically he is shooting your wedding for the vacation. My concern would be what is he willing to do to the photos after the wedding? Photos do not come out of a professional camera looking great. They need to be edited and when he gets home, he might not feel like he is getting paid enough to put it in front of other work and get your photos finished... so have an honest conversation with him regarding this please.. Also, it sounds like you are taking him on a vacation, but asking him to work the a lot of the time... That's not really a vacation... And if this is his first time doing this, he might not realize this himself.... Finally, weddings are different, they happen in seconds. Clouds come over during a ceremony quickly and you have to notice immediately that the light has changed. To seasoned photographers, it is obvious, but to newbies, they are sometimes too focused on the event to recognize. Also, schedule LOTs and LOTs of time for photos, because he needs it to come up with poses and things to do, don't rush this process..... These would be my main concerns... The reality is you are paying for airfare in his rates and if you can find someone already there, you are likely to get better value. On the other side of things... your getting what you want for the budget you have... So maybe this is the right thing to do. Just be open and honest, discuss your concerns, and then put it all down on paper... As for me, I'm generally not in Mexico at that time of year, I'm more of a Feb to May kind of guy.... But we are looking for a place to go to for Christmas, so when in December??? My prices start around $1,600 for the weddings and $500-600 for TTD's.... PM me if you want to know more... I hope this was helpful -dean btw. What Ivan says about back up. He is kind of correct. Just make sure he is able to double back up your photos and have the back up fly separate. (eg. you carry the backup). Hopefully you guy will know these little things...