acw271011

This is great info! Thanks for sharing! I'm about 95% decided I'm going with Grand Coral Beach Club through Joyce of Dream Weddings. We're going to be a really small group and I'm just finding that the resorts almost penalize you if you're a small group. We're not going to rent a dance floor for 6 to 10 people, or pay for a Chill Grill (??) or rent a ballroom. If we don't make absolutely 10 we can't have cocktails. Plus I just don't want a beach full of people. We can do Grand Coral for our ceremony and cocktails, then go right into PDC for a small dinner reception in a private area. We won't be under the gun to get out after a certain time and pay through the nose if we don't. If you're a large group it makes it worthwhile to pay for the extra time. When you're only 6 or 8 people there are too many things that make it hard to justify the cost. My hardest part was a resort. I want to be close to PDC, and we have friends that are supposed to be going that are very high maintenance and need to be occupied all the time so I figured if we were really close to PDC they could do a few things on their own. I'm in love with 2 other resorts - one has almost no beach that really makes me nervous. The resort gets RAVE reviews but the beach sucks. The other is great but the beach is rocky (from reviews) and it's just a little further from PDC than I want to be. Of course there are others but the price points are just out of reach and I wouldn't ask guests to pay that much when it's not our wedding.

Thank you Wendy! I think you've probably just about made my decision for me. I love the look of this resort and the recommendation from Bicoastal helped a lot too. The beach gets great reviews and overall, except for the AC issue, everything was recommended. I think it's time to investigate this a whole lot further! Thank you again for taking the time to check into this. Much appreciated!

I agree. Wear what makes you feel amazing.... but I'm a super old fashioned romantic and always think a wedding dress should be long. The tea length for me would be if you were having a courthouse wedding and nothing else. Just my very personal opinion.... lol Good luck whatever you decide!!!

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/77254-dreams-los-cabos-free-45-min-trash-the-dress-photo-shoot-pixan/ I just found this posted today. Don't know if it'w worth investigating or not, but you could always take a look!

The link above seems to be where quite a few brides have purchased them. I went back through a few posts only because I knew I had seen something fairly recently and I think it was this site. http://www.idcardgroup.com/tags/1840-620

Geez I can't believe I found 3 more! They look great but has anyone heard of any of them? Jennifer Bridals Simon Dress PWeddingdresses (all .com) I can't get over some of the prices, and the styles they're posting!

Congrats and welcome to BDW! As you can see, everyone here is more than willing to help out with tips and advice! I'm sure your wedding will be everything you want it to be! Good luck and happy planning!

I would say if you can get a rate a year out - if they'll give you one - after shopping around, and if you're ok with it but make sure you get the price drop protection into your rate. we were allowed one price change if the cost went down up to I think 8 weeks before we left. Because you know that the cost of your trip is going to go down. They always do. Definitely 6 to8 months might be just a little too tight if you have a large group. And yes if it's a really popular resort you need to keep checking with your agent on space. But be prepared also if you book that far out that your departure day can very easily change and be prepared for it. i've seen it happen several times to a few brides on this site over the last couple of years and they were all Canadian.

Not sure who the operators are that you're looking at but we're in canada and never had to sign a contract. we go t aquote in march for october and had x number of days to either book the seats, or they let them go. the rate was quoted between the TA and the airline. travel agents don't get paid by the airlines. the agency they represent gets commission, usually based on volumes. the thing is ladies, airlines don't know absolutely what they're going to have 18 months in advance. depending on where you fly from, it will depend on when they bid for the gates at that airport. charters like sunwing, transat and westjet book blocks of rooms with resorts based on what they thing they can sell. if one resort was really popular for one reason, they will tend to book a larger block on the next go round. if one doesn't, then they won't book as many rooms. it works differently in the US, and believe it or not, sometimes the charter blocks at resorts by canadian companies can affect how quickly some of the US brides have their resorts sell out. You also have the tour companies out of the UK that do things in a similar way to the canadian charter companies. There are a couple in the US that will do packages, i.e. Apple Vacations but they definitely aren't as popular in the US as they are here. We were getting married in Jamaica in October. Our agent got a price for us in March for a certain day, departing on Sunday was what I wanted. Well the airline changed their departure day in october and went to Saturday instead. If they wait too long to book their gates, they don't get the time slot selections that they want. if the airports says oops sorry, we only have a departure time at 10 am or an arrival time at 6 pm, it can cause a chain reaction right down the line. The airlines only have so many planes and they have to coordinate where they go and the times they arrive and depart accordingly. And of course winters where there are storms can totally mess up not just your departure, but the people at the other end returning home that are waiting for your plane to arrive to take them back home. it's a much more detailed process than people realize so I will emphasize something: don't think you're getting the best deal for your guests if you push to book 18 months in advance because the odds are good that you aren't. If you push for a rate, make sure you get price drop protection built in, for at least one price change, and watch when you window closes for the price change too. Some will but if off 3 months prior to departure. Others will allow down to 6 weeks before departure, depending on when final payments are due. Hope that helps!!

oh I love that!!! hhmmm add in my turquoise and I'm all set!!!!

Think about it ladies. For this site to be run the way it is, why wouldn't you work with Wright Travel? Who would know more about destination weddings than the people that keep this site running so smoothly!! it's too bad they aren't in Canada too!!!!! That's the one thing we need is somebody that really and truly specializes in destination weddings!!

No problem! You won't find anyone here that isn't willing to share information!! We got married in Jamaica in one of the few resorts that has a gazebo right on the beach. We went with a non-denominational minister. We aren't overly religious but I didn't want a straight generic ceremony. We didn't right our own except for one thing I added to the end of our ceremony and that was the marriage poem, which I totally love. The minister even had something for our sand ceremony which was really nice. I didn't even write anything special for that. He was such a sweet, sweet man and I think the fact that we are much older and it was second time around for both of us, he was so serious part of the time but it felt like he was really talking to us, not like we were wedding number whatever for him even though he wrote our names on his hand so he wouldn't forget! I laughed out loud at that!! lol He did announce us at the end. There was a girl from this site that got married 2 days before we did, and she lives not far from us so we looked out for each other at the resort. I creeped her wedding and vice versa, and she brought her sister in law to ours! It was so funny. Plus, we met a couple of people at the resort - we didn't get married until Thursday so had the whole week for stuff - that just sort of showed up for our ceremony. They didn't get too close and were completely respectful but they were close enough when the minister announced us they all cheered. it was so cute. Plus, we had the 2 wedding coordinators that were our witnesses, the guy running the sound equipment, our photographer, our video guy, and a couple of other resort staff that all clapped when he announced us. You definitely won't be totally by yourselves!! All the world loves a wedding. People will congratulate you as you walk by them. It was tough for us because we had originally planned for a group. A few people dropped out, then it was a panic because others were afraid they wouldnt' get the group rate so they cancelled. In the end, it was just the 2 of us. I was upset but hubby was just po'd. I think the head WC took pity on us because we got little extras added on during the day that I don't know if we were supposed to get and I think it was because she knew our plans had fallen apart and we were by ourselves. We had a recessional but just a short one. Like not the whole big long piece of music. They had champagne waiting for us, the resort staff congratulated us, plus Vicky and a couple of others sort of moved in just a little closer so we talked to them for a few minutes. It all worked out just great. We had our little reception dinner in a corner of the restaurant so no on would disturb us. Our photographer stayed and had dinner with us so we talked quite a bit with him. I cried when I saw the cake they did for us because again they went above and beyond. They took it back to our room for us and we we able to nibble on it for the next 2 days until we left. I promise you - these resorts are used to having just twosomes for weddings. Not every one they do is a big group so they will handle it just fine and it will be a wonderful day, I promise!!! Good luck!!

Weclome to BDW @@Meeshakar and congrats on your upcoming wedding! I've attached a link here to resort reviews for you to look at. It's possible you could inquire at the resorts to see what they would charge you to get married there without maybe actually staying there? I've never been to Belize so I'm sorry I can't give you any concrete info, but it's worth a try to check with these places and just see what they say. With a small group like you have, it might be easier for them to say yes. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/reviews/c/47-belize/ Good luck and happy planning!!

That is absolutely gorgeous! And yet like @@tygrrlily I agree - no bow. @lucy1210 @muneera0302 @ModeRNBride All beautiful dresses! Ladies - you are all going to look stunning for your weddings!!

Hi Wendy, I just wondered if you had any feedback on the question of air conditioning? I've figured I'm down to 3 resorts now for a short list, and this is one of them. Gran Porto Real is one of the others and lastly Grand Sunset Princess. As well I'm almost certain we're going to go with Grand Coral Beach Club for our ceremony (with Joyce of Dream Weddings) and cocktails, then a small reception dinner at a restaurant right in PDC. I"m concerned about price point for a resort so I'm hoping Sandos Playacar has the AC and I can keep it on the list! Thanks!

Of course!! Why not?? We did, and it was just the 2 of us! We got married in Jamaica, so I had recorded steel drum music but a bit of it was the traditional stuff. It was what I wanted so it's what we did. Don't let the fact that it's just the two of you take away anything that will make your wedding wonderful for you.Sure there are things you can't do because it's only the two of you, but you can still have a wonderful wedding. Do what makes you happy!!

Welcome to BDW and congrats on your upcoming DW!! Have you checked the vendor reviews on this site? Everything is organized by area so you could do a search on the one you're looking for as well as check the reviews on other vendors in the Cabo area. You could also read through the resort reviews as sometimes brides will say who did their photos and video in their review of the resort where they had their wedding. Definitely go through this site and do some reading! Also, the owner of this site was married at Dreams in Cabo so she may have a suggestion as well on a photographer. Maybe she'll chime in with a name! Good luck and happy planning!!

Oh my gosh! More people our age!! I love it! We haven't been together that long... lol only 13 years but it's second time around for both of us. 56 and 57 now. We got married 3 years ago but have been through a lot with health issues, so if all goes well over the next 6 months, we're going to do a vow renewal on our anniversary next year in Mexico. If the results aren't good, we'll postpone until October 2016 instead. Where are you getting married? I sense a wonderful story there! Good luck!

Thanks for paying it forward!! Enjoy the site visit!

You're absolutely right! A lot can change in a year! My experience over the years has been that word of mouth gets around when it comes to registries. People will contact parents to ask what the bride and groom are looking for so make sure they are armed with the where and how. Personally, I would wait for a bit before you set up your registry. Get your invitations out. If you're sending them out that early, I don't know if people will jump to check your site if it's that far in advance. You could always include that registry information will follow at a later date. That lets people know that you're setting one up. The ones that are really interested will get in touch with your or other family members to find out the details.

Welcome to BDW and congrats on preparing for your DW! I would highly recommend that you read the resort reviews section and see what past brides have said about those 3 resorts. As well, do a search through the forums for those 3 resorts and do some reading. It's almost a guarantee that you'll find comments and information from past and present brides and what they have experienced in terms of dealing with the wedding coordinators, outside vendor fees, availability of locations, menus, etc. This site is a fountain of information and it's well worth taking some time to read through what is here! Good luck and happy planning!

you need to post pics so we can see!!! mmmmm I know. I'm not into the green thought. it's just not a colour that does anything for me. I'm looking at the dress in champagne. I'm so anxious to start trying dresses on but..... not yet. we get surgery date on monday and I know by the time I get to try anything on, there wil be weight off from bing in the hospital so hoping that's a good thing. and we'll know by Xmas if we can move ahead or not. but I still love this dress!!!!! lol

I love Sophia Tolli!!! Of course it's not too fancy for the beach! You should see some of the dresses in photos! You can wear whatever you want and whatever you're comfortable in!!!

oooohhhh ladies.... take a look! except for the seafoam green.... I have fallen in love!!! this is one of the dresses I've been looking at, but in a different colour. and I want my hubby and son in tan (close enough to champagne maybe?). the gold shoes knock it out of the park!! and the necklace? yum!!! http://moncheribridals.com/fashion-style-boards/elements-of-style-sea-mist-gold-wedding/

http://moncheribridals.com/fashion-style-boards/elements-of-style-sea-mist-gold-wedding/ I can't get the image to paste in but does this not rock your socks!!! I absolutely love it!!!