Camy47

Hello Ladies, I don't know whether to love you all or dislike you.....I am OOT obsessed so just hearing about your shopping adventures inspires me to keep buying MORE!!! hahaha. There are some GREAT ideas on here that I might have to 'borrow' ) I am an avid shopper and love finding a great bargain. Wanted to share a couple 'hot spots' with you ladies who might be in the GTA. I have to admit I didn't read all 164 pages, so hopefully these aren't repeats: 1. www.creativebag.com One of my bridesmaids tipped me off to this store during her wedding prep. You can order online, or there is a store (and another one opening soon in Pickering). I purchased lots of goodies here like my welcome bags for $0.99, smart bag liners for $2, ribbon, organza bags for my favours and candy bags that I will use for the hangover kits etc. which were only $3-5 for 100 in store clearance. 2. Sandylion sticker warehouse in Markham I always go to this store to pick up stickers and activity books for my niece and nephew, but they have some good items for OOT bags. If you are looking to print your own labels, you can get 50 sheets of blank labels for $5 or 100 sheets of sticker paper for $5. They also have rolls of sparkly stickers for printing and lots of scrapbooking items. Side note: This store is amazing for teachers. 3. Canadian Tire If you are looking for Bubba kegs...this is the place to go. At least once a month they put them on sale 50-60% off. I was super fortunate b/c I bought them one weekend on sale and then they had a $10 GC when you spend $40 promo so it was like getting every 6th mug free! 4. Superstore/Zehrs/Loblaws I know this isn't a new one, but this week seems to be a great time to hit up the clearance section. I was in there on the weekend and picked up some adorable padded CD cases for $1.44 each. They are similar to the straw photo albums someone posted with the insert in the front for a picture. I'm going to make copies of my wedding DVD and give these out as thank you gifts to my family / bridal party after we return. 5. Vistaprint.ca I'm sure you all know about vista, but it's always worth mentioning again. They have a $0 sale on this week which makes for some phenomenal deals. So far here are some of the items I have created on vista: - welcome party banner (small banner) - OOT bag tags using my logo (business cards) - photoshare cards (business cards) - do not disturb signs (rack cards) - variety of postcards - bookmarks (cut long invitation in half) - small magnets with our logo - welcome letter (flyers) - schedule of events (invitation) - Spanish for dummies card (invitation) - thank you sign to use in pictures (small banner) - Bride & Groom t-shirts - rehearsal dinner invites (invitation) - guest room list (oversized postcard) I'd love to hear any other creative ideas you ladies have used vista for. I find this is the best way to get OOT 'filler' VERY inexpensive. Best part is that they ship from Windsor so no duty!!! I will try and post some pictures in the near future. Hope this post has helped a few of you ladies out!!!

Hello Tori, Sorry to hear that you are having issues with your travel agent. I understand how stressful this is as my FI and I are facing the same issue. Ever since we booked, we've had nothing but bad service. I guess the agents know that once they have your money you are stuck so you are no longer the priority! I am also flying with ACV and part of the reason we booked was for the 'freebies'. Unfortunately it turns out these are all based on availability and in our case executive class is sold out on our outbound flight. We booked 9 months in advance but I guess that wasn't early enough so we only get the upgrade in one direction. This is really unfortunate as we needed the extra baggage allowance! For future brides, apparently the TAs need to send in paperwork for you to get the upgrade, so make sure they start requesting it as soon as you book. As for other promos, I strongly encourage all brides to do your research and get supporting documentation for everything you are told. Also read the fine print...we had the same situation where people ended up booking through different TA's etc. so their reservations don't count towards any of the totals. Also check to see if your hotel has any promotions. For us, we didn't know if we would have enough ppl to get two AC 16th person free promo so we did a hotel promo where every 6th room is free. Choose whichever promo works best for your group and keep in mind that not everyone will book through your agent.

Great topic ladies! I'm struggling with some of the same issues myself; a few of my guests have been to the local travel clinic and it seems they are recommending all sorts of things for the DR: Twinrix, cholera, malaria, dukoral (for traveler's diarrhea) etc. I've traveled to the DR before as well as Cuba, Mexico and Bahamas....and my doctor used to just recommend Twinrix for Hep A&B. I guess it comes down to your personal preference and what you feel comfortable with. Inform your guests of resources and let them make the decision. Just make sure you check your drug plans if you decide to get anything as some don't cover these types of vaccinations. Here is some info I found on cholera from the Canadian government: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/tmp-pmv/thn-csv/rep-cholera-eng.php The main site has health advisories by country that I usually review before traveling anywhere. Hope that helps!

Hey there, Stay away from Marlin Travel in Bolton. I found them at the Toronto Wedding Show in Mississauga and dealing with them has been a complete nightmare! I do a lot of traveling and really should have stuck with a local agent vs. trying someone new based on pricing and freebies. Good luck in your search!