Branya2012

On our Save the Date, we wrote something along the lines of "Your gift to us is your presence, whether in person or in spirit." On our invitations, we wrote "We understand that not everyone will be able to make it to Mexico to celebrate at the wedding with us, but we have invited you because it is important to us that we have your love, support and happiness as we begin our journey together as husband and wife." Then I also added the same phrase that was on the STD, above. Also, for the people that we knew were not coming when we sent the invitations (like our grandparents, etc.) we wrote them a separate card that said something along the lines of "We understand that you are not able to make it to the wedding, but we ask that you remember us on our big day and raise a pina colada in our honour!" (I don't have that one in front of me, but that's the gist of it from what I remember. I tried to put a positive spin on it. It didn't matter to us why any of our guests are unable to come, just that we have their love and support! Which is what I tell people when they ask if we have registered...no we have not, all we need is your love and support! It's hard because we, like Kassi22, want people to understand why we are getting married in Mexico. Not a lot of people do, I'm sure, they'll think it's personal. But we met in Mexico and there has never been any other way we imagined our big day! Good luck!

I love Vancouver! Me and my fiancee are both from northern BC and we love it here so much!! I have no idea. We are booking with a group, and they have said they want to stay at our resort, so I don't see them hunting around for a better deal. Are you guys all booking separately? I can see that, but the final date for our group booking is the end of September. Some people! Also annoying...people that don't bother RSVP'ing. I know I've seen a few threads around here about that! Argh! We do have a wedding website. We are also using it to manage our RSVPs. Wow, good luck with the RSVPs!! Your deadline is soon, very exciting! I just realized that now that it is August, the wedding stuff is starting next month! Bridal shower, stag/stagettes, booking and RSVP deadline!!! I wish we had gotten everyone's emails...that sounds like an awesome way to follow up with people! My dress is perfect for me!! Haha. It has a fitted, ruched, body, snug down to just above my knees and then it flares out into a bunch of ruffles. I posted it in the Show Me Your Dress thread. The body has a bit of sparkle and it has a soft sweetheart neckline. I was going to wish you a happy long weekend, but it's BC day so it's probably not a long weekend for you! Have a good one anyways!

Awesome tips!! Now only to remember all that on the big day...

Haha...I went overboard describing where I live and then realized you are in Toronto and probably wouldn't get confused if I told you Vancouver.

That is definitely an awful deal, especially when it looks like you have a lot of people coming! The policies seem ridiculous...writing a letter is a very good idea, indeed!! I may follow suit,

Sounds like you have a very good approach for it all! We all have those overwhelming times, though! Ugh, maybes! Or I have some people that have booked the time off of work, and we have paid the deposit so they don't even have to put any money down, but they haven't booked. So annoying!! I really don't want to go overboard with the gift bags (I trust that most people will bring what they need and it's my personal belief that not a lot of people are going to want an excessive amount of things personalized with our wedding date and names! Sorry if you have a lot of personalized stuff!) but I hear ya about getting summer stuff together! I really want to get a few new sundresses for the trip and I think my time is running out there, too! We did find my groom's outfit over the weekend at Tommy Bahamas. We are in the lower mainland, Vancouver, BC, Canada. He's not doing a suit (it would be way too hot for him), we got silk linen pants and a nice white linen button down shirt. I think we've got the most done that we can for now!!! Have you posted a picture of your dress? I'd love to see it!

Haha, no problem! I'll let my cousin know you said that!

PS: Maui was amazing! So relaxing and chill, with lots to do! I went for a week and it was a wonderful trip! We ended up spending one day on another island, at Waikiki beach, and it was a marked difference. Honolulu was a big city, very rushed with a very different atmosphere. If I had the chance, I'd definitely go to Maui again! Good luck!

I went to Maui for my cousin's wedding in 2008. Him and his wife have a blog about their travels to Hawaii. It's pretty in depth and could possibly have some good info for you. Have a read: http://hawaiianadventures.wordpress.com/

You're on the best website in the world!! Lol. Until you narrow down where you want to go for your wedding (because if you want to go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I would send you to the Adventure Weddings website...but I'm a little biased because we are getting married at Las Caletas in December!!) just have a look at all of the reviews on the forums here. There is so much information, from the Dominicn Republic, to Jamaica and all areas of Mexico! It is seriously the best website! I can't think of any others that I refer to as religiously as I do this one! Good luck! And have fun with it!

I agree, tell her as soon as possible! However, I think that if you are honest with her about your reasons for not being able to be in her wedding party and go to her wedding, she should understand. It will probably hurt that you cannot stand up for her, but I don't know why she would automatically back out of your wedding! Especially if it's local. Chin up and hope for the best! Your reasons for not being at her wedding aren't personal, they're financial, so hopefully she can understand that and you can be there for each other in different ways in the lead up to your big days! Congrats!

Ditto!

Ouch, via email!! That's really nice that you guys are having one person stand up for each of you. I love to hear that other people are foregoing tradition for what they want to do! Sounds like you're feeling a bit better about the BM situation; glad to hear it. Planning is great. It really doesn't feel like there is too much to do at the moment. We have to find my groom an outifit, which is probably the biggest thing we have to do right now. We don't have final numbers yet, so it's hard to get too into the DIY projects or OOT bags yet so I'm patiently waiting! How is planning going for you? How many people are you expecting at the wedding? Anyone booked yet?

PS: sorry...I didn't even notice this thread was about Cruise Weddings!! Guess it doesn't really matter...

I'm not sure if it's WestJet Vacations, but yes, we're flying WestJet! They were the cheapest, and they fly directly to Mexico from my home town (which is a bonus for our family up there) so I guess they get to be a little stricter.

Venus909 your dress and pictures are stunning! You're right, it was definitely the dress for you! The TTD looks like lots of fun! Congrats!!

Well said Cinnagirl! If you don't consult people, then you just have to be prepared that people will say no if it is not convenient for them, which is what we expected anyways! The thought never crossed my mind to ask anyone else what dates worked for them, but that's probably mostly due to the fact that my fiancee picked our wedding day, our anniversary, and that sort of made it non-negotiable! People alwaysw have a way of making it all about them... Hopefully they back off!

Wow, your website looks awesome! Love that you incorporated your colours! I didn't see clearly where it said which hotel/resort you guys are staying at for the wedding on the Travel Information page. It says Resort and Flight, but I don't see anything about the resort. Maybe you could provide a bit more information about the Melia Caribe Tropical (which is where I am assuming you are staying...unless I missed where it says that!). Other than that, great job!

I am assuming that was a question to me? We have two different departure gateways for our wedding group - when we put our deposit, we had to deposit for 10 rooms, but we had to pick which gateway people would come from (next to impossible when you're 12 months away from the wedding and haven't even sent out invitations!!). Then, if people come from a different place, we have to pay per person to have that gateway switched because seats are being held on each plane for our group. There's a chance we won't have to pay if our TA can work her magic, but the closer it gets to the wedding, the less likely that is to happen and we have not been bugging our guests to book at all. Also, the deposits were not necessarily a hidden fee, but we did shell that money out about 15 months before the wedding, which was very early. We were okay with that because we know we will have enough people, it was just very early to get such a good group rate. Hmmm...I think that's all we've come across so far, but it could add up quickly if all 6 seats are changed over to another departure gate. Oh well, we knew that risk going in!

Anya - December 5, 2012!!

You still have tonnes of time before you need to do something drastic like changing your complete wedding! Hang in there! Not a lot of people will book a holiday so many months away. We sent out invitations out 6-7 months in advance of the wedding, thinking that would be a better time frame, and even now (4-5 months away from the wedding and 2 months from the RSVP date) people that have said they will book still haven't! Try not to stress and give people more time! Like the brides that have had their weddings have said, some people leave things to the last minute!

We are not doing a cruise, but we are using a travel agent (destination wedding designer, actually, but she is not designing our wedding so her services as a travel agent are free!) and I would highly recommend doign the! Yes, there will be certain things that are aggravating about using a TA and bookign with a group (deposits, deadlines, hidden fees), but if you ask me, it's all worth it when your friends and family have a bazillion questions and you can just say "talk to the travel agent" and they take care of everything! Plus, I believe that travel agents can get better deals and have the professional know-how when it comes to shopping around and organizing flights from different places, etc. I'm definitely happy we have a TA!

Awesome! Your welcome tag is very nice. What do the key chains say? I couldn't quite tell.

Well said! We all deal with other people's opinions, whether solicited or not, it sucks that it has such an impact on us while we plan one of the most exciting and happiest days of our lives! But, such is life!

My goodness, some of you December brides are so prepared!! (DwBride2Be!!) We are getting married on December 5 at Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and we are staying at the Barcelo PV for the week of the wedding. My then-hubby and I will be staying at Dreams PV for our honeymoon the following week! Planning is going really well. We have sent STDs and invitations (seperately) and have 16 people booked (including ourselves, I believe. Should I know that number?? ). We still have to find my groom some clothes and then decide on decorations and flowers, but we'll do that just a few months away from the wedding. I'm glad I found the December 2012 thread...we can be excited together!! Happy planning December brides!!