DwBride2Be

I love this too!! Sooo awesome, because it's not distracting with the singing, but people will recognize the tune no problem! Good idea!!

Hey Julianna! Great to hear from you! Congrats on the wedding! I would love to see pictures! [email protected] I'll be having a private reception too, we're you staying in royal service? If you were in the regular rooms not royal service, how were they? I've read about some issues with the bathrooms? Minor to me but some guests might have issues. Can't wait to hear from you! Laurie

Yeah it is kinda funny isn't it...then she was supposed to take it to fed ex today, and send it to me, but she emailed that she was too sick, so didn't get a chance. Grrrr, So freaking fishy!

Hi Kelly! I seem to be the only one who frequents this forum, but I getting married at pv in December. The wedding package I chose is the free one, then I'm upgrading into a private reception. It is available online, here: http://ca.weddingcubachannel.com/ If you aren't from Canada then go to the top right of the page and select international versions to change it to your countries versions. Let me know if you have any other questions! Oh by the way, I booked with AMA travel in Edmonton. L

Well, apparently the dress arrived!! So now she can ship it to my home, and I'll have it within 3-4 days!!!! I'm glad I didn't have to escalate it and everyone can just move on! Fewft!

Hey Jreist, The TA probably didn't know, or wasn't experienced enough to have dealt with them before. Sunquest MIGHT pull through, however if they don't, they will provide you an option (usually split the group into different departure cities, and different dates, and will honor pricing if you stick with them). If it's unacceptable for you then yes, it's a matter of rebooking with whatever tour operator/price is available at the time. This happens when Sunquest gets their confirmed space with WJ which is about 4-5 months before travel..so long ways off. Sorry for all your stress!! I would say if Sunquest is using WJ flights, that it's safe to keep around 30 on Sunquest, and book the other 30 with WJV and you should be fine. Also, if people are from different cities and it's 2 from Van, 2 from Toronto etc..don't worry about them, just be careful about large groups (30+) from one city. Good luck!

Upon further thought, sunquest wouldn't have 60 confirmed seats, they have to try to get those seats from west jet...so your group is only on a tentative booking right now, They can come back 8 months down the road and not have those seats...sooo I would proceed with extreme caution. In my experience sun quest usually only gets about 30 seats out of Edmonton. We've just dealt with that problem I our office, we had 44 booked and sq came back saying they could only get 28 seats and the rest had to go to Calgary. We had to cxl and rebook the whole thing.

Ya you're right, I will talk to her...if I can sneak her phone number from FI's phone. I think I lost all hope when I re-read the first email where she said it was enroute..then all of a sudden that was just an estimate, and people started saying what if she hadn't paid the company yet so I was really getting worried. I'll give her a bit more time, maybe a week, and then go shopping again. I had a wedding nightmare last night (do you guys get those?). Where I had my dress but no shoes and my hair wasn't done...so at least if that's foresight I should have the dress!!

Hey Jreist, I happen to be a DW specialist in Edmonton (hope I don't get in trouble for saying so) and sun quest has this issue a lot....I stopped selling them for that reason...however, if you already have 68 ppl confirmed you do have enough for west jet vacations,, so why not have your TA take 25-30 of them and put them on wjv? Just an idea, it's what I would do. Your TA should be able to do it.

Hey Ladies, I'm not often a thread starter, I normally just pipe in when something hit's home..but today I'm having issue's. My FI and I are from different parts of the country, we live in Alberta where I was born and raised, and he's from PEI so all his friends and family are still there! So in Alberta we have tons of wedding boutiques, and I would have been more than able to buy a dress here with a local shop, however one of Josh's good friends (We'll call her J) has a bridal boutique in his hometown and we had visited last Christmas, so I purchased my dress to be ordered through her. I was trying to be supportive, and I understand small business can be tough, so if anyone got my business I wanted it to be her. So I ordered my dress (a fairly common one sold by at least 4 stores here in Edmonton), December 28, 2011. At that time she told me the ship date was May 15 and it would go back to her store, then when she recieved it I could either pick it up when we are back there in August, or she could ship it to me at home. So I was thinking that would be fine. Also, I had been saving and had the money in the bank, so I paid for the dress with Debit instead of credit card. Mistake #1!!! Ladies, use your credit card, I'm learning this the hard way! Then in March her bridal boutique goes under...so now I've paid her in full for a dress that hasn't arrived yet. She emailed me and said the dress was ordered and would still be shipping out May 15 as per our original discussion at her store in December. So I decide to give her the benefit of the doubt and wait it out. Now May 15 comes along, and I'm really excited so I emailed her again and asked her for the tracking info so I can monitor my dresses progress. She replies: Dress is on route to me and then we can make arrangments to ship to your mothers.. The company will not ship out west I tryed..J So I replied with: Ok Cool, can you send me the tracking number, and do you know when it'll arrive? She replies: Should be in my hand within 10 business days. J So I waited, and 10 business days put us to May 29. Now on May 30 I emailed her again, and said that 10 days had passed, can she give me an update and the tracking number. Nothing. So I facebooked her on June 2 (she had been on facebook posting and liking and commenting so I knew she was online). Nothing In the meantime Josh had texted her asking for her mailing address so we can send her an invitation (we were sending them all at this time, just coincidence), she didn't reply to him either, therefore she hasn't been sent an invitation yet. So Sunday we were having a family dinner with my family, and everyone starting asking about my dress, and everyone was pretty concerned. Josh stayed pretty quiet through this whole convo..and eventually my Brother in Law asked Josh directly, are you going to call J and find out about the dress? And Josh got pretty upset saying it was his friend, and we were all acting like she's a crook, and no he wont phone her on her personal number when it's business related (remember the business went under, we don't exactly have another option)...so I just told everyone to leave it alone and I'de try again this week reaching her. When we were driving home I reminded Josh that I'm the one he has to live with the rest of his life so if he's on anyone's side, it's mine. But I understand it's an awkward situation for him too. So Today she replied to my email from last week, and this is what she said: Hey.. There is no reason to panic..the dress is fine..the estimate ship date was May 15,2012..I just emailed the company again..I will have an answer for you tomorrow at the latest..I ensure that you will have your dress just like all the other brides and bridesmaids that have been receiving there's in the last few weeks..I have faith that all is well and I will email you back tomorrow..I just opened my email , I was camping with the family and I am so sorry..I do not check this everyday.. Talk tomorrow..J So I replied saying, ok I didn't realize May 15 was an estimate, can you give me the tracking number. No reply. So seriously..at this point I have almost exactly 6 months to my wedding and that's getting late to be ordering a new dress....so I've taken a poll here with my ladies at work and they say give her 1 more week and if she doesn't have it by then, I need to get nasty. So what do you guys think? Am I better to just wait and see, or start being a bit tougher on her right now?? I'm getting panicky!! HELP!

This is funny because I actually just brought this up with my family yesterday, and everyone seemed to think it was fine to drink. They might have just been saying that to give me a hard time though! Either way, I have a plan: When the groom and Groomsmen are getting ready I'm going to ensure lunch gets sent to them so they eat, and hopefully it will be really carby - like sandwiches, or hamburgers or something so that should soak up any excess alcohol. I just have to hope they will be smart about it!! I'm more worried about some of the guests getting hammered that day, and not the actual bridal party. Also I'm not too worried about the girls because I plan to be with them all day, and it's just my sister (who doesn't really drink), my friend Stacey (who does drink but wont excessively till the party) and myself. Good luck!

LPerry, I can relate to the indecisive sister! My sister is my best friend and she is exactly as you described your sister. Luckily for me, I am able to financially help my sister and her family so they will all be there, but I know it would be difficult without that. I am sorry you have to go through this, but just remember you're not alone! The people traveling for your wedding are there for both of you. My wedding is a bit heavy on his side, light on mine, but I try not to let it bother me. Whatsup- you're right, I wouldn't expect people to right away say they aren't going when you announce your engagement. I also wouldn't expect people to just ignore it altogether, or even worse, say they are coming and then ignore you, I feel like that's not very genuine. Good luck ladies! Can't wait until the RSVP stage is over L

Hey Prettylady! Congratulations on your wedding, it sounds like it was amazing!! I am getting married in Varadero at Paradisus Varadero in December. I know you were at a different hotel, but they are the same chain. I am also from Edmonton!! I'm bringing my own photographers too, so I'm super curious about where you went to get photo's done. Do you have any suggestions? We are going to do a TTD for the day after the wedding and will probably rent a car to do it so I really would love to see where you went and hear your feedback!! DID you bring money to tip the locals where you were taking photo's? Did you feel uncomfortable anywhere out in your wedding dress?? It sounds like our weddings are going to be very similar, I am bringing decorations, and table covers etc. I'm definitely going to have a private reception and I want to bring the music etc. Could your guests hear your vows or was it quiet? I'm so glad you posted, the Cuba Thread is so lonely, I feel like I'm the only one out here!! Can't wait to hear from you! Laurie

Sometimes families can be our worst enemy. My turn to rant, My Fi and I come from cities on opposite sides of the country. We both have huge, relatively close families, and so when it was time to pick where to have the wedding it was either Alberta (my family) or (PEI) his family. If we do it in either place and invite our friends/family I would want it to be summer or fall. Also we would end up with VERY uneven guest counts, maybe 80 of mine, 10 of his or vice versa. Also at the sometime one of my cousins got engaged and booked his wedding for AUG 25, so I have to now work around another family event. So after much thought we decided we would go away, and then have a much smaller wedding. We both completely understand not everyone can come, but his SISTER immediately said she won't come because she will have an 8 month old and you can't bring a baby to Cuba. (meanwhile my sister and another friend are both bringing babies). Thing thing that bugs me is that his sister didn't tell US she isn't coming, she told everyone else who told us. She hasn't said congratulations, sorry we can't make it..nothing. He also has some friends who all along said they were coming, even said I'll call next week with deposit, then just didnt call.now booking deadline has passed and rates are +$600 more per person, but we warned them! Long story short, we are thrilled to have 46 people confirmed, honestly that's more than we thought, but I agree people have zero courtesy.

Ok thanks ladies. The lady making my bouquet said I should carry it on, and the Tsa site doesn't say anything about pins or brooches being a problem, so I will carry it. I'll check with the Canadian version of TSA too, but I think it's fine. In the meantime, if anyone has actually travelled with one packed, let me know how you packed it and if you carried it on was there any issue? Thanks again! L

Hey ladies! I have fallen in love with brooch bouquet's, and I am ready to order one off etsy, but before I do I need to know if I can carry it on the plane!! I am worried that the pins will cause issue for security. Have any of you carried brooch bouquet's on for your weddings yet?? Thanks! Let me know! L

Very nice!! Good job!

We're getting married Dec 7, 2012 at paradises varadero in Cuba!!! Woohooo, can't wait!

Sounds reasonable enough to me. Though I think you should get in touch with the wp now considering 7 rooms are already booked, why wait for 3 more?? I would still send invitations, In fact I sent STD a year prior, then guests started booking, and am only now ordering my invites.

Yikes!! You guys will laugh, We invited 198 people, Yup, 198!! We knew not everyone would come because of time, money or just not want to, and so far 42 are confirmed yes, and about 39 are still maybes, though I am not expecting many more now. We didn't want to exclude anyone so we sent the invites to all our cousins and aunts and uncles and close friends. Majority of who have booked are friends and immediate family.

Here's my breakdown Ceremony is free Legal costs are free Hair stylist in my group so don't need to pay for that either! I'll do my own makeup Reception dinner $55*42 = $2310 Flowers $300 Decor = $400 Video $150 Photographers $3400 Total =$6560/42 =$156 Of course this may change, also guest count may change too

Oops! I voted before I read the post, We are buying the bm dresses, gm attire and accessories so this will probably be up to $2000 total. Right now, only my dress is purchased and it's $945+ alterations

Our resort will setup a rehearsal dinner, no added cost, we aren't taking the group on excursions, and weight do a cocktail reception, less than $300 forsure

Our trip Is costing just over $4200 for the 2 weeks, which is also our honeymoon, and travel insurance

Well ladies, My fiancé and I couldn't see eye to eye on the DIY project. He wanted nothing to do with making them ourselves, and he justified it by saying he didn't save all this money to start DIY-ing, lol. Also we live in a small condo and to DIY would take over our whole home, so I can understand why even me doing it without his help could be a frustration. so I tried on my own for a few nights to get the template right (passport invitations), And I was having a really hard time. Long story short, I bought them and they are amazing!! They were $4.5/invite, WAY better than I could have done, and I don't need to fight with my man anymore. I'm happy with my choice I can't figure out how to post pics here, so you'll have to take my word for it!