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@@Maggietron I am a TA and I have a bride who we've already gotten quotes for who is also planning on getting married Nov 2015! Never too early to start planning! Have you thought about where you want to get go?

Hi @@lauraptak ! Welcome to the ILA thread! I think most of us have been married already within the past year but I try to check up on the site every now and then! Are you a member of the Iberostar Laguna Azul Brides page on facebook? If not I'd recommend asking to join because there is a ton of information on there. I would contact the wedding coordinator directly and see if it would be possible to have a party on the beach with your number. I don't think there is actually a limit or worse comes to worse if there is you'd just have to pay for those "extra" people. Also there is an option of renting the disco from 9-11pm and it would be private and that is a set fee of 500 CUC so I can't see why they wouldn't allow you to rent that out based on your number of guests because it is a flat fee. I know other people with smaller groups have definitely done private parties. I don't think it will be an issue Let me know if you have any more questions! I was just married there on May 5th, 2014!

@@kcole123 I am sorry to hear you are having so much trouble with your TA. They really can make or break your planning. I had such an amazing Travel agent and she was so helpful! But that's not very helpful to you so I am wondering have you talked to your travel agent and addressed these issues with her? I would have a good conversation with her and find out what is going on because it shouldn't be taking that long to get that information to your guests.

@@pddcmc I didn't buy mine at Michaels for that exact same reason! They were WAY too expensive! This is the etsy shop where I purchased my starfish from. Soooo much cheaper and perfect quality! Also if you are in the states I am sure shipping won't be too expensive. I got 30 pieces for like $40 and that was including shipping to Canada! So much cheaper then Michaels. www.etsy.com/ca/shop/MacDriftwood

Oh my goodness! I hope everything works out for you!

So cute!!! love it!

@@trbutler I attached a pin to the back of them with glue gun and then I had originally wanted the sashes tied like this : However; the people who set them up tied them in a bow and then attached them but it looked good anyway! And I used coral organza chair sashes that I bought off ebay. @@pddcmc I luckily found some at HomeSense randomly, they are tough to come by but I need some more and bought the rest off etsy. Also we didn't have any issues travelling with them through customs, but we went to Cuba. I am not sure if Mexico would be different. I'd be more worried about going back into the US or Canada with them, but again we are in Canada and didn't have any issues coming back.

That's what I did for my wedding! It looked so beautiful!

@@jackshayne0123 so exciting! I don't think I would not be able to find out! I think I would go crazy! Although I really am thinking about it well when the time comes haha! Probably not for a few years though yet!

We booked 12 months in advance and we go the best price. We had a price drop guarantee however the price ended up going up significantly! We were so happy we booked when we did!

@@diadiamond the bridal bouquet is included in the price of the wedding package as well as your fiancés boutonniere. Depending on what type of flowers you'd like for your bridesmaid bouquets will depend on the price of the bouquet. Mine were lilies and roses and the were 25CUC each. I only had two of them so a total of 50CUC. I think if you want Calla lilies they may be more. The boutonnieres were like 3-5 CUC (not expensive at all!). Centrepieces were included in the price of the package as well. If you wanted extra ones there was an additional cost. Not sure about the price, but I don't think you need any extras. Bridal hair was 50 CUC. I paid for my girls hair as well so a total of $150 for all of us. They don't have a make up artist at the resort. I went to Sephora and did a tutorial and bought all my makeup and used Youtube to practice. I thought my makeup looked awesome and was soo happy to have done it myself. I brought half falsie eye lashes and just had my sister apply them for me. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Honestly I am a "sweater" and I thought I was going to sweat all day and it was going to be horrible but something about all the excitement and everything that was going I didn't really sweat! Someone told me this before and I didn't believe it but I was so surprised when on the day I didn't sweat much (my legs a bit cause my dress was heavier on the bottom), but I wasn't worried about that cause no one could see haha!

@@jackshayne0123 how is your pregnancy going?

Dia luckily you've chosen Cuba and it is MUCH CHEAPER then Mexico, DR, and Jamaica when it comes to prices for weddings. I think ours including our travel costs were about $6000.

Sorry I had a symbolic ceremony so I am not sure. I'd follow up with her again.

They do offer their own wedding planning, but I really don't think they do much in the case of Cuba anyway. I just dealt with my TA and the wedding planner directly at the resort!

@@diadiamond my experience was with Sunwing, but they held 30 seats for us for 90 day, but once those 30 seats were filled they just gave us additional seats! We had about 38 people come with us. Typically with wedding parties you are booking a year in advance so you don't really have to worry about the seats selling out. I would think you'd only have issues getting the amount of seats you need if you were booking last minute. You can't reserve too many spots, in the sense that you will get a quote from your agent and they will hold those 30 seats, after the 90 days if you only had 25 people book then they will release the seats back into the system so you are not liable for them! Like @@acw271011 said in Canada we tend to use the all-inclusive package deals because they are the cheapest and easiest option! Also once your 90 day period where guests are to put down their deposits ends, the suppliers typically allow you to book additional seats (usually up to 20% of the amount who booked) at your quoted rate up until 60 days before the wedding! For example for my wedding most of our guests put their deposits down by the deadline (we had 32 guests booked by deadline) and then we were allowed to have an additional 6 people book at the quoted rate up until 60 days before the wedding, which is great for those who aren't 100% sure they can make it and want to wait until its closer to the time! Which you will definitely get stragglers! I think we used up all our "additional" seats for people who booked later then we thought!

@diadiamond no its only for you and your fiancé. It works a bit differently in the states and possibly if you book with an American company like Wright Travel. But with Cuba you would be using a package vacation through Sunwing or Transat or Air Canada Vacations and they would only require you the $100 or $150 each for you and your fiancé. Like I said we travelled to Cuba through Sunwing and only had to put down a deposit for ourselves and that held 30 seats!

Does she plan to bring them to the wedding? Or are they just going for the week? I had a friend who invited their friends to join them for the week... its their vacation and wanted to vacation together. They didn't participate in the wedding or wedding events but my friends always showed up to our events. It wasn't a big deal at all. I don't want to be rude or anything but I think you might be over reacting I'd just make sure they understand that they are not invited to the wedding and/or wedding related events. Our friends, friends booked under our group and it was great because it added to our group total which allowed us to have another additional person for free!

We put down $150 each so a total of $300! And we booked with Sunwing. And no you can contact the TA's anytime, just know that whatever they quote you will last for 30 days and then after that it could change! So I had contacted our TA just to see what prices we were looking at and then it was such a good quote we ended up booking it right then and am I ever glad we did because it never went as low as our price again!

If they are artificial I don't think it should be an issue at all. I don't know about Mexico or Cabo specifically but I took artificial flowers to Cuba and I didn't have any issues at all!

@@diadiamond typically in Canada you can start looking into prices a year or so in advance. Most of the suppliers will give you a quote that lasts 30 days (but might differ btw suppliers) and then once you decide you want to book you put down a deposit for yourself and you hubby and that locks down the price and 30 seats for 90 days. That gives your guests 90 days to decide if they want to go and then all they have to do is put down their deposit. And typically payment is due 6-8 weeks before departure.

Well good luck! I look forward to hearing how your plans progress! Just remember the day is about you and definitely try to make something work for everyone but just be prepared that not everyone will be able to go no matter what day, week, or year you choose! But don't worry about it because no matter what you will have the most AMAZING week and wedding day!!

I did too! But honestly it was a waste of time! I can't even believe what some people complained of. We had the most wonderful time!

Oh thanks! How long did you stay? We are flying all the way from the East Coast of Canada so its a really long trip for us and we're thinking of also doing New Zealand while we are over there and then heading to Moorea and Bora Bora. My dream has always been to stay in an overwater bungalow I absolutely cannot wait! Its just trying to figure out the logistics of it all as we also only have 2-3 weeks vacation (I am really hoping my work will let me go for 3 weeks)!