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Wow this is all super cute! I am sure your guests are going to absolutely love this!

@@ktov09 Love those colours!

I love Holguin! We were debating between Varadero and the Playa Pesquero in Holguin. If you were looking into Holguin I would have highly recommended Playa Pesquero. Its pretty similar to the set up of the Melia Cayo Santa Maria from my understand. The food was so good and the staff were awesome and the beach was beautiful! They also have a beautiful gazebo you can get married at and you can have a beach bbq for your reception which was what I really wanted. Ultimately we went with Varadero though, but that would have been my second choice! Anyhow I know you've decided on Melia Cayo Santa Maria, but if you still were interested in Holguin, I'd totally recommend Playa Pesquero!

My colours are coral, taupe, and white! I love the colour combo, it looks so elegant and a nice contrast with the turquoise ocean!

Kelly lives in Nova Scotia, but I know she has done packages for brides all over Canada. I'd recommend her over Flight Centre or those types of places just because her specialty is Destination weddings. Here's her website: www.destinationvows.ca/specialists/nova-scotia/kelly-neonakis-morash/ Check her out!

Thanks!

Wow looks beautiful!

Awesome! Luckily I don't think you'll have to, but I'll be interested to hear what they say! You definitely will need to consult a travel agent if you want to get prices early for flights and packages. I used an awesome travel agent, her name is Kelly Neonakis-Morash, and she specializes in destinations weddings and has been AMAZING! She was even married in Cuba herself. She books for brides all over Canada. I'd highly recommend her if you are looking for a TA! Let me know if you want her email address

That was the worst part for me. Spending too much time on pinterest and this website finding beautiful ideas and then thinking I have to have that! My DIY list kept on growing! But finally I only have a few things to finish up and have decided no more now lol! But these are super beautiful!

@@diadiamond Thanks! I also can't wait to see how it all looks together! I found that the hardest thing - to kind of get my vision to come together. but I think it will nicely once its all set up!

@@jackshayne0123 Beautiful photos!!!!!!!!!! Love your Trash the Dress ones!!! You looked gorgeous!

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/71443-2013-2014-iberostar-laguna-azul-cuba-brides/ Here is the link to the thread we've been using. Its been a bit dead lately since most of the brides I was chatting with got married in Nov and January. However, theres lots of information on there. I know there are a few other 2015 Cuba Brides on here as well. So maybe we should just start a new one for Cuba Brides all together!

I haven't seen too many other brides getting married in Cayo Coco, but we have a thread that a bunch of us V=Cuba Brides were using for the past year because there don't seem to be too many of us Cuba Brides. Perhaps we should start a generic but new thread for all Cuba Brides!

Click on more reply options and it will give you allow you to attach files!

Wow! So romantic and exciting!!!! Congratulations!!!!

@@diadiamond I completely agree with you!! We are also paying for our wedding and didn't want to go into debt for it. I really wanted to get married on the beach and always envisioned a destination wedding. My fiancé is catholic and really wanted to get married in the church but said we can just do both. I looked into have a wedding here to make it easier but it was going to cost us double if not triple and to pay all that for something that I didn't really want in the first place made absolutely no sense. So we decided to both and are still spending way less then we would have on a traditional wedding here. I definitely don't think you should cheap! You need to be frugal! And going into debt is no way to start a life together! I definitely think you can do within or even under your budget (as long as you track and budget things better then me lol!)

Have you guys been planning long? I have been planning since last April and I am soooo ready to get married now! I am not sure how I am going to wait another 10 weeks!

@@jackshayne0123 wow great job keeping your costs low! do you have any photos from your wedding?

Ohhh can I see a picture? Ohh yeah everyone is going to say that! My mom pictured me in a nice flowy dress but they just didn't look good on me and it wasn't what I wanted. Although I agree I do think they look nice for beach weddings and liked the appeal of the flowy light nature but it just wasn't me!

I purchased mine on Etsy! I love it!

So glad to hear things are coming together for you!

Hey! We are getting married at the Iberostar Laguna Azul in Varadero. Our ceremony (symbolic) like I said is $400 (again its more if you do it legally there- but we are just paying those legal fees here anyway). Then we are having a private dinner which is costing us only $15/pp and a private party for 2 hours which costs us $500. We have 36 people coming with us and we invited probably 120 people or so. I had originally guestimated about 20-25 people but ended up with 36. Some people will surprise you and you'll think there is no way they'd miss your wedding (and they do) while others who you definitely didn't think would come, will. We got a good deal on our trip and it was $1178 pp taxes included (we upgraded our room so its closer to $1256 pp). But depending on who you travel with (we are flying Sunwing) they offer for every 15 people a "free" passenger (basically just pay the taxes). So we have two free people (my sister is travelling from Europe to Canada and then coming with us from Halifax so shes getting one of those and then we are using the other one for ourselves). So you can save some money there too depending on how many people will travel with you. Also flowers luckily aren't very expensive in Cuba (compared to other destinations). My bouquet is included and I bought the guys bouts online and will be paying for the bridesmaids bouquets (they run anywhere from $15-35 in Cuba). Again if you are very picky and have a specific vision you may want to look into Silk flowers - as Cuba is very limited on what they supply (they are all shipped in so you kind of get what you get). I just plan on going with white tropical flowers and then am bringing my own ribbon to wrap them. As for invitations we decided to forgo Save the Dates and we made our invitations (which still turned out to be about $300) but I made the boarding pass invitations and sent out about 62 of them (singles and couples). If I would have purchased them it would have been upward of $600. Our centerpieces and wedding décor is included in our package (with that said I am bringing a lot of my own stuff) but you definitely don't need to do that). We are hiring the resort videographer (which is about $150-200) and we hired Alex Delgado (Cuban Wedding Photographer and Videographer) and he is about $1100-1300 depending on the package you chose). I think if you use the resort photographer (which are typically pretty good) it will probably run you around $250-500 depending on how many photos you chose. Our at home ceremony is just the wedding ceremony and honestly a 2 hour dessert reception (we're having cupcakes, ice cream cake from DQ (my fiancés request), and some other small treats). Its not going to be anything elaborate and then we have a family friend is an amateur photographer who will be doing our photos. Hair and Makeup - I am getting my hair done in CUba and that runs about $50-60 and then they don't have a makeup artist our resort so I went to Sephora and had a lesson where they taught me what to do and I have purchased the makeup and will do my own (this cost me more then I want to admit $300 or so) but I bought some awesome products and will be doing my makeup for the wedding here as well and can use it all afterwards so feel like it was an investment. As for favours we are just going to purchase small bottles of rum and have those for our guests (so that will be easy as we will buy them there). At the Melia resorts I believe this can be included so you wouldn't even have to go get them yourself. As for my dress I paid $1000 for it. It was regular $1175 but I wanted the sample one as it was brand new and fit me perfectly and so I bargained them down from $1175 plus taxes (so closer to $400) down to $1000 cash taxes included. And then I bought a shorter/lighter reception dress from Modcloth for about $250. I think I covered everything! Let me know if you have any other questions!

Wow looks great! Love your engagement story! So romantic!

@@diadiamond Hey! I am getting married in Cuba this May! To be honest we didn't really have a set budget; however, our goal was to keep it around $10,000. Now does your budget include everything or just for the wedding/reception? Our $10K budget was for absolutely everything. I think we have gone over it a little bit (closer to $12,000), I got a bit carried away with some décor and stuff that I decided to bring with us, but this included our travel, attire (and I have two dresses), rings, décor, gifts, photographer, engagement photos, groomsmen and bridesmaid attire, etc. This also included our at home ceremony (we're getting married in the catholic church when we return with a small dessert reception afterwards). I think in Cuba it will be pretty easy to stay within 10-15K to be honest. Cuba doesn't offer a lot of the extra options that you see in Mexico or DR weddings. Just keep that in mind if you are expecting choices between linens and Tiffany chairs etc. Also I think Melia resorts offer free wedding packages if you have a certain number of people, which will probably save you quite a bit of money as well. The other thing is do you plan on bringing your own photographer, use the resort photographer or hire a Cuban photographer (there are a few if you'd like info let me know!), because those things can either save you money or increase your budget. Also the number of guests you have coming may increase your price (I looked into the resort you plan on going to and am pretty sure if you had over 16 people you had a free private dinner etc. so that may not increase your price at all!). Also are you going to have OOT bags for everyone etc. I think you could easily pull off a Cuban wedding for under $6,000 if you don't worry about the frills of typical weddings. Hopefully this helps you out! To start your budget off like I said decide what is included in your budget (everything or just the wedding/reception?). From there get a quote for travel and inquire with the resort as to how much the wedding packages are (we are doing a symbolic ceremony- getting legally married in Canada) and our ceremony costs $400 (keep in mind prices typically increase a bit every year- but Cuba has much cheaper wedding packages then other islands). Legal ones in Cuba typically run $1000-1200). The find out about whats included in their wedding packages (I think a lot of this information can be found on the Melia website (it will have the different levels of resorts (Sol, Melia, Paradisus). Then from there you can figure out how much that stuff will cost and then can leave the rest of your budget to other areas like photography, attire, bringing your own décor, etc! Here is the link to the wedding packages offered at the Melia resorts in Cuba. Not sure if you've seen this but if gives you the different options and prices and whats included! http://www.meliacuba.com/interests/weddings-and-honeymoons-hotels

@@diadiamond I'd recommend booking your date with the resort early if you know what your planned travel dates will be already. Most resorts in Cuba don't require a down payment to hold your spot, so it might be worth doing. Sometimes they won't book before a certain time frame, but I would email them and let them know!