TinkerSofi

How much are you asking for them? Could you also PM pictures? I don't have enough posts yet to see attachments

Hi! could you please send me a picture of it? Thanks!

that's a great idea to do the toasts during the cocktail our. I think we're pretty settled on doing our pictures before the ceremony so we can enjoy every minute of the stuff we paid for (cocktail hour and reception) so that would fit right in! Thanks for the idea

FH and I are trying to cut down some costs so that we can splurge on the photographer and videographer for the wedding (among other things). We live in Canada so really the person taking our engagement pictures would not be the same as the one taking our wedding ones. What do you ladies think, are engagement sessions completely necessary or should we just skip that and pocket that money for more necessary expenses on the wedding day? The only use I thought we could give them was to put them on our wedding website but really that's it. We don't like STD or invitations with our picture on it. Thanks for your opinions!

Thanks Natalia. That was really helpful. Now I know that the extra money for a photographer is so worth it!

Hey guys. I thought I had read this somewhere but I can't seem to find it anymore. How much is per person for one extra hour of reception? Also, what is the outside vendor fee? Thanks as always

Thanks for the input. We thought the same about Beach Palace. We thought it was beautiful but it is very expensive, even if we get married in low season and I don't feel comfortable making my guests pay so much. We were thinking of going with the Luxury package because we expect a lot of guests and I think the cocktail hour is included with that so the fee shouldn't be a problem. But yes, the more you know beforehand the better prepared you are. The person we talked to during our site visit did mention those fees so I'm glad it's just that. In terms of an open bar, on the webinar they said that open bar and food for the reception was all included but some people have said there is a fee for those. Does anyone know what's up with that? do you pay extra only for the amount of people over the package limit? (for example if the package is up to 30ppl and you have 40)

Hidden is just a term. From what I've read they are things that last minute they're like "Oh we charge extra for this" when you thought it was included. Some of those fees are ridiculous. When you're on a tight budget like us, and probably most brides, these surprise fees are no fun. I just wanted to know what they are so I can stay clear haha.

They didn't show us the rooms, which was a bit sad because they did at Beach Palace (That's one of the things we liked the most about BP). We didn't actually stay at the Gran Caribe, although now I wish we had so that we could say for certain whether I would bring my guests there.

How about making them? There's a pretty easy (or at least so it seems) tutorial somewhere on pinterest. i've linked you to my pinterest one. I'm not sure if it'll work but if it doesn't just go on pinterest and search painted vase. There's lots of ideas although they all take a similar approach

Hi guys. I just came back from my visit to Gran Caribe and I thought their venues were beautiful (it would actually be hard to pick one). I really like the fact that all my guests can be in the shade if we decide to get married at one of the gazebos. However, all these hidden fees discussion is making me second guess whether I'm better off paying more somewhere else like Beach Palace. I was wondering, after all is said and done, would you get married there again? What are the most common/frustrating hidden fees?

My proposal was definitely not what I had imagined either, but I think I would have loved it no matter what. This just makes for a far more interesting and cute proposal story .

All these stories are so nice, we could all make a romance novel . One of my friends had invited me out one day to smoke some hookah. His friends invited him too and the second I saw him I remember telling my friend "that guy Juan is hot". Apparently he was thinking the same thing when he saw me because when I get home I had a facebook friend request from him. We talked online for some time but then I found out he had a girlfriend so I backed off because I was developing feelings for him. Fast forward 4 months. I went out with one of my friends and he was there. I thought I was over him but the second I saw him I realized that I still really liked him. He had broken up with his girlfriend now, the only problem was that I was seeing someone else. I couldn't ignore my feelings so I broke up with my (now ex-) boyfriend to be with Juan. We've been together for almost 5 years. This last January, I decided to throw a surprise birthday party for his 30th birthday. He doesn't celebrate birthdays so I was really anxious that he would like it. About 3 hours before the party he calls me, he had found out about the party. Then that night as we were dancing he says "I need them to turn off the music, i have to say something". I thought he was going to thank my friend and I for planning everything, but after he did that, he dropped on one knee. I was speechless trying to keep it together so I couldn't say anything, I just hugged him and moved my head to say yes. The best part was having all our friends and family there to witness it. As it turns out, he had planned a surprise dinner for me that day, he was going to come and pick me up when he found out about the party so he had to cancel all his plans. I set out to surprise him, but he ended up surprising me.

hi guys, another question about site visits. Does anyone know how long they take? we want to visit 3 hotels and we would prefer to get that done in one day. I just want to make sure I give enough time in between visits to get from one place to the next .

My wedding is super far away, but I'm curious, what are your guidelines for including or not including people in your guest list? Should you invite people that invited you to their wedding even if you don't see them that often anymore? What is the proper way of going about this?

I guess you could say that I'm still "hotel shopping" my wedding is so far away but we were planning on going there for vacation this year so we decided to check out some hotels that we liked since we were there. Even though the prices will change it's nice to have answers from a person live rather than through e-mail

I've been following your planning through this thread. It's awesome to see how things are falling into place. Your dress looks beautiful.

Hi everyone! I want to book a site visit at Gran Caribe. I'm leaving for Cancun in a week and I tried sending the hotel a message through their website with no response. Does anyone know who else I could e-mail to get a faster response?

Thanks guys. I'll make sure to e-mail her directly. Sofia

Thanks guys. I'll make sure to e-mail her directly. Sofia

I'm wondering if anyone planned a site visit to Beach Palace. I sent them a message through their website but they never got back to me. Is there a better way to get a hold of them to book that?

I'm wondering if anyone planned a site visit to Beach Palace. I sent them a message through their website but they never got back to me. Is there a better way to get a hold of them to book that?

I didn't care either way but the FI was firm on a destination wedding. Aside from that here are our reasons 1) Both of us just love the beach. We live an hour away from the Rockies but we're totally beach people. My fiance said he always dreamed of getting married on the beach, so I'm going along with it, I'm certainly not going to complain 2)It's cheaper. One of my friends got married locally and she ended up spending $30,000 for her wedding. It was a beautiful wedding but it did not have anything luxurious. I can get just as awesome of a wedding for half the price somewhere else 3) We live in Calgary Canada and the weather is too unpredictable here. At the very least I would like to get married outside, but it's not always a possibility when the weather changes drastically from day to day. 4) We're only inviting the people that are closest to us which is what makes the day special. Mind you, we wouldn't have that issue of what to do with the super-extended family (second cousins twice removed, etc) because we're both immigrants so all of our extended family is all somewhere else. On the other hand something I will regret is planning and making all the little details for the wedding. I can only fit so much in a suitcase so I'll have to keep it simple. However, sometimes the little details add up so I don't feel so bad when I think about all the money I'll be saving. I'll also be saving my sanity, because I know I'd go OCD with all the choices. I would end up so overwhelmed. Second downside, and this is shallow, are the gifts. My fiance and I don't live together and will be buying our first house at around the same time of the wedding. Our furniture will basically consist of a bed and a desk when we move in, so I'd take all the china and towels I can get! hahaha, but I don't expect people to travel so far to come to my wedding and give us a gift.

Thanks. What package did you go for?

That's a good idea. For centerpieces I'm planning on getting lanterns and maybe getting some fake flowers to put them in vases with water (so that it's not that obvious that they are fake haha). Ask your hotel if you're planning on using vases, sometimes previous brides leave theirs behind so you can use them.