diadiamond

Thanks Ladies! I e-mailed the wedding coordinator, and I'm waiting for her response. I'm not sure what the travel dates are yet as no websites have anything for 2015 =( I talked it over with my fiancee and we have agreed that we would be willing to put down a deposit to reserve our date. Happy planning to you ladies too.

Hi Everyone! I know I've been posting a lot, but I just have so many questions. I thought that planning a destination wedding would be a snap, but after reading the forum I learned that it's easier than a traditional wedding but presents its own challenges. I was wondering if any brides had a wedding planner at home for their big day? I've seen some sites like luxe weddings which offer planning packages. Also what is the difference between a wedding planner and a travel agent in regards to a destination wedding? What services do travel agents offer? And how much do they charge? And do they offer you any special deals. Sorry guys, I know I'm throwing a lot of questions out there, but I'm so confused as to how to go about planning this wedding. - Dia.

I think it depends on what is included in your package. Are you getting an oceanview room? I've travelled with both air transat and Sunwing. Personally I prefer air transant, we had a bad experience with sunwing. We got caught in the ice storm (which wasn't sunwing's fault). No one told us what was going on and we waited in the lobby for about 8 hours (we were constantly told to just wait in case a bus came). After that we got put in the basement of the hotel to spend the night which sunwing paid for. We were told that our bus would come at 7am it came at 10am (we waited outside the hotel for 3 hours). When we got to the airport they took our flight off the board and I guess cancelled it (even though both air transat and cubana air going to toronto both left on time). We saw a Sunwing plane and asked the pilot if that was our plane he said that it was supposed to go back to Ottawa EMPTY! He took pity on us and flew us back to Toronto. We got on a plane after being at the airport for about 8 hours. When we e-mailed Sunwing they said it was a "technical error" Sorry for the rant, but seriously, how do you forget an ENTIRE flight. Air transat was worth it! I'm going to spend the extra money to fly with air transat.

My fiancee and I are going with the Melia Cayo Santa Maria in Santa Maria Cuba. It's really isolated (it's meant for tourists) but so beautiful! The best beaches I've ever seen! We want to spend more time with our friends and family. Also the staff was incredible. The food was good for Cuba, lots of selection. Once I figure out how to post pictures I can post some pictures of the resort (we visited last April).

@cremoniesont my fiancee and I are getting married in Cuba. Do you know what the procedure would be for us to make our marriage legally binding in Ontario? Would you recommend us getting married in Ontario first (signing papers) before going to Cuba for our ceremony? I'm also wondering where I could find more information about how to go about changing my last name after I get married. If we have a legal ceremony here how long would it take for my last name to be changed?

Can't wait to see how it all comes together. You've done an excellent job so far =)

I had the same question (how long is too long?) I think a lot of brides are right that with a destination wedding there are really no rules or expectations. We're thinking of getting married in late November (we're hoping for November 24, 2015) and we were thinking of having an AHR for those who can't make it to the wedding. Our wedding would be so close to the holiday season I don't want to further inconvenience our guests and we also want to wait till we get our wedding video and pictures. We were initially thinking about having an engagement party instead of an AHR so those that can't go can feel like they are a part of something and to serve as an ice breaker for our families and friends. The con against our engagement party is the time it takes to plan and the cost (we're both students till the end of summer). Also we think we'd be in a better financial spot in 2015 which has greatly influenced our decision. I think we are going to decide to wait a bit to do our AHR. Thanks for all the feedback and thanks for starting this thread. It's been so helpful seeing what other brides are doing and realizing that I'm not on my own with my thoughts and questions. My fiancee and I are the only couple in both our families having a DW in lieu of a traditional one.

We're not getting married till late 2015 (we're leaning towards November after reading some posts about weather on here), but there's really no information about anything in 2015. I really want to start planning, but my fiancee wants me to wait till we've saved a bit first. @@Tamra do you have a wedding planner or travel agent helping you out? I'm surprised nothing is up yet for January 2015. Calculating for each guest makes me nervous too because the number of people will really impact our budget. I'm not even in the planning stages yet, but it's nerve wrecking.

@@Tamra I've noticed that there aren't any travel packages for 2015 as well =( Kind of makes planning a little harder.