calgarybride2015

Sure. I'm just at work now but will later Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I went thru an agent. Air Canada Vacations offered us a free upgrade. We almost didn't take it as I have kids but my friend offered to sit with them. All our guests came from Canada. The ones in Mexico worked their own stuff out I also got a free package (minus taxes) for every 17 person booked so got 2 totaling around $2000 credit from them as well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If any Calgary brides plan on using shells, I have a large unused bag of shells from Michaels. Shells are medium sized I guess, not tiny and not massive.. I can send pictures. They are free, just would rather someone use them then toss them out. Also have extra ribbon in orange, fuchsia, and turquoise - some organza like and some smaller regular ribbons (don't have a lot but some) Thanks!

I also forgot to bring the money with me as I had planned to ask the coordinator is a lump sum for the wait staff was ok and ran out of time. At the reception I quickly asked her if I. Could drop off the tip the next day and she said yes as she had a list of all who was working for our wedding. She also said the head of that night knew he'd have to split it up. I trust they did that!!! I had no idea what to tip though. I left $70 for WC, $170 for wait staff (which I think they probably also split between set up screw & DJ) and $50 for photographer. Like you said the minister was gone quickly and we were pulled in so many directions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You can get dressy sandals!! That's what I did. At first I had gotten flip flops and returned them. My sandals were all Blinged out. Loved them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Me too me too!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Me too And I got the green light!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is the best I could do - I had to find one thru my guest's pictures

Welcome! I got married last week at the Grand Sirenis, it's such a bummer to be home! The wedding was fantastic and more than I could have ever dreamed up in my mind. You are in good hands, I know sometimes it doesn't feel like it as email responses can take awhile but it's because they give the brides at the resort a lot of attention! 1. saskbride on this board got married in December at 4pm, in her pictures she wore barefoot sandals, so I would assume you are ok! I got married at 3pm and it was super hot, but since I had sandals on I can't really comment. 2. Just curious why you would want to use your own system when they provide it as a part of your package? Are you worried they will play the wrong thing? We had NO issues, even at the wedding office before the wedding they went thru them all and if they were uncertain (ie different versions, different people sing it, etc.) they would find it on utube to ensure they played the right one. I would just use theirs as it played thru larger speakers. 3. I used their DJ and he was AWESOME!!! During dinner they played lovey music LOL but the WC came up and asked what type of music we wanted for the dancing. Since I had been to the disco I knew I loved that type of music. I told her to have them play the music from the disco with a mix of country for those people and he did fantastic. I swear to god everyone was dancing for almost the entire 6 hours. They also take requests with no issues. I had thought about bringing my own music, but I didn't need to. I thought they were fantastic. Maybe if you aren't comfortable have your ipod as backup OR make a list of songs you definitely want to hear thru the night. They feed off of the crowd too and play things they see people responding too. We had a blast. 4. I don't think blue is their standard, it's probably just what shows in their pics. She has a whole spreadsheet of the colors they offer. I wanted fuchsia, but I asked her to show me the color to ensure my idea of fuchsia was theirs. She opened it up and there was ample color choices. I wanted the while fabric but from all the pictures of the GS I have viewed they also have a nice selection of colors for the 'gazebo' too. But the fabric for gazebo is not the same for the sashes so the colors won't match 100% from what I have seen. 5. I rented them (well she ended up giving me them for free). They are large and beautiful. When I was walking up to the palapa I was like 'wow I am so glad we did those' unfortunately I don't remember seeing them in any of my pics, but I have a standard photo of them in the palapa if you go to the links below and sift thru the first couple pages of my planning thread. (I will check my pics though for you). Like I said, I just got married there last week. I have a link below to my planning thread and also directly to the pictures of my wedding if you want to check them out. Everything was breathtaking - location, flowers, palapa, etc. And everyone involved was fantastic - WC, spa, servers, DJ, etc. The pictures do it no justice. oh and ps - the isle runner was a shock to me, I didn't ask or pay for it, so that was a bonus!!! I bought petals to sprinkle the isle with and they were already on it, so my daughter only did a few tosses. Not sure if she did that for me because I bought some to achieve that look and she was helping out or if that is standard?? They do blow away so I know they put some down more than once as per guests. Good luck.

Ya! I told her since we had a guest not coming I was able to use that money towards the lanterns (I stuck to my budget lol) and she said, oh don't worry I will just turn the switch on for you. They are always there they just flick a switch. Although they charge you $100 for it!

Mexico's date!!! That to us is our wedding and same for our guests. Canada's was just a requirement in the process we say Obviously for legal stuff we have to use the Canadian date.

If our cups are the same size 4 would be massive. Maybe 3 would be ok but I wouldn't recommend any bigger IMO. But that's me Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I only did the dolphins with the kids but that's on site at the resort. We booked a time slot that our friends with their son were doing it. I wasn't overly interested in what the others were doing but they all booked in groups. Some went to chicken pizza (chintzenitza lol) and some did a small catamaran and others playa del Carmen. People just talked and found people with similiar interests. We talked about coco bongos a lot but never did it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got the 2.5 inch ones -- came with 48 labels for like $20 ish. I have no idea their size but 16oz sounds reasonable. They were standard. I can check when I get home. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ordered a few extra maracas so I could have enough for any last minute RSVPs and I also wanted one for myself. I ended up having some left over after the reception so I brought them for the girls at work as souvenirs. They loved them! From Amol's the size I bought (medium) is only $1.65 for the pair so it wasn't a huge burden to have extra on hand.

Which store? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Speaking of lanterns. I opted to pay for them And kindly she gave them to me For free. I remember walking up for our entrance and thinking how beautiful they looked but so far don't have any pictures showing them hahah hopefully someone has a pic of them in their photos Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you pay customs fees? Just on their site creating one and one of the reviews said at pick up she had a $27 charge over and above, eek! I agree, I like the idea of the bigger card too. Just a little ticked I made it and right after my last picture uploaded it timed out and I have to start over

I did yes, they are the resort photographer for Grand Sirenis. They have a lot of photographers though. What I did was I requested all their work and picked which weddings I liked the best. I asked who shot those weddings and then requested her. I emailed almost monthly to ensure she was still there LOL!! After the fact, she does have her own photography company. It sounds like it is fairly new, so my guess is that they are just starting out and Adventure Photos probably allows them a stable income. Her name is Perla Brambila. If you are interested in the name of her private company I can also find that out. Not sure if they jump between resorts, I would assume not as the same 3-4 photographers were around their office daily. EDIT: haha sorry I totally read your question wrong.

I've never traveled anywhere tropical during our summer time so I can't help there anyways ... I've only traveled Jan-April. Sorry

You definitely can't be with everyone all the time! Thankfully everyone got along and everyone had a blast together. We had one little blip with someone (long story) but they just preferred not to partake in anything and spent a lot of time in their room. With larger resorts you also don't run into everyone everyday, especially when people have different interests. Our resort wasn't MASSIVE, but we had people upgraded to the beach front side and they had all their own pools, food, etc. so they had no reason to venture over to our side. After the first day when noone could find eachother haha we sorted it out and had regular meeting times and spots! So with that said and with what I experienced I stand even stronger on everyone should be offered that plus one.

I am starting to think I should get on this.... before I forget. I could probably just go to shutterfly and look, but were these cost effective? I think it's fantastic you put the group photo on the card and I may do this as well, or have some printed like you did for the group shots! It's a nice touch. Thanks Edit: I went and looked - not bad

I did my ceremony at 3pm. I had planned to do it at 330pm but I was worried if they ran late starting that we wouldn't have enough time to get our photos in before the sun set at 530pm. We definately had enough time, but you know Murphy's Law. Honestly though, even at 330pm and 400pm it was still as hot as heck and sunny! We were in the palapa when the sun set -- there was no air flow in there once the wind died down, so we were pretty hot. So to be honest, it was hot the entire night, if it wasn't for the breeze off the ocean we would have died. Sorry I am really no help. Edit: I did bring cardigans to Mexico just in case and didn't use them. I was never cold.

I got the multi colored ones. Only ones I wasn't overly impressed with was yellow. Looked like they needed a second coat of paint. They are cheap and perfect!!! If you wanna see them in action, I posted some pics on page 36 of my planning thread. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk