Sabes44

ha ha this was great, just what I needed after a long day!

I am spending $10 on each bag with about $40 of stuff in them. Each couple or single guest gets a bag. I think I will end up ordering mine from wedding chicks too for $10 a pop. I found less expensive ones but they looked kind of cheap and not sturdy. Ideally I wanted something people (and myself) would use after the wedding.... @kmk2016 thats awesome about the discount codes!! How do you get them?

@@kcole123 I think most brides go through what you are going through. I am a wedding and event planner and extremely frugal and cost conscious and not doing a lot of the costly "extras" but still above the budget I orginally thought. My advice is don't overly worry about all the little "extras". Only spend the money of the stuff that means something to you or your furture husband. I promise no one will remember if you had fans at your wedding (although they can be found pretty inexpensive on amazon or oriental trading co). I have done events for 1,000+ people and what really matters is why they are there (you and your hubby) food, drinks and if they had a good time. Like you said keep it simple is what you wanted from the beginning so keep it that way. I am not doing programs or menus either. Just welcome bags and maybe a little decor on the table. something simple like a candle in a hurricane glass and maracas at each place setting. Wedding wire has a great budget tool, if you are not already using a budget tool. Don't over stress and remember to have fun!

I am not getting married at Sandals either but I did stay at Sandals Halycyon in St. Lucia this past April. We got massages while we were there and tipped each of them about $20 in cash.

Probably not, I am not that adventurous or bold! Would you ever elope?

@@Meandhim where is your wedding taking place? I LOVE your first dress!! The second one is cutesy and fun if thats' what you are going for. But think the first one is more "grown up" and "sexy" not sure how you envision yourself on your wedding day...?

@@Lismyth26 Sorry I didn't stay at St. James club in St. Lucia. But I did go there in April 2014 and stayed at Sandals Halcyon and visited the other 2 Sandals there. All wonderful and different in their own ways. Either way St. Lucia was AMAZING! Good luck with your search and planning!

Congratulations @Khryniw14!! I got engaged at the end of March and just booked our wedding at Excellence Resort Riviera Cancun and can't wait till next year! I definitely agree with everyone else and you should defiantly work with a TA. I had pretty much already decided where I wanted my wedding before talking with our TA. I have a slight advantage because I am an event/wedding planner. Do your research and read reviews and you will pick the perfect place for you!

I defiantly looked into Punta Cana for my wedding, but coming from California the travel was more than we wanted so we settled on Riviera Maya.

We are thinking about starting about a year after our wedding. Having one last out of the country trip and then going for it. Just don't want to wait too long since I will be 33 and he will be 41 when we get married, but at the same time want to enjoy married life a little bit first.

You ladies are giving me inspiration! I just started on BDW a month or so ago and really want to get to 150 too!!

Awesome, thank you so much @@acw271011!!!

You are welcome @@hapykat, good luck with that!

Does Excellence offer beach wheelchairs? I used to do weddings for a hotel on the beach and the city offered beach wheelchairs (they have super large wheels to avoid sinking) and it made it a million times easier for the guest and families. Otherwise regular wheelchairs on the beach don't work well, I have a few clients whose family would carry the guest across the sand.

Hello everyone! I am having my wedding next year at the Excellence Riviera Cancun and looking at the Lobster House for our reception. I am having a hard time finding pictures or more information. Anyone out there have pictures of this space or used it for their reception, welcome dinner or cocktail hour?? Thanks in advance!!

Lobster House has been my first choice since I first started researching the venue. I guess I will just have to wait and see what we can get since we are so far out.

Hi @@NicoleF thank you for your detailed response! We did end up signing the room block agreement (after asking a million questions!) surprisingly my fiance wasn't overly concerned about potentially fronting the money as I was. Hopefully a good amount will book within the 30 days so we don't have to front too much. We did get some really good prices and even the lowest room block was decreased by over $40 per person per night. What date is your wedding? Mine is May 29, 2015

@@HNeal thanks for that info! I am getting married on a Friday too, we are still 10 months out so not sure on the guest count yet. But at this point we are anticipating at least 30.

Congrats @@JessT! Looking forward to seeing pictures I just signed my room block and now waiting on the wedding contract. Save the dates have already been ordered! Is the Lobster House still an option for the reception or has it been replaced with Las Olas?

Thank you everyone for your feed back! My finace didn't think it was that big of a deal. We are trying to get the deposit to go towards our room or otherwise we won't get it back till after the wedding next year.

Was anyone else able to get their guests to book within 30 days? I don't mind fronting the deposit but don't want to be out 1-2K for a year.

thank you everyone, I talked to Wendy this morning and although the rates look good, I am just not sure about the group contract. Basically if guests don't book within 30 days (which I doubt they will). My card gets charged the full deposit, and gets refunded after the wedding when guests book, which is the part I don't like.

acw271011 I had reached out to a few TA's prior to reaching out to destinationweddings.com and unfortunately I did not have good luck with any of them at all. So that was my original decision to go with destinationweddings.com, however I did reach out to Wright Travel yesterday and just waiting for a response. I just don't think giving guests 30 days to book their rooms with a room block is good, especially since we haven't even sent the STD since our date is on hold, but not yet booked. Hoping to hear back from Wright Travel today so I can get another opinion and make sure I am making the best decision for my guests. Unfortunately I didn't find this site till after I started talking to destinationweddings.com and at that point I had gotten super frustrated with the TA's I had talked to who said they could help me yet never got back to me. @ Tatimrivera if you didn't do the room block, was the rate still the same for your guests or how does that work out? I just don't feel that the rates are really that good for a room block.

Hello ladies- Anyone else out there using destinationweddings.com? In my search for a TA prior to finding them, I kept getting no where and had little to no response to anyone I reached out to. I signed up for their "free" service and am just concerned about the contract for the room block I need to sign. Is it typical to have to sign a room block for all inclusive resorts? Any information would be very helpful! Thank you in advance

Hello all! I am so happy I found this website, despite my background of wedding planning. Planning a destination wedding is a different ordeal for sure! We just set the date for May 29, 2015 at Excellence Rivera Cancun. Although we have talked to most of the guests we were planning on sending an informal STD email followed up by a formal STD postcard in a few weeks. That way I have time to get the website together and all the details for my guests to book their rooms. We will probably send the formal invitations out 6-9 months out, depending on guest response. Happy planning to all!