vancouverpetunia

@@calgarybride2015 I'm from Vernon. Lived there from grade 8 - 12 and my parents lived there for over 25 years. I do love visiting, I just wish I still had a free place to stay! Actually, if my parents still lived there I think we would have gotten married at their house. They had a beautiful place along a cliff overlooking Okanagan Lake. But they didn't take their spinster daughter's future marriage plans into consideration when they decided to retire to Vancouver Island Thanks for the advice on the bookings. When we first sent out the STDs, our TA said she had never seen such a fast and large response! I just sent out a reminder last night since we are a month from the deadline (figure I will send one more at the one week mark), and 2 more couples have since contacted her, so things are moving along! I figure it's their problem if they book later and have to pay more But I will do my best to herd the cats.

@@snswedding2016 I had missed your planning thread and just browsed through it. Love your ideas and looks like you have everything under control. The clutches instead of bouquets is interesting. I never would have come up with that, but I'm going to think about it a bit. That photo from Etsy looks really cool. But I'm only having 2 BMs/MOHs, so not sure if it would have as much impact? P.S. Khao San Road is amazing. I went there the last time I was in TO.

@@Victoriabride I'm sure you are not behind. Like I said, I'm a planner and this is my new obsession. I can't believe I already have flower ideas to send to the WC for a quote. LOL I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to this kind of stuff.

I've stayed at 2 resorts in the Mayakoba area of the RM, also a resort in Tulum and one near Puerto Aventuras. Their beaches all seemed fine to me. Now, I am not a beach person. I prefer pools. But since I'm not a beach person, I would not go in the water if it was "icky". I had no issues with any of these. I was just back in the area at the beginning of April, again in the Mayakoba area, and the beach was terrible! I would not touch that water with a ten foot pole. Although the conditions did improve over the week. I do think, to some extent, it's luck of the draw. Mother nature doesn't always cooperate! I've seen loads of posts on Trip Advisor with people complaining about the seaweed lately, at all sorts of different resorts on the RM. I think it's unusually bad right now. That said, I've not been to DR or Cuba to compare. The prettiest beaches I've seen in the Caribbean were in Curacao.

Like so many other brides before me, it would seem, I wasn’t going to do a planning thread. But I have seen how helpful they can be to others, as well as it’s a great way to solicit ideas for your own planning. Not to mention, I think it will help me stay on track. So here goes… How We Met We met at a destination wedding at Dreams Tulum in Nov 2010. I was there for my co-worker and he came as his buddy’s “plus one”. Jeff knew the wedding couple and a lot of the guests, but he wasn’t close enough to be invited. In a sense we were both outsiders, since I was a friend from work, and while I knew many of the bride’s friends, I was not close to any of them. It turned out that it didn’t matter - we made fast friends and had so much fun over the course of that week. He followed me around like a puppy dog the entire week! (I hope he never reads this - he will kill me ) Because I had not been to an all-inclusive before and I generally like more active vacations, plus the fact that I wasn’t super tight with the group, I had booked a couple of excursions on my own. Jeff’s friend “volunteered” him to come with me on one. Thank goodness he did. I was so hungover. I wouldn’t have made it back down the Coba pyramid without him! But I wasn’t interested. I really liked him. We got along so well and he made me laugh. But I wasn’t into him. I was recently out of a relationship that ended badly, so I’m sure that was part of it. Strangely, he’s quite shy by nature, but he was NOT shy with me. He made his intentions clear from the start, but I wasn’t going there. Anyhow, fast forward a year. I finally emailed him to send him photos from the Coba excursion (he conveniently forgot his camera). I suggested drinks, thinking that since a year had past, maybe we could now be friends. And here we are almost 3.5 years later. The Proposal We had been talking about getting married. We had been talking about rings. I inherited a ring from my grandma that is really ugly (and not an antique or anything I want to keep for sentimental reasons), but has some diamonds and gold that I suggested he use to have a ring custom made. That was a little too intimidating for him, I guess. He told me to go ring shopping with a girlfriend, which I did, but didn’t tell him about. One night, after many drinks, and him complaining about not knowing what to do about a custom ring, I tossed a business card at him with 3 model numbers printed on it. That was summer 2014. We had a big trip planned to Spain and France in Sept 2014. I thought he might propose. But as the days passed in Barcelona, nothing. I was trying not to expect it, because I didn’t want to be disappointed. Then towards the end of our trip, the two of us alone in a ruined castle tower in the South of France, he whipped out the ring and proposed. I forgot to say “yes”. I said “thank you” instead, because I had this pretty “gift” he was giving me. He had to clarify. LOL. He had the ring in his wallet the whole time - walking around Barcelona, pickpocket central. I still can’t believe it. The Destination We considered a local wedding (or somewhat local). I wanted something very casual - maybe a BBQ in a park? But public parks don’t allow booze! So now what? We thought about going to the Okanagan, which is like Canada’s Napa Valley for those who aren’t familiar with it. We’ve done an annual trip there 3 years running, and I grew up in the area, but no longer have any friends or family there. But it just wasn’t quite right. We’d also been to the Riviera Maya twice since we originally met. It is our go-to place for a relaxing, easy getaway. Plus we met there, so it just seemed right. We’ve now been there a total of 4 times together, having just returned from another trip last week. And we both had so much fun at the wedding at Dreams Tulum. I hope ours is just as good! Resorts I started doing research on resorts in late November, I think. I also contacted a destination wedding travel agent in probably December, who further helped with the research. We considered Grand Princess (we’d previously been there on vacation), Grand Palladium, Ocean Coral & Turquesa, all 3 Azul properties (Beach, Sensatori & Fives), plus Now Jade and Now Sapphire. It was really tough finding the right combination of resort and wedding package, while trying to consider our guests and their needs as well. I have a huge spreadsheet with all the details in it for comparing resorts. Although it’s still early in the planning stages for me, I think choosing the resort was the toughest part of the whole process. For various reasons we narrowed it down to Now Jade, Now Sapphire and Ocean Coral & Turquesa. In mid-January, we put down a deposit with the TA and she got quotes from those three for travel packages (air + hotel + transfers). OCT was a bit cheaper, but it’s not as highly rated either in stars or reviews as the Now properties. If it had been a lot cheaper, I would have considered it. It was tough to choose between the 2 Now properties, but Sapphire was a little bit cheaper, seemed to have a more “Mexican feel” to it, which I wanted, and I also have a colleague who was married there 2 years ago who had a great experience. We booked Now Sapphire at the end of Feb. Guests We invited 62 adults plus some kids. Of course, we knew some would not come. I was thinking we might end up around 40 - 50. At this point, I think it may be closer to 30 - 40, which I actually prefer. We currently have 33 people who have said they are coming (plus a few kids), as well as 12 who have said they are not. I don’t know about the other 17, but suspect not many will come. Of the 33, 11 have put down a deposit. Our booking deposit deadline is May 15. Save the Date We sent a simple email with links to our wedding web site (http://erinandjeff.weddingwoo.com/) and attachments including travel details. We have an RSVP form on our web site, which I built in Google Forms. I’m not planning to send paper STDs, but I think I will send paper invitations. Obviously we have almost a year until our wedding, so plenty of time to plan and work on all those little touches. But I’m a planner and our wedding is my new obsession, so stay tuned for more updates soon, I’m sure!

I've never been to Cancun, but I hear it's supposed to have better beaches than RM. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I also forgot to mention that Jade was slightly more expensive for our travel packages. Not by a lot, I think maybe $50 per person for the week. But every little bit helps. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The seaweed can also change according to weather patterns, time of year, etc. I know it's been worse than usual in the area recently.

We picked Now Sapphire for a couple of reasons. For one, it looks more "Mexican" to me. I didn't want to go all the way to Mexico to feel like I was in a slick hotel that could right here in our city (well, other than the weather, the beach, the pools, etc.) Now Jade looked more like that to me, although gorgeous in its own right. Also, I have a colleague who was married at Now Sapphire two years ago. She had a very good experience there, so that personal recommendation really clinched it for me.

@@Wafflesmom I live just off Main and was definitely going to try Barefoot Contessa. I didn't know about their Instagram feed though. Checked it out and there are some cute dresses there that are along the lines of what I'm looking for, so thanks! I also am going to visit Show Off! which does off the rack and custom dresses, including bridal, but they don't see to be your standard bridal designs. I hadn't even thought of the Bay! Too easy! I will start browsing there online (I didn't even think they had an online store. But I'm sure the last time I looked was a couple of years ago.)

@@Wafflesmom I saw that La Vie en Rose sale posted on the weekend and bought 3 robes online yesterday! My first wedding purchase We are doing peacock colours (but not a peacock theme) - blue, green and maybe some purple. At least I think we are. I only decided that yesterday morning and then saw the robes and bought them, so I guess I've locked it in? I've heard good things about Moon Palace. I'm sure it will be amazing! We booked the resort without seeing it, but I have a work colleague who was married there 2 years ago, so that helped to reassure me. The trip last week was very last minute. I never expected that I would see the resort before we arrived for the wedding, so I was pretty excited. Question for all Vancouver area brides - I am planning to wear a very casual dress. Probably white, but likely basically a sundress. I don't know that bridal stores will do the trick (and may mark up the cost). Any suggestions on where to look in Vancouver?

@@Victoriabride - It's cheaper from Toronto to Cabo than from Vancouver to Cabo? We just get screwed on the West Coast, don't we?

We've chosen the Tequila Terrace because we wanted a view of the ocean, plus it's just up the stairs from our ceremony location (Tequila Beach). Here is a photo of the Terrace, looking down the stairs towards the Tequila Beach ceremony location: We haven't had our wedding there, but we did a site visit there last week. I was tempted to move to the Preferred Pool. It is beautiful and very private. But FI wants the ocean view, which works for me, too. The other thing I liked about the Terrace is that there is a separate pergola to one side, where they set up the cocktail hour, followed by the dance floor. I really wanted to string some lights/lanterns/papel picaco, so this is the perfect spot for that. Here is a photo: One possible drawback to this location is that two different restaurants look into the reception area. But those people are behind glass and I guess they can stare all they want at us LOL. Plus they do occasionally close a restaurant or two and maybe we'll luck out to have one or both of these closed. A friend of mine did a couple of years ago. Here is a panoramic photo I took, so the perspective is a bit weird, and there's a lot of shadow, but you can see the windows ahead and to the right, facing the Terrace. Those are restaurants. The Beach Terrace is nice too. It's near the pool, but probably by the time you have your reception, the pool will be quiet, and later closed. It is also close to the beach, but slightly separated from the beach by a wall about 4 feet high. I think, but can't be sure, that you wouldn't be able to see the ocean when sitting down, but it's definitely visible while standing. Photo here (pool is to the right): Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the locations. They are all gorgeous in their own way. And I'm sure your WC will set it up best to accommodate the size of your group. Hope this helps! LOL I totally agree. I keep looking at the cakes and most of them are basically the same, other than the colours, which you get to specify anyhow! I have the same question! I was just asking my TA how likely we are to get upgraded because I don't want to pay to upgrade if we'll get upgraded anyhow. Plus if we did upgrade now to an Ocean Front room, we then might get upgraded to a Beach Front room, which I don't really want. They are ground level and open directly onto the beach, which is cool. But they have a jacuzzi tub that takes up half the patio and I know we will never use it.

Things are coming along for us. We are confirmed at Now Sapphire for April 7, 2016 and just did a site visit last week (we did a last minute getaway to the Mayan Riviera, so couldn't miss the chance to pay a visit). Our guest deposits are due May 15. I think I've decided on colours and now starting to think about dresses, decor, etc. But we have a year, so I'm not too worried about it. That said, I'm a planner, so I'm now completely obsessed

Hello ladies! I'm a Vancouver bride. Getting married April 2016 at Now Sapphire in Playa del Carmen. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We are around $2000 for the week at Now Sapphire, taxes in, air from Vancouver on Transat. First week of April 2016. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks so much for this tip! I just bought 3 of the blue ones online. My wedding's not for a year, but a great price and La Vie en Rose usually has really nice stuff. Plus I just decided on my colors today and this matches! From the home page, they have a big image that is 3 for 1 sleepwear. Click on that for all of the available sale products. They are mostly pink or blue.

@@acw271011 - Thank you, but we were just there on vacation! Getting married in a year. But we were able to visit our resort for an afternoon, so it was a great opportunity to see it in person.