nkavanaugh

Wow I have so dropped the ball with planning, I honestly feel so far behind and am lacking the motivation to try and figure out what it is I need to be doing. I am currently working two jobs Monday - Fri so when the weekend comes I cant seem to dedicate the time to wedding planning, which I need to start doing! Anyone have a checklist they find helpful for staying on track? Somedays I still feel like I have loads of time and then others I feel like its slowly creeping up on us!

@@vancouverpetunia I am so behind on all threads and all things wedding, I just can't seem to prioritize and working two jobs is making me crazy but I wanted to say how excited I am you were able to make that flight from Cancun to San Jose work!!! You both will love Costa Rica I am so happy your going

Just curious if any of you ladies are doing Catholic Ceremonies? We are having a catholic wedding in the chapel on site, and completed all the paper work/course that was required but I can't seem to be able to find anyone else whose done one to get an idea of the lay out, if there is a rehearsal with the priest and if we do readings during the ceremony. Adriana is amazing but she doesn't seem to understand my questions so I am thinking they must do it a little differently. Hoping someone can help

@@JoannaBanana I hear you! Our wedding is on the 3rd and we arrive on the 28th, some of our guests don't get there until the 1st which is why we chose that date but I am super worried about my skin, I generally tan pretty well but my dress has a bit of a plunging neck line which should make for some interesting tan lines lol!

I don't know if this will work but here is a screen shot of the new prices! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The maximum in the palapa is 100 and I think Adriana said that leaves no room for a dance floor, she does seem accommodating though and told me they would put the dance floor and some furniture on the beach for a bigger crowd! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yea that's my one concern, with our guest list being so large I really cant see them doing that for me without some sort of extra cost, however I am going to compare the gold and the presidential now to see what the cost difference is! Thanks for always being so helpful @@calgarybride2015 your input and advice honestly means so much, its incredibly kind and says a lot about you!

@@TaraMarie33 I have the 2015 extras list if you are still needing it let me know! I am in the same boat as you, I chose the Presidential Package initially because every time I tried to work out a budget there just didn't seem to be that much savings, but now I am unsure if I made the right choice, there are some things in that package I don't really want or need but at the time it just seemed more convenient, now that our guest list is about 100 people the savings seem to matter a bit more to me. Honestly not sure what the best option is!

Ok good to know! @@calgarybride2015 do you know if you are able to add on the welcome dinner to the free package? My parents are contributing the wedding and my dad really wants to do this, not sure if I have it in me to take it away from him lol

@@JoannaBanana Did Adriana send you 2016 price list? I wonder if the honor the 2015 prices if you booked prior to the 2016 coming out? I ended up doing the presidential package but now after reading your thread I am wondering I should have just done the free package and then upgraded.. these decisions seem impossible.

That's a good point @@calgarybride2015 we may not end up seated anywhere near them so it might just be easier to upgrade, something to think about. I had kind of just assumed we would all end up near each other somehow, there are 65 of us flying from Halifax, I'm not really sure how big the Transat planes are. Good to know about the tumblers where did you end up purchasing yours from? Its funny I kind of went in this wedding thinking it would cost me less then a wedding at home.. LOL.

Ah Im glad they you liked them @@deecol there stuff is seriously so nice for the price point! I forsee a few outfits for the week in Mexico coming from there! Has anyone who traveled with Air Transat brought their own décor with them? I am starting to get a bit worried about trying to travel with décor and wedding favors on top of my stuff for ten days. There extra weight prices are ridiculous from what I can see its about $15.00 a kg, which is crazy. I have thought about upgrading but we are surprising our families by meeting them in Halifax to fly to Mexico with them (they think we are coming from Toronto) so I don't really want to upgrade and end up being separated anyway. I have kind of stalled on purchasing anymore because I am a bit worried about how to manage it. I really wanted to do the mugs from the Factory 21 vendor on Etsy as favors but traveling with 100 seems impossible. Any past brides have experience? Or any future have a plan? Also curious if anyone has ever ordered from chaircoverfactory.com I am lusting over their gold sequin table runners, just wonder if the quality is good? I have finally decided on a theme/colors, hoping to go kind of nautical, with coral, gold and navy as our primary colors. I feel kind of in limbo with the planning and have no idea what I should be doing next..

@@vancouverpetunia our flights were through the states yes, we were on a 6 week holiday and flew out of a bunch of places but I'm sure you will find a decent flight, I hope that Mexican airline works out though that would be amazing! I believe our flight was with American Airlines and the flight had us stopped over in Texas I think which honestly wasn't to bad! Then we flew direct from cancun to Orlando so there will definitely be something for you guys! Definitely PM me I am happy to help and so excited for you guys!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@@vancouverpetunia my fiancé and I spent two weeks on Costa Rica last year! And actually got engaged there, anyway we flew from Calgary to Costa Rica and then to cancun for a wedding and our flights were reasonably priced. With that being said I have traveled a bit and Costa Rica is by far my favourite country I have been to, we rented a vehicle and drove to different parts of the country by map. It was amazing. Such an awesome experience the place and the people are so beautiful I would highly recommend it! And it's definitely doable on a budget. If you have any questions feel free to ask!! I tell everyone they need to go experience that country! Ps. You are doing so well in terms of your planning!! I am feeling like a slacker! Lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Happy wedding day!!!! Enjoy every moment. [emoji7] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@@JoannaBanana Adriana did mention that if you use the beach that the palapa is your back up! Which as long as we could move chairs and tables over would work somehow I'm sure lol! We invited probably about 160 in total so it is honestly super shocking that this many are coming, I'm sure some will maybe pay the deposit then back out but we're looking at a pretty big number! We planned super early lol after we reached a year of being engaged I felt like it was time to make a decision and a lot of our friends are getting married in the next year so I wanted to throw a date out there! Lol it's nice that you guys have a later deadline for your guests tho! I felt like ours came so quickly and yet the wedding is still a ways away! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk @@calgarybride2015 oh jeez. Lol this number is making some things difficult. We have a friends who lives in Mexico and is coming I might just start sending everything to them.. Lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@@deecol oh my gosh of course I don't mind!! It's such a steal I feel like the word needs to be spread about this website!! Lol I received mine in Ontario after about a week (ordered my sisters to have a look) and my girls got there's for sure within ten days in Nova Scotia! It was definitely pretty quick! I'm not sure what your colours are but the coral is gorgeous! It's called the royal engagement dress on the website and they have loads of colours!! I hope it works out for you guys I am thinking mugs for sure is the way to go lol I will just have a suitcase of mugs at this point! Mira is amazing!!! That's about 15 minutes from my home town but lots of summers spent on the gut! Lol I'm sure our groups will end up being in Mexico around the same time which is awesome!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You look beautiful!! I just read through you planning thread and everything you've done is amazing!!! I can't wait to hear all about it. Congrats on becoming a mrs today!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@@acw271011 I have always had it shipped to Canada, I paid duties once but I had ordered a few dresses I think my total cost was around 300 and I paid about $30 in duties! Which isn't too bad when you think about it!! My sister also got her bridesmaids dresses from there! The quality is fantastic! @@calgarybride2015 we have 95 who have paid deposits now so we're getting there, air transat gave us an extension until the end of August for our guests which was really nice! I talked to Adriana a bit today (god she is a saint lol) who put me at ease and said we could just use the palapa and pay for furniture and a dance floor on the beach as well which at this point is what we will probably have to do! I totally wasn't expecting that number of people so I am throwing my budget to the wind at this point and will need to come up with a new one lol. Adriana send me a lot of pictures of the beach set up which was really nice so I think I would prefer that as opposed to being inside, I might live to regret that lol. I hadn't thought of the reverse tho dinner on the beach and then dancing in the palapa that's an option as well! I'm sure one way or another it'll work out and be fine I think I'm just going to have to be flexible! The good news is the church holds 120 people! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Argh I know I cant complain about this but I am going to anyway.. our booking is 95 people strong now/ Which is insane I honestly never thought it would happen, and theres a few more that we are pretty certain will book. My issue is I had my heart set on the Palapa, I absolutely love it and its the one thing I knew I for sure wanted with the wedding (besides the groom lol). I just emailed Adriana to check how many the Palapa can hold and the maximum is 100, without a dance follow. I am honestly a little heart broken, I know its petty and really not a huge deal but its just what I envisioned for our reception and I know we will need room to dance (anyone who knows any Cape Bretoners knows we love to "dance"). Has anyone seen any of the other reception venues? Adriana suggested doing the beach but I am not sure if I am sold on it honestly.

Your invites are coming along beautifully!!! I am so envious of all you creative brides!!

Update.. We are up to 71 guests booked now, which is WAY more then I had anticipated. I am thrilled so many people want to come but stressing a bit about favors, I really wanted to welcome bags but now I am not sure if it is affordable, I definitely want to give everyone mugs on arrival but I am not sure what else is really expected as guests are paying so much to spend the week with us! Also has anyone ever ordered from party city? They have some really cute stuff for weddings I wonder if the quality is good! I am really wishing I was even a little bit creative at this time! Lol @@calgarybride2015 do you remember exactly how many people you were allowed to sit at a table!?

Hi all!! Thanks for the warm welcomes I was away for a wedding this weekend so I have been a bit MIA, sneaking a quick peek at the forum at work lol @@Wafflesmom I find the sizing pretty standard! I generally wear a small and small from there fits me well! My sister is a tiny bit bigger then me and she fits well into a medium! The quality of the dresses on that site are really really good for the price point! My sister is getting married in 2016 as well and we got our bridesmaids dresses from that site for her wedding too! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Ps. Thank you everyone for the compliments on the dress! It's something different then what I would normally go for so I am hoping I don't regret that!! @@calgarybride2015 cape Breton is not big at all! Do you know where abouts the people you know are from? There is a lot of us east coasters out in Alberta that's for sure! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Our Story: Steven and I got engaged in April of 2014 in Costa RIca, it has taken us a bit to finally start planning! We met in 2009, we had attended the same small university in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia but didn't meet until around the time we graduated. We had a mutual friend who was killed in a car accident the day before graduation, this brought several groups of friends together in the following weeks leaning on each other to cope and also to celebrate the life of a guy who was truly a really special person. I had dated someone basically throughout university (who in hind sight was a whole lot of crazy lol) we split a couple of months prior to this and I vowed I would stay single for a while (not so much lol). Steven moved to Ottawa shortly after graduation for work and we did long distance for about a year at which time we decided this relationship was worth taking a risk for, and so I moved. We have moved quite a bit in our 6 years, to Ottawa, Red Deer and in Thunder Bay where we are now (temporarily) settled. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have found someone like Steven to spend the rest of my life with, he is honestly one of the most kind, compassionate, selfless people I have ever met. A destination wedding seemed to be the obvious choice for us as we both have a passion for travel, we have spent time in Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia, Cuba, D.R, Vietnam, Costa Rica, and all over Canada and the U,S. We've been pretty lucky these last few years, this year Steven decided to go back to school and complete his engineering degree so our travel days are currently on hiatus. Destination wedding is the perfect fix to that! We attended a wedding in May 2014 at the Grand Sirenis and it was seriously the best time, it made sense for us to use this resort because we had been there before and it had been such a fantastic time. We are getting married in the church on site which was another bonus for us since our families are both Catholic! The Booking Process: I had gone through several travel agents until I finally found one I felt would work well with us, he has been god sent through this process let me tell you! I really felt like destination weddings were supposed to be stress free, the booking process and waiting for deposits has been a lot more stressful then I anticipated. However it is finally coming to an end! We are one week away from our deadline and currently has 53 people booked! I can't believe how great the response has been its so exciting to know all these people want to come out to support us! We shall see what this last week brings, I can't wait to have a final number. Wedding Party: I must say after reading some of the forums on here about wedding party drama I am a bit nervous. We have 4 people each standing for us my little sister is my MOH and Stevens older brother is his BM, 3 of m best friends are my BMs and 3 of his are his GMs, our friends are generally really laid back people and all but two of them are booked right now so hopefully there won't be any issues with the last two GM's! Thank you @@calgarybride2015 I am hoping if I do this I will actually start making some decisions!! Lol The dress: I so thought I knew what I wanted for a dress, lace kind of a vintage feel not super fitted. Boy was I wrong. I ended up getting a dress with a jacket type of thing to wear over it so I can mix it up for the ceremony should I choose too. I wanted to wear something that would surprise Steven and our guests because I can honestly be super predictable and boring sometimes. Lol so here it is! Ignore my ridiculous face in these photos. I can't wait until I get it in my size to get a real feeling for how it will fit!attachment=33141:ImageUploadedByTapatalk1437610457.989386.jpg] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I am really needing an opinion on these bridesmaids dresses! I am pretty sure I want to do coral with Aqua and gold accents, I'm hoping to somewhat go for an under the sea theme. I ordered these dresses from lulus.com they were 68 usd. My whole bridal party still lives in Nova Scotia so that process is a little tough but I am thinking on doing this dress, it is a little big on me which makes it hard to tell but I think the color is beautiful and all my girls are tiny so they will look good in pretty much anything. What do you guys think of this dress? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi All, I am someone who is so unable to make decisions on my own, I also lack the creativity gene. I have spent countless hours going through the planning threads here and I feel like I have already learned so much. So I thought I would start one myself both to hold my self accountable and to keep track of where I am at in terms of planning. My fiancé Steven and I are getting married on May 3rd, 2016 at the Grand Sirenis Rivera Maya.