Iberostar Quetzal/Tucan

[catgirl]

New member and another bride having their wedding at the IB Tucan/Quetzal in June 2013.

[catgirl]

If any brides have any info they can share on what they have received from the IB Tucan/Quetzal, I would be appreciative.

 

We have just signed the contract for our wedding on June 14, 2013, but only have the basic wedding package details.

 

I am not sure if they provide additional information on photographers, centerpieces, etc.

 

Looking for anything I can get my hands on.

 

Starting to panic a bit as it is December and the wedding is a little more than 6 months away.  And in between now and the wedding, we are picking up and moving to the west coast.  Fun times.  

[Jessicalynne]

Hi catgirl! I'm actually getting married at the Tucan that Saturday, the 15th! My fiance and I are coming from San Diego, but we'll be having people fly in from all over the country. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. We're having the ceremony in the beach and are hoping to have the reception in the tropical restaurant...the one closest to the beach. If you are having more that 50 guests they can give you a whole a la carte restaurant for four hours. My name is Jessica. We'll be there all week so I'm sure we'll run into each other! Don't panic, it will all be perfect. My travel agent just visited the hotel to meet Connie and Alejandra and to scope it out for us since we can't go before the wedding. She had nothing but rave reviews!

[catgirl]

Originally Posted by Jessicalynne 

 

Hi catgirl! I'm actually getting married at the Tucan that Saturday, the 15th! My fiance and I are coming from San Diego, but we'll be having people fly in from all over the country. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. We're having the ceremony in the beach and are hoping to have the reception in the tropical restaurant...the one closest to the beach. If you are having more that 50 guests they can give you a whole a la carte restaurant for four hours.

My name is Jessica. We'll be there all week so I'm sure we'll run into each other! Don't panic, it will all be perfect. My travel agent just visited the hotel to meet Connie and Alejandra and to scope it out for us since we can't go before the wedding. She had nothing but rave reviews!

 

Hi.  I am Christy.  You are the one who has the date we wanted.    We are arriving June 12 from SFO for the 14th and asking our families to fly in that date as well and asking our guests to fly in on June 13.  

 

We have people flying in from all over the world (Fi is from New Zealand).  We just booked a block of 70 rooms for that time frame.  We are expecting over 50 guests.  We are getting married at 5:00 pm on the 14th.

 

It was like pulling teeth to get Connie to respond and get the contract finalized, however, my TA has a relationship with the IB sales manager, so he was able to push it along.  Our TA is awesome and is the agency owner and I have booked several other trips through him and have referred others to him as well.

 

I have stayed at the resort 5 times and I love it there, which is why we decided on the Tucan.  We don't have time for a pre-wedding visit since we are moving to the Bay Area in March and we just got engaged in November.  I have stayed at quite a few AIs in Playacar and the Tucan was my favorite.

 

I am trying to figure out some of the logistics ie handing out OOT bags, can we coordinate a dinner/drinks for the night of the 13th once people arrive, are we going to have a fixed menu at dinner, centerpieces, etc.

 

Not much planning has been done to date.  Would love to bounce ideas off of you and see what you have done for the big day.  

[Trace2013]

hey girls! Congratulations! So nice to hear about more Tucan/Quetzal brides on here! It was a little scary to be searching for information last February when we started looking.

I am set to leave for Mexico is 4 weeks and I couldn't be more excited. We have a really large group joining us for the whole week (92) and so we went with the largest package to help cover off some costs. Now that you've signed the contract I'm sure you'll be hearing from Alejandra, she is fantastic and responds to all emails within a day or so. Don't be alarmed if you don't hear back right away, as they say - they are busy with wedding happening now and not so worried about yours. But my experience is that her attention to my emails and response has sped up as we get closer to the big day. She'll be sending you all your options for set up, decor, flowers etc. But I can send it to you if you'd like to see it, just leave your email here.

 

The hotel has a contract with the on site photographer - Adventure Photo. We ended up going with him, he sent us a bunch of work he's done and it looks really good. You are free to choose an outside photographer but there is a fee of $300 due to loss of revenue for the hotel. That being said, I've heard if you book your photographer a room there is no fee as they are technically "guests". Sometimes that is easiest especially if you plan to trash the dress the next day.

 

Feel free to ask any questions, I'll do my best to answer you.

[catgirl]

Originally Posted by Trace2013 

 

hey girls! Congratulations! So nice to hear about more Tucan/Quetzal brides on here! It was a little scary to be searching for information last February when we started looking.

I am set to leave for Mexico is 4 weeks and I couldn't be more excited. We have a really large group joining us for the whole week (92) and so we went with the largest package to help cover off some costs. Now that you've signed the contract I'm sure you'll be hearing from Alejandra, she is fantastic and responds to all emails within a day or so. Don't be alarmed if you don't hear back right away, as they say - they are busy with wedding happening now and not so worried about yours. But my experience is that her attention to my emails and response has sped up as we get closer to the big day. She'll be sending you all your options for set up, decor, flowers etc. But I can send it to you if you'd like to see it, just leave your email here.

 

The hotel has a contract with the on site photographer - Adventure Photo. We ended up going with him, he sent us a bunch of work he's done and it looks really good. You are free to choose an outside photographer but there is a fee of $300 due to loss of revenue for the hotel. That being said, I've heard if you book your photographer a room there is no fee as they are technically "guests". Sometimes that is easiest especially if you plan to trash the dress the next day.

 

Feel free to ask any questions, I'll do my best to answer you.

 

Thanks and best wishes on your upcoming wedding!!!    I can't wait to see pics of everything and I appreciate you passing information along.  My e-mail is [email protected]

 

We actually booked the free package because we really couldn't tell the differences between the packages.  All seemed to include the same thing and we will meet the requirement of 60 nights booked.  We have our own officiant (since we are doing the legal wedding in SFO the weekend before) who is also a guest.  We just paid $500 to do the ceremony at 5:00 pm on the beach.  We have already been assured we have a private dining space for our dinner and we are not doing a formal reception.  We figured after the ceremony we would do the champagne toast, we can grab a drink at one of the bars and then go to dinner.  We figured after dinner we would find a bar for drinks, then perhaps the disco.  Is this even a good plan?  

 

So excited to find other Tucan brides and this website!  

[Trace2013]

I sent the email off to you late yesterday Christy!

 

It sounds like you will be having an amazing wedding, that plan will be great. Then whoever wants to keep the party going can hit up the disco and I'll bet you'll have it mostly to yourself for the beginning of the evening. We went with the package because we wanted a more traditional reception: Sit down meal, speeches, dj, dancing and we wanted it to go until 1am.

 

Just to let you all know I rec'd an email yesterday from Alejandra that they have changed photo providers on site. They no longer deal with Adventure Photo, it is now Photo-Pro. A little concerning considering we had negotiated a custom package with Jorge and were booked for the last 6 months. She said we could still keep our agreement with Jorge if we wanted but looking at the new packages, we may stand to save $1100 if we switch. And since Jorge didn't ask for a contract or deposit we may do that. Ultimately, the correspondence I get back from the new company will be the deciding factor. If I don't feel at ease, I'll stick with Adventure. However, I'm wondering if I'll be charged an outside vendor fee now? So many decisions. Anyway, I sent you the new price package for Photo-Pro and not Adventure since that's who you'd be dealing with on site.

 

We've been to Playacar but never the IB so I'm kind of relieved to hear you love it so much. I have been to other IB's in Dominican and felt really good choosing them based on the chain but it's always good to hear first hand what a great place it is.

 

Anyway, I'm off for my last dress fitting!
 

[sandybeach]

I also have all the files the wedding coordinator emails out. If anyone needs them feel free to send me an email! (As i am bad with staying up to date here) Email is: [email protected] Trace can you believe how fast time is flying by!! I cant believe my wedding is less than 2 months away!! Which tour group did you book your with (curiosity) we did sunwing. Anyone ever have any experience with them?

[Trace2013]

Hey Sandy,

I CAN NOT EVEN BELIEVE how fast time has flown by! I just had my final dress fitting - Starting to get so excited!

We booked with Air Transat, as that is who our Travel Agent worked with. I've personally travelled with Sunwing a few times and have been very happy with the service, no complaints and champagne toast to start your vacay!
 

[catgirl]

Originally Posted by Trace2013 

 

I sent the email off to you late yesterday Christy!

 

It sounds like you will be having an amazing wedding, that plan will be great. Then whoever wants to keep the party going can hit up the disco and I'll bet you'll have it mostly to yourself for the beginning of the evening. We went with the package because we wanted a more traditional reception: Sit down meal, speeches, dj, dancing and we wanted it to go until 1am.

 

Just to let you all know I rec'd an email yesterday from Alejandra that they have changed photo providers on site. They no longer deal with Adventure Photo, it is now Photo-Pro. A little concerning considering we had negotiated a custom package with Jorge and were booked for the last 6 months. She said we could still keep our agreement with Jorge if we wanted but looking at the new packages, we may stand to save $1100 if we switch. And since Jorge didn't ask for a contract or deposit we may do that. Ultimately, the correspondence I get back from the new company will be the deciding factor. If I don't feel at ease, I'll stick with Adventure. However, I'm wondering if I'll be charged an outside vendor fee now? So many decisions. Anyway, I sent you the new price package for Photo-Pro and not Adventure since that's who you'd be dealing with on site.

 

We've been to Playacar but never the IB so I'm kind of relieved to hear you love it so much. I have been to other IB's in Dominican and felt really good choosing them based on the chain but it's always good to hear first hand what a great place it is.

 

Anyway, I'm off for my last dress fitting!

 

 

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it.  

 

Thanks for the heads-up on the photographers as well.