Any Grand Palladium brides?

[MyTye2B]

It looks like I missed a lot when I posted earlier!  We must have all been writing near the same time.  I LOVE your finished bags, Claire!  I can't believe how talented you are!  You could sell those hangers on Etsy (and even bags - I bet they took a ton of work because they are so beautiful) and make a fortune!

 

Ladies I am a crazy cat lady at heart, but I love ALL animals so much so it was nice to see a picture of a furry friend here.  Chrestena your story of how your puppy came into your family was so wonderful.    Liana it kills me to leave my babies alone too when I travel but usually they have Tyrel home to take care of them.  For the wedding I did a ton of research and finally found a wonderful set of women who will be our hired cat sitters while we're gone.  They even vacuum and sweep, take out the trash and bring in the mail.... and they asked what toys Maggie and Zain like best so that they can have them available for when they come to watch them.  I think it will be some of the best money I'm spending on this trip and I feel soooo confident now that they're in good hands.  They've even come over for a meet and greet with the cats.  Told ya I'm a crazy cat lady, haha!

 

Chrestena thank you so much for sharing how you got your dress clean.  I have my beautiful wedding dress, and I also purchased a cheap knock-off dress that I intend to wear for my TTD session, however it is HUGE on me, so when I go on July 13 to have my wedding dress taken in and sized I am going to ask how much it would cost to have the cheap TTD dress sized as well.  If it is too much money to have it sized then I will probably wear my real wedding dress in the TTD session.  The only things that scare me are 1. It is mermaid style underneath so I do not want to drown! and 2. I worried that I wouldn't be able to get it clean and I don't want to pay to have it professionally cleaned because I just saw a 1/2 off Groupon for wedding dress cleaning and it was still $250!  And you're right - I will probably never wear it again anyway.  I don't want it to be ruined though, so I can see myself soaking it in the tub as well haha.  Thanks for the picture!  I may show that to Tyrel so he doesn't think I'm crazy! 

 

Can I ask what are you ladies thinking of getting your bridesmaids as gifts?  Or what have you purchased for them if you are a former bride?  I got them necklaces to wear with their dresses, but I want to put something else special in their OOT bags that are special just for the bridesmaids.  I feel a bit bad, because I put down the 50% deposit on the spa services for everyone and I know some people will pay for their bridesmaids hair and makeup, but it totalled $500 for the 50% deposit (although that included my $150 as well) but still very expensive so I just sent an email 'gently reminding' or asking if they could please e-transfer me the deposit which most of them had said that they would do months ago when I first booked it.  I am trying to free up some space on our credit cards because we only have 48 more days until our wedding and I know that once we get to Grand Palladium I am going to have a big, fat bill waiting for me at the end of the trip and I need room available on my credit card to put it.  Do you think it was rude for me to ask them to pay me back the deposit?  Do you have any suggestions of something nice, meaningful but not too expensive that I can put in the OOT bags to go along with their necklaces?  I have 5 bridesmaids.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Lauren 

[MyTye2B]

Oh and to answer your question Claire I am very happy with the bridesmaids dresses!  They are beautiful.  It's funny how nothing comes in the proper size though so I just can't wait to see how beautiful everything is going to be when they are all the correct size for the girls.  I think it's another way to add to the anticipation! 

[claire0701]

Thank you so much for your reply and reassurances Chrestena, I think I'll take the risk and then follow your 'rinse rinse rinse' regime

That is such a sweet story about your hubby rescuing the dog, and Carlota your picture is wevery cute as well.  Here is our 'baby'

 

 

Carlotta I'm glad your dad called Bout the wine and you don't need to worry about it now , try to relax and enjoy the last bits of planning.  

 

Lauren, I'm so glad you liked your bridesmaids dressrs and I also agree, when they don't fit it is an added excitement to see them all completed.  I had my bridesmaids dresses made, and my dress and flowergirls dress totally customised so it was like a new dress every time I went to the dressmakers - very exciting! 

[claire0701]

Oh forgot to say, lauren, I got my bridesmaids rings to wear on the day and packaged them up with a card saying 'thanks for helping me tie the knot'

 

I

I also bought then each a bracelet and friendship ceramic heart with a nice poem on which we will Gove then during the speeches.  I don't think it is too much to ask for them to pay the deposit to you, that's a lot of money and you have many other expenses now so um sure they will be understanding.  

[claire0701]

Sorry for all the typos, I'm on my phone 

[Soon2BeMrsW]

MyTye2B, did you book through a travel agent or directly through WestJet? I live in Edmonton and I am planning on getting married next July. My preference would be to fly with WestJet, as they always provide great service, but my travel agent said that prices would be much higher if we go with them as they don't have any direct flights to the Mayan in the summer. She said that we'd have to make a connection in Toronto, which would result in more expensive packages. Yet, your price seems the same as what I'm being quoted... I'd love to know how you went about booking your flights/packages, as well as if you're flying through Toronto. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[junomei]

MyTye2B, did you book through a travel agent or directly through WestJet? I live in Edmonton and I am planning on getting married next July. My preference would be to fly with WestJet, as they always provide great service, but my travel agent said that prices would be much higher if we go with them as they don't have any direct flights to the Mayan in the summer. She said that we'd have to make a connection in Toronto, which would result in more expensive packages. Yet, your price seems the same as what I'm being quoted... I'd love to know how you went about booking your flights/packages, as well as if you're flying through Toronto. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I would like to know too, as I am a huge fan of WestJet!

[MyTye2B]

Ok so for some reason when I copy and paste at work, this is the mess of a paragraph I end up with, haha. So I apologize for that! I can't seem to fix it, even when I go to edit, and preview. So hope you all have your reading glasses on, hahaha! Yay, Soon2BeMrsW and Junomei, I’m so happy you guys are a fan of my company!! Xo For me there was obviously no choice but to use WestJet. I did go with a TA but it was more to help with the coordination of things. Before I got started, I did call WestJet groups and WestJet Vacations to get some information personally. I know most people will go with whoever is cheaper and that totally makes sense, but when I decided to go with a TA (who is based in Windsor) I made it really clear that we would ONLY go with WestJet, haha out of Toronto or Calgary. That was just my personal bias haha. Anyone flying from Detroit obviously had to go with someone else. The benefit of going with a TA I found is that they watch the prices for you. If it goes down, they will contact you and you get the price drop. With WestJet group rates you have to have 10 rooms booked (leaving from any base so doesn’t all have to be leaving out of Calgary, or Edmonton or Toronto) just as long as you have 20 people you’ll get the group rate. The problem is that everyone has to be ready to book at the same time to get in on those rates. That’s another reason I let the TA do the chasing for me. Much easier! I also know that should anything go wrong we’ll be completely taken care of. I have heard one too many horror stories in my day to trust my wedding to anyone else. We don’t have closets in our plane, so I know I won’t be able to hang my dress, but I do know that we’ll be boarding first or last to lay the dress down across the overhead bins as Chrestena ended up doing. I’m sure some other companies offer fancier things but for me it was no contest. ïŠ At this time the flight schedule isn’t even out for July 2014 (I think just up until May) so you never know, there could be a direct flight added. Originally my fiancé and I had booked on a connecting flight through Toronto, (and I hate red-eye flights) but we were schedule changed and it actually worked out better because we got a direct flight from Calgary to Cancun. They added a new flight! All of our guests are going direct from Calgary to Cancun on a Saturday to Saturday. This year there are direct flights from Calgary on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so I imagine it will be close, if not the same next year. The schedules usually come out 330 days in advance so it shouldn’t be too long before the summer 2014 schedule is out. Just be prepared for some schedule changes, those always happen – but like in our case sometimes it’s for the better! Leaving from Edmonton it looks like in May (which is as far as I could check) that there are only direct flights to and from Edmonton on Saturdays but that’s what you’d probably book anyway, and if you had to connect in Calgary it would still be a heck of a lot shorter flight than connecting in Toronto. Junomei are you from Edmonton too? Summer is a cheaper time to fly, but like everyone else presses, the earlier you can book, the better. Let me know how you guys get on with the information you receive! Also there are some nice reviews if you search Grand Palladium White Sand on WestJet Vacations. If I can answer any more questions or help out at all let me know!

[HeatherLynn83]

Hi girls! You are all so on top of everything. I still have to march but feel like I haven't done anything except my dress! We still haven't even picked a wedding package yet! I did request La Laguana for reception as we have 40-45 guests. Just worried about what to choose for menu. Can't wait to hear all about your wedding as a lot of them are coming up quickly. I hope you all come back here to check in every once in awhile! Anyone order bridesmaid dresses online ? I have a specific turquoise colour in mind and worried that it will look different in person! Good to hear about dress coming clean after ttd. That's seems like a lot of work thou lol! Still can't decide if I should wear dress or buy another cheap one! All the talk about wine....during private reception guest can still order fancy cocktails and stuff right? OK, all for now...I'm sure I'll have lots of questions soon. Heather

[junomei]

Originally Posted by MyTye2B 

 

Ok so for some reason when I copy and paste at work, this is the mess of a paragraph I end up with, haha. So I apologize for that! I can't seem to fix it, even when I go to edit, and preview. So hope you all have your reading glasses on, hahaha! Yay, Soon2BeMrsW and Junomei, I’m so happy you guys are a fan of my company!! Xo For me there was obviously no choice but to use WestJet. I did go with a TA but it was more to help with the coordination of things. Before I got started, I did call WestJet groups and WestJet Vacations to get some information personally. I know most people will go with whoever is cheaper and that totally makes sense, but when I decided to go with a TA (who is based in Windsor) I made it really clear that we would ONLY go with WestJet, haha out of Toronto or Calgary. That was just my personal bias haha. Anyone flying from Detroit obviously had to go with someone else. The benefit of going with a TA I found is that they watch the prices for you. If it goes down, they will contact you and you get the price drop. With WestJet group rates you have to have 10 rooms booked (leaving from any base so doesn’t all have to be leaving out of Calgary, or Edmonton or Toronto) just as long as you have 20 people you’ll get the group rate. The problem is that everyone has to be ready to book at the same time to get in on those rates. That’s another reason I let the TA do the chasing for me. Much easier! I also know that should anything go wrong we’ll be completely taken care of. I have heard one too many horror stories in my day to trust my wedding to anyone else. We don’t have closets in our plane, so I know I won’t be able to hang my dress, but I do know that we’ll be boarding first or last to lay the dress down across the overhead bins as Chrestena ended up doing. I’m sure some other companies offer fancier things but for me it was no contest. ïŠ At this time the flight schedule isn’t even out for July 2014 (I think just up until May) so you never know, there could be a direct flight added. Originally my fiancé and I had booked on a connecting flight through Toronto, (and I hate red-eye flights) but we were schedule changed and it actually worked out better because we got a direct flight from Calgary to Cancun. They added a new flight! All of our guests are going direct from Calgary to Cancun on a Saturday to Saturday. This year there are direct flights from Calgary on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so I imagine it will be close, if not the same next year. The schedules usually come out 330 days in advance so it shouldn’t be too long before the summer 2014 schedule is out. Just be prepared for some schedule changes, those always happen – but like in our case sometimes it’s for the better! Leaving from Edmonton it looks like in May (which is as far as I could check) that there are only direct flights to and from Edmonton on Saturdays but that’s what you’d probably book anyway, and if you had to connect in Calgary it would still be a heck of a lot shorter flight than connecting in Toronto. Junomei are you from Edmonton too? Summer is a cheaper time to fly, but like everyone else presses, the earlier you can book, the better. Let me know how you guys get on with the information you receive! Also there are some nice reviews if you search Grand Palladium White Sand on WestJet Vacations. If I can answer any more questions or help out at all let me know!

 

Thank you MyTye2B,

 

Yeap I am flying out of Edmonton, my fiance and his family are all up in Peace River so to make the flights even more affordable we figured flying out of Edmonton is the soundest idea, especially since a 5 hour drive is sometimes better than a 10 hour layover, which appears to be the most common problem with flying out of Grande Prairie no matter who we fly with.

 

Thank you so much for all your info, my fiance and I are waiting for the end of august when the prices and schedules would be ready before we finalize everything and send out the STD information packages. I have a TA in Edmonton that I am using, so it will more than likely be up to her to do the chasing around, like you said.

 

Thanks again!

Liana