Ocean Turquesa & Coral Brides?

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisafleury Hola fellow OCT brides! I've just confirmed the date for our big day - JANUARY 20, 2011 - and am more excited then I thought possible! Amber I saw the album you posted with your wedding pics and I cannot thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to dream about how beautiful my day could be. I ABSOLUTELY love your bouquet and have to ask if it was amongst the options that Ana offered? I haven't even been given any of the options yet from Ana yet, my travel agent with Marlin travel just set the date last Friday, but hopefully this week I'll have a better idea of what my choices are so if any of you have suggestions/recommendations to share I would love to hear (read) them. Thanks in advance ladies, Lisa

Congrats Lisa and welcome to the Blog! I have found everyone very helpful since joining! I haven't gotten married yet... but if you have any questions about the planning process just ask away! If I can't help, I'm sure someone on here can! lol Happy Planning!

Whitney

P.S. Where in Canada are you from?

[lisafleury]

Hey Whit,

I am so incredibly happy to finally say that everything is booked, well at least all the flights and accomodations - now comes the real fun part... the wedding options from Ana! I'm hoping to receive them from my travel agent by the end of the week so I'll no doubt have a few questions to come. Have to say that I LOVE the margarita idea, I still do not have clue of what I'll be doing for decor. The only thing I'm working on now is ordering our "wedding favors", which will be a personalized travel mug for everyone to keep their drinks nice and ice cold during the week

 

I'm originally from Quebec but have moved around the country a fair bit (Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Halifax) and now Regina. I just moved here a year ago for yet another transfer/promotion and to be closer to my now fiance - funny how things just work out eh? How about you?

 

Lisa

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisafleury Hey Whit, I am so incredibly happy to finally say that everything is booked, well at least all the flights and accomodations - now comes the real fun part... the wedding options from Ana! I'm hoping to receive them from my travel agent by the end of the week so I'll no doubt have a few questions to come. Have to say that I LOVE the margarita idea, I still do not have clue of what I'll be doing for decor. The only thing I'm working on now is ordering our "wedding favors", which will be a personalized travel mug for everyone to keep their drinks nice and ice cold during the week I'm originally from Quebec but have moved around the country a fair bit (Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Halifax) and now Regina. I just moved here a year ago for yet another transfer/promotion and to be closer to my now fiance - funny how things just work out eh? How about you? Lisa

Hey Lisa,

Getting everything booked was definitely exciting!!! There are a lot of options available... it took me a little while to figure out exactly what I wanted. The only things my Fiance and I knew we wanted from the start were... the ceremony on the beach and an outdoor reception. Everything else started to slowly come together after.

Funny that you mention the travel mugs... we are pricing out personalized ones too!

I'm from Ontario... Just outside of Toronto. Have been here my whole life... so far anyways. lol

Whit

[lisafleury]

Have you decided on how the outdoor reception will work? I haven't gotten those details from Ana yet, I thought the only choices were either in one of the restaurants or in a banquet hall with private waiters? We were thinking of having it in a banquet hall so that people could make speeches without disturbing everyone else at the resort having dinner (Matt's best man already has his written out) but it would be a lot nicer to have it outdoors that's for sure. Have you decided where your dinner will be? It looks like we'll have somewhere near 50 people attend so that may limit our options possibly...

 

I have a local distributor that I've been dealing for sporting merchandise and they suggested ordering though www.leedsworld.ca as you can make smaller orders through them - some companies I've looked at required a minimum order of 100 items.

 

Have you figured out how your are going to bring everything you need for your martini idea? I have to say, I just might follow your lead on this one if you don't mind - I love the idea of the floating candles and it'll look fantastic at night!

 

My family all live just outside Ottawa, which is were I'm headed the first week of August to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my two sisters and my little niece who will be the flower girl... I can't wait!

 

Lisa

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisafleury Have you decided on how the outdoor reception will work? I haven't gotten those details from Ana yet, I thought the only choices were either in one of the restaurants or in a banquet hall with private waiters? We were thinking of having it in a banquet hall so that people could make speeches without disturbing everyone else at the resort having dinner (Matt's best man already has his written out) but it would be a lot nicer to have it outdoors that's for sure. Have you decided where your dinner will be? It looks like we'll have somewhere near 50 people attend so that may limit our options possibly... I have a local distributor that I've been dealing for sporting merchandise and they suggested ordering though www.leedsworld.ca as you can make smaller orders through them - some companies I've looked at required a minimum order of 100 items. Have you figured out how your are going to bring everything you need for your martini idea? I have to say, I just might follow your lead on this one if you don't mind - I love the idea of the floating candles and it'll look fantastic at night! My family all live just outside Ottawa, which is were I'm headed the first week of August to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my two sisters and my little niece who will be the flower girl... I can't wait! Lisa

Hey Lisa,

When we first booked, Ana gave us the same options... either an a la carte restaurant or the banquet hall (for an extra fee). We definitely wanted it to be outside, so we originally decided to do our dinner reception at the Villa Marina Restaurant (which is outside, by the pool/beach). After talking to some of the past brides on here... we are now considering having the reception on the lobby terrace instead (just waiting for Ana to reply to my questions about the two options... which can take her up to a month :s). However, if we do have our dinner at the Vila Marina, then we would like to have all the dancing, bouquet/garter toss, etc on the lobby terrace after. From what I have heard... Ana will setup music/speakers/microphone. It is also outside and looks out over the beach/ocean, and more private than the restaurants. I like the menu options at the villa marina, but I would rather have everything in one location instead of making everyone move to the terrace after dinner/cake. Plus it would be nice to have all of our decorations visible all eveing... instead of bringing all the centrepieces and other decor to Meixo and only seeing them for the hour or 2 that we are eating dinner. Or having to bring the decor up to the lobby terrace after dinner. lol We are hoping to make our final decision onces Ana gets back to us.

We have a total of 6 margarita shaped vases... and I have decided to wrap them in bubble wrap and give one to the 6 most responsible people to put in their carry ons. lol As for the other decor items we are bringing down (stones, candles, bubbles, etc) and the welcome bages, we are going to pay for one extra luggage. I am really hoping one will be enough!!! lol

I love candles and flowers... so our reception will have lots of both. I think candles will look great outside at night. There are so many different kinds of vases to choose from. I saw some great martini and champaigne shaped ones too. I just thought that Margarita fit the theme of mexico best... even though I am a huge martini fan! lol

What is your wedding date? Do you have a countdown started yet?

Whit

[lisafleury]

I'd love to know what Ana tells you re. having your dinner and ceremony on the terrace if you don't mind. My fiance is partial to having the dinner in a banquet hall so that all our guest can hear us and each other - several of them will be meeting for the first time as my friends and family are mostly flying out of Ottawa and Matt's are flying out of Regina. I'm really torn between that and the Villa Marina as I like the idea of feeling like you're somewhere tropical, being able to feel the Caribbean breeze and hear the sound of the waves on the beach would be lovely!

 

Do you mind me asking where you found your martini shaped vases? I'm going to do some shopping around for ideas but if you don't mind leading me in the right direction that would be great! I read in one of the girl's message that a bag of flower petals at OCT is about $14/bag and you need 4 of them so I'm going to go out today and see what I can find here to bring (I'm sure I'll be able to get something for less).

 

Right now all I have from Ana is the pdf with the different packages offered through OCT (Caribbean, Coral, Turquesa and Shooting Star). I know we'll have enough people to qualify for the free wedding (I'm estimating we'll have at least 50) so I think we'll go with that and just add a few things here and there - something I'm hoping to work out with Ana and my TA in the next month or so.

 

Our wedding date is set for January 20th 2011 & sadly no I don't have a countdown started yet - did you use a computer program for that? I'm what you could call "technologically-challenged" so I'm not even sure where to start looking for that! I did however do the good ol' calendar countdown... only 252 days to go I think!

 

How are your plans going? Does everyone have their outfits picked out? Are you guys writing your own vows? Do you have an itinerary of what you're doing while you're there? I'm going to ask my TA to send me a list of excursions so that I can send it out to my guests to get a feel of what people are hoping to see & do while we're there. I know for sure that a trip to the Mayan Ruins is high on several people's list so I'm going to try and organize that before we even get there if possible.

 

Chat again soon!

Lisa

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisafleury I'd love to know what Ana tells you re. having your dinner and ceremony on the terrace if you don't mind. My fiance is partial to having the dinner in a banquet hall so that all our guest can hear us and each other - several of them will be meeting for the first time as my friends and family are mostly flying out of Ottawa and Matt's are flying out of Regina. I'm really torn between that and the Villa Marina as I like the idea of feeling like you're somewhere tropical, being able to feel the Caribbean breeze and hear the sound of the waves on the beach would be lovely! Do you mind me asking where you found your martini shaped vases? I'm going to do some shopping around for ideas but if you don't mind leading me in the right direction that would be great! I read in one of the girl's message that a bag of flower petals at OCT is about $14/bag and you need 4 of them so I'm going to go out today and see what I can find here to bring (I'm sure I'll be able to get something for less). Right now all I have from Ana is the pdf with the different packages offered through OCT (Caribbean, Coral, Turquesa and Shooting Star). I know we'll have enough people to qualify for the free wedding (I'm estimating we'll have at least 50) so I think we'll go with that and just add a few things here and there - something I'm hoping to work out with Ana and my TA in the next month or so. Our wedding date is set for January 20th 2011 & sadly no I don't have a countdown started yet - did you use a computer program for that? I'm what you could call "technologically-challenged" so I'm not even sure where to start looking for that! I did however do the good ol' calendar countdown... only 252 days to go I think! How are your plans going? Does everyone have their outfits picked out? Are you guys writing your own vows? Do you have an itinerary of what you're doing while you're there? I'm going to ask my TA to send me a list of excursions so that I can send it out to my guests to get a feel of what people are hoping to see & do while we're there. I know for sure that a trip to the Mayan Ruins is high on several people's list so I'm going to try and organize that before we even get there if possible. Chat again soon! Lisa

Hey Lisa,

I will let you know what Ana says about the Lobby Terrace vs. the Villa Marina... may take a while for her to respond tho. lol

I got my vases at Michaels (I managed to use a 40-50% off coupon on all them too... took a few trips to get them all but worth it in the end). I also found rose petals at Michaels... but it was approximately the same cost, and I am trying to avoid bringing anything more than I already have to. So I have decided on the real ones from the resort for the ceremony aisle and reception tables.

I don't know if you have Facebook... but thats where I started my countdown. There is an application called my wedding countdown or something like that. It shows up on your profile page for you and all of your friends to see. I started my countdown around 250 or 260... time will fly! I am at 95 days until the wedding now and 91 days until we leave!

Our plans are going really well... I am a super organizes person so I expected nothing less. lol All of the outfits have been picked for the entire wedding party. Have all of the decorations, and bubbles and disposable cameras that we are bring down. Right now, I am just trying to put together the "Welcome Bags" that all of our guests will get when they arrive in Mexico. Also trying to pick all of our music for the ceremony and reception, still need to get all of the bridal party gifts, and all of that sort of stuff. We are writting our own vows... I'm pretty nervous about this. lol My fiance is a singer/song writer.... so I know his will be amazing! lol

How about you? How are your plans coming? Have you started looking at dresses etc?

Whit

[Angelfire]

Just a fair warning about the rose petals...if you bring fake ones there is a chance you will not be able to use them. (mainly because they don't want them polluting the water/environment). At first I thought the $14 a bag was expensive, but here in Winnipeg most florists shops sell them for $12 a bag if you want a specific color. Once I found that out, I went with it...they were a beautiful addition and even my FI thought they were worth it.

 

Also, we had the Coral package and my flowers were included in it. I sent Ana an example of what I wanted (pink & orange roses & gerbera daisies with lime green spider mums) I have to say the flowers were larger and more eautiful than the original photo I sent her with the idea. You can likely mention flowers similar to mine and she can look back at it or I can email you a picture of the bouquets.

 

A big congrats to Katie...who looked stunning on her wedding day!

And Krystal is next!!!

[lisafleury]

Thanks for the flower tips ladies! My MIL-to-be actually mentioned that maybe it would be better to ask about having real flower petals, which I am hoping to get prices from Ana in the next week or so.

 

Thanks Whit for the Michael's and Facebook tip! I'll be heading to Michael's tomorrow night to scope out a few options (one of which were the bubbles too) and added the wedding countdown calendar to my FB profile last night - 254 more sleeps to go! Believe it or not, I actually already have my dress... it was one of those "OMG that's exactly what I want" moments but didn't actually try it on as I was just shopping around trying to figure out my wedding dress budget. I continued to shop around to see if any of the other bridal shops carried it and what they were charging but I couldn't find it anywhere. The next day I called the first shop back to see if they were still able to get the dress ordered and when they called back they said it was discontinued BUT if I came in to try it on and it fit, they'd give me a stellar price. So I got two of my friends here in town to come with me because they both have a real eye for detail and are brutally honest.. moments later I was walking out of the shop with the dress of my dreams for $400 bucks!

 

Amber I absolutely LOVED your wedding bouquet! In one of the past posts, I saw the link to your wedding and immediately sent it to my travel agent to let her know what type of bouquet I was looking for (hope you don't mind - it's just gorgeous & exactly what I was looking for). I also contacted Moments That Matter Photography as I think they did a fantastic job of your pics and wanted to see if they are available - which they are - yay!!! They sent me their price list so we're just trying to figure out which package to go with. Do mind me asking what you guys chose? How many hours were they with you? What did OCT charge you for an outside photographer?

 

Katie is you don't mind sharing, I'd love to see your wedding pics too! The more I see the more excited and happy I am for having chosen to get married at OCT - all the pics have been just stunning...as have been all the brides!

 

Thanks again ladies for all the help!

Lisa

[whit-Bride]

Hey Ladies,

 

I never thought about not being able to use the fake rose petals because of the environment... glad I decided to go with the real ones instead!

 

Thats an awesome deal you got on your dress Lisa... where did you get it? My dress was also discountinued, but luckly they could still get mine for me. Glad you got the dress of your dreams! What does it look like?

 

And Congrats Katie... I saw a few of your pictures, would love to see some more though. Hope it was everything you dreamed of.

 

Whit