2010 Brides

[northernflasher]

Hello 2010 brides!

 

We got engaged on 2nd March 2008 and started looking around almost immediately. After pondering over Miami we settled on Mexico and set to deciding on resorts. We are now booked with Dreams Tulum for the 26th March 2010. We sent our STD's out and set up our wedding website pretty early (summer 2008 ) in order to give everyone as much notice and saving up time as possible.

 

I have however been frustrated that apart from a few polite emails when our wedding site was first launched no-one seems to EVER log on

 

Good luck with all the planning.

[leogurl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by northernflasher I have however been frustrated that apart from a few polite emails when our wedding site was first launched no-one seems to EVER log on

I can relate to that. I'm very happy that I decided to do a free wedding website. We put our wedding website address on our STD's, and only one person looked at the site. Eventually, I did enough sending out e-mails to people and telling people to check it out, that others finally looked at it. People seem to prefer to talk to us about everything than read it on the website.

[Gina]

WOW. I am pulling my hair out about the same thing!! I thought I was the only one. I love this forum. Just got back from site inspections in the Riviera Maya. I highly recommend it if your budget allows. I made appointments ahead of time with wedding coordinators at the resorts I thought I would like. We rented a car stayed at relatively inexpensive resort (Catalonia Riviera) and did site inspections for 4 days. I was able to see the places for what they really are. I had my heart set on Dreams but to me it wasnt all that. I decided on the Occidental Grand which was initially my last choice. So it pays to do a site inspecton before even setting a date

[usrerd]

Hey All,

Feb 2010 bride here. The actual date will really depend on prices. Looking at the Valentin Imperial, The Royal Playa del Carmen or Secrets Capri. I think I have looked at every resort in the Riviera Maya. Can't wait to just get the date nailed down so I can really start planning!

[KimmyG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gina WOW. I am pulling my hair out about the same thing!! I thought I was the only one. I love this forum. Just got back from site inspections in the Riviera Maya. I highly recommend it if your budget allows. I made appointments ahead of time with wedding coordinators at the resorts I thought I would like. We rented a car stayed at relatively inexpensive resort (Catalonia Riviera) and did site inspections for 4 days. I was able to see the places for what they really are. I had my heart set on Dreams but to me it wasnt all that. I decided on the Occidental Grand which was initially my last choice. So it pays to do a site inspecton before even setting a date

Gina- did you see the Riu Palace Riviera Maya? What did you think? Obviously you liked the Occidental better, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. I wish I was able to do a site visit! I have to decide on a location without seeing it in person, ahh!!

[utbride2010]

Gina-

Which Occidental Grand did you decide on? Xcaret or Cozumel? We are have staed a week at both for vacation. They are both gorgeous resorts and we loved them both. We will be staying at the Grand Cozumel during our wedding. We decided Xcaret was too big for us, and Cozumel had an actual beach. I did love the gazebo at Xcaret though. I would love to chat more. Ttyl.

Best wishes!

[niujess]

Hello Ladies, Does anyone know if Aventura Spa Palace has released their pricing out to Travel Agents yet for 2010 ? I feel so dumb telling any guest who ask about pricing any day now any day now. I thought everything would be out by March 1 and now it's almost May and there's nothing for pricing besides what the hotel said we can do directly through them. I feel like even though you'd think you have to plan a DW early the hotels limit you to only about 7 months prior

[northernflasher]

Love this thread. Here are just some of my impressions of planning our DW so far in advance, maybe it will help out some of you girls that are still undecided....

 

Once we got engaged March 2008 we discussed with close family and friends that we would definately be having a DW, that the date would definately be 26th March 2010 (ten years to the day that we first met so this is really important to us) and that they should begin saving with that in mind. We quickly decided on Mexico and started trawling the internet for ideas. Criteria we looked for included child friendly, free child places, reasonable amount of extras included in wedding packages and of course cost versus facilities.

 

Unfortunately once we had announced that we were having a DW we seemed to be under a lot of pressure to name the place and start providing estimated costs etc. In hindsight I really wish we had resisted the urge to come up with something quickly just to satisfy everyone else.

 

We decided on Dreams Tulum and everyone seemed happy to have a "Name" and nice pics to see on the internet. We booked our date with the hotel, created our wedding site and everything rolled along without much progress, we based everything up to that point on 2008 prices (allowing a 10% mark up for each year) and deals we had seen advertised on the net. However once we actually approached high street TA's at the beginning of this year we realised that travelling from the UK is NOT an easy ride and from the 5 featured TA's two had withdrawn our chosen hotel and two were way out of our price range leaving us only one TA to deal with and no bargaining options! Another factor against us is the standard price increase that applies over Easter.

 

We approached a number of the internet companies we had previously based our estimates on only to find out that the deals we saw in 2008 never existed (except for 1 week in hurricane season!) They could not match the price our high street TA had given us and with increased pressure to sort it out we eventually accepted this price.

 

Since setting our heart on Dreams Tulum for its child friendly features ALL the family and friends with children have had to drop out due to the fact that the free child places advertised only apply to American and Canadian Nationals and the child prices through our TA are unacceptable. We have also had to down scale from "the ultimate" wedding package (also another major reason for picking that hotel) to the "free" package we could have gotten at virtually ANY AI hotel in Mexico! This is in part due to us secretly paying excess charges for our family and scaling down the overall cost to them, we are doing this without their knowledge to save their pride because we couldn't bring ourselves to ask them to pay the full cost!

 

We have had to do all this without any possibility of site visits. After all that being said I am pleased with our choice, I know we will have a wonderful day, shared with our very nearest and dearest and I have been much encouraged by the wonderful reviews on this forum.

 

I guess the moral of this is that I URGE ALL OF YOU TO TAKE YOUR TIME! Its so easy to run away with the excitement of it all but please take advantage of the time you have available. Those that can manage site visits go for it wholeheartedly, I have so many "daft" questions that could be answered in one site visit. Most importantly DO NOT allow pressure from outsiders to influence your choices.. be brave, time is on our side and happy, happy planning to you all. x

[CaraW]

northernflasher,

What great advice! I just loved reading your post, and you are so right. We need to take our time right now and there's no need to rush. We are put under so much pressure from outsiders who have no idea how hard it is to make a decision on a resort!! My fiance and I have already given up the resort of our dreams because of all of the complaints we had from family & friends of it being too expensive. It's alright with me because I know the resort we end up picking will still be perfect and in the end I am marrying the man I love, but it's still hard to not let the stress & pressure get to you. I've been on a mission to find the perfect resort and it's like I'm in a rush, even though we still have a year.... I need to sit back, and talk it over with my FI and see what it is that WE want, and go from there.

 

Thanks again!!

Cara

[leogurl]

I second that. It's true that 2010 is quite a ways away yet, and I feel lots of pressure to immediately make the right resort choice by guests, but also from myself. I appreciate the reminder (kudos to Northernflasher)that it's okay to take it slow. I had originally planned to have my wedding at Moon Palace because the wedding package is so ideal, but everyone was upset about the price. Fortunately, our TA kind of flaked out, so after waiting a month for a confirmation wedding date for Moon Palace, we realized there was never going to be a wedding date with the TA we were using, I decided to again look at resorts. Although I really love the wedding package that Moon Palace offers, I am now going with Dreams Tulum, which is much more the style of a wedding I would like overall. I initially wanted a small, intimate wedding, just inviting those who have known us as a couple. Dreams Tulum really gives us the excuse to do that, and those who already know they are going (bridal party and parents) are happy that they will be paying $100/night less. I still have not signed anything, so there's some time to change my mind again, but I feel much better about this choice. I still need to remind myself though that I have plenty of time and do not have to worry.