wedding stress!!!

[MissM]

Hi everyone! So here's the situation.... I got engaged this past March. We decided to get married in Los Cabos and set the date of May 2010 for our wedding. We have been working with our TA friend to get package/group pricing since MAY/09 and he is just getting back to us NOW with pricing saying prices for 2010 were just released etc... Anyways, since charters stop flying to Cabo after April, he was finding that airfare alone to Cabo was VERY expensive for some reason even though May is supposed to be low season. Because of this we decided to change our wedding date to April 2010 when charter flights are still going and we could still get a package deal with air and hotel. Well our TA just found us a deal with West Jet which was ok however all trip have to be booked and paid IN FULL by Aug 31st to get that price ( early booking bonus)!!!! If not, the price goes up $300-500 p/person. I don't even have invitations made because we have been waiting for prices for so long. I don't know how I am going to get invitations made , sent out and expect our guests to book and pay for everything in a matter a weeks. On top of that I already paid my deposits to the hotel and photographer to secure the date of May we have already chosen. I managed to speak to the photographer to change our date to April, but I can't get a hold of my WC at Dreams to make sure the date I want in April is available- so I can't even get started on the invitations!! I keep emailing and calling and leaving messages to no avail. I just want a yes or no!!!! SO FRUSTRATING!!! To top it off, everyone I have been giving the heads up to about to prices and booking by Aug 31st have not been very happy. Suddenly they are all travel experts and keep telling me what to do, who to call to get better prices, what websites I should be looking at. When I follow their advice, it turns out that their "resources" are actually higher priced and not the cheap deal they say. I also checked with West Jet myself and got a price of $200 LESS than what my TA friend quoted me. So now I'm questioning if he charging more per guest to make money for himself? I thought booking as a group made the rates go down? AHHHH...!!! I thought planning a DW would be less stressful and it's not turning out that way : (

Do you guys think it's wrong to just get everyone to book on their own with whomever they want? It seems no matter what I do, I can't please anybody.

Any advice would be great. Sorry for the long vent but thanks for listening

[~Nicole~]

I had the same problem when trying to book . For that reason I ended up going with a TA that specialized in DW's. They allowed me to lock in the price I was quoted but I had to cover deposits for 10 people. Why don't you approach your WP and close friends and family and see if they want to book that price now and then just let everyone else book through who they want? I have found that some people would rather book through someone else anyways because they don't think that what I booked was a good deal.

I know, its frustrating.... hang in there

[JayBee]

I hired a wedding planner 11 months before our wedding, and up until this moment I have had problems getting in touch w/ her... even when it comes to paying the bill, I'm having trouble getting a response, and she wants the money like, yesterday!! rrrggghh! I'm frustrated right along side of you! Just know that you have lots of time until April, and it'll be fine. You could send out STD postcards with an approximate date or the dates you're planning to travel (for example, April 4 - 7), with something like "for early booking contact(TA's info) by Aug 31, 2009" I don't know if that'll work, or not, but at least it gets the word out. I ordered postcards online through overnightprints.com and had them within 3 days for like, $35. Good Luck!

[*Lo*]

I believe there are some charters that still go to Cabo after April. A few girls on the forum have October and December weddings and I know have booked using packages from Canada.

 

I would honestly shop around the quote. From the people on the forum I've talked to, they had to make a deposit upon booking but the balance wasn't due until 2 months before the trip.

 

I have heard that the flight centre group division is really good for weddings maybe just try giving them a call?

[midnight24]

i am sorta in the same boat you are although we haven't set our date yet due to

FI starting a new job and waiting for his schedule. the resort we are going to we have been 2x before that same time of year and when i checked the price packages yesterday they are quoting $500 more than i know it usually costs. i don't know what to do either because i want to set a date, send out STD's and book, but i feel bad for the guests because i know they can get a cheaper deal if they wait.

 

when it comes down to it. make the plans for you & immediate family. everyone else, just tell them that if they wait to book to do so at least 4wks before so they can get a flight etc. a couple times now i have waited til last minute (2-4wks before) to book a trip and there was nothing available for the dates or destination.

 

also...remind your guests if they are booking so far in advance to pay to get cancellation insurance because you never know between things like H1N1 and travel/airlines going out of business.

 

good luck with your planning.

[michellepicksbrent]

I'm sorry to hear that you are so stressed out

 

I agree with Gossip Girl - shop around for a better price. Don't forget to check aircanadavacations.com because I have found they have really great prices if you book well in advance of your departure date.

[btn1091]

I had a similar problem...so I got quotes from 4 different TA's and the one that gave me the best quote...was the one I kept. Having a good TA... one that you can trust and to really work with you at getting the best trip posible...is my best advice!

[MissM]

Thanks for all the advice! As of today, I STILL have no price. I decided to request quotes from 2 other TA's and am still waiting ( it has been days) I called on of the TA's to see what was going on and she called the resort and they said by tomorrow they would have a price. UUGH!!! SO frustrating!! My FI's friend- the TA who was originally using- was in my opinion, trying to scam us somehow. He insisted that west was only airline that flew there and he kept saying we had to pay in full by Aug 31st and deposits had to be in by Aug 10th. When my FI told he we were shopping around for better packages, he freaked out and said he would match whatever anyone else told us. Oh and somehow, so conveniently, he even said he talked west jet into lowering the price by almost $100. Something is fishy here- I think he wanted to charge all my guests " a little extra" so he could have a nice little vacation of his own.....or maybe he had some special arrangement wirh west jet. I'm so angry with him- talk about taking advantage of someone. What do you guys think? My FI even wants to pay him " for his time" !!! Can u believe this? Time? He ruined MY TIME!!!! I'm wondering now if there actually were flights available for May when I originally booked my wedding, which he basically said to change because there were hardly any flights and the ones that were available were super expensive. There are TA's out there who are willing to bust their butts to give a no obligation quote and my FI wants to pay him for making me miserable. Go figure...Oh well... I will keep you updated. Hopefully I get some news tomorrow. Thanks for listening!!

[JCruz]

MissM, we are flying down June 28 (2009) to Los Cabos for our wedding. I got 6 quotes from different travel agents before deciding on one and all 6 of them were able to find me decent deals for the dates that i wanted. I think you should find another travel agent. I'm currently flying with Sunquest, and though I hear they're not great, they are the only provider affiliated with the resort we've chosen.

[mexicana bride]

We had similar issues, and my advice is similar to the rest...get a TA that specialize in DW weddings. It's a different ball game when your booking for a group, that was probably our most stressful time in planning our wedding (so far). If you live in the GTA area in Ontario I highly recommend this company, we're dealing with them and are really pleased. Our resort charges on average $2200/person (AI), and we got them to watch the price and locked it down for our guests at $1400/person with tax!! Good Luck, hope this helps

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