Calgary Brides!

[keriltz]

Hi Ladies - I am new to this, but am from Calgary getting married in Jamaica in May 2011!!

 

Question -  Are you hiring an outside photographer for your wedding?  I am really on the fence and can't decide!

[proti007]

Welcome Ker!

 

I have hired an outside photographer/videographer. My FI and are getting married in Cabo, and are flying in our P/V teacm from Los Angeles. Most require you to pay for their travel expenses, plus photo/vid packages. This was the best decision for us, as we weren't happy with the style of photography being offerred in LC, and are getting a top-notch team. I'd research what's available in Jamaica, and see if anything suits your taste and style!

 

Originally Posted by keriltz 

Hi Ladies - I am new to this, but am from Calgary getting married in Jamaica in May 2011!!

 

Question -  Are you hiring an outside photographer for your wedding?  I am really on the fence and can't decide!

[Canadiansandy]

Welcome Ker! We're using an outside photographer for our wedding, but they are located in Punta Cana so we don't have to pay for any travel. I'd do some research, look at the photography galleries online to see if you like their style. Also use this forum!! I have found countless helpful reviews on here!

 

Thanks for the suggestions for custom rings - we're going to visit a few in the next couple of weeks to see what they can do. Can't wait!

 

Since a few of us are up for a Christmas get-together, should we pick a date/place? How about either Tues Dec 14 or Thurs Dec 16? And should we choose somewhere new? Is there anywhere that's particularly festive this time of year?

[Aumuller]

hello Ker,

 

I am also bringing my own photographer from calgary, Edward Ross. It was important to me that the same person shoot our engagement and wedding photos and that the person is local so my wedding photos won't disappear. In addition, one of the biggest advantages of bringing your own photographer, at least in our case, is that he is staying with us the whole week and said he would get to know our family and see how everyone interacts and take photos throughout the entire week. That being said many ladies choose local photographers at the destination and end up with beautiful photos. So it comes down to personal choice.

[cookiemunchkin]

Welcome Ker!

 

We're taking a photographer from here.  I had the same concerns as Aumuller, so it made me sleep better at night to choose someone from here and have them do our engagment photos as well so we could familiarize ourselves with each other before the wedding. 

 

Originally Posted by keriltz 

Hi Ladies - I am new to this, but am from Calgary getting married in Jamaica in May 2011!!

 

Question -  Are you hiring an outside photographer for your wedding?  I am really on the fence and can't decide!

For getting together... I'm good for either of those two dates in Dec.  Can we possibly meet somewhere different?  Its tough for me to get to 17th during the week with my car situation.  No clue whats festive though

 

Originally Posted by Canadiansandy 

Welcome Ker! We're using an outside photographer for our wedding, but they are located in Punta Cana so we don't have to pay for any travel. I'd do some research, look at the photography galleries online to see if you like their style. Also use this forum!! I have found countless helpful reviews on here!

 

Thanks for the suggestions for custom rings - we're going to visit a few in the next couple of weeks to see what they can do. Can't wait!

 

Since a few of us are up for a Christmas get-together, should we pick a date/place? How about either Tues Dec 14 or Thurs Dec 16? And should we choose somewhere new? Is there anywhere that's particularly festive this time of year?

[Lindslou]

Welcome Keri

 

 

Like the other girls I am also bring my own Photographer.  She is based out of Toronto.  We pay for her travel as well as her session.  She will be around for the week with us to do the wedding as well as TTD which I am soooo looking forward to.  The pictures are really important to FI and I so we didn't want to chance it.  There is a lot of information on this site.  Good luck and congrats on your wedding

[proti007]

Either of those dates work for me as well. If 17th is a no-go, we could do Kensington (Wine Bar) or Bridgeland (AKA Winebar) or Marda Loop (Narah Hookah Lounge). Let's get some more suggestions as well!

[linzappa]

Hey gals -

I was married recently (on Nov.15,2010) in Cabo, Mexico at the Barcelo.  Our experience was all in all very good with a combination of lowlights and highlights.  

The biggest disappointment was our wedding planner at the resort.  We had been working with another planner but found out  a month before our wedding that she up and quit (didn't tell us).  The communication between us and the resort was so abysmal and we were so annoyed with them that the manager finally said she'd take on our wedding.  We went through all the details for the next few weeks with her and thought we had a good solid plan, but once we showed up at the barcelo, found our hard planning was all for nought as

we were passed over to another planner who was brand new and very incompetent.  We had 70 guests (80 at the actual weddding), and the two big dinners we had planned for everyone prior to the wedding didn't happen as a big corporate group who was at the resort took our spots for our gettogethers!!  super annoying!  We had everything in writing (we'd printed off all our correspondence emails) yet it didn't help our case at all. 

Our wedding was great but only b/c we had many capable guests who pitched in on the day of.  

If you can, I'd recommend having your dinner and dance right on the beach.  This was the very best part  of ours.  The banquet rooms are big and very cold (A/C) and often have no windows.  We were so glad we opted to have all events outside.  Our resort set up a dance floor and the sound system was great.  

 

I brought a photographer with us.  She was great because after every few pictures, she would look at the shots and even showed us so we knew how they were turning out.  

 

We didn't do OOT bags but I did purchase 80 beautiful pashminas online and the guests helped themselves.  we had 3 different colors and we tied them over the back of the chairs.  it looked really nice. the pashminas were only 5 bucks each from a place called wholesale rainbow pashminas.  

 

Anyway, gals, good luck with your planning.  I'm sure you're all on top of all the deets, but if there's anything you wish to know about our wedding experience, please just let me know.

 

Best wishes!

Linzappa

[Boo]

Hello ladies, just got back Saturday night! I cant believe it! We ended up doing 4 photo shoots, that’s right 4! ha ha But only have picture yet from 1 (the resort photog) the other 3 were with Elizabeth Medina and Del Sol, cant wait to see those! The day was amazing in short! Once I have links will post here.

 

One of the ladies talked of glass centre pieces couple pages back... We brought 11 hurricanes (had 6 tables) plus 5 to put randomly by the cake, candy table, etc. well they all made it there no problem (were a hassle to transport, but ultimately I didnt mind) but it was crazy windy that day, so actually my biggest annoyance with the wedding set up is that I brought the hurricanes, pretty candles, and items to fill the space between the hurricane and the candles... but at the dinner reception they put the tall hurricane and put a misely little led candle inside!! it looked dumb! I guess I should note that I brought 45 paper bag luminaries, a 1/3 large, 1/3 medium, 1/3 small size. The large were to make a walk way to the dinner, and they put those out. But didn’t use the medium or small at all!! Instead they used the led candles I brought for those as the one candle in the hurricane on the table top! If I could do it all over I would have brought lanterns, or coloured glass holders for the led candles. The other disappointment is that clean up really happens so quick that I basically didn’t get any of my stuff back, so I would say plan on just leaving it all behind.

 

Once I have pics I will get my butt in gear and will do a planning / recap thread.

 

Happy Planning!

 

[Lindslou]

Welcome back to the new Mrs Can't wait to see your pics!!

 

I got this deal today and thought I would share.  Would be great for Christmas or wedding gifts.

 

Hope everyone is having a great day

 

http://t.livingsocial.com/track/492799329-972f8c03bd92825d60e08ab41a020983?url=http://livingsocial.com/deals/16227?ref%3Demail-jp%26rpi%3D2555862