Any 2011 Brides out there?

[FutureMrsYak]

I thought by now room rates would be out too, it's weird to me. We are also using a local travel agent, but even on the resort website it doesn't show rates yet. I asked my WC through the resort she said they would be out last night and they aren't still.

 

My flight from Albany-Cancun was $445 roundtrip, with one stop each way...but no real lay over, go from one plane to another.

[Diva]

Ok that is TOO weird!!!! They need to get on the ball, they should know something by now. Do you have a second choice in case? Not to say that they won't come through but, hell, you need to start telling guests, you have less than one year!!!

[FutureMrsYak]

Well the TA called the resort to confirm they still don't have Jan 2011 prices out and it's not a glich! But even when I asked the WC from there that I'm working with she said hopefully last night....idk whats going on!

[mexbride83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riri09 Mexibride83 - How cool! Lets cross our fingers for awesome weather Your hotel looks so nice! When are you requesting an RSVP for the wedding? I've been consulting all of these books but I feel like they don't apply for a DW. I want to give people plenty of time, but I'd also like a "final" head count a 2 months out for budget reasons. Bonnie - I bought all of my bridesmaids dresses when jcrew had their 30% off the sale price promotion. Lol. It was spur of the moment - I saw the sale and I frantically started texting everyone for sizes. Lets hope they fit a year from now! It sounds like the dresses you special order will be beautiful! I'd love to see some pics once you get them. Kool was pretty neat. We actually got to see a reception while we were there- the director told us to stop by so we viewed it from the beach at a distance. It was pretty cool...no pun intended:)

Yes! Now we have double the good vibes for good weather:) We're sending our save the dates out in the next month, and then I think we'll send our invitations out about 3-4 months in advance. So I guess we'll ask for RSVPs about 1-2 months out? It's a hard call, because I don't want to pressure people to make a decision too early, yet we really do need that head count.

What dresses did you get from JCrew? My favorite dress for my BMs is the cotton cady Erika dress!

[Linhy]

FutureMrsYak- Prices should be out by now! I was able to get prices with our TA and our wedding is in January as well.

[Linhy]

TARA- Where are you staying at again? I already for my rooms/airfare already booked. The only thing that concerns me right now is that the WC that I am working with haven't sent me the contract for the deposit for our wedding.

[mexbride83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lindobride14 Hi! Didn't see your reply before submitting my last post. I guess I'm confused on how this all works. I was under the impression you had to book your flight and hotel as a package at the same time if you're going through a tour operator. Our TA is going to go thru Funjet, Apple, etc , whoever has the best deal. Is that how you are doing it? If so, how were you able to book your flight and not your hotel? Sorry if this is an obvious question, but can anyone break down for me exactly what the TA does, what the resort does, and what the tour operator does -- and how they go about quoting us our group rates?

There are a lot of great threads about this on this website, if you type "room rates" into the search box. I had the same confusion when first booking and found the threads (many posted by TAs) to be very useful!

But basically, you have two options - book a package or book a room rate. With a room rate, they will actually hold rooms in that hotel for you. This is important if it is a small hotel, or if your wedding is during a busy season, because rooms can sell out. The room block does not include a flight though. It's simply just the cost per night, per guest. For example, Dreams Riviera Cancun, one that I looked at, was charging $159 per night per person for May 2011, if I wanted to do a room block. Also, with a room block, you put down a deposit and have to fill 90% of those rooms.

A package deal is flight and hotel negotiated together. However, this does NOT block off rooms at your hotel. Often you can get a better deal when booking these together, which is why a lot of people go this route (also, I read somewhere that Canadian TAs would ONLY go this route... can any Canadians on here confirm that?). But you are at risk of your resort filling up and people not being able to get rooms. Also, you have to select a certain number of days for the package, creating a 7 day package or a 5 day package, and tell them all the airports that your guests will fly from.

For me, I went the room rate route. My reasons were because: a) I have a small resort, only 88 rooms, so I was at a higher risk of having the resort book up before my guests booked. My wedding is on an American holiday weekend (Memorial Day), so further risk for the resort being full. c) My guests are flying from all over the country. I couldn't even narrow it down to 2 or 3 cities, there is no city where the majority will come from. We have people coming from DC, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Charleston, Hawaii, NYC, etc. It would've been way too much of a headache to work out package deals for all of the cities.

[Lindobride14]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linhy TARA- Where are you staying at again? I already for my rooms/airfare already booked. The only thing that concerns me right now is that the WC that I am working with haven't sent me the contract for the deposit for our wedding.

We are staying at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo. I have the exact opposite problem as you. I signed the contract with the resort and gave our deposit for our wedding date, but have not been able to get our rooms/airfare booked! *sigh* My FI and I decided to give it a week and if we're still waiting we're going to change TA's.

[Lindobride14]

Mexbride83- Thanks so much. That REALLY cleared things up for me. I think that is why my TA hasnt been able to get us rates -- because we're going the package route and therefore need flights and hotel rates before we can book.

[Riri09]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mexbride83 Yes! Now we have double the good vibes for good weather:) We're sending our save the dates out in the next month, and then I think we'll send our invitations out about 3-4 months in advance. So I guess we'll ask for RSVPs about 1-2 months out? It's a hard call, because I don't want to pressure people to make a decision too early, yet we really do need that head count. What dresses did you get from JCrew? My favorite dress for my BMs is the cotton cady Erika dress!

That sounds like a good time frame. I know - I don't want to be pushy and make people decide too far in advance, but surely they will know/booked something 1-2 months out.

I got the silk tricotine sophia and robin short - both in oasis green. I LOVE the cotton cady Erika dress! Have you decided for sure on the Erika? If so, what color are you doing? The dress pretty much dictated my colors. I knew I wanted to use white flowers - so the green dresses and then touches of gold - not anything too flashy.