Canadian Newbies !

[traceysteve]

Really? That's a big BOO! I have 22 adults and about 16 kids booked! I'll have to keep that on the DL.
 

Originally Posted by sbelland 

Just a heads up that RIU's have been getting horrible reviews for group bookings! My TA suggested we try another resort or we needed to sign a waiver saying that if they changed anything including our flights they were not liable. I guess this has been a growing problem with their groups department. It's a shame since they are such beautiful resorts!

 

[torilynnsmith]

Hi Messica, 

 

Welcome to the group! You will find tons of great information on this site it is truly an amazing resource!! Use the search tool and you will find lots of information on Jamica weddings, resorts etc.

 

We were originally looking at Jamaica and I fell in love with the Iberostar Rose Hall Suite and Grand! It was too pricey for when we wanted to go for our guests but depending on your budget I think it is wonderful!!!

 

You have lots of time to plan but Destination Weddings are so popular now that the resorts do book up quickly!!! Have fun planning!!!

 

 

[Katiem2012]

Hi to all those other Canadian brides out there!! Oh and Congrats on deciding to do a destination wedding. I know it was quite the decision for us! lol

 

I was just wondering if anyone else has found it difficult to get flights matching up by even a day off from Ottawa/Montreal, Toronto and Halifax?? What did you end up doing?

[heatherd]

Hello!! We're getting married there aswell March 5 2012, we arrive on Feb 29th!  So exciting!!!   I hope your day is wonderful!!!  I can't wait to see that gazebo!! It looks amazing
 
 

Originally Posted by tamandrob 

Messica,

 

Welcome and happy planning! I am getting married at the Gran Bahia there are some great reviews on this site! I also looked at the Iberostar, Riu Ocho  and Grand Palladium they look very nice aswell.

 

[tamandrob]

Heatherd

 

You get there the day after my wedding but we don't fly out till the 10th so I will be there for yours! We should meet up at the resort and I can let you know how mine went. The gazebo looks amazing I am so excited!!! Have you sent in your forms yet?

[Janet1480]

We decided that the majority of people will just travel together and we will all fly from Montreal. Anyone really far away ended up making their own arrangements and may or may not be there the same time as us. As long as they are there for the wedding
 

Originally Posted by Katiem2012 

Hi to all those other Canadian brides out there!! Oh and Congrats on deciding to do a destination wedding. I know it was quite the decision for us! lol

 

I was just wondering if anyone else has found it difficult to get flights matching up by even a day off from Ottawa/Montreal, Toronto and Halifax?? What did you end up doing?

 

[torilynnsmith]

YES! this was a huge problem, I had one travel agent have our guests from halifax there SIX DAYS before we got there from Toronto!!! ummmm not going to work... we are trying to organize a wedding!

 

I found tripcentral.ca to be a GREAT resource.  If you go into their "vacation packages" tab you can list all the trips for a specific week month etc.  What I did was go into these for every departure city we have, see what day was common between all the cities (or as many as possible) and than tell my travel agent the date we wanted to depart from all cities.  Also, Air Canada Vacations (who we are booking with) has all of the departure cities you mentioned and what they are doing (for us at least) is everyone is connected to Toronto and then we are all on the same flight together to Punta Cana! Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions!!!
 

Originally Posted by Katiem2012 

Hi to all those other Canadian brides out there!! Oh and Congrats on deciding to do a destination wedding. I know it was quite the decision for us! lol

 

I was just wondering if anyone else has found it difficult to get flights matching up by even a day off from Ottawa/Montreal, Toronto and Halifax?? What did you end up doing?

 

[lianee]

Thanks for the tip about tripcentral.ca, torilynnsmith!  I will definitely be using that as a guide once my TA calls me back with quotes.  We're also leaving from a few different cities (Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Baltimore), but it looks like we won't have any problems leaving the same day.  The only problem will be the price differences between the different departure locations.

[Katiem2012]

Thanks Torilynnsmith! thats a great tip about tripcentral, I'll definitely check it out!

 

We've got our guests split about evenly between the 3 locations so we're thinking about having Halifax fly out with one provider (Sunwing) and then the Ottawa and Toronto groups fly out with a different provider (Transat Vacations) as they would all leave on the same day this way, and all still qualify for the group discount... not sure if it's going to work though :S. I'll check out Air Canada Vacations as well! This has got to be the most stressful part of the planning so far.. ugh..

 

Originally Posted by torilynnsmith 

YES! this was a huge problem, I had one travel agent have our guests from halifax there SIX DAYS before we got there from Toronto!!! ummmm not going to work... we are trying to organize a wedding!

 

I found tripcentral.ca to be a GREAT resource.  If you go into their "vacation packages" tab you can list all the trips for a specific week month etc.  What I did was go into these for every departure city we have, see what day was common between all the cities (or as many as possible) and than tell my travel agent the date we wanted to depart from all cities.  Also, Air Canada Vacations (who we are booking with) has all of the departure cities you mentioned and what they are doing (for us at least) is everyone is connected to Toronto and then we are all on the same flight together to Punta Cana! Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions!!!
 

 

 

[torilynnsmith]

It was definitely the most stressful part for me too! But once you have it figured out it will all fall into place!  If you are working with a good TA they should be able to take the better part of that stress away! Let me know if you'd like a referral, I am very pleased with who we are working with so far, took me 4 before I found a TA that suited our needs!!!