2011 Iberostar Brides

[klc52379]

Hi all!  I'm also getting married at the Iberostar Del Mar on June 25, 2011.  I booked everything back in April and went gung ho planning.  I have my dress, BM's dresses, DJ, and photographer.  I'm using an outside DJ.  Thankfully one of our guests is a photographer, so she will be doing all my photos.  

 

I haven't done much of anything wedding related for the past two months, and I'm ready to jump back in

 

I need to get going on sending out my save the dates  

 

[pitt2011]

 

 

Originally Posted by klc52379 

 

Hi all!  I'm also getting married at the Iberostar Del Mar on June 25, 2011.  I booked everything back in April and went gung ho planning.  I have my dress, BM's dresses, DJ, and photographer.  I'm using an outside DJ.  Thankfully one of our guests is a photographer, so she will be doing all my photos.  

 

I haven't done much of anything wedding related for the past two months, and I'm ready to jump back in

 

I need to get going on sending out my save the dates  

 

 

Welcome and Congrats!! Sounds like you have all the big things done already! Good for you. I also have my dress, BM dresses, DJ and we already sent out our STD's. We made magnets.  I'm just starting to right now and It's hard finding out from everyone what their plans are so I can get a "group rate". Have you done anything about travel arrangements yet?

 

[klc52379]

Travel arrangements...the death of me right now!  We've been working with a TA in our area for a couple of months, but she hasn't been the best about responding to our questions.  I stopped by the agency about a month ago and she still hasn't called back with some of the questions I had asked.  She also gave us some inaccurate information, which is setting me back in booking the trip.   

 

I'd love to get a group rate, but I guess I don't fully understand what it really is. As of right now, our trip is booking at $1410 (out of Chicago - no stop flight) for a week.  It's still slightly higher than what my pocketbook and I both want.  The good thing is that June is still a good amount of time for the trip to drop in price.  Plus, we have a lot of our guests will be flying in from other cities than Chicago.

 

The other day the FH springs it upon me that his friend's mom is TA (the impatient side of me wanted to say "hello?!  why didn't you mention this a few months back...")    She's supposed to be giving me a call this weekend to talk more about the trip and what perks she can include for us.  I was confused about some of the stuff that was lost in translation from the FH (he heard the word "free" and everything else became secondary).

 

The costs seem to be getting larger with the wedding with adding on a private reception, than what we were originally anticipating.  And our guest list is growing by the day, with having a large family.  So, I'm going to hear what the friend's mom has to say to see what these "perks" are.  

 

So, after my round-about long winded story, I'm no where on my travel arrangements.  I still have to apply for my passport, which is this week's project

 

  

[Hanna20]

Welcome to my world! I think the travel arrangements are the worst part of the whole planning process. So in regards to the group rates this is how it was explained to me... when you book a group rate the purpose is not to get a better deal due to booking for a large number of people. Apparently the purpose is to secure seats for all of those people.... therefore you are almost paying a premium price to guarantee that everyone gets a spot on the same flight, same time ,etc. That was pretty much the opposite of what I had thought.... I thought that if I was bringing that many people with me I should get a deal!!! Boy was I wrong! So now after obtaining  few different group rates, I have been told that we should be booking earlier rather than later in order to avoid flights and hotels being sold out. I know the prices will go down if we wait but I am worried that there may be a chance of things selling out. In other words, I don't know what to do! Our group rate right now would be $1700/person including taxes & fees so that is pretty steep! Any advice would be welcome!

 

Originally Posted by klc52379 

Travel arrangements...the death of me right now!  We've been working with a TA in our area for a couple of months, but she hasn't been the best about responding to our questions.  I stopped by the agency about a month ago and she still hasn't called back with some of the questions I had asked.  She also gave us some inaccurate information, which is setting me back in booking the trip.   

 

I'd love to get a group rate, but I guess I don't fully understand what it really is. As of right now, our trip is booking at $1410 (out of Chicago - no stop flight) for a week.  It's still slightly higher than what my pocketbook and I both want.  The good thing is that June is still a good amount of time for the trip to drop in price.  Plus, we have a lot of our guests will be flying in from other cities than Chicago.

 

The other day the FH springs it upon me that his friend's mom is TA (the impatient side of me wanted to say "hello?!  why didn't you mention this a few months back...")    She's supposed to be giving me a call this weekend to talk more about the trip and what perks she can include for us.  I was confused about some of the stuff that was lost in translation from the FH (he heard the word "free" and everything else became secondary).

 

The costs seem to be getting larger with the wedding with adding on a private reception, than what we were originally anticipating.  And our guest list is growing by the day, with having a large family.  So, I'm going to hear what the friend's mom has to say to see what these "perks" are.  

 

So, after my round-about long winded story, I'm no where on my travel arrangements.  I still have to apply for my passport, which is this week's project

 

  

[radiochic10]

Hi all

 

 The travel details are the most stressful I think.  The first thing I did after we decided on the Iberostar Del Mar & put the deposit down was to find a travel agent.  I am working with a great lady who booked my sister's friends wedding in Mexico 2 years ago.  It's the same area of Mexico, but different hotel, but I went with her because my sister's pal had nothing but great things to say about her.  She is super helpful and has calmed me down on more than one occasion already.  One of our guests tried booking on her own and flipped when she saw the hotel was sold out....it IS unless you're booking one of the rooms she has held for us.  I was thinking it's not until February-there'll be plenty of space, but I was wrong.  I say this-not to stress any of you out more than the whole process already does, but to highly recommend getting an agent ASAP to take that stress away from you. 

[klc52379]

Crazy!! Sold out for February?! I need to get moving asap! I can't believe how quickly this summer flew by. My goal was to get our STDs out by Labor Day. Oops . On a brighter note, I think we're canceling our at home reception. We didn't book anything, but I just keep getting stressed about spending more and more money. We had a heart to heart this morning because I don't want to forgo something in Mexico. Is anyone else not doing an AHR? Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend . I'm looking forward to relaxing!

[radiochic10]

Hi there~

 

 We aren't planning an AHR...both of our close family members are all going and our best friends will be there as well.  Many co-workers can't make it, but we can't justify budgeting an entire reception for them. We're both in our mid (ok-upper) 30's and want to start a family soon, so any $$ we have after the wedding, we'd like to save in the hopes of having little ones in the next few years   You can only do what you can do-try not to stress about how others may be upset with your destination decision.  Remember, your pals/family members all had the wedding they wanted!

[KittyLogan]

I've been trying to get a hold of Renya for over q week. I've called and emailed over and over, but no luck! Karla has assure me that the date has been set aside for me, but until they take my deposit, I'm pretty nervous. I can't figure out why they don't want my money? Any insights??

[Lindobride14]

Hi Ladies!

 

Havent been on the forum in forever and was soo ecited to see a 2011 Ibersotar Brides thread!

 

I booked our wedding at the Lindo back in March, but just last week decided to switch to the Mar/Beach because I just love their open air reception venue!   Our ceremony will take place at the chapel which is shared by all of the resorts, so no change there.  So now I guess my username makes no sense right? Haha. 

 

All of our guests, including us, are booked at the Lindo (and a few at the Maya) though because I put the Lindo's information in our STD/travel brochures.    I just hope people arent pissed when they find out they could have stayed at a less expensive option,  Whoops!  

 

Any tips on how to notify everyone of the change?  I dont really want to mail anything because we sent out around 130 invitations!  I was just going to update our website, but I don't know how many are checking it for updates.

 

As far as the Del Mar being sold out, I'm getting married on January 22 and I noticed that Funjet and some other sites are not showing the Del Mar as being available so I bet it is sold out! Wow that is surprising!   For guests that may choose to switch to the less expensive option, it looks like it will have to be Paraiso Beach.

 

Anyone who's been there that can tell me what is the main difference between the Del Mar and Beach?  I know they share the same rest's and pools, but input on say are the Del Mar's rooms slighter nicer or vice versa? 

[Lindobride14]

Anyone have a good picture of El Faro set up for a reception?  I want to update our website with the new reception location. ;-)