2011 Iberostar Brides

[mshoevlin]

I wanted to thank you again for the info - I have now changed my venue from the Lindo to the Del Mar.  Reyna sent me a picture of the open air restaraunt - and it is perfect.  It is just what we were picturing.  I feel a ton better because I was very uneasy about not having a private restaraunt for the reception (as we will probably have close to 50 guests).  I finally feel like I have a bit of a handle on things!

If you don't mind me asking, how early did you mail out your invites?  I sent out STD at the begining of August - of course a few booked trips once they received those, however, there are some that will wait until the last minute.  I would think that I will need RSVPs a bit earlier than a traditional wedding and was thinking of sending them out at the begining of January (my wedding is April 11, 2011).

[radiochic10]

Hi there!
 

  My wedding is on the beach at the Del Mar (and reception is in the open air restaurant too) on Valentine's Day, 2011.  We sent out "Save the Dates" in July and are sending our actual invitations (which we already have) just before Halloween.  Our travel agent can only hold the block of rooms for a certain amount of time, causing all payment/reservations to be made by Dec. 29th.  So, we figured Halloween would be a perfect time to send out the invites, because sending them too soon makes people put them aside & say "I'll get around to it" and then they'll be scrambling at the end to get the reservation.  Also, I was keeping in mind that not all the guests are "world travelers" and they all need Passports!! BIG deal here-which is why I'd say your time frame on invites sounds perfect to me.  BUT-before you do anything, find out what the 'cut off' date is for your travel agent as far as holding rooms for your guests & work with that.  We have around 30 people already booked just from Save the dates & expect at least 20 more!   Hope that helps a little!
:)Erin

[Lindobride14]

Oh good!  I'm glad you feel better about it!  I think it's a perfect venue!

 

I havent sent out formal invites yet.  Again our wedding is Jan 22, 2011.  We sent out save the dates in early May and we are sending the formal invites out by November 1st.  They will have an RSVP date of Dec 1st. 

 

We didn't do a room block or group rate so there's really no deadline per se for guests to book.  We are having our guests book individually through Travel Impressions and they will price match if the room rate goes down at any time prior to travel, even the day before!  Rates just went down last week, which was a sweet surprise. 

 

Funjet is currently running a one week Iberostar sale, so if anyone wants to "kindly remind" guests who havent booked yet, that now would be a good time. LOL  Just as an example. a week at the Lindo with nonstop air Mon, January 17th through Mon January 22, was $1380 (without trip insurance)  It was over 1600 until very recently.

Originally Posted by mshoevlin 

I wanted to thank you again for the info - I have now changed my venue from the Lindo to the Del Mar.  Reyna sent me a picture of the open air restaraunt - and it is perfect.  It is just what we were picturing.  I feel a ton better because I was very uneasy about not having a private restaraunt for the reception (as we will probably have close to 50 guests).  I finally feel like I have a bit of a handle on things!

If you don't mind me asking, how early did you mail out your invites?  I sent out STD at the begining of August - of course a few booked trips once they received those, however, there are some that will wait until the last minute.  I would think that I will need RSVPs a bit earlier than a traditional wedding and was thinking of sending them out at the begining of January (my wedding is April 11, 2011).

[mshoevlin]

Thanks for the info both of you!!

I will hopefully have my invites done by the first of the year and ask for replies by the middle of February.

I do know about the sale - I have been working with a great travel agent (however, I went through 4 before finding her).  She called and told me about the sale and told me that she was going to try to get those that already booked the sale price - even if they didn't purchase the insurance.  Some guests are paying $400 less than what they booked for, which is awesome!!!

Karla has been great - she responded to my email right away and sent me pictures of the restaurant without me even asking!! 

Anyways, thank you all for your help!!

[Hanna20]

Hello fellow Iberostar brides!

 

Just wondering what you have done for your photographers? Are you using the resort's or hiring external? If you'r going external, who do you have in mind???

 

I am interested to hear your thoughts...

[Kroshka514]

Hey Ladies,

 

I officially book my wedding on June 11, 2011 at the Lindo/Maya. I am so excited for what’s to come. Now the real planning can begin.

[Lindobride14]

Hi Hanna,

We decided to go with an external, Ivan Luckie.  His prices are very competitive if you check out other popular photographers.

 

THe resorts's photographer is called photocarribean.  If you want to see some examples of their work they have some wedding videos on YouTube.  Just search photocarribean (one word) and you'll see a nuch of weddings at different Iberostar and Barcelo resorts.

 

That way you can see if this is the style you're looking for or not.

 

Hope this helps!

 

PS:  AHH we just passed the three month mark!  Can't believe it's coming so quick!  I'm picking up my dress tomorrow after my final fitting.  I'll post pics if you girls are interested.  
 

Originally Posted by Hanna20 

Hello fellow Iberostar brides!

 

Just wondering what you have done for your photographers? Are you using the resort's or hiring external? If you'r going external, who do you have in mind???

 

I am interested to hear your thoughts...

[Erinn314]

Wow, I'm not sure how to post on here!  Sorry if I mess this up.  I wanted to say hi to everyone!  My fiance and I are also getting married at Iberostar Del Mar next year.  (May 29, 2011)  We are sooo excited!  These posts are great!  I was reading Erin's post about the Don Alfredo menu and was also not thrilled with the food choices.  I'm so happy to know that they offer a steakhouse  menu!  I'm sure I'll be asking you all a bunch of questions and letting you all know of choices we make as we go along with this process.  So exciting and so many things to decide!!!  Good luck to everyone!

 

--Erin C

[Hanna20]

Hi Erin,

 

I was in the same boat with the menu... I too was offered the steakhouse menu which to be honest I wasn't thrilled with either! It just seems so casual for a wedding dinner! Anyway I guess I have to deal with it so hopefully it tastes good.

 

We are getting married April 6, 2011 so we are just about at the 5 month mark! If you have any questions that I can answer for you, I would be happy to do so!

 

Originally Posted by Erinn314 

Wow, I'm not sure how to post on here!  Sorry if I mess this up.  I wanted to say hi to everyone!  My fiance and I are also getting married at Iberostar Del Mar next year.  (May 29, 2011)  We are sooo excited!  These posts are great!  I was reading Erin's post about the Don Alfredo menu and was also not thrilled with the food choices.  I'm so happy to know that they offer a steakhouse  menu!  I'm sure I'll be asking you all a bunch of questions and letting you all know of choices we make as we go along with this process.  So exciting and so many things to decide!!!  Good luck to everyone!

 

--Erin C

[Erinn314]

Don't worry, Reyna took awhile to get back to us too.  I was wondering the SAME THING...take our money!!! GEEZ. haha I think it took a couple weeks for it to go through. In the end, they took our money and our date was set. haha  Hopefully you have it all figured out now!