January 2016 Mexico Bride - Planning And Budget

[yycbride2016]

@@JenniferH114

 Yeah I agree. I decided to go with Etsy and just asked the shop owner if I could make a custom order and he was very willing and super fast to do it. It worked out better because I was able to combine shipping on 3 different orders basically and got a more reasonable amount of starfish. I'm going to be on starfish overload when they arrive haha.

 

You got a great deal on sashes. Do you remember which store you got them from? I'd love to bring my own just so I know its the right color and then I could use them again from my at home reception.

[JenniferH114]

@@yycbride2016 - They were from www.weddinglinensdirect.com.

[TaraMarie33]

Hi Ladies! 

 

Just got a confirmation - we have 36 guests as of today .. still a few family members from out of town to book (later one). We estimated about 50 guests, so I am right on track and budget. 

 

My fiance has a best girlfriend (childhood neighbour) in our wedding party and she just got a job and may not be able to make it. I had paired her with my gay best friend, standing on my side for the wedding. SO .. now we may be in a bit of a predicament. What is the protocol on him asking another person at this point? ALSO . for the dance, now we will have two dudes dancing, and walking down the aisle..... strange I think lol. What do you guys think?

 

Also @@yycbride2016 and @@calgarybride2015 - you guys mention a free wedding with a certain number of rooms ... and also acvacations has special offers too.. my TA knows nothing about that. Do you know the stipulations? With 36 guests, surely we would qualify, right?

 

I have booked the palapa and private beach as well!! @@calgarybride2015 - how far off resort is it? How did all of your guests get there ...? 

 

@@yycbride2016 - your decor looks awesome! I thought I wouldn't start gathering stuff until october/november .. maybe I am a bit behind schedule. What are you planning to do for flowers?I am thinking of ordering silk bouquets and bringing them with me. 

 

Let me know your thoughts ladies! I cant seem to find any more Grand Sirenis brides out there .. 

[yycbride2016]

@@TaraMarie33

You are doing great! I wouldn't worry. I have a theme to my wedding (starfish & beach) so I knew that all the beachy items would only be out for the summer and thats why I'm getting it all done now. I know that come the fall I wont be able to find that kind of stuff. So if you have a theme like that then you might want to consider it too. I also think this way come december/ January/ February I wont be stressed at all because I'll have everything done early!

 

As for flowers I'm not sure i'll do flowers. I'll have a bouquet for me but I'm toying with the idea of my bridesmaids carrying these cute little starfish wands (but I'm not conviced yet). I'm bringing lanterns, tiny vases, jars, candles and loads of starfish with me for decor and this will be used for both ceremony and tables so that way I wont have to worry about flowers. I've seen some beautiful artificial flowers on etsy before that you could totally bring with you. But keep in mind the brides bouquet is included in your package (at least I'm pretty sure it is).

 

As for the free wedding, you need 10 double occupancy rooms booked for 7 days. I think with 36 guests already you are totally good to go with the free wedding. I am only at 22 people right now and I have exactly 10 double  rooms booked and 2 single rooms. I'm just hoping no one backs out now because I really want the free wedding. To go from the free wedding to the presidential wedding it would cost me $3000 difference so I really want the free.

 

We got a deal with Transat that for every 15 people booked into our group rate the 16th  person is free in the form of credit return to us (up 3 three free credits). I don't know but that might have been an early booking bonus because we booked this back in February.

 

As far as the private beach I think @@calgarybride2015 would know better but from my understanding your guests will be transported there via a golf cart and then you will spend the entire booked duration there until the golf cart can bring you and your guests back to the resort. I dont think its super far but far enough other guests can't find it haha.

@@JenniferH114 Thank you so much! These look like a great deal!

[TaraMarie33]

@@yycbride2016 thanks for all the information! I wonder if AC Vacations will have anything like that as far as credits and such. 

 

UPDATES: 

 

BRIDESMAIDS ROBES: 

I finally got some things done today! I searched high and low for bridesmaid robes - etsy, amazon, everywhere. I finally settled on some robes on amazon.com - I found them to be much cheaper than the ones on etsy, and am just going to get them monogrammed locally! 

 

Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KC7TIN6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

They came to $17 per robe USD, which is a bit more Canadian, but all 6 robes totaled $114. Much cheaper than anything I have found on etsy. I will keep you posted with how much the monogramming costs, I may even opt out of it! I bought 5 baby pink (one size fits all), and one white robe for me! 

 

Does anyone have any information on ironing on monograms onto silk robes? I know its easy for cotton, but for silk - I dont want to burn the house down, hah! 

 

PAPER LANTERNS: 

I finally found the thread on here about making "throwies" for paper lanterns. Another bride mentioned the resort charging about $10 a lantern, I am going to give the DIY thing a try. I ordered LED lights, batteries and 20 lanterns today - totaling $65 for everything, working out to only $3.25 a lantern! I bought 10 12" lanterns, and 10 14"lanterns. Obviously the bigger the lantern, the higher the price - but I didn't want dinky looking ones. I really want the lighting to be on point! 

 

I am thinking, just the lanterns - and after Christmas I am going to buy some white string lights. And have a few candles on each table. LOTS of lighting!! I am hoping the lighting and my nude flower arrangements will be all the decor I need. I am going with all white lights, some blush and burgundy decor. Simple, and classic. 

 

I am not very creative with DIY projects, but hopefully my MOH and fiance can give me a hand with this one. I have read about brides assembling the throwies and packing them in their checked luggage, leaving next to no work to be done in Mexico. I have also read about a few brides who have assembled everything a day or two before the wedding. I highly doubt I will be wanting to do any of that nonsense while I am there, so I am opting for option 1. Hopefully it is not a waste of time! 

 

Thats all I managed to get done today .. and it took me about 5 hours. GUH. Ill keep you all posted with my progress! You guys keep me inspired, thank you! 

[calgarybride2015]

Hey!

 

For the free wedding package it's 10 double rooms booked for 7 nights.  This is done thru the resort, not your TA.  When I booked I asked for the free wedding package. If for some reason you don't make it, you would just pay the silver package then have your upgrade to the palapa.  The only package that offers the palapa is the presidential package. Did you already book a package thru the resort for your wedding?

 

The palapa is right beside the disco.  It's a hefty walk if you are on the Riviera Maya side, but some of the Mayan Beach side blocks of rooms aren't bad.  I would suggest renting the golf cart/shuttle though. It was around $85 and I had it for my entire wedding. It was always there, so should someone need to go off and come back it can take them.  I personally wouldn't send all your guests to the lobby for a free cocktail hour because it takes some time to shuttle them all and I would be worried they would miss dinner,etc.  But that is your call 100%, I just paid for the hour cocktail hour for ease!  We had 45 guests and we had to shuttle them for 1 hour to get them all to the palapa on time!

 

Your TA should know if Air Canada is offering any current promotions, especially if you have a group booking! I think that's key. I got every 16th person for free, and a free upgrade (upon availability) to first class for the bride/groom. I had to book this MONTHS in advance -- around July for our January wedding as there was only 2 seats left.   I would call your TA to see if you are getting any deals, seems like you should because I can't think of one Canadian bride that didn't get some sort of a package for their group - especially with 36 people!  I even had people fly from different cities and I still got the deals. Gateway didn't matter.

 

I got flowers from the resort. I actually felt they were reasonable priced.  My bouquet was included in our package but I paid a bit more to get a larger sized one.    The BM's bouquets were 4 gerbaras, greenery and white ribbon and they were about $30 each!!!  Ask for a quote specifically for what you want, as they may try to just charge you the standard fee of $525 peso from the handouts.    The bouts were kind of expensive at $18 each (considering the BM bouquets were much large and only $12 more) I then used them as my reception centerpieces.  I ordered 1 extra.

 

The palapa is pretty tall/high, so I would ensure they don't charge you to hang your lanterns. I know another bride had them hung, so I can send her a quick msg to see if she was charged.  It would seem pretty daunting for them to get all the way up there.   

[krystalball]

@@TaraMarie33 I'm another Grand Sirenis bride (April 2016), and I actually spent a few hours on the weekend reading the Grand Sirenis thread from post #1 onwards. I didn't get all the way through, but I can tell you that a few of the brides brought their own lanterns and the resort charged $5 per lantern to string them from the ceiling. Pricing may have changed since that was a few years ago, so you might want to ask the resort to be sure.

[calgarybride2015]

So I asked a December bride. She can't recall of she got charged or not lol but they hung them lower down and along the border of the palapa. Rather than up high above the entire palapa. I can send you pics to give you an idea if you need so I guess I still suggest you email to ask! Price wise but also if they can fulfill the vision you have for where you want them hung.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TaraMarie33]

@@calgarybride2015 .. I would love that! That way I can see what they will look like.

[vancouverpetunia]

 

 

My fiance has a best girlfriend (childhood neighbour) in our wedding party and she just got a job and may not be able to make it. I had paired her with my gay best friend, standing on my side for the wedding. SO .. now we may be in a bit of a predicament. What is the protocol on him asking another person at this point? ALSO . for the dance, now we will have two dudes dancing, and walking down the aisle..... strange I think lol. What do you guys think?

 

 

 

@@TaraMarie33 - Okay, I am really not the best person to ask about protocol, but I think anything goes! I've been to weddings with "lopsided" parties (more on one side than the other) and also ones with a mix of guys/girls on both sides. I think it's probably okay to belatedly ask someone, as long as you are tactful and phrase it carefully. Maybe they don't even know you've selected your attendants and won't know they are plan B? I'm not clear on your comment about the dance. Are you planning to have your attendants join you for a first dance or something? I don't even think we are going to do a first dance, so haven't really looked into this stuff, so I'm not sure what you are referring to here.