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The Highs and Lows of Destination Wedding Planning
The Riu Palace Tropical Bay, Negril, Jamaica.
This morning, I received an email from our travel agent that had me literally shaking in my boots—some people sweat profusely when they’re nervous, but me, I just get the shakes. It said “Please call me ASAP. I have a very urgent matter to discuss with you regarding your wedding in Jamaica in May.” Gulp. Call ASAP? Gulp. Urgent matter?! I couldn’t even begin to mentally prepare for what he was going to say, so I begged my wonderful fiancé to make the call. And I waited. Intense nail biting ensued.
Then, the call. “Babe, it’s not good. Signature Vacations has dropped Jamaica from their spring/summer schedule. Our trip has been cancelled.”
As I write this, we are two and a half months away from our wedding date, and now there’s the possibility that we might not make it there. Of course, we can scramble and try to find a different carrier, but the reason we’d decided to go with Signature in the first place was because they were the only group carrier offering EVERYTHING we wanted—direct flight from Vancouver to Jamaica, staying at (in our opinion) the most beautiful resort in Negril, a reasonable group rate for all of our guests, and amazing perks for group travellers. In short, we chose Signature over all the other carriers because the package they put together for us was perfect. Now, it looks like we’re back to square one in the planning department.
For those of you who are not planning a destination wedding, please let me put this in perspective for you: this predicament I’m in is the equivalent of your wedding venue suddenly and unexpectedly being closed for renovations two and a half months before your wedding. Do you think you’ll be able to find a different venue, in which to hold the most important day of your life, on such short notice? It’ll be hard, sure. But by golly, you’ll (I’ll) do it!
Hope we make it here!
You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that like the course of true love, the road to your dream wedding never did run smooth, either! And at the end of the day, who really cares where we get married, right? I’d marry Karlo tomorrow, in our backyard (if we had a backyard, that is), wearing a garbage bag and a plastic ring if I had to. The details are just secondary… it’s the rest of our lives that I’m really looking forward to, not just the one day.
In any case, I hope that by my next post I’ll have some better news to relay to you. Keep in mind that these posts are written two weeks in advance, so as you sit and read this, I could very well already be dying to tell you the good news! We’ll just have to wait and see where this journey takes us next…
Before I go, do any of you have a nice relaxation technique you can recommend? I think I’m going to need it! Ha!
Tags: blogger search, destination wedding, jamaica, stress
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Thanks ladies =) It wasn’t easy keeping calm throughout these last few weeks but I really am a firm believer in destiny – what is meant to be will be. If we’re meant to get married in Jamaica, we will ;)
Wow….what a crazy rollercoaster ride. I wish you both the best of luck in sorting this out! But, I must say, I am truly inspired by your view of the situation. It shows a lot of strength. Karlo is a lucky man!
What an emotional post to read but most of all I love your attitude in handling this all!
Relaxation recommendations: Find peace in moments of discomfort. Then have a couple shots of tequila :)
Wow! I love your attitude; you are right it really doesn’t matter where you get married, but I am more than sure you will (if you haven’t already)pull it all together.
Good for you! Don’t let something like that take away your focus from the main objective! There will be plenty of time to go back there! Best to you on your big day
aww, thanks for your support everyone!! I wish I could have heard from all of you two weeks ago when this was happening in real time…
It was definitely a stressful time (still is!) but we do have some new plans to share. I won’t say if it’s good or bad, but I’ll just say again that no matter where Karlo and I tie the knot, I’ll still be the happiest girl in the world =)
Oh and I’m definitely taking all of your advice – lots of relaxation in the form of massages and wine has already taken place! I definitely have to get on the working out/yoga train soon, too…
Lara! I’m so sorry:(! But it’s true, it doesn’t matter where you get married because it’ll be special no matter what!
So sorry to hear the startling and stressful news, Lara… I’m impressed and inspired by your great attitude about the situation. Hopefully this challenge will open up new and exciting opportunities for your dream wedding. Best of luck to you!
*BIG HUGS*!! I can’t even imagine how stressful that would be! So sorry my dear!! I do hope that as we’re reading this, you’ve found something EVEN better and are bursting at the seams to tell us. *I’m crossing my fingers for ya – toes and eyes too!*
Yes – you are marrying Karlo so wherever, whenever – having the wedding of your dreams is just the icing on the cake.
How to relax? I agree with all the ladies: spa, yoga, massage and a stiff drink. Dinner out with the girls to vent and then an evening with the fiance really helps too.
Best of luck my dear!
Judith
I’m so sorry to hear about this! What about arranging your own custom package with a resort/villa in Negril? We do it all the time for our destination wedding clients and know that Negril has some amazing spots available for couples just like yourself seeking a brilliant package service.
Now to relax – yoga, massage, tall daiquiri with your name on it? Deep breathes sweetheart… you can and WILL get through this!
OH MY GOSH!! I can’t even imagine how stressful that would be! I was in a similar situation – I, stupidly young and naive, was engaged once before and the venue we’d booked all of a sudden closed down, for good, and wouldn’t answer phone calls. (We even got on the news about it, which was kind of fun – but it was HORRIBLY stressful!!) Fortunately things didn’t work out anyway and I didn’t have to worry about it… and I got to find my true love in the end. But I definitely relate to how stressful that is!
I just had a wrench thrown in my wedding planning too – I’ll probably be writing about it soon…
Sending positive vibes your way, lady! And relaxation? SPA DAY!! :)
Wow, I am sooo sorry sweetie! Yoga is such a relaxing thing for me! It really helps me to be able to breathe and focus on God and what his plans are – who knows, maybe He is trying to keep you out of a harmful event that could or may occur there. Either way, I hope this helps and THANK YOU because we will be having a destination wedding and, now that I know that Signature vacations will ‘just dropp’ people, we now know not to go with them! so you shareing your story has helped us with our planning and I’m certain a lot of others!
Good luck!
Oh no that is awful. I hope things work out for you in the end….it usually does.
I say go to the spa and have a nice relaxing massage, facial or whatever else. YOU DESERVE IT!
Best of luck to you, Laura!
Oh my gosh Lara, that’s crazy! Are they doing anything to compensate you?
Any update?
Check out Couples Swept Away and Couples Negril. They are both in Negril and look so beautiful and have great reviews. My friend said that her friend got married at Couples Swept Away last year and loved it.
I’m terrible at relaxing, but if I go work out it takes my mind off things… try that!