Gettin' Hitched

[FFR]

So I'm wondering if anyone here has done the whole "Hawaii/Carribbean" wedding thing. My fiance and I are trying to figure out where we want to get married but all we know is that we want it to be outdoors. So travelling is an option, but so is staying here.

So my question is twofold....1) Are there any great places in Calgary to get married outside? And 2) Has anyone done a Carribbean wedding who can give me some insight into the best way to book and such things?

[habernac]

my wife and I were married outside at Heritage Park in the bandstand. Nice setting, the weather cooperated, it was great. Reception was in the old Wainwright HOtel, we had a terrific time.

Also went to a wedding in Canmore up Spray Lakes road near an old quarry. The ceremony was in a meadow and the backdrop there is awe inspiring.

and congratulations!

[photon]

I got married in Jamaica at a Sandals resort, it was amazing. They take care of pretty much everything for you. However just the two of us went, and then had a reception when we got back. So we didn't have to worry about other people being there.

I would highly recommend that way (just the two of you), FAR less stress overall. Depends on the family though, some families would be very disappointed if the people ran off and got married by themselves; weddings can be more for the families than the actual couple sometimes.

And I would recommend Sandals for that, they have some amazing properties with some really nice places to get married.

I used to run a small travel agency and we booked a couple of destination weddings for families. One was for just the couple and each set of parents, they went to Hawaii and they were all very happy, the couple went for 2 weeks, the second week there alone as their honeymoon. Another was for a larger group that went to Mexico, they went very cheap (against our recommendation) and I don't think they were very happy with it.

The biggest thing with a destination wedding is if you are prepared to pay the way for everyone you invite.. if not, then some people end up unhappy with you, either because they don't go if they can't afford it, or they stretch themselves to afford it and resent you "making" them spend that extra money.

Good agents should know the resorts that are equipped to handle all the details of a destination wedding. Sample00 on the forum is an agent, he should be able to help you out if you decide to go with a destination wedding.

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by habernac

my wife and I were married outside at Heritage Park in the bandstand. Nice setting, the weather cooperated, it was great. Reception was in the old Wainwright HOtel, we had a terrific time.

Also went to a wedding in Canmore up Spray Lakes road near an old quarry. The ceremony was in a meadow and the backdrop there is awe inspiring.

and congratulations!

Ditto here excepy we were married on the SS Moyie in the middle of Glenmore Reservoir. reception and dance at wainwright Hotel.

[ZDogg]

I always thought the Zoo would be a cool place to get married but it seems like all the good weekends book up quickly.

Good luck.

[fredr123]

Who was the guy who won that Sun contest and got an ultimate wedding in Mexico? I worked with his sister or cousin or something. He might have some tips...

Edit: Mike Oxlong

[troutman]

We went to a really nice wedding in Tulum Mexico (South of Cancun). It was at the Bahia Principe resort. The ceremony was on the beach.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Better idea:

Go on the trip, don't get married, get lots of hookers and blow

you'll have a much better time, AND without the whole ruining your life thing

[Ironhorse]

Another vote for Heritage Park. Although we were married in a regular church, our pictures & reception were at the Park. You can hire the horse drawn coaches there also. For the two of us, we were in the vintage Victorian two seater. The rest of the wedding party followed in the larger, 4 bench Surrey. The carriages took us to different locations for pics, and then to the Gunn Barn for the "grand entrance".

[Ford Prefect]

There are some pretty nice outdoor spots around Canmore and Banff.

[Neeper]

Boy would I love to shoot a wedding on location in a tropical locale! Let me know if you want to hire me . I guess I can shoot in Calgary too

[beachy]

We had a Caribbean wedding and it was hands down THE VERY BEST decision we made! But we always knew we wanted to get married in the caribbean on the beach (thus my CP name )
We had only a small group of 24 people and everyone who we wanted to be there, was and we ALL had the time of our lives. It was basically a vacation with our friends and family centered around an awesome/fun event on a tropical island!

I strongly disagree with Photon, destination wedding etiquette is that you DO NOT have to pay for everyone to go. All of our guests stayed a minimum of a week and thus had a wonderful vacation. We are fortunate that I travel a lot for work and saved up aeroplan miles so we flew down those who we wanted to be there, but couldn't afford it. (we even helped pay for a few peoples hotel but again that is not the norm and we did it only because we could). We stayed on the same island but switched hotels after the wedding to have a week of honeymooning and let everyone else enjoy their holiday. It was really a once in a lifetime experience....

We then had a very casual 'at home reception' in Calgary a few months after the wedding to celebrate with everyone who couldn't make it to the Caribbean.
I think destination weddings are the way to go..... it was SO worth it

I can post a pic if you want (temporarily, cause I'm a bit shy) we think they turned out amazing!! Just let me know
Neeper - we actually took our own photog down......didn't want to risk it with a local Island photog

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Another vote for Heritage Park. Although we were married in a regular church, our pictures & reception were at the Park. You can hire the horse drawn coaches there also. For the two of us, we were in the vintage Victorian two seater. The rest of the wedding party followed in the larger, 4 bench Surrey. The carriages took us to different locations for pics, and then to the Gunn Barn for the "grand entrance".

Absolutely..

We had ful run of the park to take pictures wherever we wanted.

Took a lot by the train, some on the boat, Hotel , The Dean House, etc...

[photon]

Originally Posted by beachy

I strongly disagree with Photon, destination wedding etiquette is that you DO NOT have to pay for everyone to go. All of our guests stayed a minimum of a week and thus had a wonderful vacation. We are fortunate that I travel a lot for work and saved up aeroplan miles so we flew down those who we wanted to be there, but couldn't afford it. (we even helped pay for a few peoples hotel but again that is not the norm and we did it only because we could). We stayed on the same island but switched hotels after the wedding to have a week of honeymooning and let everyone else enjoy their holiday. It was really a once in a lifetime experience....

Actually I didn't say he had to, I said "if he was prepared to".. if he wasn't then he has to be sensitive to the position it might put others into. You helped those that couldn't do it all themselves, which I think is awesome and speaks highly of your character.

I just wanted to communicate a potential issue that I have seen come up in destination weddings where the couple doesn't help others and it causes some strain on the relationships. A lot of that can be mitigated too by just giving enough lead time..

Otherwise I agree with you totally, with the at-home reception it's the perfect wedding solution. Low stress, highly rewarding..

[redforever]

Personally, I think it is very selfish of those who do destination weddings. We have been invited to 3 already, one a nephew, 2, children of very close friends. We have made it our policy to refuse all of them.

For one thing, those planning a destination wedding are assuming it is a place guests would like to go to. Then you are also assuming people want to vacation at that time of year. Then there can and will be those who simply are not able, because of their health, to attend a destination wedding, but would love to dearly, example, grandparents. Many of that age would be able to travel by car or by bus but not by air. The grandparents of my children would fit into this category. My father has broken his hip, would never be able to fly anywhere far and my mother in law has severe osteoarthritis, again, making it very diffult to fly for any long period of time.

Personally, I think if you want to have your wedding in some exotic location, keep the wedding to yourselves and have a wedding reception back home.

Now, there are some other things to keep in mind, probably not with all destination weddings, but it did affect our nephew. He did a destination wedding in Cuba. By the way, they invited everyone, only ones who actually went to Cuba were parents. They had their wedding in July, most said it would be too hot at that time of year, they were not interested in Cuba, and many others did not wish to or could not afford to go there, not even brothers and sisters. So they ended up doing the reception thing back home anyhow.

Now, in Cuba, you have 2 government officials doing the wedding, speaking in Spanish, so in actuality, you really dont even know what you are agreeing to. Then, you are given a marriage certificate that you process when you get back to Canada. Well, with our nephew, that took over 3 months. Wedding was in July, they moved to England to teach end of August, not having a wedding certificate to prove that they were married. And for some reason or other, that was a real barrier for his wife. She was allowed to enter England and teach in England, but it was a lot of paper work that they had not expected.

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by redforever

Personally, I think it is very selfish of those who do destination weddings.

I think the opposite. I think its selfish of the guests to try and pressure the couple into doing something they don't want to do.

Its the couple's wedding. In my opinion, they should be able to do exactly what they want to do on a day that is all about celebrating their love for each other, and if that includes a tropical location, so be it.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by photon

I got married in Jamaica at a Sandals resort.

[beachy]

Originally Posted by redforever

Personally, I think it is very selfish of those who do destination weddings. We have been invited to 3 already, one a nephew, 2, children of very close friends. We have made it our policy to refuse all of them.

You are entitled to your opinion and NO destination weddings are not for everyone but for you to make a blanket judgement & 'policy' about something you have never experienced is rather short-sided. Frankly, the whole point of a destination wedding IMO is not to invite everyone and their dog (ie. your parents' friends kids) but only close family members and close friends. You then can invite everyone to the local reception.

Originally Posted by redforever

For one thing, those planning a destination wedding are assuming it is a place guests would like to go to. Then you are also assuming people want to vacation at that time of year. Then there can and will be those who simply are not able, because of their health, to attend a destination wedding, but would love to dearly, example, grandparents. Many of that age would be able to travel by car or by bus but not by air. The grandparents of my children would fit into this category. My father has broken his hip, would never be able to fly anywhere far and my mother in law has severe osteoarthritis, again, making it very diffult to fly for any long period of time..

We didn't assume anything about anyone (who does that?!)! Most people who have destination weddings don't expect anyone to feel obligated to come (unlike a a regular wedding), particularily extended family and friends (especially not friends of friends etc). It was 'this is what we are doing and when, feel free to come if you can'! No need to get your shorts in a knot that someone is forcing you to go anywhere just because you receive an invitation - wth?!

We would have been fine if it was just us that attended the actual ceremony and did not put one ounce of pressure on anyone to accept our invitation. Now that being said, we ensured that our parents/siblings attended by helping pay for some of them, so how is that so "selfish of us by having a DW?"

We also took very good care of our guests who did make it down (to thank them for coming) with all sorts of things; a canvas beach bag full of towels, waterbottles, rum etc greeted them in their rooms, a welcome event in which we chartered a catamaran and took everyone out sailing/snorkeling all day with all you can eat food/drinks, along with a post ceremony c0cktail reception and dinner at a 5-star restaurant complete with a live steel pan band overlooking the sea......yah, we really twisted peoples arm to come and 'made' them go on a vacation - please give me a break!! I personally feel, you are missing out by getting all huffy about being invited to a DW and not even considering it.... perhaps it is only because you have been invited by more distant relatives and friends' kids etc

By the way we got married in Barbados and there were zero issues with the marriage certificate (and it was all in English) - no need to even process it once back in Canada. We received it the day of the wedding and it is submitted for name change etc just like from any other province - so must just be a Cuba thing (i know this is also the case for Mexico as it needs to be translated)

There are many factors that should be considered before doing a destination wedding - knowing your family and whether it would work for them is key. We did not have any grandparents (all passed away) and we both have very small, close families without much extended family. Plus, we are not religious at all (and neither are our families) so getting married in a church was never an option.

Like I said before, everyone who attended had the trip of their lives and it is still always talked about at gatherings as just the greatest time. Everyone who attended is SO grateful that we did it the way we did and want to know when we can do it all over again!!
It is not right for every family/couple but for those it is - it is the absolute best!

[habernac]

Not a huge fan of the beach or far away destination weddings but it is most certainly the choice of the bride and groom. Some of them are trying to get away from overbearing/meddling families etc so it can be a necessity. I'm still disappointed I wasn't able to see my brother get married in Switzerland, but he had a nice reception here so that works for me. I'm hoping the beach wedding folks don't get disappointed when important people can't come because of financial restrictions.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by FFR

So I'm wondering if anyone here has done the whole "Hawaii/Carribbean" wedding thing. My fiance and I are trying to figure out where we want to get married but all we know is that we want it to be outdoors. So travelling is an option, but so is staying here.

So my question is twofold....1) Are there any great places in Calgary to get married outside? And 2) Has anyone done a Carribbean wedding who can give me some insight into the best way to book and such things?

First of all... congrats...

I too am getting married... in 9 days... <yikes>
in Calgary, but indoors.... very beautiful location.

Unfortunately I cannot reveal it, as I am sure Fotze would show up to mourn the loss of my surname..... Though I am sure he can also find a way to mutilate my new one...

The best decision we made; was hiring a wedding planner. She has been awesome and took care of sooo many things.

I am sure I would have lost my sanity by now if it had not been for her.