Mexican Paradise!

I spent this past weekend in Mexico!!  It was a whirlwind trip; just four days but wow did I do and learn a ton.  I saw five hotel properties and a non-resort wedding location, attended two seminars, was hosted at several meals with so many lovely hotel and wedding professionals and worked on a beautiful wedding on the beach of Cancun. Whew… just listing it back reminds me now how tired I am on this first day back.

I was lucky enough to be invited on this fantastic trip as part of what is known as a Familiarization Trip set up by Candice Cain and AFWPI (Association for Wedding Planners International). We were hosted by Real Resorts, which I have to say has some of the most beautiful properties I’ve seen in a long time. If you’ve been to Mexico, you know that as a people they are always genuine and warm, they make you feel so welcome.  Real Resorts is no exception, from the moment we checked in we were made to feel incredibly special. It was clear how proud they were of their resort and how happy they were to have us there to see it.

Here is the amazing view from my room!

My day on Thursday truly started super early, like 3:00 AM early, to catch a flight out so I could get to Cancun nice and early. I had a connection in Houston where another person attending the trip was on my flight, John Goolsby of Godfather Films. Since our flight wasn’t full we were able to sit together and get to know one another, it was so great to already have a new friend before I even got to the resort. I was able to watch some of his pieces both on the plane and throughout the weekend, what a brilliant videographer! I feel so grateful to have met him! That afternoon we attended a seminar along side some of the wedding planners from the resort. It was an amazing experience to share that time with them, learning how we could work together to make the wedding experience that much better for our couples. After class we were able to share a fantastic gourmet meal together.  There was plenty of time for laughing, sharing of stories, and meeting roommates. I’m the luckiest one because mine is the fabulous Isle Diamant of Diamant Events.  It was the beginning of some great friendships and a long weekend to come.

Friday was all about tours, and we saw so much!! The amazing Real Resorts staff in Cancun took us on a tour of the absolutely gorgeous Royal Cancun Resort.  It’s a five-star, adults only, all-inclusive, luxury property and so beautiful I can’t even begin to tell you.  Right in the heart of Cancun too.  Once we’d seen the beautifully appointed rooms, sparkling pool and fantastic wedding locations, they fed us a five course lunch (don’t get me started on how much I ate on this trip) from one of their many lovely restaurants, Pelicanos.

At that point we piled into a van to take the hour van trip to their sister properties in Playa del Carmen.  A bunch of ladies in a van, can you imagine???  I can’t divulge any of the conversations that were had, that’s all top secret information!! Our drop off point was the Gran Porto Real in Playa del Carmen where we were greeted by yet another group of super friendly, welcoming staff – and cold drinks and cold, wet towels. Let me digress for a moment to say that whoever thought up handing out cold, wet towels in a hot, humid environment needs to be thanked profusely.  I’m not kidding.  Every time I received one I was so grateful and happy, it was amazing. 

Back to the story… The Gran Porto Real is a family friendly resort and right next door is The Royal Playa del Carmen which is their adults only luxury property, both are 5-star and all inclusive.  We were treated to the most fantastic tour of these properties, which were sprawling to say the least.

Two mock weddings were staged for us, one on the beach and another in a courtyard by a fountain with Mayan Warriors dancing.  We also got to see a real wedding in progress as we were finishing up our tour.  We saw several reception location set ups and most of the room categories, there was nothing that wasn’t absolutely impeccable.

  

 

After looking over the entire resort we were treated to hors d’oeuvres and cocktails followed by yet another five course meal.  If you’re keeping track, that would be my second one THAT DAY and third over all!!!  You can bet I’m not stepping on a scale for at least a week. Dessert was unbelievable, almost too pretty to eat, but you can bet that didn't stop us.

  

Saturday morning started bright and early!  I was up at six to shower, get breakfast and walk on the beach before our day really got started at eight o’clock.   

I got some really pretty pictures while I was out there bright and early though. 

We headed out to attend a marketing seminar at Play del Secreto and a property owned by my roommate Ilse!! As interested as I was to learn the marketing tips and insights, I was really excited to see this non-resort wedding location.  Let me tell you, it was so much better than I could have ever imagined.  I can’t wait to meet a bride who wants a wedding in Mexico but says to me “But I want something different!” Whoa do I know just the place for that!!

         Lush coconut groves, an untouched private beach with a gorgeous private chapel, an amazing private villa, your own little sanctuary that has not been muddled up by commercialism.  Personally I was in heaven, it was just that beautiful.  But sadly we couldn’t stay all day in Ilse’s paradise, soon we had to return to Cancun for a group lunch (uh, yes, again with the five course meal… and I traded shorts for loose dresses the day before…)

 

  

Then we began preparations for the wedding! Debbie and John were our bride and groom – correction – our beaming bride and groom.  We saw them often around the resort over the weekend; they always had an ear to ear grin.  It was a pleasure to see them so happy and carefree, as it should be!  As soon as we finished lunch we hit the ground running to get the final details of the ceremony and reception nailed down so everything would go off flawlessly.  We hit a few bumps, as usually happens.  Nothing some scissors, a quick rummage through the trash, a chat with management and anti-diarrhea medication couldn’t fix though.  I am purposely leaving out the gory details; I think creating your own stories off those few vague clues might be more fun. 

Once the bride and groom were happily married and joyously dancing the night away we slipped off to eat dinner one last time with our group of new found friends. Yes, that makes FIVE 5 course meals... UGH... We really enjoyed ourselves, but you could tell that everyone was a little sad that our trip was ending.  Although we made contacts and bonds that would last forever.  I know the next time I have a bride looking to marry in Cancun or the Riviera Maya, I’ll be calling one or more of the people I met this weekend just to ensure things go flawlessly. 

Oh and PS:  if you were wondering what Jason was doing while I was bopping around Cancun and Playa del Carmen, he was happily holding the fort down at home. He was glad I got to go and wasn’t the least bit jealous. That's my version anyway!

The Real Deal...

Before we hired a wedding planner it seemed like we were getting a TON of misinformation, mixed up information and crazy information from all kinds of various sources. And it all depended on the website I read, the wedding show I attended or the magazine I picked up. It was enough to make a person's head spin.

What we wanted was a beach wedding at an adults only, all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. More specifically we wanted to get married at Sandals Negril. But I had attended a bridal show where I had met a travel agent who specifically told me that was out of the question. Why you ask?  See, my Maid of Honor is a fabulous single woman. So is my mother. This travel agent told me that absolutely no exceptions could be made for circumstances like these, so I'd have to look at Beaches Resorts as an alternative. I was pretty disappointed.

A few nights letter I sent the infamous email to our now business partner Candy Cain. She was just stunned to learn that any travel agent would give out such ridiculous and incorrect information. Sandals is happy to accommodate wedding parties made up of any marital status. Of course since they are a "couples resort" there is a catch, but isn't there always? We did have to pay for each "single" as if they were a "couple". We were more than happy to do so since it meant we could have our wedding at the resort of our dreams.

I had also read in several reputable wedding magazines that resorts may not allow for bringing in my own wedding flowers if they provide them as a service. Nothing could be further from the truth! I had gorgeous silk bouquets created by Creative Edge Events (they looked incredibly real and I got so many compliments you would not even believe!). Again, there is a catch.  They don't really want you so ship them an entire box of silks to decorate the whole wedding.  But something can always be arranged, there will likely just be a set up fee, but it can be made to work.

So my point is, don't take anything you read or hear as gospel. Keep asking until you hear the same thing from several very reliable sources. Or, until you get the answer you want!! I mean really, it is YOUR wedding after all. Give us a call as 248-560-7001, or drop me a line at anita@candycaintravelgr.com if you want the straight answers about your Destination Wedding. At Candy Cain Travel Great Lakes Region we will always give you the most accurate information possible. And if we don't know, we won't guess, we will find out and get back to you as soon as we know!

New Marriage, New Adventure!

Hi everyone, I'm Anita Gravelle. I want to invite you to come along on an adventure with me and my new husband, Jason. We were married just two months ago on the beautiful beaches of Negril, Jamaica. If you've never been, you must go. Soon. It's one of the most gorgeous places on earth. And the people are fabulous. But I digress.

Even before we were engaged Jason and I both knew we would have a destination wedding. So, the minute that ring went on my finger I began to research. I did the traditional things, bought magazines and went to bridal shows. And I also spent a lot of time online. A lot of time. Jason stopped bothering to ask after a while what I was googling. It was pointless, he knew the answer before he asked the question.

Late one night while scouring the Internet for information, I came across a review written about a resort that I'd been told we couldn't have our wedding at (I think I'll save that whole story for another post). Not at all the shy type, I emailed the author. Now, I didn't really expect a response, I just figured "what the heck". Plus it was very, very late so judgment played a factor.  So, you can imagine my surprise when fifteen minutes later I received an email back from Ms. Candy Cain herself.  Not only did she debunk the bad information I'd been given, she told me she wasn't only an author... she was also a travel agent and wedding planner!!  She could help me.

OK, I was skeptical.  I waited until morning and really talked it over with Jason.  Did we need a wedding planner for our simple destination wedding?  After all, the whole point of choosing this type of wedding was to avoid the stress of a "regular" wedding. AAHHH, but that's the kicker, Candy explained, every wedding is stressful in its own way. The best way to avoid the stress??  Let someone else deal with it! I have to admit, we were won over by the thought of someone else answering the million and one phone calls from family and friends regarding travel arrangements during those last few weeks right before the big day. Yep, totally worth it! We decided in that moment to hire Candy Cain Travel Co. to plan our wedding. But over the next fifteen months of planning we ended up with so much more than just the wedding of our dreams. We ended up with a wonderful friend and business partner - and wow did we NOT even see it coming!!

Let me tell you about Candy Cain of Candy Cain Travel Co., she is the best of the best wedding planners around. The more I worked with her on our wedding, the more amazed I was. I knew she was planning several other weddings, but we never felt neglected or put on a back burner. Whenever one of us called, our wedding felt "top priority".  When we returned from Jamaica, Candy did an interview regarding wedding planning on Confetti Blog Talk Radio. It was an amazing piece on destination weddings.  I was inspired! I had been active in planning our wedding, and I enjoyed it, but could this be for me??  What would Jason think??

I spent the next few days discussing the idea with Jason - he was more supportive that I could have ever asked for. I mentioned it to Candy and she wasn't just supportive, she began immediately emailing me classes to sign up for and information to read. She was all for it! Within a week I was getting ready to take a course to become a Certified Destination Wedding Specialist, and that's when the twist came in. Jason mentioned that maybe he would take the course too. Really? I didn't know he would be interested, I was so excited. When we approached Candy with the idea she thought it was great, but took it a step further - why didn't Jason train to book travel? Things picked up speed fast after that... next thing we knew Candy Cain Travel Great Lakes Region was born! Our first adventure as a married couple.

It makes sense for us though. We've both traveled extensively and absolutely love it! We're both very detail oriented, which is a huge plus in the travel industry. Planning our wedding was an obsession for me, so it stands to reason I'd want to plan them for other lucky brides. Plus we have this amazing opportunity to learn from a professional who is generous enough to provide us with the knowledge she has gathered building her own business. We're six weeks in and I have to say, it's going better than we dared to hope. It's fun, it's work, it's interesting. 

We hope you'll continue to follow along on our journey. In the meantime, if you want to take your own journey, please visit our website: http://www.candycaintravelglr.com/, give us a call at 248-560-7001 or drop us a line at anita@candycaintravelglr.com or jason@candycaintravelglr.com.  We would love to talk to you about your dream wedding, ultimate honeymoon or just a weekend getaway.