I think we all want to forget the blog madness of the last few days and, what better way to do it than writing about wedding planning. We all like to read engagement, pregnancies, wedding planning and wedding stories from our fellows LDRes. It's always exciting, don't you agree?

The wedding planner

The task of finding the wedding planner and the ideal place for our wedding has not been at all easy. However, Daniel and I have handled it quite good, although I have to admit that on more than one occasion I got so freaking upset and frustrated. I could hardly understand the irresponsible and disorderly way of working of some people in Colombia. It filled me with anger and shame more than once. Good thing is, such negative feelings didn't last more than 30 mins. Thanks to my SO and myself.

We decided to hire a group of wedding planners that specialize in destination weddings in Cartagena. They have wonderful reviews from both, local and international couples. The pictures of the weddings they have organized are amazing and the food looks delicious! The providers and people they work with, also have outstanding reviews. On top of that, the guy and I got along quite well the first time we spoke over Skype -I was still in Germany-. But no matter the wonderful reviews; the fact that we are not there to see, the fact that we don't know them, leaves us with doubts and many what if's. But we had to make a decision because time was passing by and we were tired of emailing back and forward with wedding planners. And so we did, we signed a contract with them and the next step was:

The search of our wedding venue
From the very beginning we were clear with the guy about the things we wanted: A colonial house within the walled city, in which we could have the ceremony, cocktail and dinner/party. And preferably with a salon to have the party indoor, as there are chances of rain in August.


This was the option we started with. It was his suggestion and it was within our budget. The idea was to have the ceremony by the pool. Cocktail and party in other areas of the house. We liked this option, but at the same time, we told him about some houses we had seen before. He found many excuses, which made me think they have preferences for certain places/providers. The thing is, one day he emailed us saying the house was not longer available because the owner decided to block it the first two weeks of August. He then asked us if were we flexible with the date. Of course we were not! This was one of the first things Daniel and I have decided and one of the first things we told them. We want our wedding the 9th of August. By then, we had already been flexible with some other things regarding the wedding, the date was not negotiable. Period!


After that, it took him a week to get back to us. He just dissapeared. Great move, huh? A week later he emailed us with two more options. One of them was this house. Which looks nice, right? Yes, the house looks beautiful, but what they offered us was the opposite of what we wanted: The house is located outside the walled city and the rent of the house did not include the house, but the outside, ie the gardens. How does he dare to send us an option that clearly contradicts what we told him and what he himself had said on one occasion: an indoor party was better, because the chances of rain are high.
The second option should not even be shown in photos. It was so terrible and contradicted everything said and agreed so far. It was just ridiculous!

I hope i'm not giving the impression that we are a spoiled and complicated couple. It is difficult to put into words the situation as it was lived. Was is too difficult to write on a sheet of paper the couple's needs and the things agreed so far, so that the options to be sent, could match our requirements and also save both parties time? I don't think so. That day I emailed him back. I was upset, but tried to be polite and let him know they needed to keep looking, because we didn't like any of the two options. Also we knew and were sure it was possible to find a house that could fit to our needs and was within our budget.


Several days passed. Daniel began to get desperate because the time was passing, and we still did not have a place for our wedding and therefore we could not send our invitations. At least to his guests, because they need to know in advance, to decide whether or not this is something they can do/afford, and then organize their trip, buy plane tickets and so on.
In the picture you can see the option that followed the two awful ones. This one was within the walled city, was a "colonial building" and the wedding planner idea's was to have the ceremony and cocktail in the huge and public central patio. The dinner and party inside the room. We took some days to get back to him. We didn't like the fact that strangers could be there watching our ceremony and, during the cocktail. We really never pictured ourselves having the ceremony there. In the meantime we started to look for wedding venues by ourselves and contact people. It was clear that our wedding planner had preferences towards certain options, but so what? it's our wedding, not his. We guess he got the message. A few days later -the day I landed in Bogota- he spammed our mailboxes with the one that is now the place we will be having our wedding at.

Since it already got long and perhaps boring, I will write the second part tomorrow: The chosen venue and the wedding dress shopping in Bogota. It's late, I'm a bit sleepy. Hasta mañana!