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The Ethiopian Corner
The first Ethiopian destination wedding that I was asked to assist with, was in 2005. I remember the bride saying to me "If you do a good job, you will be our travel agent for life". 11 years later, I have assisted over 25 Ethiopian Groups with destination weddings, family reunions and birthday parties. I also have completed numerous individual reservations, such as cruises, trips to Europe, South Africa, Mexico and the Caribbean. I guess I did a "good job"!
I am deeply grateful and very blessed to work with this extraordinary community of Ethiopian clients. They are really wonderful to work with - gracious, appreciative and open to all suggestions. I have attended 4 Ethiopian weddings to date and plan to continue attending as many as I am able! The love, laughter and dancing is infectious. I am still trying to learn the "shoulder dance"... someday!
From everyone you have touched at Judy's Journeys, thank you!
Judy and I meet a few years back when I DJ a destination wedding in Cancun Mexico that she coordinated. Ever since then, we have connected a few times in regards to destination weddings. Every encounter has been better than the last one. She is very professional, her time management is impeccable and most importantly, she has a way of making a difficult situation seems easy. In my line of work, I have meet with a lot of coordinators but she stood on top of the platform all alone. I have great deal of respect for her and suggest her to anyone who is looking to do a destination wedding.
-DJ Fitsum
My husband and I got married recently and we used Judy's Journey to book our destination wedding in Alsol Luxury village, Capa Cana. When we started planning our wedding, we didn't have a clue where to have it except both of us wanted to have a beach ceremony. We got introduced to Judy through a good friend of us. Our friend sent the initial email to Judy to introduce us. Judy replied right away and right there and then, we knew we are in good hands. A simply heartfelt email from Judy is what stroked our relationship. Her email said, "Greetings, I'm delighted to be working with you. I promise, I will hold your hands from beginning to end and to assist in making this a perfect and memorable occasion for you, your family and friends". Judy means what she says. She speaks with her actions. As she promised, she literally took our hands and guided us throughout the whole process. She was even included in each & every email correspondences we had with the resort and other vendors just to make sure there won't be any misunderstanding. As a wedding travel expert, she did beyond her scope of work and that's what makes her unique from others. She sees her clients like family. Planning a wedding could be very frustrating but when you work with someone like Judy, it could get easier.
In choosing the venue, first, she recommended Azul Resort, Ibersostar and few places in Mexico. However, some of them weren't responsive or we weren't' patient enough til we receive quotes. After a couple of weeks working with Judy, she came back and said "I found a better proposition for you". She sent us the package for Alsol Luxury and it didn't take us a minute to decide. We fell in love with the place, we still had some doubts especially since we haven't heard about this place before. We asked how come she didn't recommend the usual wedding resorts such as Hard rock, Riu, Paradiso and other resorts in Punta Cana. She told us how Alsol does only one wedding per day and the entire day is dedicated to the bride and groom, the chef is well known and the staff members are very friendly.. We were sold right away. We are so glad we chose Alsol Luxury Village for our wedding venue because this a place where a bride and groom are treated like a true princess and a true prince. The place is secluded than your average busy resort in Punta Cana every single person working at Alsol luxury made our time there extra special! Working with Judy was so easy. She did an outstanding job in arranging, booking or following up with over 60 guests for our group. She worked tirelessly to satisfy each and everyone's need. When she receives a last minute request to change rooms, names, change or dates, she would do it with no complaints. She sees all her clients like a family. Our experience with Judy Hack was very remarkable and if you are interested in having a destination wedding, Judy is the right person to work with.
I first met Judy in 2010 at my friends destination wedding in Rivera Maya, Mexico. I was surprised to see over 100 Ethiopian family and friends gathered at a far away destination for a wedding, but yet, amazed how it could have all come together. Before I left that weekend I jokingly told Judy I'd reach out to her when I find my dream wife, to come back to paradise again for my wedding.
Fast forward 5 years, and I contacted Judy before proposing to my wife to get some general information about destination weddings. By the time we got engaged, me and my wife were 100% sure we were doing destination wedding. The hard part was deciding where to do it, the type of resort and how big it was going to be.
Having talked with Judy before hand, me and my fiance (at the time) quickly started narrowing down our options for location, keeping in mind our families needs and minimizing their cost as much as possible. Judy went above and beyond getting info, comparing resorts and getting quotes to better help us narrow our list.
Within 1 month we had picked the resort and set a date for our wedding. It was overwhelming amount of information, and decisions had to be made quickly in order to secure dates we could work with. But we felt very comfortable and confident that we had Judy keeping our best interest in mind. It felt like working with an insider, but yet she was like Eteye Mulunesh keeping you calm and collected throughout the process :)
Once we secured the place, the next biggest challenge was getting our guests to RSVP and figure out their logistics. This is where I knew disaster would happen, getting 150 Ethiopians from around the world to coordinate and follow instructions.
I was mistaken, Judy worked her magic!!! 2 months before the event 90% of our guest were booked with room and flight. She was even able to work out special rates for our guests with the resort (one of many extra things she did). All the communication and information was provided to our guests in a timely manner, and everyone that spoke to Judy appreciated her work and lover her personality. She kept us on schedule with all the deadlines, and communicated with us whenever something came up. With so many moving pieces, she treated each and everyone of our guests like they were her first. Sometimes we Ethiopians can be difficult to deal with, but Judy had the patience and willingness to explain things in detail. We spoke regularly with Judy and got updates on a regular basis, which helped us save alot of money by making the right decision as things changed and keeping our guests informed.
The week of the event, all guests arrived as planned. The wedding went without any issues, and all the guests were beyond ecstatic, as we were as well. If all the pieces didn't come together, the whole experience for us and our guests would have been horrible. But with Judy's effort and commitment to be by your side throughout the whole process, you get a memorable experience that everyone will cherish forever!
Thank You Judy's Journeys! and Thank You Judy for putting up with us, and for allowing us to create the memories :)
