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Here's our slideshow song list (for now): Bride growing up - Secret Garden by Bruce Springsteen Bride with friends/family - In My Life by The Beatles Groom growing up - Ain't No Other Man by Christina Aguilera Groom with friends/family - Stand By Me by Ben E. King Bride and Groom together - At Last by Etta James Other songs that we considered for the various categories were: Somewhere over the rainbow - Israel Kawa (from 50 First Dates) Girls just wanna have fun - Cyndi Lauper Whatta man - Salt-n-pepper Keith Urban - Making Memories of Us

We haven't even started planning for our AHR yet, and our wedding is coming up soon in May. For our AHR, we're planning on having a traditional Chinese wedding banquet at a Chinese restaurant, since that's what both our parents want us to have. It'll mainly be for extended family members and all of our parents' friends. I figured that we can have the wedding we want in Mexico, and when we come back, we'll let our parents have the wedding they wanted us to have. Luckily for us, the banquet pretty much pays for itself, since all the guests who come give money as a wedding gift. We're going to have a DJ, photog, first dances, toasts, the whole shebang! And I'll definitely wear my dress again. We paid all that money for it, so might as well put it to use again! :-) Good luck with planning!

I don't think anyone on this board has gotten married at the Royal Decameron, so we may not be much help. But I did find photos of a wedding there. Here's the link: Jose Arreola Weddings Photographer Puerto Vallarta Professional Photographer- powered by SmugMug It seemed like a beautiful wedding on the beach. Only downside is that there were lots of random onlookers in the background in the ceremony shots. Also, no reception photos, so not sure how the set-up is there. Jose Arreola photographed that wedding, and he is a photog local to PV. Other local photogs are Carlos Melnik, Elizabeth Lloyd, and there are probably a few others that I can't think of right now. If you do a search on this board, you'll find a lot of info on PV photographers.

My own invitation wording is pretty standard and boring... but you can find some fun ones on VerseIt.com. I found my invitation wording there. It has wording for invitations for any occasion you can think of. There are a lot of samples to look through, but if you want something fun, I would recommend the "Casual" section under "Weddings".

Sorry I can't offer any advice since I've never been to PV, but just wanted to say good luck!!! Hope you have the wedding of your dreams. And can't wait for more Las Caletas pictures!

Hi there, Congrats! I noticed you're getting married at the Royal Decameron. We're getting married at Las Caletas, but we're staying at the RD, along with most (if not all) of our guests. We're trying to coordinate a welcome dinner there, but I haven't had any luck getting in touch with their event coordinator. I've written 2 emails and still no response after 2 months. You may want to try calling them directly. That's what I'm going to do if I still don't hear from them in a few weeks. Good luck!

Beautiful design! I love the ribbon and the colors. Congrats on getting them done!

The underwater TTD picture was amazing!! But they all looked beautiful. Congrats!

Welcome back!! Thanks for the great review. Sounds like you had an awesome wedding/honeymoon. I can't wait to see your pictures from Beth either!

Your pictures are beautiful!! It looked like you guys had so much fun. Thanks for sharing.

I don't remember where I got this document (either from Paulina Ulloa directly or downloaded from this forum), but it lists Paulina's photo packages. You'd probably want to check with her to see if she's added anything new, but it gives you an idea of her costs. Paulina Ulloa Photog Price list.doc

Natalie, I've had the exact same questions swimming around in my head for the last week or so! We're also using our ipod and want different songs for my bm's and then me. Would love to hear how previous Caletas brides have timed their music.

I'm not a huge country fan, but a couple of songs I do like and would be perfect for a wedding are: "Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban "From this Moment On" by Shania Twain (this one could work for when you walk back together)

We're going to use "Somewhere over the Rainbow" for the bridal party, and then I'm going to walk down to Alison Krauss' cover of "I Will" by the Beatles. It also has a beachy, guitar feel to it, and I love it! Still haven't decided on a recessional yet. On average, how long should the songs be for the bridal party (2 bridesmaids/groomsmen) and the bride processional? I don't want to finish walking and then stand and wait another 2 minutes for the song to finish!

Quote: Originally Posted by hls140 Right around the corner.... We're getting married at the Sheraton on November 3--leaving on Wednesday, October 31 and staying until November 13. CANNOT WAIT!! We'll be staying at a few places--the Sheraton before the wedding, the Quinta Real in Guadalajara for three nights and then back to Puerto Vallarta at the Bacelo La Jolla hotel. Yowza!! Lots of moving around : ) I'm soo excited for you!! Hope everything goes perfect! Don't forget to tell us all about it when you get back. And don't forget pictures! I'm dying to see more of Beth's work. :-)

Arriving Wed., May 21, 2008 Las Caletas wedding on Sat., May 24 Leaving on Wed., May 28 We're staying the Royal Decameron in Nuevo Vallarta. And currently debating whether we want to splurge a little and stay at the Four Seasons in Punta Mita for a night for our 'honeymoon'. I'm pushing hard for it!!

Thanks for the info, Lindsay! I feel soooo much better about our decision now.

We're also getting married at Las Caletas (on May 24, 200, and I think we've settled on staying at the Royal Decameron in Nuevo Vallarta. It's an all-inclusive with a very reasonable rate. If price is the only thing keeping you from considering an all-inclusive (we were in the same boat), you might want to look into this place. Granted, it's nowhere near 5-stars, but it's gotten decent reviews saying it's a good value. And I think an all-inclusive will be very convenient for a large group (we're expecting about 60 people). Let us know what place you decide on! Oh, and if anyone has ever stayed at the Royal Decameron, I would love to hear about your experience.

We're also using Elizabeth Lloyd (aka Beth Fladung). We did an engagement session with her when she visited LA a few months back, and were really happy with the results. She's very nice and easy to work with. She's also a PV local so we won't have to pay for her travel/lodging. Her prices were very reasonable. She'll be photographing the whole day, riding with me to Las Caletas in the morning and coming back with us at night. Hope that helps!

This was super helpful!! Thanks for sharing. :-)

On Orbitz, Dreams was waaaay more than FA. Close to double. But I'll check out Discountallinclusive.com or Funjet and see what I get there. Dreams would be my "dream" location, but cost is the biggest worry for us. Especially since we'll be paying for both our sets of parents and 4 siblings also! How are the beaches in the Marina area (eg, Mayan, Marriott)? I've read that they are worse than in the hotel zone. A nice beach is definitely a priority for us, but we don't want to be too far from downtown, like in Nuevo Vallarta. Thanks again!

Hi, just wanted to resurrect this thread and ask if anyone has ever stayed at the Fiesta Americana or know someone who has or has heard anything about it? I'm dying for any tidbit of info. Trip Advisor has generally favorable reviews, but you ladies' opinions matter most! We're considering FA because: 1. Prices seem reasonable (not too high). 2. Non-AI with option of 'upgrading' to AI. We like the flexibility for some of our guests who want to go all out. (But does anyone know how to buy this upgrade? We've been looking on Expedia/Orbitz and it doesn't seem to have the option to upgrade. Do you do it once you get there?) 3. We hear that it has one of the better beaches in PV. (Maybe not as nice as Dreams, but Dreams is beyond our budget and the budget of our guests.) 4. Good location - in between both downtown and the marina areas. Any info would be helpful, especially any bad experiences anyone's had. Thanks!

Ann, I just saw your wedding video too, and it was great. It seemed like a perfect wedding! Did you use the Las Caletas videographer? They have a "Professional Video Package" for $575 and an "Adventure Video Package" for $290. Which one, if either, did you get? (I'm hoping you'll say the adventure one, because that would be a great deal!!)

Yes, it's Beth Fladung (aka Elizabeth Lloyd). It's easy to get confused with all these names floating around! :-) Thanks for the compliments on our photos. I love our pictures more and more everytime I look at them. This must sound so vain, but I've been looking through them every day since I got them. I can't help it!!! We're planning to print the photos out and put them into an album that our guests can sign when they attend the wedding.

For the Las Caletas brides, do you know if we need to bring our own docking station / speaker system if we plan to use our IPODs? I could ask Kelley, but thought maybe one of you ladies might know. I'd also like to know about their slideshow capabilities. Foxytv... can you share the websites where you can download the music mixing software? I think that would make the music sound awesome and like a real DJ!