beachbride08

Lyssa, congratulations!! It sounds like you had a great wedding, and I second your comment on the staff. They were so friendly and accommodating.

Thank you!

1. We had a legal ceremony at home a couple months before our Mexico wedding, just Mike and I. We did the Dream Paradise Blessing Ceremony at the resort.
2. We arrived on Tuesday, November 4 and our wedding was on Friday, November 7. This was plenty of time to meet with the coordinators and get things finalized.
3. Yes, we requested the rose petals for the runner for our ceremony and to be placed on all the tables at dinner and in the Los Vitrales room. I think we ended up buying 3 bags of petals and they were $10 each.
4. We hired the resort videographer, and I seriously would have spent a couple hundred more dollars to go with an external person. If I can figure out how to share the video or put it up on You Tube I will let you watch it since I wasn't able to see any of the videographer's work before we left or when we got down there. I should have known, but I didn't think it would be a big deal.

Amazon.com was selling the cameras for $68.95 and the film 4-packs were around $80.

Thank you! I am so glad I could be of help, and please let me know if you have any questions. I had taken notes while I was there so I wouldn't forget any of the big stuff, but I'm sure I left things out that you might want to know.

You are all going to have such great weddings, and I can't wait to see and hear all about yours!

Here is what I would do again:

1. Have a destination wedding! This was the best decision ever.

2. Get OOT bags and hand deliver them to the guests. They were really surprised to receive the bags and were so grateful since many of the things we put in the bags were things they forgot to bring and needed. Everyone was using the bags to carry stuff down to the pool, and I'm so happy I tied tags on each bag with the names before we left. Since the bags were all the same it made it easy to know which bag belonged to who.

3. Get mini bottles of tequila and personalized margarita mix packets as the favor. I went back and forth if we should get favors and what to get. I'm so glad we bought the tequila in Mexico since it was one less thing to carry down.

4. Get blumebox vases for our centerpieces. It eliminated the need to pack more glass stuff, they looked really pretty on the tables, and some of the guests got to take a centerpiece back to their room.

5. Get the Adesso Polaroid album. I originally wanted the 4x6 album, but it only came in black. I ordered the tan colored Polaroid one with the intention of just cutting regular pictures to that size. Shortly before we left I ordered the camera and am so happy we did. It was so much easier and the guests seemed to have a fun time taking the pictures. Plus, we got to look at the pictures and read what people wrote in our book the next day.

6. Get the off-white parasols for the bridal party. I also got a pink one, but decided not to bring it. I think the color of the off-white ones looked so nice with the girl's dresses and the beach. I don't think the pink would have had the same effect.

7. Reserve the steakhouse for the wedding dinner. It was much more private than the Italian restaurant which we originally considered.

8. Even though I drove myself crazy with some of the DIY projects I would do them all over again. I really liked how everything turned out, and received so many compliments which made all my hard work pay off.

9. Dance all night!!!

10. Have a sweetheart table for the dinner. This was the only time that Mike and I really had alone, and it was so nice just to sit and talk with him while we ate.

 

What I wouldn't do again:

1. Let people's comments about my wedding plans get to me. At first it really bugged Mike and I, but we quickly came to the realization that this was what we wanted and it was our wedding day. We wouldn't have changed our plans, but we shouldn't have people get to us.

2. Not worry so much about the resort we chose. After we booked I kept looking at other resorts and seeing pictures of weddings at our resort that made me nervous. All my fears were erased when we got to the resort.

3. Don't stress out so much about the details. There were a few little things that didn't go quite as planned, and on our wedding day I couldn't care less because I was having too much fun.

4. Hire the resort photographer. I didn't get to see any samples of his work before hand, and am not too crazy about our video. It wasn't a top priority for me, but now that I have it I would've hired an external videographer.

5. Not eat anything. I didn't have time to eat breakfast in the morning, and was at the spa all day. I would have ordered room service so I could munch on something while I was getting ready before going to the spa.

6. Get the white boards. We were the only ones that used them and that was at the end of the night. It was kind of a waste, but they weren't expensive so I guess it wasn't really a big deal that we had them.

 

That is all I can think of right now.

Sorry! We should do a BDW trip to the Grand! Mike and I can't wait to go back there. We had such an awesome time.

You are going to LOVE the Grand. That hotel is phenomenal! My friend/BM Sarah and her husband stayed there and they just kept telling us how much we were going to love it before we switched. Once we got over there we figured out why they never came to visit us at the Lindo. They didn't have any weddings set up at the Grand while we were there otherwise I would have taken pictures. Make sure you ask Fernando for the pink drink at the pool bar, but if you don't want to get wasted take your drink and leave before he makes you play his games.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

 

Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a

SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this post and paste into a

new post that you can send. Change all the answers so that they

apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know,

INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!

 

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I usually the kid's gifts because it is fun to watch them open them. Adults get gift bags!

 

2. Real tree or Artificial? We bought a fake tree last year, but since I have lived on my own I've never put up a big tree. Growing up my grandpa would always bring down real trees from his farm in WI.

3. When do you put up the tree? I'm not sure when we will put it up. I don't have a lot of ornaments yet so maybe we won't put it up this year.

4. When do you take the tree down? If we put it up sometime after new year's.

5 . Do you like eggnog? Yes, but I don't like to put the liquor in it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Barbie doll house

 

7. Hardest person to buy for? father-in-law, he never likes anything you buy him.

 

8. Easiest person to buy for? My little sister, she loves everything girlie.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? I used to, but I don't know what happened to it.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A box of tools.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I used to be mostly done by Thanksgiving, but this year I haven't even started yet.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, I can't stand that!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas cookies, I make the best sugar cookies if I do say so myself!

16. Lights on the tree? I like the flashing ones. I think we bought white ones.

17. Favorite Christmas song? White Christmas or Jingle Bell Rock

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? This will probably be the last year we won't have to travel for Christmas.

 

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Hmm, probably not.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I'll need to add that to my list of Christmas decorations I need to get. Probably a star though.

 

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Mike and I open gifts on Christmas Eve. We celebrate with his family on Christmas Eve and mine on Christmas Day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? I'm dreading shopping during the busy time. I hate lines and rude people.

23. What theme or color are you using? I have no idea.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner. My aunt always makes some kind of pasta.

 

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I really want our pro pics back in time to make photobooks for our family and friends.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Don't know

27. Who is least likely to respond to this? Don't know

OK ladies, the review is posted with a link to pictures.

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...491#post608080

Coming Home…

 

our trip home was not as easy. Although, we carried on our sand ceremony kit on the way down along with the sand and shells we were not able to carry it on the way home. The bad thing was the topper couldn’t stay on the vase in the box. The vase also wasn’t filled all the way and since we found out about not being able to carry on the vase when we were at the counter we had nothing to stuff the vase with. The airline guy gave us tape so we could tape the top so the sand wouldn’t leak out, but during the flight the sand got all mixed together. I was so mad!! This really isn’t a big deal, but we had gotten a free flight upgrade on the way down. We had to pay for it on the way back. It was so worth it though since we had an open seat in our row again. We also forgot we had the vanilla we bought in town in our carryon suitcase. When we switched hotels we were throwing stuff anywhere just to get stuff packed and never looked through our carryon when we repacked to leave. We had to throw it away, but we bought more in the duty free shop. It just sucked we had to rebuy it because of our own stupidity, and it was aggravating that 2 feet away from where we had to throw it away we rebought it and carried it on. Our flight was very bumpy the whole way home and Mike was not feeling well. Once we got to Chicago we were OK. We didn’t have any issues in customs and our limo was there when we got our bags so that was good especially since it was about 40 degrees and we were in flip flops!

 

I know this was super long so if you are still reading THANK YOU! Even though there were a few mistakes here and there; nothing too major went wrong with our wedding or our trip. I wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding, and am so happy we had our wedding at the Iberostar resort. I had a lot of concerns since I couldn’t find a lot of info about weddings at this hotel and was nervous about some of the decorations from pictures I had seen. However, I was blown away once we got there and actually got to see everything in person and found out about the gazebo that we got. I would definitely recommend this resort to future brides. So many people have said your wedding day goes by so fast, and that is definitely true. Enjoy every moment of it!

I hope this helps future Iberostar brides, and if you have any questions please let me know!

TTD

 

We did our TTD the Monday after our wedding at the Grand for two hours. We had to pay $300 in day pass fees since apparently at the Grand it costs $150 each, when for the wedding day we only paid $50 and the photographers were there longer and ate dinner. Anyway, the TTD was so much fun! We took a few different pictures of Mike and I together and separately around the resort and on the beach. We took some pictures of our wedding stuff in the sand and of our handprints with our rings, and our thank you picture. Then we jumped in the pool. After we took some pictures there and in the hot tub we went back to the beach. My dress was so heavy after it got wet, and was full of sand. It seemed a little cleaner, but it was really filthy after the wedding since we didn’t do the bustle the right way. BTW, Citlalli’s sister was her assistant for our TTD and she managed to find the loops we couldn’t find for my bustle on the wedding day. I told her we could’ve used her assistance on Friday! Oh well. I think we got some really good shots, and there are a few in this dried branch area that I think will probably turn out pretty good in black and white. I asked for some teaser shots, but haven’t gotten any yet. I will definitely share once I get them though.

The Honeymoon

 

We switched over to the Grand hotel in the Iberostar complex the next day. We had thrown all our stuff in the suitcases, ad called down for the bellboys. We carried my bouquet, the centerpiece and our sand ceremony vase with us. We checked out of the lindo and paid for all our wedding fees. We had requested the bill before actually checking out so we could look everything over. I thought we were supposed to pay for the chair covers in the Los Vitrales room , but there was no charge for those. I could have been confused since when we talked about that we talked about the fees for the other set ups, but they could have just forgotten to charge us for it too. When we got to the Grand they kept asking me for a paper that the Lindo was supposed to have given us, but they didn’t. They had us in the system for a reservation at the Grand so it wasn’t an issue, but I don’t know what paper we were supposed to receive. Our room wouldn’t be ready until after 1:00 so we went and had lunch, walked around the resort and hung out by the pool. The front desk held on to our flowers and vase and would have them delivered to our room once it was ready. We were also upgraded to a Jacuzzi suite there. We were booked in an oceanfront junior suite originally. I can go on for days about how awesome the Grand is. It is really nice, modern, clean and just overall amazing. The staff is so attentive, the food is excellent, and is a completely different environment from the Lindo and Maya hotels. Mike and I can’t wait to go back and hope to be able to go there for our anniversary. It was just awesome! If we didn’t want to have kids at the wedding we would have had our wedding there. We got really spoiled after we switched hotels, and it was really hard adjusting when we got home. The bed was more comfortable than the Westin heavenly bed and after sleeping on what felt like a rock at the Lindo it was a nice change. We slept with the balcony door open every night (they had screen doors at the Grand, but not at the other hotels) so we could listen to the ocean. We were able to watch our wedding video in our room once we got it since there was a DVD player. There was a butler for each building that would pretty much get you whatever you wanted, and would take you around on the golf cart. It was unbelieveable and I’m so glad we stayed there for the rest of our trip.

The Wedding Day

 

I got up early since I couldn’t sleep and was picking up our room so it would be clean for when we took the getting ready pictures. Mike packed up his stuff to go to his parent’s room and I jumped in the shower. I put some Crest whitestrips on my teeth and while I’m in the shower the phone starts ringing. I figured it was Mike that he forgot something so I get out to answer it since there is a phone in the bathroom. It was Claudia Rodriguez! I’ve only talked with her over email and now I’m trying to talk to her with Whitestrips on my teeth. I was so embarrassed. She was calling to confirm the time that Citlalli and her assistant would arrive and all the details. While I’m on the phone someone is knocking on the door. I hung up with Claudia and go check the door. It is my 2 aunts and my cousin. Mind you I’m in my towel when I answer the door and my cousin starts taking pictures. I wanted to kill her. They ran into Mike on the way, and they wanted to come check on me. I had already laid out my dress and all my stuff on the bed (there was no place to hang it in the room) so my cousin took some pictures of that too, and then I kicked them out so I could finish getting ready. I guess after they left my room my aunts started bawling in the hallway.

 

I got to the spa early this time and they were ready for me. Imelda started with my manicure (they have OPI products and polish, but I had brought the nail polish I had used when I got my nails done before I came to Mexico) and then my pedicure. She did a good job on both. Then she started on my hair, and once she was almost done my BM got there so she could look through the hair books and decide on a style. My hair turned out better than the day before, but she still made it kind of stiff. It ended up being a good thing though. Then Amy started on my makeup. I had gotten my makeup done at Bare Escentuals at home and bought the makeup they used on me. I bought the starter kit of the powders and the girl told me there was the color she used and a shade darker that I could use if I got some color in Mexico. Well, the color she used on me was the darker color and since I did get some color the first 4 days were there it was too light on me. They used “the makeup store†products at the spa. She literally put foundation all over my face, ears and neck. They did not have the best assortment of eye or lip colors so I just picked out neutral colors. She also wasn’t sure if the mascara was waterproof and she didn’t curl my lashes first. When I got back to my room I curled my lashes and then put my waterproof mascara on over what she did and also dabbed my shimmery shadow on top of what she did (they didn’t have any shimmer shadows). It ended up looking really nice. However, I couldn’t reapply any powder or anything throughout the day since I didn’t have what she used. It also happened to be the hottest day while we were there so I was constantly sweating. My MOH kept blotting my face with tissue. My face looks super greasy in our wedding video and in some of the pictures my cousin took so I’m really hoping I don’t look greasy in our pro pics. My MIL and SIL got to the spa while I was getting my makeup done. My MIL’s hair turned out really nice and she was really happy with how they fixed it. My SIL decided to get her hair cut and just had them blow it out. Imelda also did her hair, but I don’t think she quite understood what SIL wanted. I think the cut came out OK, but SIL said it was crooked in the back. Once my BM was done with her hair, which also came out really cute. They were able to do an updo on her and she has pretty short hair. She was supposed to get her makeup done, but they didn’t have her down for makeup even though I confirmed her for hair and makeup the day before (all these appointment times were requested a couple weeks in advance via email to Araceli). I told her I would just do her makeup. However, the hair flowers were supposed to be delivered to the spa and they still weren’t there. They kept calling and then finally Tony got there with the hair flowers and the bouquets. The hair flowers were not what I asked for. I wanted a few small white flowers (again I had a picture) and she brought GIANT stargazer lilies and white daisies. The flowers were seriously as big as my head. My bouquet was beautiful all hot pink roses, but smaller than I anticipated. The BM bouquets were much smaller and not what I wanted. They gave me a few light pink roses with these other smaller flowers mixed in. I had asked for all white roses for them. Also, I provided green ribbon for all the bouquets and boutenier to be wrapped with and that was not the case. Tony said she would take them back and get them fixed. The mistake flowers in the BM bouquets were close to what I wanted for my hair and much smaller so I picked out a few for me and a couple for my flower girl. The BMs didn’t want hair flowers. Since it was now after 1:30 and Citlalli was scheduled to arrive at 2, but Tony said she was already on the property she drove me back to my room. My MOH got there first to finish getting ready and I finished my makeup.

 

Then, Citlalli arrived. I wanted to get her payment out of the way even though she said it could wait. Plus, we were still waiting for Sarah. Sarah got there, along with my dad, stepmom, and brother and sister. I kicked out my dad and brother so the girls could help me get in my dress. We were scheduled to meet Mike in the gazebo in the courtyard of the next building so then we could get all the bridal party pictures out of the way. I hid around the corner so Anna could tell him to turn around and then I made my way down the path to go tap him on the shoulder. I immediately started bawling so now I’m sweating and I have tears dripping down my face which probably only enhanced my shininess. After we did some pics of Mike and I we headed over to the Maya to take pictures in the checkerboard garden. We did some single poses and then all the bridal party. After that we headed to the beach with the parasols. The beach was super busy!! It was so hard to get pictures without people in the background. I think we got some really good pictures though. Citlalli was so nice to work with and she let us do whatever pictures we wanted and had some good ideas of her own. Then we started to head back towards our room and did a fake jump in picture by the pool. In our courtyard there was a lamppost so Mike and I jumped on that to take some pictures and then we did more bridal party pictures by these wooden posts. Citlalli and the guys headed over to the gazebo to get pictures there and the girls and my dad went to my room to wait for Tony to come get us. When we got to the room the bouquets were there and fixed. Although, they just swapped the light pink roses in the BM for white ones and left the other flowers in there. I put my starfish in my bouquet and tied on a MOM charm with pink ribbon. I was torn on what to do to remember my mom (I did put her name as well as my and Mike’s grandparents names in our program) as I really wanted something with me. I found these circle charms at Michael’s and thought that would be the perfect thing. Of course I started to cry when I was tying it on. If you haven’t caught on by now I’m a crier! Tony called us shortly after to come down that she was there to take us over. We pulled in the backway behind the nightclub to wait until Araceli told us to line up. I had my step mom run to check and make sure the guests poured the seashells into the bottom of the sand ceremony vase and she confirmed they were in there. The set up came out great. The only thing that they messed up was they put our frame saying to sign our guestbook on the table with the programs and bubbles. We had another frame for that table which they put there, but the guestbook wasn’t there. I’m not sure why they put that frame there, and then they never brought it to the private room where the guestbook was later. They played out ceremony music off the back up CDs we brought, but we had set up a CD with music to be played while the guests got seated that they didn’t play. It wasn’t really a big deal though. I guess the minister talked with Mike before the ceremony and asked him questions and he made notes in his book. During the ceremony he whispered to us what to do or say. The ceremony was really nice, and the minister did a good job. I didn’t know we had to sign a certificate during the ceremony so that threw me off a bit. We played Friday, I’m in love by the Cure for our recessional and they played it right on cue and then the champagne was popped. I am not really fan of champagne, but this champagne was really good! We took pictures by the gazebo of the family and guests since we didn’t have a lot of time to go down to the beach to take pictures, plus it started to drizzle a bit. The trolley took awhile to come pick us up, but eventually we made it over to the Maya. For some reason we couldn’t find 2 of the loops on my train for the bustle so we just kind of winged it and made our version.

 

We had time for a couple drinks in the lobby bar before dinner. The bartenders there were awesome! Jose was mixing up some pink drink that was so good! I have no idea what was in it, but if you go there ask for the Jose Special. Since we didn’t do the paid cocktail hour we didn’t have any appetizers. The bartenders did pass out bowls of popcorn though so at least people could munch on that before dinner.

 

They set our tables up in the back of the “El Rancho†steakhouse restaurant. There is a glass window where you could look into where the chefs were cooking. Even though it wasn’t a private room it was set back from the rest of the restaurant and I didn’t notice them seating any tables that were on the other side of the wall near where we were sitting. We had considered the Italian restaurant for the wedding dinner and I’m so happy we decided on the Steakhouse. The Italian restaurant is all open and you can see all the tables in the restaurant. The Steakhouse is more sectioned off. They set the tables up just how I wanted them. We had two long tables-one for family and the other for our friends and photographers. Mike and I were set up at a sweetheart table in the back. We had 3 pink blumebox vases on each of the long tables. I had requested all white roses for the centerpieces, and had sent a picture (similar to what I requested for the BM bouquets). However, I got something completely different, but was very happy they didn’t give me what I requested. They were much taller, and had different flowers in them. They put the centerpiece that was on the ceremony table on our sweetheart table and I also got a green blumebox to put my bouquet in and I had gotten two pink ones for the BM bouquets that they placed on their table in front of them. We had brought down 12 clear glass starfish tealight holders, 12 clear and 12 green tealight holders. They split them up amongst all the tables and the tables in the private room for the reception. They scattered rose petals over all the tables. They placed the placecards I made at each seat. I had put them in order and made a seating chart so they just had to walk up and down to put the cards down in the right order. On the seating chart it noted who was to get the kid’s meals, salmon and chicken. I had two table tents with the dinner menu and table number on each of the long tables and one on our table. They set up everything the way I wanted.

 

We ordered the top sirloin dinner for everyone, except Mike and I and Mike’s mom. Mike and I had the chicken and we got the salmon dinner for Mike’s mom. All the dinners were very good. We only got a slice of baked potato for the wedding dinner. When Mike and I went back to eat there before we left we got a full baked potato. Aside from that everyone said the food was great. The guests were able to get appetizers and dessert from the buffet.

 

Araceli had suggested we do the speeches in the private room since we would have the microphone there. We got into the room a little too early and they were just finishing setting up. We gave the DJ our ipod and Mike showed him what to play for our entry and then the first dance songs. My BM was going to announce us, but somehow she turned into the mc for the dances. After we walked in we walked around our table and went straight to cut the cake. They didn’t put our cake topper on the cake. I noticed it when we first walked in the room and told Araceli and she was running around trying to find it, but she didn’t find it in time. We only had Citlalli for a limited time and wanted to make sure she got us cutting the cake and the dances so I said screw the cake topper. Plus they had put flowers on the top of the cake so I thought it might look stupid or have holes if they took those off to put the topper on. Araceli did find the topper before Citalli left so I told her to just put it on the guestbook table and Citlalli did get a picture of it there. We got the strawberry cheesecake, and it was so good. They had set up the guestbook table by the entrance and placed the favor bags on the same table. They put the frame regarding the favors in front of the bags, but as I mentioned earlier they put the frame about the guestbook on the table at the ceremony and it never appeared again. I wrote on one of the white boards about the guestbook so people knew to take pictures, but no one understood what to do with the white boards. I ended up writing stuff on them at the end of the night, but that was it. After the first dance, father/daughter, mother/son dance there was a pause until Mike went over to the DJ to put the ipod to our reception playlist. That played the rest of the night so the DJ didn’t have to do anything. I literally danced all night, and had so much fun. We were supposed to have the Los Vitrales room until 10:30, but Araceli let us stay for awhile after. They had started cleaning up and taking things down, but they just kept the music playing for us while we still danced and took pictures.

 

When we got back to our room and opened the door we were greeted by a lovely surprise. They had put rose petals all over the floor leading to the bed, and to the tub in the bathroom which had bubbles and rose petals in there. Rose petals around the sink and on the bed. There was also a heart and towel animals on the bed, two newlywed robes and t-shirts. Our sand ceremony set was set up on the entertainment center with rose petals, and a chilled bottle of champagne and glasses on the mini bar. It was so sweet, but at that point we were exhausted. I took my dress off, took down my hair and took a shower because I was so sweaty and my hair was full of spray and gel. I passed out after that. Mike was wasted and reaked of cigars and felt like throwing up so we put the bucket next to his side of the bed. Luckily, he didn’t get sick but let’s just say there was no consummating until the next morning.

The Wedding Rehearsal

 

I had made my appointment for my hair trial for 3:00 PM. I was running a bit late since some of our guests including my MOH had just arrived and I had to let them know about the rehearsal and where to go since they wouldn’t have an itinerary yet. I got to the spa and the girl at the desk spoke English, but she kept checking the computer and asking me my name and when my appointment was. I told it was for 3 and I was a little late (it was about 3:15 when I got there). It seemed like she didn’t even have me down for an appointment, and she asked when the wedding was and after I said tomorrow she told me to go into the room to the right. Imelda would be doing my hair trial, but she spoke very little English. The front desk girl asked if I brought a picture or knew how I wanted my hair fixed. Well, since I was running late I completely forgot to grab it. Luckily, they had some books to look through I found two pictures similar to what I wanted. I told the other the front desk girl some changes to the way the hair was styled in the picture to what I wanted and she translated for me. I was a bit nervous since she sprayed hairspray all the way down on the top and bottom of each piece of hair before she curled it with the curling iron. Then after she curled my whole head she put this serum in her hands and ran it through my hair. I told her to leave my bangs straight and she put my hair up. It turned out really cute and I figured it would stay put a lot better than the trial I had at home that fell out by the time I got home. I went back to the desk to sign the paper. The bridal package included in my wedding package included hair trial, day of hair, mani and pedi. I also requested to have my makeup done which was an extra charge. The bridal spa packages even though included in the wedding package was charged separately to our room. They had me down for 9:30 on the wedding day so at least I knew that was confirmed. My BM was supposed to have been scheduled for hair and makeup at 10:30 and my MIL and SIL at 1:30. They were only able to do one person at 12 and 2 at 12:30. I told them to put my BM down for 12 and the other 2 at 12:30. I had enough time to go back to the room and check with the desk if our other guests checked in so we went and put sticky notes on their doors to meet us for a drink in the lobby bar with the aquarium between 7:30-8 so we could give them their OOT bags. We then headed over to the gazebo.

 

Araceli was running late to our rehearsal due to a big wedding that day so she had called someone over at the shopping plaza and they notified us she would be there shortly. She came shortly after, and walked us through where we would be coming in from and what to do. The minister was not there. It was very quick, and then she had the trolley come to take us to the Lindo for dinner. That dinner had also been bumped up to 6:00 instead of 6:30 and we got to the restaurant a little before 6 so we just waited in the chairs outside of the restaurant. The buffet for the Italian restaurant is half of the buffet that is used for the breakfast and lunch buffets. They block it off half for Italian and half for the dinner buffet. Since we had only reserved the rehearsal for the bridal party, spouses and parents we did not have to do the set menu so everyone got to order what they wanted. They brought out plates of lasagna and meat cannelloni as an appetizer, and we could also go to the buffet. Everyone said that was really good, but I didn’t eat it so can’t comment. I ordered the ravioli and Mike got the gnocchi. When they brought out the entrees they also brought out plates of lamb chops. Again everyone said that was really good, but I didn’t eat it. Mike’s family said that was better than their dinners. The ravioli and gnocchi were really good. After dinner Mike and I and the bridal party went to the bar to meet our other guests. We were the only ones in there, and we drank way too much. Mike and my MOH’s husband ended up going to the Galaxy nightclub and I went back to the room. They must have known it was the night before our wedding because they turned down the bed and had set up a different towel animal and also put bottled water and a glass on each of the nightstands (or they saw us in the bar and knew were drinking too much and that we need the water, ha ha!). However, they turned on the two spotlights on each side of the bed and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to turn them off. The light switches in the Iberostar hotels are weird, at first I just thought I was really stupid, but a lot of guests had the same issue so I didn’t feel so bad. I ended up going to bed with the lights on and Mike figured out how to shut them off when he came to the room. Once he got in bed I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. I was up pretty much the whole night so I was exhausted when I got up to get ready for the spa appointment.

This has taken me forever to get done, and I know the Iberostar brides have been waiting so patiently for me to finish. We haven’t gotten our pro pics back yet, but I took a bunch of pictures and my cousin and BIL took a lot so I put them into a slideshow below since it was easier than doing the photobucket thing. I am putting the photos first in case that is all you want to look at, and I am warning you all that this is a long review!!

 

Wedding Pictures for BDW

 

Leaving for Mexico…

 

was a breeze. The limo was right on time and we fit most of our luggage in the trunk, but had to put our carry on items and one suitcase and my dress in the back with us. It took us 11 minutes to get to the airport since we live so close and there was no traffic that early in the morning! My aunt and uncle got there while we were loading luggage onto the cart so we pawned a suitcase off to them since we had 5. United allows 2 checked bags per person, extras are $100 each way. We had brought a blank luggage tag to fill out with whoever got there first that could take a bag. We also had an extra carry on item that we gave to one of Mike’s friends. The airline employees at the counter were really friendly and joking around with us and they upgraded our seats for free. We had 12 people from our group on our flight so it was nice that a lot of people were together.

 

When we got to Mexico, Mike and I got the green light in customs as well as everyone else except for my friend/BM Sarah and her husband Phil. They got the dreaded red light and they were right behind us so we got lucky. They quickly looked through their stuff and let them go. We made our way outside to find the Lomas bus to take us to the resort. They loaded our bags and the Iberostar was the first stop. They stop at the Grand first, then Maya, then Lindo and Beach and Del Mar are last. We got a ticket for our bags and the Lomas customer service rep came by us and told us to stop by to get our return time, and then walked all of us to the check in desk. The lobby at the Lindo is really nice. There is a big fountain in the middle, and they came and handed out punch (which was really good!). Franco checked all of us in and explained everything. In our packet we had a letter from Araceli to call her when we arrived. Franco called her office, but she didn’t answer. They upgraded us to a Jacuzzi suite so we were in building 51, room 5180. The Jacuzzi is on the balcony. We had a king size bed, and the room was a good size. The beds are HARD, but I had no trouble sleeping except for the night before the wedding. The only downside was each person got a towel card for the pool. You have to give the towel shack your card for one towel per card. You can just exchange the wet towel for a dry one and then just get your card back before you check out. If you lose your card you have to pay $10. The resort was very clean, and we would always see the staff cleaning.

 

We walked around the resort a bit to take some pictures. They had a wedding set up on the beach and they got new decorations. The set up was very nice, but the lounge chairs were still too close and the beach was very busy. We found the pyramid that we thought was the gazebo option for our wedding, but I was very disappointed. The ceiling was painted green, but there was so much chipped paint and it was very noticeable. We then found another gazebo in the courtyard of the building next to ours. It was a lot smaller so we assumed we wouldn’t be able to fit everyone in there. We decided if those were our only two options we would have the ceremony on the beach. We then went back to our room to see if our bags were there yet so we could change into our swimsuits since we were sweating in our jeans and hoodies! The bags weren’t there, but Araceli called the room to have us come down. We met with her for a bit to go over all the details. Since we didn’t have our luggage I couldn’t show her all the decorations and things we brought down. Araceli is so sweet and small! She had printed out all the details document that she sent me to fill out to go over everything to confirm. We talked to her about the gazebo options and told her we saw the pyramid and smaller gazebo and weren’t really happy with either. She said the small gazebo is for smaller weddings and we had too many people. She then showed us a picture of the other gazebo option in the shopping center. As soon as I saw the picture I knew that was where the wedding would be. It was beautiful! They would wrap the railings with tulle and put flowers on the steps. We requested the pink chair bows (also new), but she said they might not have enough so they would alternate with the white. We brought down our sand ceremony kit since we carried that on, but she told us to come back on Wednesday and meet with Tony to bring the rest of the stuff since she was off that day. She then showed us the Los Vitrales Room where we would have our reception, and some pictures of different set ups we could have for an extra fee. Of course I loved two of the options, but since I didn’t know we had those options before we got there we didn’t budget to pay for them. You could have a lounge set up with all white couches and chairs, uplighting around the room and the DJ for $1260. The other option was tall cocktail tables wrapped in white tablecloths and silver chairs with the lighting, but no DJ for $800. We opted for the standard with long tables and added white chair covers. We hired the resort DJ for $100 (which we had planned for initially). We had made a playlist for the reception so all the DJ had to do was press play. Probably the easiest $100 he ever made, but something we didn’t have to worry about or bother our guests with. I was happy with the set up we chose, but had I known about the other options I would have budgeted for the lounge set up. It just looked awesome! Also, because of the winter season the dinner times changed from 6:30 to 6:00 PM. I had printed out itineraries with the 6:30 time, and then having that change also changed the time for cocktails and pictures. I had to write over the itineraries for our guests with the new info. We confirmed our dinner at the Steakhouse in the Maya hotel, but were undecided where we would have cocktails so we said we would confirm with Tony the next day.

 

We went to the gift shop to see what items we could find for the OOT bags. We just ended up buying postcards to add since we had brought down a bunch of items with us. We had also bought mini bottles of tequila at the resort Tequileria (the bottles here were the same price as in Playa del Carmen, but other souveniers were usually cheaper in town). We assembled the OOT and favor gift bags in our room, and updated the itineraries with the new times and location since we had confirmed with Araceli. We hand delivered the OOT bags to the guests that arrived that day. Most of the people were on our flight, but we had other guests that came in later so we just asked the desk for their room numbers. We decided we would hand deliver the rest of the bags since we got to personally welcome everyone and chat with them a bit. We only had 15 bags to hand out so it wasn’t a big deal for us. If you have more guests you might want the front desk to hand them out. The Lindo would pass out the bags as people checked in, but they would only do it if all the bags were the same. We had different items in the bags that had kids, and we also put different information in the packets for the bridal party so we put name tags on each of the bags at home so it would have been confusing for the staff anyway especially since some of our guests go by different names than what was on their reservations. All our guests really appreciated the bags and everyone was using them at the pool. A lot of people forgot to bring OFF so they were really happy to find that in their bags! No one used the cups during the trip, but when they got home they discovered they changed color so they were using them when they got back and commented on how cool they were.

 

When we met with Tony (also very nice) we gave her a suitcase filled with our wedding items. Once we had unpacked everything I went through and put sticky notes on our stuff as a reminder of where it should be placed, etc. We were going to have the cocktail hour by the gazebo so people could drink while they took pictures, but we didn’t have a large enough group for the set up (you need a minimum of 40 guests). She recommended we just have the cocktail hour in the lobby bar at the Maya since we were having dinner in the steakhouse restaurant there and then we would not be charged the per person fee for the pre-dinner cocktail hour. We decided to do that, and she said the trolley would take our guests from the gazebo to the Maya. Tony took us over there so we could see the lobby bar in person and where the dinner would be set up since we hadn’t been in the Maya hotel yet. She also confirmed us for the rehearsal to take place on Thursday night and my spa appointments that I requested in advance for my trial and wedding day, and some other guests appointments or the wedding day. We confirmed the rehearsal dinner for the Italian restaurant. Even before I told her things she knew off the top of her head what I had requested and spoke to Araceli about. Mike and I were both very impressed!

The jewelry boxes are beautiful!

I didn't either until we met with Araceli. I can't even tell you how happy I was when she showed us the pictures because I was so disappointed with the pyramid. I probably would have been OK with the beach, but I do not like being the center of attention so having a bunch of strangers watching us would have made me very nervous!

They had the pink sashes, but they didn't have enough for all the chairs which is why we alternated with the white. I liked having the splash of color on the chairs. We did not get charged for the chair sashes. My TA told me that the bride that got married there that had pink chair bows rented them, but Araceli said they were new along with the beach decorations. I guess if you would want enough chair bows for all your chairs you would need to bring them down or ask the WC if you can rent chair bows. Araceli only offered us the pink or white so I don't know if they ave other colors. Pink and green were our colors so we lucked out.

I know someone mentioned flowers. The flowers that the resort florist provided were beautiful! I absolutely loved my bouquet, and it was exactly what I wanted. Although, I did think both my bouquet and the BMs would have been bigger. They did mess up my BM bouquets though. I requested all white roses and sent a picture. Tony met me at the spa with the hair flowers which were also not what I requested. The BM bouquets were light pink with smaller flowers around them (the ones that were in my hair). I also had provided green ribbon to be tied around the stems of all the bouquets which they did not do. Tony said she would get it fixed. The hair flowers she brought to the spa were HUGE!! I'm talking as big as my head huge. Luckily, the smaller mistake flowers they added to the BM bouquets were closer to what I wanted so we picked those out and added them to my hair and I took two for my sister (flower girl). Tony brought the corrected bouquets to my room while we were out taking pictures. They replaced the pink flowers with white ones, but left the other flowers in there. They still looked nice though. They had wrapped them in the green ribbon. I put my starfish in the bouquet and I had also tied on a charm that said MOM on it with small pink ribbon that I brought with. I had requested all white roses for the centerpieces that were to be placed in the blumebox vases I brought down. I also gave a picture of that, but I got completely different flowers. I think there were a couple white and hot pink roses in there along with different flowers. I was actually quite happy they didn't give me what I wanted because I loved what they did. Our guests carried them into the private room after dinner and some took them back to their room. I kept one also. The flowers lasted pretty much the rest fo the trip, and I used one of the flowers from the centerpiece as my hair flower for the TTD session.

I will try to finish my review tonight!!!

Both are beautiful! You've got one fat rock girlie! I love your nail polish color too, what is it?

They were just solid colors, not Mexican looking or anything.

You looked beautiful! I love the one pic of you and you husband kissing with the sun setting in the background.

If you have a mac this is what we did, and we did burn the playlists to CDs as backup but didn't need to use them:

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31383

They are so cute, I love the footprints. Great job as usual Sarah!!

Everything looks great! I had the same OOT bags and everyone used them during the trip. Also, a piece of advice on the sand ceremony vase. We carried it on along with our sand and we had little seashells too. When we came home we tried carrying on the filled vase, but they would not let us so we had to put it back in the box in our checked luggage. It wasn't completely filled and we had to borrow some tape from the airline desk since the topper has to be removed. Nothing broke in the checked luggage, but all our sand mixed together. I thought I would warn you. It probably would have been OK if it was filled, or if we could have packed some tissue or soemthing in vase prior to taping it.

It is taking forever to upload my pics and resize them, but here are two of the wedding set up to tide you over. When we got to the Lindo we walked around to check out the resort and where the gazebos were. We thought our only option was the pyramid and then we found another gazebo in one of the courtyards, but it seemed to be too small for our wedding size. The pyramid was awful! There is green paint on the ceiling was chipping off in big chunks on all four sides and was very noticeable. When we walked down to the beach we saw the set up there. The lounge chairs are very close to the wedding location, much closer in person than what I had seen in pictures and the beach is very busy so there was usually people in the water. We had gone down there to take pictures of the bridal party before our ceremony and it was very difficult to take pictures without people in the background. Anyhow, they did get new decorations for the beach ceremony and got rid of those ugly pillars. They now have these tiki style pillars that you could place flowers on top of, and the "arch" is one of those bamboo style canopys with tulle wrapped around it. I was not a fan of the old beach set up, but liked the new one so Mike and I had decided if the pyramid was our only option we would just move the ceremony to the beach (I do have a couple pictures so I will attach those once they are uploaded). However, when we met with Araceli she showed us pictures of another gazebo that we could use that is apparently shared by te Lindo and Del Mar coordinators, but luckily it wasn't requested already for our date so we were able to get it. The gazebo is in the center of the shopping plaza across the street from the Lindo. It is much more private there as there is barely anyone ever walking around the shopping plaza. So here is how it was set up.

 

Looks like a fun shower, and how cool that they surprised you!