amy706

SPA – Grade: A+ I didn’t have a lot of girls getting stuff done, Cant Wait warned them not to mess anything up with my group, I made good friends with Jennifer, the spa concierge, and between Mike and I bought 11 massages for parents, people in our wedding party, etc. The end result is that my spa experience was PERFECT. And they gave all of my guests a really good discount on massages as well if they said they were with my party (so a 50 min massage was $85 instead of $125). I had a hair trial with Trinidad a few days prior (she did it the day of as well). She did a great job. I brought pictures and what she created was incredible. We went to the disco on the night of my trial and my hair fell out so the day of I asked for more bobby pins. It held a bit better but still loosened by the end of the night. Be insistent for lots of bobby pins!! BUT – she did a FANTASTIC job. Seriously. Loved it. Also, I prearranged with Carlos to do a little champagne, cheese, chocolate covered strawberries for 4 people. They had it set up 10 minutes early and was waiting when my BMs arrived. We ended up having the rest of the BMs not getting hair done stop by and they brought another bottle of champagne, and didn’t charge any more for it. FYI this was $12 per person. It was a nice surprise for the girls and well worth it. They also let my step mom set up her make up there so she could do my makeup in the spa. FYI- the lighting in the rooms is really bad. My stepmom needed natural sunlight so we set up by the window at the spa and it worked great. Everyone there was so nice and accommodating. Again, I had my hair done there, 1 BM hair, and 1 BM makeup (I gave her mine since my stepmom did mine). And it all went smoothly. Also and this was huge. Jennifer, the spa concierge, was amazing. Not only did she give my group great discounts but she was so sweet and answered so many questions I had. My pepto bismol exploded in my bag despite being in a Ziploc and got all over my white dress I planned to use for my TTD. I asked her about where to buy detergent. She went out and bought some for me and gave it to me the next day!!! She really went above and beyond all week. THEN she helped us get tequila at a good rate for our tequila tasting and helped us look into cigars too we ended up getting these on our own but she was SOOO helpful – seriously above and beyond. She ALSO offered to do a tequila history for us free of charge. We took her up on it and she was fantastic! We of course gave her a huge tip. She deserved it!! She was a super nice person too. Her mom is actually a member on the DT forum. I read some of her posts during the closing. Anyway, Jennifer rocks and anyone that meets her. Tell her Amy & Mike say hello! See – look how happy my brother looks! PHOTOGRAPHER: CITALLI FROM CLAUDIA RODRIGUEZ: She was sweet but I haven’t seen the pics yet so a grade to follow! She was on time, even a few minutes early. Waiting at my room when I got back from the spa. We took pics beforehand first with my fam and BM then I hid in my room and she did the GM and grooms’fam. More details and pics to come when I get them… LANDY AND HER STAFF – Grade: A+ (Anabel, Lizette, & Mitzi helped) Okay you guys must start to think I’m an easy grader. Seriously I loved everything about the wedding and wedding week and am so grateful to the people that made it possible! Mike, my mom and I met with Landy on Monday (wedding was on Friday) and went over all of the details. She is very accommodating and on top of it. She seemed real organized with her excel spreadsheet and print outs of everything I had ever sent her- very comforting!! We met her again on Thursday to give her all of our decorations we brought and pay her. Mike and I wanted to do the cocktail hour on the lobby deck and she had told us over email and again live that she thought it wasn’t good. We had too large a group and its not private. When she could tell we were really wanting it she said we could do it. But as we thought about it we changed our minds (and glad we did)- more on cocktail hour later. ANYWAY – she’s willing to do what she can for you. She did an excellent job of orchestrating everything we gave her!! I was truly amazed! The day before the wedding Mike and I walked into our rooms and holy cannoli my dress was hanging on our bed in all its glory. Mike immediately turned and ran when he caught a glimpse BUT STILL. I was irritated. It was supposed to arrive the following day, not that day. ADVICE: PLEASE PLEASE remember to ask Landy to have them put the dress BACK in the bag. I don’t even know what happened to the bag the dress was in. would have been nice to have to take the dress home. Anyway, when I saw Landy at our little rehearsal shortly after I told her. And she immediately had it removed from our room and returned the following day. I’m not sure why the laundry/pressing service doesn’t return the damn thing with a bag around it. Also, my MOH said she saw them bringing it to my room and almost had a hard attack b/c at that time it was overcast and very well could have started to rain. It all worked out. This was probably the biggest hiccup I had… so let’s put this in perspective. Not a big deal but please do write it down now to remember to ask Landy when you meet with her there before your wedding. BAG FOR GOWN after its pressed! More...

DEEP SEA FISHING – Grade: C (was fun, caught 6 fish in 4 hours, and 2 out of 6 people got sick) We hung out with our guests each day as they arrived. Tuesday Mike took my brothers, dad, step dad, and his dad on a deep sea fishing trip. He organized this the day before through one of the reps located on site at DT. It was $525 and tipped 100 bucks + transport of 70 bucks for 7 people. They had a great time and caught fish. Only downside my step dad was sea sick the entire time! Mike got sick too – threw up and then was okay the rest of the time. Ugh. Captain said last 8 boats that went out caught nothing and they were lucky to catch what they did. Guess Dec is a slow month for fishing… TULUM RUINS- Grade A- (only because trekking to the ruins and beach with small kids is a pain… but everyone agreed worth it!) We had everyone meet in the lobby and we took taxis to the Tulum ruins. About 50 people attended and I pre-organized envelopes with the exact money needed for cabs there and back (cab fare is $7 each way). I had one of the GM go ahead with Mike ahead of time. BTW – you need to use pesos for the entrance fee. Its 48 pesos. There is an exchange place right there at the ruins but I’m guessing it’s a pretty bad rate. My FI at the time went to reserve some space at the beach cove and the GM bought the tickets for everyone and handed them out to people as they arrived. We had everyone do their own thing with regards to the ruins and then meet us all down on the beach for swimming, champagne toast, and snacks. Mike and I took a taxi into town the day before and bought champagne (cash only) at a liquor/vino store and snacks (at market called San Franciscan right in Tulum town)- credit cards accepted. There was a security guard of some sorts at the beach who told us we couldn’t drink on the beach (meanwhile there were loads of other people drinking) so we gave him $15 and said we’re dong a wedding toast and he said okay just be discreet and he walked away. Hilarious. We didn’t stay discreet at all. We had a BLAST. This was a big hit with everyone that made it. Great pictures at a beautiful spot. Pretty cheap to do as well all in all. We looked into shuttles at the resort – both the apple rep and the bell man and it was more expensive than just taking individual taxis. Plus since we had kids in the group we wanted to give people flexibility to leave when they wanted to leave. This worked great! Plus we had people arriving that day who were a tad later so they ended up just taking taxis and meeting us there. So everyone could come/go as they pleased. REHEARSAL- Grade: A We met at the Seaside Grill for a quick rehearsal. Landy was on time and was great. We did a quick run through- although I pretty much conducted the whole thing. We had 8 BMs and 8 GMs so I had to tell everyone the order, etc, etc. I wrote the whole ceremony so had to tell the readers when their cue was to read, etc. It went great though! SUNSET WELCOME CRUISE (post-rehearsal)- Grade: A+ I organized a sunset catamaran cruise through Cancun Discounts. Cancun discounts: Cancun Discounts - Cheap Cancun Tours, Hotels, Activities, More. Email for cancun discounts (Johann was who I worked with): [email protected] Actual boat operator email: (Damien was who I worked with) [email protected] We thought we had 60 people so we went with a 100 person boat. We ended up with 50 so could have done the smaller one but it worked. We had plenty of room. The staff was GREAT. We brought CDs and Ipod and both worked. They really enjoyed us and we enjoyed them! They had someone taking pictures the whole time with a really nice camera and then sold the cd for $100. Not sure it was worth it but one of our aunts bought it for us-which was nice. He did do a great job of capturing everyone. We had tuna croissant sandwiches that were great although would have liked more variety or a better set up. They were just passed around in a big bowl. Drinks included beer, rum or tequila drinks. People did a lot of shots. The staff was great. Everyone had an amazing time!! TOTALLY worth it. Here’s the pricing (again this is for the huge boat) Catamaran - $1,800 Package # 1 - $16.25 per person (Includes Open Bar, Snacks, Tip) – we tipped on top of that as well because we had such a great time. Transportation - $7 per person (we left out of Puerto Adventuras- about 30 minutes away)

Amy & Mike Dreams Tulum Wedding Review December 5th, 2008 First of all, I cannot thank BDW and so many of you for all of your help, guidance, knowledge, great ideas, and fabulous templates. Special thanks to Can’t Wait (wouldn’t have made it through the closure debacle without you), Sunbride for not only having the answers but continuing to be such a resource on the DT thread!! And so many others – I’d go on all day! Thank you thank you! DREAMS TULUM- Grade: A My family, Mike (hubby) and I spent a week at DT and it was perfect! Each day new guests arrived. Everyone had an AMAZING time. We had 70 guests total, 8 children. Dreams Tulum is gorgeous, foods great, activities awesome, wedding coordinators did a great job. And for a great value. ACTIVITIES- Grade: A There is SO much to do no matter what your age or interest! I peaked my head in on a couple of the shows for a teeny bit but my family took the kids a couple times and really enjoyed them!! Circus night, Mexican fiesta night. We didn’t do a ton of the activities around the resort but my aunts, grandma, step mom laughed their a*s off doing and watching the water aerobics. I did yoga on the beach. Not too difficult but very relaxing and nice. The gym is really quite bad. Really hot and the machines are not so great and not too many of them. As gorgeous as the rest of the place is, it surprises me that the gym is so bad. Oh well – I stopped attempting exercise after the first couple of days!! Watching Mon night football on the big screen on the beach was AWESOME. The kids and my parents watched Shrek one night and loved that too! Also- It is definitely quite chilly at night though to the point of cold at this time of year. I brought pashminas and probably could have worn a sweater too to keep warm! But it was GORGEOUS during the day. Overcast 1 day out of 7. The rest was sun and sun mixed with clouds. SERVICE- Grade: A Mike & I visited DT last January and the service from all of the staff was beyond my expectations and memory from the site visit! Everyone went above and beyond. You order room service and they say “it is my pleasure to take your order.†Right before we walked down the aisle we broke a champagne glass in the sink. We called. “It would be my pleasure to come and clean up the glass for you.†It was incredible. The pool staff is great- Oscar, Jamie from entertaiment. So much fun. The servers around the pool and beach were fantastic- Francisco, Alberto. They started to know us by name and our drinks choices! I cannot say enough about the service- including the spa (Jennifer the spa concierge, and Carlos- more on them later were WAY ABOVE AND BEYOND amazing). I met Javier the concierge we all speak to- wonderful! Daniel Mellado came to meet me when we arrived since we had spoke so much around the closure. He was magnificent. He also came to say goodbye when we left, gave us his card, if we want to return or go to another AM resorts spot for an anniversary. It was amazing and every one of our guests commented on how great the service was. ROOMS- Grade: A- My entire immediate family was upgraded free of charge to Dreams Suites. Some of my friends were and some weren’t. Be forewarned though if you pay for an “ocean view†– many of the oceanviews are partial ocean views to the point that you sort of need to crink your neck to see the ocean. Mike and I paid for an oceanview. We spent one night in it – it was fine but you really couldn’t see the ocean. They had upgraded us to Dreams side which was nice but we wanted to go all out so we ended up changing to an ocean FRONT dreams suite. We actually got the room on the ground floor right by the seaside grill which was PERFECT because I was able to walk right out of my room and down the aisle! Room 8139. Oh- also a tip. We found that some of the rooms were hot and some were FREEZING and we all couldn’t figure out how to change it. At one point when Luis (concierge who is adorable and so great) came to help me with my safe which wasn’t working (rings locked in it on the day of the wedding!—batteries were running out so it wouldn’t let me open it!). Anyway he said you have to hold the up/down, on/off button down for SEVERAL seconds or else it doesn’t do anything. Wish we learned that earlier. We froze our butt off all week!! Ha! I did go to a few hacienda rooms of my guests and they are quite charming. Everyone seemed pleased! FOOD- Grade: A- Staff at restaurants- Grade: A for servers, C for hostesses/people that seat you they were slow to seat you even when tables were available and they were not very accommodating for large parties Again, every one of our guests commented on how good the food was. My dad and step mom travel a lot and they were quite impressed with the food. They vacationed at the Moon Palace a few years ago and said they got sick of the food in 2 days and that the food here was hands down MUCH better. And so many options that they never got sick of it. We loved all of the restaurants. They all had great dishes. Here are some of our favorites: Portofino: portabello appetizer, filet, scallops, red snapper, gnocchi, risotto. El Patio: lime soup (its kind of like a tortilla soup; chicken broth, chicken, tortillas- YUM), mahi mahi quite good here. Himitsu: spring rolls were FANTASTIC. All the main dishes were great. The noodles were the only ones that were just okay. It was like a thai noodle or something. I cant remember. I never ate at Gohan but I had several guests say it was good. Not great but pretty good. World Café: ate there every day for breakfast and twice for lunch. The breakfasts are perfect. Something for everyone. I loved the fresh fruit, the fresh fruit juice & smoothie bar. Smoked salmon and nutellaJ not eaten together of course. The eggs, fresh break and pastries, etc. All big hits. I hadn’t planned on eating lunch there but Mike and I were late to meet Landy so we ran in real quickly. It was DELICIOUS. Again something for everone. Freshly grilled meat, chicken and shrimp (you can see them grill it right there). So tasty. I actually loved the mini cheeseburger I scammed from the kids table! J Fried plantains. Oh and the ceviche is incredible!! Of course guacamole, pica de gallo, etc etc. My family ate there with the kids 2 nights for dinner. They said one night was okay and one night was awesome. Not sure what was different- I guess just the selection. APPLE VACATIONS- Grade: C While we got good rates through apple and the transfers (non-private, non-direct) included. Apple messed up a LOT of our transfers. Mike and I were originally supposed to fly in on 11/30. We ended up having to change to 11/29 b/c of some flight changes. Daniel gave us a free night at DT (guilt over the closings? But we were VERY grateful) and my TA made the changes through apple. Of course when we got there they didn’t have us on for 11/29 so we had to spend literally an hour at the cancun airport while literally about 12 apple reps ran around on the phone trying to figure it out. It took a good hour. So the next day my family was supposed to arrive. 13 people flying on the same flight from Detroit and 5 from Denver. Well one of the kids from Denver was recorded as staying in one of the rooms from one of the adults coming from Detroit. As a result they had the numbers all wrong. Plus they had me and mike on their list for 11/30 (even though we came in on 11/29) and someone did not have my dad. It was all screwed up. And they had to spend almost 2 hours trying to sort it out. And this is with 5 kids, 2 of which are under 3 years old and after spending the day flying. And then of course face the bus ride. Anyway same song and dance with my brother and his fam flying in from Denver. Just ridiculous. After all of that travel plus then the long bus ride- it was just too much. They also messed up on the people that were sharing a room but flying in on different flights. Thankfully everyone made it in the end but I’m pretty pissed about all of the problems everyone had. I emailed my TA from DT and she was surprised. She had given apple eeryone’s flight information. It seemed they went by room reservaton, not flight info. Weird. And really frustrating. More coming...

Amy & Mike Dreams Tulum Wedding Review December 5th, 2008 First of all, I cannot thank BDW and so many of you for all of your help, guidance, knowledge, great ideas, and fabulous templates. Special thanks to Can’t Wait (wouldn’t have made it through the closure debacle without you), Sunbride for not only having the answers but continuing to be such a resource on the DT thread!! And so many others – I’d go on all day! Thank you thank you! DREAMS TULUM- Grade: A My family, Mike (hubby) and I spent a week at DT and it was perfect! Each day new guests arrived. Everyone had an AMAZING time. We had 70 guests total, 8 children. Dreams Tulum is gorgeous, foods great, activities awesome, wedding coordinators did a great job. And for a great value. ACTIVITIES- Grade: A There is SO much to do no matter what your age or interest! I peaked my head in on a couple of the shows for a teeny bit but my family took the kids a couple times and really enjoyed them!! Circus night, Mexican fiesta night. We didn’t do a ton of the activities around the resort but my aunts, grandma, step mom laughed their a*s off doing and watching the water aerobics. I did yoga on the beach. Not too difficult but very relaxing and nice. The gym is really quite bad. Really hot and the machines are not so great and not too many of them. As gorgeous as the rest of the place is, it surprises me that the gym is so bad. Oh well – I stopped attempting exercise after the first couple of days!! Watching Mon night football on the big screen on the beach was AWESOME. The kids and my parents watched Shrek one night and loved that too! Also- It is definitely quite chilly at night though to the point of cold at this time of year. I brought pashminas and probably could have worn a sweater too to keep warm! But it was GORGEOUS during the day. Overcast 1 day out of 7. The rest was sun and sun mixed with clouds. SERVICE- Grade: A Mike & I visited DT last January and the service from all of the staff was beyond my expectations and memory from the site visit! Everyone went above and beyond. You order room service and they say “it is my pleasure to take your order.†Right before we walked down the aisle we broke a champagne glass in the sink. We called. “It would be my pleasure to come and clean up the glass for you.†It was incredible. The pool staff is great- Oscar, Jamie from entertaiment. So much fun. The servers around the pool and beach were fantastic- Francisco, Alberto. They started to know us by name and our drinks choices! I cannot say enough about the service- including the spa (Jennifer the spa concierge, and Carlos- more on them later were WAY ABOVE AND BEYOND amazing). I met Javier the concierge we all speak to- wonderful! Daniel Mellado came to meet me when we arrived since we had spoke so much around the closure. He was magnificent. He also came to say goodbye when we left, gave us his card, if we want to return or go to another AM resorts spot for an anniversary. It was amazing and every one of our guests commented on how great the service was. ROOMS- Grade: A- My entire immediate family was upgraded free of charge to Dreams Suites. Some of my friends were and some weren’t. Be forewarned though if you pay for an “ocean view†– many of the oceanviews are partial ocean views to the point that you sort of need to crink your neck to see the ocean. Mike and I paid for an oceanview. We spent one night in it – it was fine but you really couldn’t see the ocean. They had upgraded us to Dreams side which was nice but we wanted to go all out so we ended up changing to an ocean FRONT dreams suite. We actually got the room on the ground floor right by the seaside grill which was PERFECT because I was able to walk right out of my room and down the aisle! Room 8139. Oh- also a tip. We found that some of the rooms were hot and some were FREEZING and we all couldn’t figure out how to change it. At one point when Luis (concierge who is adorable and so great) came to help me with my safe which wasn’t working (rings locked in it on the day of the wedding!—batteries were running out so it wouldn’t let me open it!). Anyway he said you have to hold the up/down, on/off button down for SEVERAL seconds or else it doesn’t do anything. Wish we learned that earlier. We froze our butt off all week!! Ha! I did go to a few hacienda rooms of my guests and they are quite charming. Everyone seemed pleased! FOOD- Grade: A- Staff at restaurants- Grade: A for servers, C for hostesses/people that seat you they were slow to seat you even when tables were available and they were not very accommodating for large parties Again, every one of our guests commented on how good the food was. My dad and step mom travel a lot and they were quite impressed with the food. They vacationed at the Moon Palace a few years ago and said they got sick of the food in 2 days and that the food here was hands down MUCH better. And so many options that they never got sick of it. We loved all of the restaurants. They all had great dishes. Here are some of our favorites: Portofino: portabello appetizer, filet, scallops, red snapper, gnocchi, risotto. El Patio: lime soup (its kind of like a tortilla soup; chicken broth, chicken, tortillas- YUM), mahi mahi quite good here. Himitsu: spring rolls were FANTASTIC. All the main dishes were great. The noodles were the only ones that were just okay. It was like a thai noodle or something. I cant remember. I never ate at Gohan but I had several guests say it was good. Not great but pretty good. World Café: ate there every day for breakfast and twice for lunch. The breakfasts are perfect. Something for everyone. I loved the fresh fruit, the fresh fruit juice & smoothie bar. Smoked salmon and nutellaJ not eaten together of course. The eggs, fresh break and pastries, etc. All big hits. I hadn’t planned on eating lunch there but Mike and I were late to meet Landy so we ran in real quickly. It was DELICIOUS. Again something for everone. Freshly grilled meat, chicken and shrimp (you can see them grill it right there). So tasty. I actually loved the mini cheeseburger I scammed from the kids table! J Fried plantains. Oh and the ceviche is incredible!! Of course guacamole, pica de gallo, etc etc. My family ate there with the kids 2 nights for dinner. They said one night was okay and one night was awesome. Not sure what was different- I guess just the selection. APPLE VACATIONS- Grade: C While we got good rates through apple and the transfers (non-private, non-direct) included. Apple messed up a LOT of our transfers. Mike and I were originally supposed to fly in on 11/30. We ended up having to change to 11/29 b/c of some flight changes. Daniel gave us a free night at DT (guilt over the closings? But we were VERY grateful) and my TA made the changes through apple. Of course when we got there they didn’t have us on for 11/29 so we had to spend literally an hour at the cancun airport while literally about 12 apple reps ran around on the phone trying to figure it out. It took a good hour. So the next day my family was supposed to arrive. 13 people flying on the same flight from Detroit and 5 from Denver. Well one of the kids from Denver was recorded as staying in one of the rooms from one of the adults coming from Detroit. As a result they had the numbers all wrong. Plus they had me and mike on their list for 11/30 (even though we came in on 11/29) and someone did not have my dad. It was all screwed up. And they had to spend almost 2 hours trying to sort it out. And this is with 5 kids, 2 of which are under 3 years old and after spending the day flying. And then of course face the bus ride. Anyway same song and dance with my brother and his fam flying in from Denver. Just ridiculous. After all of that travel plus then the long bus ride- it was just too much. They also messed up on the people that were sharing a room but flying in on different flights. Thankfully everyone made it in the end but I’m pretty pissed about all of the problems everyone had. I emailed my TA from DT and she was surprised. She had given apple eeryone’s flight information. It seemed they went by room reservaton, not flight info. Weird. And really frustrating. More coming...

I was lucky enough to hear your review live on the beach in Tulum but the pictures are AWESOME! You look gorgeous. And holy crap- the menus and details are incredible! I know you wanted different flowers but those centerpieces look great and the whole set up at teh seaside is amazing!!!

Hi Ladies, Quick message from Tulum.... EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING AND PERFECT! Landy did an absolutely incredible job on our wedding. I met with Karla (Cant Wait) a couple days before my wedding and after hers and she gave me some great tips. THANK YOU KARLA as always! I think I lucked out b/c the other dec 5th wedding cancelled so I got the day to myself. And I brought all kinds of stuff down and landy set everything up perfectly. it looked incredible and everything ran better than i could have dreamed. only hiccup was that they recently had to change fire dancer vendors so instead of 200 bucks for 20 minutes it was 400 bucks But they were great. we surprised the guests and they LOVED it. Still worth it even though it was a lot more money. Jennifer, the spa concierge, is AMAZING. she helped us with getting tequila, cigars for our tasting we did and she did a tequila history for us that we werent planning on doing. the guests LOVED it. and we went through 4 bottles of really good tequila in about 30 minutes. frightening! I surprised my new hubby with singing him a song. everyone died b/c nobody new i could sing. i cant really but it was just a song i knew i could hit each note- something to talk about, bonnie rait. i gave it a nice set up b/c mike and i met at work. it was pretty funny. anyway more later with pics and super long review but i cannot speak more highly of landy, carlos (DJ mannia), jennifer the spa concierge, carlos the spa manager, Luis one of the concierges, the pool entertainment staff (oscar, jamie). the food all week was incredible. even my dad and step mom who are kind of snobs thought it was awesome. we did the buffet for the wedding (we had 70 people) and it was INCREDIBLE. everyone loved it. the set up was gorgeous. beautiful carvings. oh and i was nervous about the flowers b/c i wanted tropical flowers and they did an AWESOME job. I loved loved loved my flowers. Oh my I cant wait to see pictures let alone post them and send you all a review. Mike and I are now at the mezzanine - a small boutique hotel in tulum. I must recommend to all brides who are yet to get married at DT. book a room at one of these cute eco-hotels in Tulum. and i highly recommend the mezzanine!!! The beaches here are GORGEOUS (much prettier than at DT). Its tiny boutique eco-chic hotels and bungalows. beaches are not crowded at all. you can walk and see the ruins from the beach. its a TOTALLY different experience from DT and a perfect way to relax for a couple of days after spending nearly a week with friends and family at the big all inclusive. oh and post opening, DT is even better! they have beeen busy planting tons of new flowers and plants everywhere. the property looks great! as you can tell i cant say enough and i will write tons more when i'm settled in at home! I'm so excited for all of you to follow!!! I have no doubts it will all be perfect!

Thank you ladies! We're finishing up packing and burning the CDs now. I'll bring back a full report and lots of pictures for ya'll!! Take care!

thanks, caroline! We leave in the morning. SOOOOO excited!

yay sisterofthebrideerica- welcome back! glad it went well. cant wait to read the full details. We're leaving bright and ealry in the morning. I selfishly hope you can report back today so i can read it before i go. i'm sure you're swamped though. Glad to at least hear that it mostly went well! PHEW!! Today is Can't Waits big day!!!! Thinking happy thoughts for you, Karla!!

Hi Ladies! I'm actually on a similar plan except I did waxing and nails today! Took a 1/2 day. I'm working on Friday but then we're leaving on Saturday! I know this is weird but for the last week or so I've had a calmness. I think after all of the DT closure B.S. and stress and then getting out my trip pack/brochure thing... once i got past that I'm just sort of rolling with it. I hope and pray that this calmness sticks with me! Happy Thanksgiving and Weddings to all!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by sunbride yes to payment by cc. But note that they will charge you in mexican pesos (so they take the quoted american amount, convert to pesos, and then your credit card converts it back from pesos to american dollars. So you may get charged more with the double conversions) yes to travellers cheques. You can use them directly for the package in us$. If you want to exchange them for cash, you can only get pesos, not us cash for them at the front desk (well likely anywhere for that matter. If they gave you us$ they would have to give it to you at par and would make no profit, which is why they insist on giving it to you in pesos so they can make a bit of money off the exchange rate). thank you sunbride!!!

Random question- I guess probably for Sunbride, but the rest of you may know this as well. I'm assuming you can pay DT for wedding stuff with a credit card, right? Also- can you cash travellers checks at DT. Does anybody know? THANKS! I'm leaving on Saturday early and trying to get all my payments to all my vendors organized!!! yahoo!!

Yes! We are doing a sunset welcome cruise the night before the wedding. Here's the link: Cancun Discounts - Cheap Cancun Tours, Hotels, Activities, More. its 1800 for the catamaran and then $16 per person for food and drink. And if you want transporation to the marina (its in playa del carmen) that's another $7/person.

Absolutely stunning!!!! Gorgeous pictures of a gorgeous couple!

SOOO glad your wedding went so perfectly at Secrets!! your pics are gorgeous. Cant wait to see more!

CONGRATULATIONS KEVSGRL!!!!! So exciting!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by SandyW I think it would be fun to meet up for a drink (maybe happy hour 4 or 5 pm on Wednesday 11/26??) I think Bonita (Sandra), Can't Wait (Karla) and myself for sure will be there ... Amy706 - will you be there yet and sisterofthebrideerica (Lisa) will you still be there then?? GOOD IDEA! I love it. Unfortunaley, I dont arrive until 11/29. Would love to meet up with whoever is still around although you all may be too busy with your new hubbies by then:)

Quote: Originally Posted by SandyW Can't Wait: Is there a Costco near Tulum? Amy, if you really care about the champagne I would suggest packing a suitcase of it - just make sure it doesn't weigh over 50 lbs and wrap each bottle in bubble wrap (keeps the weight down yet protects). My FI and I are very picky wine drinkers so everytime we have gone to Mexico in the past we have brought about 10 - 12 bottles in one bag in bubble wrap and we have never had a problem with it. We bought several bottles of wine in Mexico before and ended up dumping every last one out -- they were TERRIBLE - and expensive - I don't think they store their wine properly in the heat, etc. That's a good suggestion. Unfortunately, I am already bringing down so much stuff! I started packing my wedding stuff- decorations, welcome bags, etc and its 4 bags- big ones! I still haven't packed my gifts let alone my actual clothes. I have a couple BMs who will bring an extra bag who live in DC but I think i've reached my limit! Anyway- we'll figure it out. even if it means nasty champagne THANKS LADIES!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Ladies, I FINALLY got an email! whew! For anyone wondering...the name of the minister who performs their services is Francisco Flores. Remember, it's non-denominational AND the minister could change depending on availability. Here's an outline of what he'll say: Opening prayer Welcome 1st. Reading (Mark 10:6-9) Institution of marriage Reflexion on the scripture 2nd. Reading (1st. Corinthians 13:4-8a) Love Meditation on the reading Prayer for the rings (your hearts) Vows: Bride, Groom´s name: I give you this ring Wear it with love and joy I choose you to be my (wife, husband) From this day forward For better or for worst For richer or for poorer In sickness and in health To love and to cherish For as long as we both shall live Amen Presentation to the congregation as Mr. and Mrs. Signing of the certificate. You may write your own vows. You can add: Sand ceremony, poems, songs, other readings…etc. I will guide the timing for them, or as you prefer. It lasts approximately 20 to 25 minutes. ALSO, and this is a big also (at least for me), they will no longer be allowed to have bonfires on the beach. Landy says its part of the agreement the resort recently made with the gov't. Now, I need to think of something else for AFTER our big shindig! That stinks about the bonfire!!!!! but at least the resort is open again- ha! Thanks for the info, karla! I'm glad to hear you've heard back from them! Was it Landy that responded or someone else? I have quite a few questions out to Landy (and then I copied them to Anabel when she sent me the 1 month prior documents). No word yet... I'm sure they're backed up with the reopening but... I keep telling myself to chill. Its working... for now:) Ummm, Can't Wait... your ticker says 10 days!! HOLY CANOLLI!!!! that is awesome!! Yay yay yay!

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Neen, $652 is mucho dinero!!! My FH and I had this discussion a couple of weeks ago. We didn't want to do the courthouse thing since it seemed too impersonal. (while we got our marriage license, we saw a line of peeps waiting to get married). So what we are doing is getting the JofP to come to our house. Actually, it's my sisters house and he will come, marry us and then we're going to have a special dinner. That's costing us $200...more than just doing it at the courthouse but less than the rent a rabbi! just something to consider! Amy, how much booze are we talking about here? We're renting a mini-van (sexy, I know!) and I can buy stuff for you if you'd like. I'm planning on getting TONS of food, drinks, trinkets at Costco. Oh, I called the resort over the weekend. Yup, they're open. So relieved! really?!?! that is so nice of you to ffer. We wanted to get quite a few bottles (like 10?) of champagne and then just 2-3 bottles of tequila. that's probably too much to ask you to get for us. I appreciate it though!! we'll figure it out!!! OFFICIALLY OPEN- YAY YAY!!

Quote: Originally Posted by SunBride I'm not sure about a liquor store in Tulum. Since many of the brides don't venture into town (and there are very few married ladies on this thread to begin with) you should post your question in Trip Advisor's tulum area forum. There are a few locals there as well as many Tulum diehards so I'm sure somebody will answer your question. There are a few gift shops at the resort and I'm 90% sure they sell liquor, but probably not a huge selection and probably no fancy champagne. Not sure about the duty free thing. Obviously the intention is for people to buy it as they fly out and not as they arrive but maybe you'd be able to. I think usually those stores are past the security checkpoint though so that you can only shop there as you are waiting for your flight to depart. Great suggestion. I'll try that. Thanks, Sunbride. as for apple vacations- I was not told about any of that comp business so $600+ sounds like a good deal to me!! definitely look back into your records though and double check that its consistent. good luck with that!

$650 bucks! That's crazy, Neen! I dont blame you for going JOP on that one! Random question- does anybody know if the town of Tulum has a liquor store to buy tequila, nice champagne? Or any place within cab distance from DT? My transportation company wont make a stop on the way to DT unless I switch companies which i dont want to do because the first transport co is included. Also- coming IN to mexico, can you buy duty free and take it and drink it in Mex? i can only really picturing it coming back in to the US. Anyone know? THANKS!

Gorgeous!! MORE MORE MORE MORE!

Thanks, Samantha! The words TULUM in my logo were white so when i printed the logo's on transfer paper they came out clear. So on the bags it shows through as teh color of the canvas!

OMG KevsGrl- everything looks GREAT! I am SOOO impressed! I've seen those boot camps and they look intense but awesome! GO FOR IT!! I bet you wont' regret it but you would if you didnot do it! Keep us posted!!