Pazoop

Quote: Originally Posted by jweekley Pazoop! Your wedding looked like it was absolute perfection. Your photos are amazing! I do have a few questions for you...we're staying at Dreams as well and we're wanting to do a Welcome Dinner the evening before the wedding. Our travel agent isn't much help in finding out costs (our agent kind of sucks but I'm starting to think it's too late in the game to switch -our guests needed travel info.). What did you pay for the welcome dinner? Was it included in the cost since Dreams is an AI? We didn't serve a full dinner for our welcome party, just cocktails and hors'doeuvres (although there were lots there!). You do have to pay even though it's an all inclusive beacuse they do additional set up and have staff designated specifically for you. It ended up being about $15 pp for the welcome party, I think. A special event (or dinner) starts around $30pp and goes from there because it involves plated dinners, etc. We figured we had a rehearsal dinner too so we didn't go too wild with the welcome party. The $15 pp covered the set up cost of the tables and the Mexican fiesta style decor, the hors'doeuvres (i think there were 7 or 8 choices and we had tons left over), all cocktails (and they made us a special cocktail too), and waitstaff.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jenn6603 Thanks for your review! We are getting married at Dreams in 3 weeks - Rebeca has been totally awesome (I was more than frustrated with Diana!!). I do have a couple of questions... Did you have the symbolic or legal ceremony at Dreams? Did you have music at the ceremony? If you did, who played it? Again, if you did, did you bring CDs or an iPod? Thanks again for the review... I am starting to get really excited!! Jenn Hi Jenn, We actually got married on Las Caletas so I'm sorry but I really can't answer your questions. We didn't have any music set up for the welcome party. We figured since it was on the beach it might be a bit noisy. As it turned out, we were set up close to the adult pool bar (which is really small so it was no big deal) and they had music playing there which was loud enough for us to enjoy too. It was nice, I think they turned it up a bith for us. As I said, Rebecca was really helpful so I'm sure she'll help you plan a beautiful wedding. Sorry I can't be more help.

Hello LC brides! We've been back for almost a week now and the reality of being home has set in as we're being hit with our second winter storm of the week. I am definitely missing the sun and sand of PV! Our LC wedding was magical and I've posted a brief review of our vendors (Dreams Hotel, Vista Grill and Las Caletas) along with some non-pro pics here - http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t36195 I also shared my amazing experience working with Nathaniel Thompson in the bride referral. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t36187 He was fabulous and I have my wedding slideshow to share to show you!!! (TTD pics coming soon!) I know how much I always looked forward to LC wedding photos so I've wasted no time getting them up. I've already watched it several times since I woke up this morning! John and Julia's Wedding at Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta by Nathaniel Thompson Photography

Got my slideshow back! And it is better than I had imagined, if that's even possible!! Here it is... John and Julia's Wedding at Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta by Nathaniel Thompson Photography

We brought down the table clothes Bridesmaid bouquets on the table Cupcake tower under the chuppah at the reception Tequila tasting table Dancing with sparklers

We had the best wedding we could have ever possibly hoped for or imagined...below are some reviews of what made that possible. Dreams Hotel We had a really wonderful experience overall staying at the Dreams PV. There were hiccups, but mostly minor in nature and they didn’t effect anyone’s trip. For example, lots of our guests got stuck in 1st floor rooms without views in the old tower…this was more unfortunate than anything but it was frustrating because we had 60 guests booked so many months ahead and they assigned such rotten rooms. I understand they don’t pre-assign but it was a bummer. Otherwise, the new tower rooms were amazing! We had a Jacuzzi suite on the 9th floor and loved it! We also found the food and service to be great (we kept lots of $1 with us for tipping which staff appreciated). Our favorite restaurant was Oceana. The staff does have rules about no tables more than 10 but we found them to be really accommodating to us, particularly in the late morning at the World Café, in trying to give us large tables close together so that a lot more than 10 people could at least eat close to one another We started off working with the old wedding coordinator Diana and got nowhere!!!! She never answered emails, we couldn’t get her on the phone, it was all impossible! Then Rebecca got hired and it all got so much easier. She was responsive and reachable. When we arrived at the Dreams I asked the front desk if I could meet her to reconfirm all the details of the party and she came out within a few minutes (partly because she didn’t have a wedding that day). The welcome party set up was really nice and the food was good (or so I heard…I was too busy walking around greeting everyone). Let me know if you have anymore questions about the Dreams and/or Rebecca and I’ll be happy to answer them! Vista Grill The absolute perfect location for a rehearsal dinner! The view alone was worth the price of admission (which was not cheap – dinner was $45 per person including tip but without alcohol) but the food was also delicious. I found Lily Perez, their group’s coordinator, to be wonderful to work with via email. She responded really fast (usually within 8 hrs) to all my questions and followed through on every detail as promised. We had three tables on the upper balcony by the railing, impeccable service, and a really good view. As I said, it wound up being expensive once alcohol was added on…but if you have a smaller group or a bigger RD budget then it is worth it. Las Caletas Everything wonderful about Las Caletas has already been said in so many other posts and fabulous reviews so I won’t do a full one here. I will say that the evening was absolutely perfect – pure magic! And I owe that entirely to Kelley who somehow managed to bring every detail to life. She was wonderful throughout the entire process and the day of the wedding I just kept turning around and being more amazed by everything I saw and how beautiful it all was. I consider myself so lucky to have found my way to working with her and I thank BDW for that because that's how I learned about LC in the first place. So some details about the wedding -- we had the tropical trio for the cocktail hour and the DJ for the reception. My dad and sister had put together a slideshow of pics of me and my husband when we were children so we had a screen at the reception too. We also did a cupcake tower instead of cake (with one giant cupcake at the top), a tequila tasting table, smores, and these massive sparklers that everyone had so much fun with! We paid for an extra hour and it was the smartest move we made because even at 11:30 no one wanted to leave. We have gotten great feedback from everyone about the wedding saying it was just spectacular! The photos I have below don’t do it justice at all, but consider it a start…the photos Nathaniel Thompson took will be so much better and I’ll post when I get those too (I’ve posted my review of how amazing Nathaniel was in the vendor section). Again, let me know if you have questions…I’m happy to answer. Ceremony area Aisle was lined with birds of paradise and heliconia Kiss after ceremony

There just are not enough positive adjectives that come to mind to describe what it was like working with Nathaniel Thompson as the photographer for our wedding. He is awesomely talented as a photographer, which goes without saying given the other photos that he has posted on the forum, but from the moment we met in person on the beach in Puerto Vallarta I could just tell he was also an awesome person! Nathaniel (and his assistant Norm) joined us for 4 days. They were relaxed, fun, gracious, and always professional. We enjoyed talking with them but when we weren’t, my husband and I honestly didn’t notice they were there at all – which I mean as the highest compliment because I know they were there catching everything on film. Both of our families took to Nathaniel instantly and kept saying over and over again how glad they were that we had flown a photographer with us to shoot the rehearsal dinner, wedding and TTD. And our wedding coordinator for Las Caletas, Kelley, emailed me afterwards saying she was very impressed with him, both his personality and that she loved that he took some really creative shots at LC that other photographers hadn’t done before. She said she hoped to see him there again (hint, hint to future LC brides who don’t have a photographer yet??). I’ll post photos when I can – Nathaniel somehow managed to put together a slideshow at the reception of the photos he’d taken so far and everyone, including me, was just amazed so I know the rest will be marvelous. I would recommend him to anyone without reservation.

Renovations to new tower are done and the rooms are amazing!!! Do not have any info though for you about renovating the old tower rooms! Sorry!

Hello Las Caletas brides... I will be very brief because we are still away and I only came on to look for some other information but thought I would report that the wedding was fabulous, Vista Grill as a rehearal dinner site is to die and our guests were blown away, Kelley is absolute perfection, and Nathaniel Thompson not only an amazing photographer but seriously the coolest person you could possibly imagine to have hanging out with you for a few days at your wedding (as was his assistant Norm!) I will definitely add more later but am off to enjoy the mini moon portion of our trip at the incredible Casa de Mita...Will be happy to provide additional information later as this wedding would not have been possible without the help of all of you on this forum so thank you!

Quote: Originally Posted by kati i leave in 2 days... and i just checked the weather forecast... fri - cloudy, sat - cloudy, sun - cloudy, mon (our wedding) - rain, tues - cloudy...... is that even possible? MY GAWD! Kati -- I know!!! I saw the same weather report went "Seriously?" It's predicting considerable cloudiness and rain for 3 days straight. But then I went to a different weather source that's predicting partly cloudy with 10% chance of rain for all 3 days (including both our weddings). So I decided to believe that one and go with positive thinking! I emailed Kelley and she told me I was insane to be worried about an entire day of rain... Fingers crossed for both of us!

I am another one celebrating Rebecca's arrival -- and not a moment too soon for me! We email and much to our surprise we get a response!!! We're working out the details for the welcome cocktail party. And even better news she just told me today that the Club Tower renovations have been completed (not just partially completed) so I can relax about some of my guests possibly not getting the rooms they booked! It's so nice to have communication with the Dream finally!

I'm not sure where the best place to post this would be but I came across this in a magazine and was thinking how great it would be to have at a destination wedding welcome party! Especially the party topics version that comes on napkins! Great way to get people talking and getting to know one another especially if you have a larger group who might not have every met one another before! Check it out here! Conversation Starters-Provocative Questions from TableTopics

Congrats Jamie! And thanks so much for the info about Walmart and about the dress steaming! That's a big relief!! I just hope they're open on Saturdays when my mom gets in with my dress! Because otherwise i'll need them to do it for me same day on monday! I'll check with kelley though! Congrats again and enjoy honeymoon!

It's been a long time since I've been here! So much going on and so much to do, and then all of the sudden our Las Caletas Wedding is in 2.5 WEEKS! Our legal wedding already happened last Saturday (Dec. 27) so that was a huge pressure off -- sort of like a really, really realistic dress rehearsal! I am getting very excited and very freaked out with all the little odds and ends left to do....I am most freaked out though about all the horrible reviews I've read lately about the Dreams Hotel and overbooking because they haven't finished the new tower on schedule. Not only are people not getting the nice rooms they booked and paid for, they are actually sending guests to other hotels!!! I did have a question about the PC Walmart, for those who have been there -- is it like Walmarts in the States/Canada? Does it basically sell the same stuff? I'm trying to pair down the OOT stuff I have to bring with me so it would be great to buy mints and gum in bulk from Walmart when I get down there. Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by kati Julia - It is actually pretty funny that we are so close together... I will try not to make Nicole to exhausted, so she has some energy left for you! Ha. We are staying at the Tropicana hotel. We have stayed there many times before and love it! Where are you guys staying? When do you fly down? It's actually Kelley that I'm working with to coordinate my wedding -- but be kind to Nicole nevertheless! Lol! We're all staying at the Dreams Hotel. My FI and I fly down on Jan 15 and everyone else in our group leaves on Jan 16 on Sunwing. We're flying commercial down because we're going to stay for 10 days total. We leave the Dreams Hotel on Jan 22 and head to Casa de Mita for 3 nights. Quote: Originally Posted by Duchess We decided to have a cake, but we are also having smores around the bonfire! They are providing everything, for $1.50 per person. The smores idea came first, but then I decided I wanted a cake too, so now we have both. The cake is primarily for the cutting tradition, and for anyone who doesnt want to do smores. That's so funny -- we're also having smores! I immediately went bonfire = smores and Kelley said it would be no problem to make that happen!

Quote: Originally Posted by kati I am getting married on the 19th of January and for a cake we are doing a round pyramid of tequila shots all lit on fire. With peoples names engraved on them!! Probably not much help... But it's very us! Kati -- You are getting married at Las Caletas the night before me! And we're both from Toronto! That's so funny, it is such a small world. Where are you staying in Puerto Vallarta?

OK, so not being a Canadian citizen, I wasn't actually allowed to vote in the last election, but I've lived here for the past 3.5 years and intend to make it my permanent home so I consider that I have quite a stake in what goes on too... My understanding of the reason for the Coalition is that with the continuing economic downturn, Harper and the Conservatives have refused to offer any kind of economic stimulus package and so they're an enormous enormous liability. Canada is actually the only major world power without an economic stimulus plan. This all of us here wide open to the recession. Harper's philosophy is that free markets will eventually take care of themselves and we'll all be fine if we just ride this out. I know the guy was educated as an economist and so he thinks he's the expery, but he's currently the only leader in the free world standing by this theory. Even worse, Harper has proposed to cut spending which would do away with or pair down essential services and supports that Canadians will need now more than ever. While I agree completely with others here that Dion is not a good pick for Prime Minister, I don't think that what Harper and the Conservatives have been doing (or not doing as the case may be) necessarily represents the will of the people or Canadian values (I don't want my health care benefis reduced) or even what is being considered common sense by other world class economists and leaders. And right now I'm not sure that we have the time to wait another 4-6 months to see what happens...there was an expectation of the Conservatives to act to protect the country and they have and are continuing to fail to meet it. Even if all this does is put the focus on the urgent need for this than I can see that it has some value. (I understand politics can be quite a hot button topic so please know it was not my intention to offend anyone at any point...I am always happy to respectfully agree to disagree on subjects like this)

Actually, Yari mght be the one who can answer this one better -- she's already had her rehearsal dinner at Vista Grill! But she gave it a great review! And the woman in charge of special events, Lily, has been fabulous about getting in touch and arranging a special prix fixed menu for everyone. We've even discussed table arrangements, decorations, etc. I can give an update again at the end of January!

Anyone have any updated information about the renovations at the Dreams PV? Last I heard the renovations were going to be taking longer than expected and going over the planned schedule (i.e., past November 30). I have been checking the reviews on trip advisor and even though they seem to have gone from horrible (lots of complaints about contruction, problems with rooms changes due to the Club Tower and one restaurant being closes, etc.) to really good again, there's no specific mention about the status of the renovations. I contacted my travel agents in Canada and the US and both said they think the renovations should be done by the time my group gets down there in January but I can't help but be a little nervous...any info is appreciated! Thanks!

Thanks for the great review holley! You looked beautiful on your wedding day and I'm glad things went off so well!

Quote: Originally Posted by Stephany@EyeSpy Hey Julia- First I have to say, I love your posting name, it always makes me laugh when I see it 2nd, the beach we went to was just part of the public beach, I know for sure it was west of the Romantic Zone. Maybe about 7 blocks from the cathedral? We just saw water from town and started walking towards it. Have fun in LC in 2 months!!! It will be an event to remember! GL! Thanks for the info! I will talk to my FI and to Nathaniel and I guess we'll all decided altogether where we want to do the TTD but the idea of roaming the city is not one I'd thought about before seeing these pics. Re: my posting name -- "Pazoop" is a word i made up when i was a little kid and it kind of stuck around. It's come in handy for various things every now and then...I'm so glad you like it!Thanks!

Awesome pics Tara and Stephany! I recognize some of downtown Puerto Vallarta but what beach did you go down to? I was trying to figure out location wise where I wanted to go for the TTD session the day after Las Caletas wedding (two months from today! woohoo!) I thought at first about going to one of the beaches on the south side of the bay like las animas or quixote (sp?) but it will definitely be a lot easier to go into the city plus it would change it up a little..

That's funny because just last week I emailed Kelley and asked about arranging a tequila tasting table at the reception at Las Caletas...wanted to have lemon and lime wedges, salt and shot glasses and a few different types of tequila so that people who wanted could go and do toasts. I think it could be really cool though to do it as a toast instead of a table....now I have to think about it!

I hope I am attaching these links correctly! Morgan already posted one of my favorite sites but I'm going to give a shout out again to Nathaniel! Google Reader - Nathaniel Thompson's Blog Love his blog and always checking it for updates! Google Reader - Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog Google Reader - Something Old, Something New Google Reader - snippet & ink: daily wedding inspiration Google Reader - What Junebug Loves! Wedding and Fashion Blog Google Reader - Elizabeth Anne Designs: A Wedding Blog Google Reader - Southern Weddings Magazine

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! So relieved to know that if necessary the Dreams can steam my dress! And also that there's a trusted place in town by the marina as a back up plan!