Karniki

My DJ was $400... the hotels charge a commission on everything I believe. So that's what makes the price so high. I am trying to get the contact info for my DJ (he was hired through my husband) I don't think he speaks a lot of English but he knows all of the popular songs and played everything that we wanted at the right time

I didn't use a planner, I just used the hotel wedding planner... although I highly recommend you hire one. I used to be a wedding planner so I already had expereince. For this reason, I didn't hire one

Here is a link to my photos done by the photographer.

Karen & Jonathan

password: karenjo

Enjoy!

This review is for everyone who is interested in getting married in Costa Rica. When I decided to get married there, I had little to no information available on the internet. Luckily, my husband is from Costa Rica so we did some hands-on research in Costa Rica before making any decisions.

Our Hotel

We drove along the pacific coast, through la fortuna and monteverde, and to guanacaste looking at different hotels for just under a week. Our absolute favorite place of all places we visited was Hotel Villa Caletas. It was love at first sight. I will summarize what is wonderful about this hotel...

PROS

-Amphitheatre for outdoor wedding overlooking the ocean from the cliffside

-Rooms are incredibly decorated with a good price... our room even had a hot tub!

-Hotel service is incredible and professional

-Everything about the hotel is romantic, private, european, secluded... perfect for a wedding

-The infinity pool is a wonderful place to spend the day of your wedding

-The food for the wedding was incredible

-The wedding coordinator went above and beyond in the final results

CONS

-The food is overpriced, bland, and the portions were small (this does not include the wedding food)

-The wedding coordinator was disorganized with prices so review your final bill carefully. I had to request changes several times and the price difference was over $1000. I don't think she did it on purpose, I think she is just so inredibly busy she forgets what price she gave before.

Food/Drinks

As mentioned before, food was excellent for the wedding itself. Drinks were incredible but expensive. I suggest you bring your own wine and pay the corkage fee ($12)

Flowers

Flowers were ordered though the hotel and were fresh and beautiful. Prices were very good for this also considering I ordered orchids for almost everything. My bouquet was under $100.

Hair/Makeup

I was very impressed with this. Xenia has excellent prices and excellent service. She did my hair which is a HUGE challenge. I have curly, frizzy, thin hair and she managed to make it look thick, smooth and controlled. She did my makeup very naturally beautiful. She also did an excellent job on my manicure and pedicure. Hair was around $55, Makup (with false eyelashes) was around $60, and a manicure and pedicure was $50 I think.

Photography/Videography

Carlos Charpentier and Pamela Fuster did the photography and they hired a contact they had for the video. I still haven't receieved the video or photos but I have viewed them online and they look incredible. I do however have one complaint... they have edited all of the photos and I don't think they are sending me the originals nor all of the photos they took as they promised. I will keep you all posted on this. However here is their contact information:

www.costaricaweddingparadise.com

[email protected]

TEL : 506-88475805 FAX: 506-22034845

DJ

We hired a DJ called DJ Dorian from Monteverde. He is a friend of my husbands. He gave us a really good price and did an excellent job following many of our requests, getting the timing right, and following the crowds requests. He had great energy too!

Lawyer

Again, my husband's contact.. his uncle did the ceremony for us for a very good price. He doesn't speak much English so I wouldn't recommend him to those of you who don't speak Spanish but he did a great job! Message me if you are interested.

Dress

I bought my dress in Costa Rica in San Jose in a store called Moussel. If you can't find that beautiful dress where you are or you need some last minute shopping for an accessory or bridesmaid dress, go here. It really is the only good dress store in all of Costa Rica.

Cake

I ordered the cake through the hotel. $150 for a two-tier cake. Beautiful and yummy!!

Overall it was beautiful, romantic, and better than perfect!

If any of you have any questions, please message me. I would be glad to help!

Hi Ladies...

I think the Hilton must have quoted these lanterns incorrectly (maybe in pesos?) Anyhow, my name is Karen and I work at a wedding coordinating company here in Los Cabos called Maye Cortinas and we rent the lanterns for $60 to set-up, plus $5 per lantern. There may also be a charge for the poles (if there are not enough palm trees). If anyone is interested, contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. Good luck!