jaychin3

We finally did the deed on May 2nd 2009 and I just wanted to make sure that every vendor that helped make our special day perfect receives the recognition that they deserve! Ladies, I am also including this review for you, as I know that I could not have planned my wedding without the feedback from so many others on this site. Enjoy!! 1. Transport – TRANSCABO This company is SUPER organized. They were always ON TIME and all services were fully documented and paid in full before our arrival in Cabo. Ramon was AMAZING! We thought so highly of their work, that we used them for airport transfer to and from the hotel (including a short detour to Costco!!), as well as to Sunset da Mona Lisa for our welcome dinner. On top of all of this, their prices were perfectly affordable and the staff was all courteous! 2. Accommodation – Pueblo Bonito Sunset Similar to the PB Pacifica, the property grounds are absolutely GORG! That is pretty much where the similarities end though...The PB Sunset property is definitely geared towards a more family-oriented environment and is also much larger. The enormity of the resort mandates that they use a golf-cart system that I would say is the only shortcoming of this place. Waiting on a golf cart just to get to breakfast can at times be a bit tedious. We were originally planning on having our reception here, but after experiencing this golf cart system, we thought that it would be major inconvenience shuffling people from the beach to the Sky Pool and decided to have the reception at the PB Pacifica instead. Despite this, we still thought it would be a great place for our guests to stay, so we had our room block here. We were torn between making the room block here or the Pacifica, and ended up choosing the Sunset b/c it actually allows kids to stay at the resort. (Pacifica is 18 and up only). The property itself is really great with multiple restaurants located all over, as well as several pools. One complaint that I had from one of our guests is that they need to expand their pool menu…That being said, she did spend every breathing moment at the pool while she was there.. The staff are trained to be extremely courteous and complete tasks in a timely manner and the accommodations were lovely! Very spacious and every room has a balcony with a view. LOVED IT AND WOULD TOTALLY DO IT AGAIN! And just to reiterate, Laura was FANTASTIC! She was extremely well organized and responsive. Also, PB provided MANY options for set up and decorations. You can have pretty much anything if you are up for paying a little bit more. 3. Welcome Dinner – Sunset da Mona Lisa All I can say is WOW…the view at this place is OUT OF CONTROL. All of our guests were insanely impressed with it AND with the food. We thought that the price was quite reasonable for both the ambience and the service that we received. Emma, the event organizer there, was always very easy to get in touch with and also very responsive. She was extremely competent at maintaining our master account with the restaurant and would often remind us of upcoming payment deadlines. If you are looking for a venue for a welcome or rehearsal dinner, Sunset da Mona Lisa offers a UNIQUE experience for your guests. Although the cuisine is not Mexican, it is worth the drive and the cost. Believe me when I say that it is unforgettable. 4. Ceremony & Reception Location – Pueblo Bonito Pacifica The property is simply gorgeous. Our guests kept on asking how we found this resort. They were all happily surprised by how modern and clean the facilities were, as well as how proper the staff was. I had to say this was our best decision ever! We visited pretty much all of the resorts in Cabo, but we loved the Pueblo Bonito resorts the best. I think the Pacifica is in just the right location outside of town and the grounds were amazing! The grounds were perfectly kept and the ambience was just right for our wedding and reception. To top this all off, the wedding coordinator was the best!! Please note that when I started planning my wedding, the WC was a different person. She left a few weeks before my wedding and Laura Ortiz became the official WC for all four of the PB resorts. To say the least, she had impeccable timing in terms of replying to email and was extremely flexible in terms of accommodating pretty much all of our requests. She did pretty much everything she needed to in order to qualm a nervous bride’s paranoia before the wedding and to put me at ease. To top this all off, the layout was exactly as I requested and the food was great! There were a couple of vegetarians at the dinner that I had accidentally overlooked reminding Laura about when the original WC left, but despite the short notice, they were able to whip up meals for them at our request on the night of the event! 5. Photographer – Juan Carlos Tapia GENIUS GENIUS GENIUS! I am not sure how much more I can say about this talented photographer. Many people have concerns about his cost, but our belief was that the one investment that we could make in our wedding was the photographs. This is something that we knew we would have forever to remind us of our very special day. With that understanding, we massaged our expenses so that we could afford Juan Carlos. We cut back on the cost for flowers and the dress so that we did not go over budget, and it worked out just fine. Juan Carlos is truly incredible and creative, but above all, he is an artist. Not only is he extremely good at what he does, but he also makes the process fun! His assistants are great and his equipment is top notch. I guarantee you that if you go with Juan Carlos, you will not be disappointed. You truly are getting what you pay for. 6. DJ – Ricardo Patino (DJ Ritchie) What a lovely person this is! Both Ricardo and his wife are both kind and generous people and did everything that they could to accommodate all of our wedding music requests. To top of a fantastic evening of music at the reception, Ricardo and his wife even emailed us some pictures a couple of weeks later that they had taken at the wedding. Extremely thoughtful people and not ridiculous in terms of cost. To add to this, Ricardo was always easy to get in touch with. I would definitely use them again! 7. Firedancers – We used Lunas de Fuego and they were AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blanca was very easy to work with in terms of rates, booking and payment. We used them for 20 minutes altogether, which in retrospect, we could have shortened, but overall they were fantastic. Our guests were totally not expecting this and the performance was impressive. For 20 minutes, 4 people and live/recorded music, we thought the rates were very reasonable. To be fair, Blanca’s performance stood out the most from all the others. She is VERY good at her job and is so graceful while doing it. Definitely a sight to see! I hope this review is helpful to everyone!! As you all know, pics from Juan Carlos take a bit longer to receive, so will post them when I can. In the meantime, please let me know if I can be of assistance with contact information etc.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nancy I had Jaun Carlos for my wedding in Cabo on Oct. 20th...We do not have pics yet.....but I can't say enough for his work based upon his website and other links from the forum. He captured us and in spite of the fact that he is pricey....we would not have gone with anyone else! You get what you pay for:) Nancy I'm going to have to agree with Nancy on this one. We just used Juan Carlos for our wedding on May 2nd and I have to say that the man is a genius. Everyone complains about the cost, but it is that expensive because he is THE BEST. Juan Carlos is extremely creative, very easy to get along with & funny as well. Not to mention that he takes his job very seriously and can be intense at all the right moments. If you have major concerns about how much he costs, then cut your budget for something like flowers, those are dead pretty much in a day or two. The way that my FI and I thought about it was that for the wedding, the only thing worth investing any sort of money in, was the photos. The pictures would hold all the memories of our special day and were something tangible that we could hold onto forever. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying have zero decorations at your wedding, but from a practical perspective, I don't think it makes sense to skimp on photos. Anyway, I hope this helps & GOOD LUCK! Janelle

Quote: Originally Posted by Nicolem82580 Question....what are the pb's?? lol Did you happen to check out dreams los cabo while you were there , and if so did u like Melia Cabo Real better?? My customer had just went to a wedding at Melia Cabo real and said it was absolutly beautiful !!! Hey Nicole! The PB's are four resorts in Cabo known as Pueblo Bonito. Each resort has a different type of theme/look/feel. The PB Blanco is the oldest and the PB Pacifica is the newest. PB Rose is Mediterranean while PB Sunset is more Mexican Hacienda style.... I did not visit Dreams while I was there since I already knew that my date was booked. However, a lot of the girls on this forum have had weddings there and loved it. I DID visit MCR and seriously, it is beautiful and the planner there is brilliant! The ONLY reason I didn't go with this one was because my FI did not think the food at an AI would be satisfactory for our guests...so we went with PB instead. I hope this helps!!

Quote: Originally Posted by claudiabenitez It's a shame you can't get Jennifer's cake!! They look so pretty on the web page and she's such a sweetheart, it's a shame, but we need to do some sacrifices to get great vendors like Juan Carlos. I had to cut some stuff, but I need him to be my pictures. Anyway, I'm curious about DJ richie, I've heard some cross references about him. So a little more of detail there for me would it help. Also, do you have a florist yet? Who's doing your hair and makeup? I still have no idea in that topic!! Hey Claudia! For hair & makeup, I went with Suzanne Morales. I did a trial with her when I was in Cabo and she was awesome! Very creative and really patient/understanding of your needs. Definitely worth the money. DJ Richie was really nice! We met with him and his wife for breakfast. He was happy to accommodate any of our requests. I haven't heard any of his demos, etc. but all prior reviews have been good. Once we provide him with a list I dont think it will be an issue. To be honest, I don't care that much about flowers, so I am just going to be using the florist that the PB WC recommends. I will be spending the least amount of $$ in that department, so again no matter which one I go with. However, there are quite a few good recommendations on this site including Elena Damy & Cabo Flowers. I have heard great things about both of those. Hope this helps!

Quote: Originally Posted by Denise40 Welcome back! A great review. We stayed at PB Rose and had our reception dinner at Sunset da Mona Lisa. We didn't like the food but the view is awesome. We got some good photographs there. Which PB are you going to stay at? Panchos had some great food also. I think we are going to stay at the PB Sunset, but have the ceremony at the Pacifica. I am trying to figure it all out now...My how quickly it adds up!!! About SML, I thought the food was average, but the view was definitely to die for! Can't wait!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give some details of our recent Cabo trip. We were there for one week and visited many resorts. HOTELS: Firstly, we stayed at the Hotel Finesterra but disliked the location of the hotel so much that we ended up moving to Pueblo Bonito Sunset (which was awesome)! While we were, we visited the 4 PBs, Casa del Mar, Villa del Arco, Sheraton, Westin, Cabo Surf, Melia Cabo Real, Marquis & Fiesta Americana. My FAVORITE place was Casa del Mar...it was absolutely gorg and definitely designed for a wedding. However, the rooms are a bit pricy and I wasn't sure I wanted our guests to pay that much for a room on top of the cost of the flight to Cabo. We thought above having guests stay at the Sheraton and just have the wedding party stay at CDM, but thought there might be too much disconnect. That being said, we decided to go with our second most fave, the PB resorts. Definitely more reasonably priced and a nice touch allowing our guests full access to all 4 properties!!! I just want to add here that I also REALLY loved Melia Cabo Real. This property I actually liked MORE than the PBs, but my FI was worried about the food at an AI resort. Also, for any guests that decide not to stay at the AI, their day passes can add up pretty quickly in terms of cost....So PB IT IS!! If you have any questions about the other resorts, please let me know and I can provide more info! FOOD: We visited 3 restaurants while we were there: Sunset da Mona Lisa - just one word to describe this place: AMAZING!!! The view is exceptional at sunset! And the food was unbelievable! We are defo having our welcome dinner here. PICS BELOW!!! Pancho’s – Very nice. Good food but nothing exceptional. A bit pricey for what you get to be honest. A bit too casual I thought for a rehearsal dinner. Mi Casa – Huge and GREAT food! Great family place to have a dinner! PHOTOGRAPHER: Finally, I met with Juan Carlos!! Can I just say that he was extremely nice, on time & very interested in where our wedding was going to be, etc. Both my FI and I liked him right away. I can’t wait to work with him and neither of us are bothered by the 3 month wait for pics, so that shouldn’t be an issue. FYI, I’ve read before that he was a bit standoffish in person, but I definitely did not get this impression. He is a little scatter-brained though, but so is every great artist! I am very happy with our decision to go with him. CAKE: We went to Jennifer Hatton’s place to try her cakes and they were truly awesome! That being said, with our package with PB, we get a cake, so I don’t think we will use Jennifer’s unfortunately. (We’re trying to cut back on costs). DJ: We met with DJ Richie and he was just the nicest man ever! He brought his wife (also his assistant) with him and tried to take us to breakfast at this a nice local place. We had already eaten unfortunately, but we still sat and chatted with them for well over an hour. Such nice people and another great pick! Anyway, I think that’s about it. If any one needs more details or contact info, pls let me know and I will send it along.

Hi Suman, My FI and I were in Cabo recently at look at Villa del Arco. We met with Gretel, the WC on site there and she was awesome! I agree that she does not reply to email very quickly, but she does reply eventually and with good info! The property itself if beautiful and the rooms are not too expensive! Also, the spa is the largest in Cabo (or so I was told)! We like it a lot and the only reason that we didn't go with it is because one of our other friends was married there recently and we wanted to do something a bit different. It really is beautiful though! Have fun planning & tell Gretel I said hola!

Awesome!! pls let me know if you get a better price! Seems a bit ridic no?? I'll work on it from my end as well and let you know what happens! Thanks for the response! Good to know I'm not the only one being ripped off!

Hi all - I am soooo excited for my site visit!!! I will be saying hello to Leonie @ WIP for Denise. If anyone else needs anything, let me know! Janelle

Hey ladies - I just received the below quotes for our wedding in May 2009from Lunas de Fuego and just wanted to make sure that they were in line for a 15-20 minute performance: 2 dancers and live music 935 usd 3 dancers and live music 1,045 usd 4 dancers and live music 1,155 usd 2 dancers, 1 musician, recorded music 660 usd 4 dancers, 1 musician, recorded music 880 usd WIP said that they could get us 2 firedancers with 11 props for 15-20 minutes at $600. Anyone know who WIP uses? Should I just go with the WIP dancers instead of LDF dancers? I've looked at the other threads on the fire dancers but couldn't find this info. Appreciate any info you can give! Thanks!

Hey ladies - I just received the below quotes for our wedding in May 2009from Lunas de Fuego and just wanted to make sure that they were in line for a 15-20 minute performance: 2 dancers and live music 935 usd 3 dancers and live music 1,045 usd 4 dancers and live music 1,155 usd 2 dancers, 1 musician, recorded music 660 usd 4 dancers, 1 musician, recorded music 880 usd WIP said that they could get us 2 firedancers with 11 props for 15-20 minutes at $600. Anyone know who WIP uses? Should I just go with the WIP dancers instead of LDF dancers? I've looked at the other threads on the fire dancers but couldn't find this info. Appreciate any info you can give! Thanks!

Will do Denise! Pls let me know if you need anything else! Janelle

Thanks for the feedback!! I am heading to Cabo on Jun 27th and will prob set up a meeting with Tammy then, so will let you know. I am still torn though, trying to figure out whether or not I actually NEED a WC. I've already started speaking with many vendors on my own and feel like I can do most of it. Think I might just use them for the day of... Any suggestions welcome!!! Thanks again!

Thanks for the info! Good to know I'm not getting ripped off. I had heard there were better prices at Lovely Weddings, but so far have not heard back from then...Wow your date is so close!! You must be SO excited! Def send me the full run down once you are back...And good luck!

Thanks for the response Denise! That's good to know! Why does it feel like this is such a big decision!! haha

Hi All, I've been looking for an external WC per recommendations from this site since our wedding may end up being more than 60 people. I tentatively reached out to WIP (since I heard both good AND bad things from feedback here) and they put me in touch with Tammy Wolff. Just wondering if anyone has work with her before and if so, do you have any feedback? Also, is WIP generally one of the more expensive WCs to work with? I was planning on just working with the onsite WC (once we decide on a place) but most girls on this forum suggest hiring an external WC as well just in case. Appreciate any feedback!!!

Hey all! Just a quick note to introduce myself! My name is Janelle and I was enagaged in February. We decided to have the wedding in Cabo since we are currently living in Japan but have many friends in the US, Japan & Trinidad (where I was born!). Our tentative wedding date is May 2nd 2009. We will be visiting Cabo at the end of this month to check out resorts... We will be visiting the Westin, Sheraton, the 4 PBs, Riu, CDM, MCR, Cabo Surf & Casa Natalia. Happy to hear any feedback & hoping to hear from you soon! Janelle