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Following up on the multi-registry site question from way back when, we ended up using an Amazon universal registry (allows you to list items from other online stores or offline stuff along with amazon products) as well as a Bed Bath & Beyond for people who have no web access. Both worked fine, and were easy to deal with. Now avoiding amazon for other reasons involving their business practices in California, but their wishlist/registry software works great.

And as for a/c, yes, I'd say 99% of the rooms and rentals there are open air, so you're not going to find much air conditioning.

Electricity service throughout Yelapa has stabilized considerably since our first visit there in 2007. We've been 8 times and haven't had power problems since the first time. We didn't have our wedding at the hotel, but they are one of the most established businesses in town--only place with reliable wireless Internet, last we checked--so I wouldn't worry about that. We found the rooms small-ish for the price and didn't want such a sandy and exposed spot for our wedding, but if the environment suits you I think you'll have electricity. CAVEAT: OH, assuming you are talking about the dry season--don't have any idea what it's like during monsoon season June-Oct. We're not eager to try Yelapa or anywhere else in the P.V. area in summer given what we've heard about the temperatures, jungle critters, humidity, etc.

Yeah, I noticed that too, and informed the proprietor about the problem. Maybe one of her competitors is trying to undermine her business, or maybe the ISP has problems. I was able to access the site fine w/ no malware using a different browser (using Little Snitch, ClamXAv, and other firewalls, so I know the browser isn't downloading anything nasty). She did awesome work. If anyone wants to get in touch with her but doesn't want to go to the site, I can dig up her email and put you in touch that way.

His website has changed but he still makes great maps of P.V., Sayulita, Yelapa, and the entire Banderas Bay region. http://mapajeff.com/Home.html

We ended up going with this one http://www.banderasnews.com/profiles/laura-gelezunas.htm / http://videodivaproductions.com/ and were very pleased with the results, so much so that we agreed to be interviewed on video to record a little plug for her.

We contacted ALL the airlines about convention codes and the only ones that came through with no-strings-attached discounts for weddings were Alaska (10%) and American (5%). I believe we had to affirm that at least ten people would use the code, but that's it. Code was valid for a two-week window surrounding the event. Other airlines would do business meetings only or had other restrictions that made it impractical.

We got the 10% Alaska Airlines discount set up, too--no problem. Likewise, 5% for American. The other airlines were more difficult: United requires 25 people flying on United to your destination, and there's a $50 per person fee if your total number is less than 25. You have to sign a contract agreeing to those terms. Continental told us "we no longer offer discounts for weddings". Delta/NWA/KLM: the only discount is for 10 or more people flying on the same flight, same dates, to same destination. Not sure about USAirways yet. All of this information is current as of today--we just sent in our requests in the past week.

The hotel has I think about 30 rooms, and some set wedding packages. Check tripadvisor for reviews--some people find it too rustic; others, not private enough. Guests would have to get there by water taxi from P.V. and service is only a few times per day. See yelapa.info for more on the area.

Thanks! We are also contacting clubmanana.com (gay club) about drag performers.

Where are the best places to get pin~atas in P.V.? And good places to get affordable goodies to put inside them?

Has anyone actually obtained one from a store in P.V.? Since we don't know Carlos and our wedding is not in P.V. proper, we are stuck going the retail route. If anyone has personally verified that a machine can be found at Walmart or Costco or Sam's in P.V., we'd love to know. (And do memberships at Costco work at any location?)

Hello, We're pondering where to get poles to make our chuppah. We're going for a very informal look, so anything from the most basic dowel to telescoping hiking poles to sticks of bamboo would be fine, but we'd rather not have to haul them from California to P.V. if we can find something locally. Any ideas where one might find poles?

Is myregistry.com the best multi-vendor registry site? We are looking for one that doesn't charge excessive fees--that one that skims 7% is off the list, for example--and that updates properly, i.e. marks purchased items as purchased. I have seen wishpot.com mentioned elsewhere on this site. Any others that we should consider? We just want to register at ONE online site that can handle any online store. We've already created our own very extensive wedding website, so don't need any bonus features like free sites, just a basic functioning registry for those friends and family who demand the info.

What did you end up doing? We were also considering renting or buying a karaoke setup if we can find one that's the right size, quality, and price.

This artist makes great maps of P.V., Sayulita, and other places. Here's info on the P.V. map: Puerto Vallarta Walking Map .

At our reception, in addition to music, we are interested in providing a few little segments of unusual entertainment--maybe some circus performers doing juggling or hula hoops, or a fire dancer, or a drag queen doing a comedy routine (in English), or something else that one wouldn't see every day. If anyone has any referrals for entertainers in the P.V. area who *aren't* musicians, we welcome any tips you can offer. Ideas?

We have the same question--esp. interested in which company offers the best sound quality (since video without good sound may as well be photos, right?).

What did you find out? We'll be in PVR next week and would love to investigate custom papel picado while we're there. Most likely we will get organic tissue paper and have it done through casa bonampak, but we're checking out all the alternatives.

oh, thank G-d. I was going crazy with all the unread posts--since yesterday! Just came over here to look for a secret tip on how to "forget" threads. It'd be nice to be able to forget some forums permanently, but if we can't do that, this will help a LOT.

Doesn't Miss Manners always say to respond to rude questions as if the person had been polite? You could try answering it as if she'd said "congratulations!", and just say "thank you so much!"--unless the asker is really persistent, in which case I guess you have to stay vague and noncommittal and mumble about how the guest list isn't finalized but it will be limited to X people.

Yelapa is on the Bahia Banderas (west coast of Mexico), about a 40-minute boat ride south of Puerto Vallarta--or a 3-hour drive, which is why nobody uses cars there, which is one reason why we like the place.

Publisher vs. Photoshop? Photoshop, no contest! Or GIMP, as mentioned above. The menus can be daunting, but just search for tutorials for the things you need to do, and use the help menus, and you'll be fine. (Also, for anyone who needs the functions of Microsoft Office but can't afford it, you know you can get similar functionality from the FREE and open-source OpenOffice.org. On Mac, you have to install another program called X11, and use ctrl instead of cmd key for shortcuts, but it's no big deal. Almost identical to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.--but it's an open-source project. And you can open MS Office documents in OpenOffice, or save OpenOffice docs in MS Office formats, PDFs, etc.)

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome! Now who can explain all the abbreviations to me? I figured out STD (an unfortunate abbreviation), TTD, BDW, TA, & WC. From context, I can tell FI means fiance(e), but what are the letters standing for? Future Intended? Forever Interdependent? ?

Yeah, whoever announces first, wins.