Ryan's girl

Quote: Originally Posted by CDNgroom I was also wondering about the whole apostille thing. I thought this was for US citizens only but my wedding coordinator still wants us to have our birth certificate certified by an apostille. I asked my WC whether Canadians could use a different approach but she is still asking for it. Does anyone have any insight or advice on this? Some resorts require you to have your birth certificate translated and legalized - The apostille refers to the legalization of the document for international use (the apostille is the stamp they put on the document as far as I understand it). You can refer to my first post in this thread for more information on the authentication and legalization of your birth certificate. Here is some information that I found that might help clarify what this all means! "When documents are notarized in Canada for use abroad, such documents must go through a process of "authentication" and "legalization" in order for them to be valid in the foreign jurisdiction. "Authentication" is intended to remove the burden on foreign courts and foreign authorities in proving the genuineness of documents originating outside of their countries." "Authentication verifies the registration of a notary public as well as the notary's seal and signature. When the notary's authority, signature and seal are confirmed, the document to be authenticated will then receive a stamp and/or an additional seal together with a statement from the provincial authentication authority to the effect that the notary is "known to be in good standing". Once this happens, nothing may be added to or removed from the document." Hopefully this helps!

Thanks girls! Simple, light and elegant was exactly what I was going for! I'm still so excited about my dress...I can't wait to wear it in Mexico! Quote: Originally Posted by ErikDaGenErik very DW! what type of veil are you wearing? I haven't decided what kind of veil I'm going to wear, or if I'm even going to wear one! That's next up on my to-do list! I'm not sure that I want a veil but for some reason my mom really wants me to have one.

I picked up my dress last weekend and finally got around to getting some pictures taken in it! I wanted something very simple and this dress was perfect! Not the best picture...the front the back

Casey, I love them! They are absolutely adorable!

Welcome and congratulations!!! You will find so much helpful information here! Best of luck with your planning.

Quote: Originally Posted by beachbride08 We didn't bring any connections for the ipod to work. We had brought CDs as a back up and during the ceremony they used our CDs and not the ipod. We used the ipod in the Los Vitrales room, but the DJ left before we were done with our ipod still playing so I don't think you even need him if you are using the ipod only. We had created a continuous mix on one playlist and that played the whole time. Araceli gave us the microphone so I think that is part of their speaker equipment. They just have one speaker, but it was loud enough. You do get more speakers if you book the outside DJ with the lounge set ups and lighting packages. I was wondering the same thing. Thanks Michelle! It is so helpful having you on here with all of your expertise. Be prepared...as my date gets closer I'm sure that I'll have a ton of questions for you!!!

Michelle - You look absolutely gorgeous! Great job on the photobook, I love it! Your pics make me so excited about my wedding at the Lindo!!! Yah!

We had our travel agent get a group rate for us and we booked the all inclusive (flight and hotel). We honestly didn't even look at doing it flight and hotel separately so I can't comment on the price difference. People started booking in late April-so a year in advance. We are getting married on spring break so we wanted to make sure that all of our guests got their spots!

paraisobeachbride2009-Thanks for starting the list! I'm sure it will be helpful to others and hopefully Canadian brides can add on for their resort what the legal requirements were! Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 The Royal in Playa del carmen also requires it. It's so frustrating because now I am considering getting the legal done here before we go, but that's not what I want...I just don't know if I can afford the added cost of doing the rest of it...I was kinda at my max budget. Mayabride2009 - I also am now thinking about doing the legal stuff here in Canada and it's not really what I wanted either! I always knew about the added cost but am not looking forward to all of this extra paper work (and I am especially afraid of missing something or doing something wrong!) I find it really interesting that different resorts in the same area can have such different requirements. I wish that I had looked into this more before-even though I am very happy with my resort choice.

Congrats and welcome! You will find so much helpful information here! I am getting married on April 1, 2009 at the Lindo! You should come and join our Iberostar thread! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t27304

Quote: Originally Posted by SunBride Um, that information is completely contrary to what myself and many others have done. I got married 6 months ago in the Mayan Riviera, and all I had to do was bring our passports (didn't even need birth certificate never mind the long version) and have a blood test done in mexico (was done at the resort, the resort organized it all), and be in the area for 4 days before our ceremony. We signed a legal marriage certificate and had 4 witnesses sign (if you don't have witnesses that have been there for 4 days the resort will provide them). I contacted the gov't of Ontario and they confirmed that my marriage is legal seeing as it's considered legal in Mexico. There is no registry for out of province or out of country marriages, so I don't have to do anything extra to make my marriage legal here. Once again, the only documentation I needed was my passport, and I did not need to have anything translated. Some resorts only require the passports and blood test to have a legal ceremony whereas others require that the birth certificate be translated in Canada. I know for a fact that my resort requires the long version of my birth certificate to be translated. I have contacted both foreign affairs and the embassy of mexico in Ottawa and this is the information that I have been told. I have been in contact with a girl who was married in the Mayan Riviera and this was the process that she had to go through. I wish that my resort was one that didn't require all of this work ahead of time. I am now thinking of just having a blessing ceremony instead of having to go through all of this.

Quote: Originally Posted by jennyFTB I am just getting requests from my resort for this stuff so this is REALLY helpful...Thanks....How do i go about getting the long version of my birth certificate though...?? And how long does this whole process take...my WC wants this from me in a couple weeks? We ordered the long version of our birth certificate online. You can go to this site Ontario Birth Certificate Information -School & Work - Gateway for Individuals- Government of Ontario (Canada) and look on the right under "birth, marriage, and death certificates". Does your WC just want the long version of your birth certificate and then they translate it for you? Or do you need to go through the process of translating it and sending it off to Foreign Affairs yourself? If it's just your birth certificate they want, I think you can pay more to rush order (at least we could in Manitoba) but they can only guarantee it in 15 days. Hopefully this helps!

I started a new thread with all of the information that I had with regards to having a legal wedding in Mexico. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t32958

I know that some resorts only require that you bring down your long version of you birth certificate and then they translate it for you so this is something that doesn't apply to all brides getting married in Mexico (check with your wedding coordinator)

Hi girls! I know there is a lot of confusion out there with regards to what needs to be done to have a legal wedding in Mexico so I thought I'd start a thread with the information that I have so far. My information comes through talking with the department of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Mexico but if you have different information please post it! I don't know why this is so complicated and it's near impossible to find the process anywhere so I figured we could start a thread and figure things out once and for all! Here it goes: 1. You need the long version of your birth certificate (not the credit card size one) 2. Then you need to find an official translator who can translate the documents into Spanish 3. Once it is translated you need to have it notarized (by a commissioner of oath or a notary public) before you can send it off to the Department of Foreign Affairs 4. Once notarized, you send it to be authenticated by Foreign Affairs. You need to include a cover letter indicating that you want the documents to be authenticated and a pre-paid return addressed envelope. (I will try to attach a copy of my letter-just have to figure out how to attach the document!) Authentication and Service of Documents Department of Foreign Affairs 125 Sussex Drive Ottawa Ontario K1A 0G2 5. It is then sent to the Mexican Embassy to be legalized (Foreign Affairs will forward the documents to the Mexican Embassy for you if you include a money order and a pre-paid courier return envelope-You need to contact the Mexican Embassy to find out what the fee is before you send it off) Consular Section Embassy of Mexico 45 O’Conner, Suite 1000 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4 Here are the phone numbers for both the department of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Mexico Foreign Affairs 1-613-995-0119 Embassy of Mexico 1-612-233-8988 I have spent a lot of time talking to these 2 departments and trying to clarify things and this is the process as far as I understand it. Is there anyone who has been told something different

My TA also sent me this email not long after the one quoted above... " was just reviewing some paperwork that I have from the Iberostar resorts and the paperwork for the Beach section is different than the Lindo section. The Lindo paperwork does indicate that you need to have your birth certificates translated by a consulate prior to your arrival; however the Beach section indicates that only copies of your original birth certificates are required. It does seem strange that the different sections would have different requirements, but perhaps the Beach has a service that the Lindo does not for translating. I will clarify that with Gabriela when we hear back from her, but it does look like they have different requirements." Wow, that's interesting that the different sections have different requirements. You would think that if one has a service for translating that all of them would. Lucky for you, you don't have to go through the process of translating and sending them off! I'm going to contact my WC to see why it's different!

Quote: Originally Posted by Anna26 Hello Girls, I was wondering if you know how the "guest passes" work? Can you just give the front desk the names of the people that you are expecting to come in on a certain day and pay for them ahead of time, or does it have to be paid and taken care of at the time the guests come in? Thank you so much ! Anna Typically people coming in pay for the guest pass when they arrive. But I am sure that you can arrange with your wedding coordinator to leave the names of the guests you are expecting to come and pay ahead of time. I don't see why it would be a problem.

They are incredible! I can see why you are so excited! I especially LOVE the one of just your bodies, with the heads cut off-that is a cool pic.

Those are some hot photos! You look gorgeous! It makes me so excited to do mine!!!

I also was going to say to check out the Iberostar. They have a great kids club but it isn't "kid centered". They also have several pools including an ativities pool, quiet pool, kids pool, lazy River, sports pool, and wave pool (at least these are all included in the Iberostar Lindo-not too sure if you choose to stay at the Beach/Del Mar). Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions! I'd be happy to help.

My FI and I also struggled with the decision to have a civil vs. religious ceremony. Ultimately I think that it depends on what you and your FI want to do. Personally I just felt that it was important for me to have a legal ceremony so that's the way that we're going. As far as I understand it so far, most of the work for having the civil ceremony is done back home (which does seem to be a lot more work!). I can send you the info that I have with regards to preparing to have a legal ceremony if you would like. Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by paraisobeachbride2009 Ok, so firstly, please forgive me if this is in the wrong place. On to the good stuff: I am losing my mind here! My wedding is less than 3 months away and I'm STILL not sure what to do about this civil ceremony in Mexico stuff! The internet can be a fabulous wealth of information, or if you're like me, a place to totally confuse you and make you paranoid. Here's the lowdown: I am booked to have a civil ceremony at the Iberostar Paraiso Beach (Mayan Riviera, Mexico) on Feb 19/09. My WC at the Ib* told me that all that is required from my FI is our long-form (un-translated) birth certificates and our passports. However, EVERYWHERE that I have read/researched online explicitly states that we MUST have our long-form birth certificates translated in to Spanish and authenticated (can someone explain the authentication process to me?). So, if there are any of you brides out here on BDW that are from Canada (even better...Alberta resident or born here) and are having a civil ceremony in the Mayan Riviera please enlighten me! I will do whatever I need to do, I just have no idea what that is and I'm freaking out. Sorry for the long post, I know you have all probably seen posts similar to this before but everytime I look something up about this stuff, I learn that I need to do something else or something new. It's so frustrating. Thanks in advance! You are definitely not alone! I have spent a lot of time trying to figure all of this out. (I have everything written out at home and will include the information that I've received once I get home). I am getting married at the Iberostar Lindo in April and my WC has told me on several occasions that I need to have a translated copy of the long version of my birth certificate (I know that we have different WC's for the Beach/Lindo but I find it interesting that we have been given different information). Once I get home I will let you know the info that I've found so far! If not tonight...tomorrow!

Congrats! I love that you found answering emails at work fun so that you could look at your ring...so cute! Good luck with the planning!

I was the MOH in my best friends wedding and shared the duties with her sister. I completely understood why she chose both of us...I don't think that it is strange at all!

Choosing the resort is definitely the hardest thing that we had to do so far. Our priorities for choosing a resort were pretty much the same things that you listed. We chose the Iberostar, mainly because it offers several resorts in one to meet different peoples price needs and also because they do only one wedding per day (2 things that were important to me). We staretd by spending a lot of time just looking through books/reviews and then we narrowed it down to our top 5 favourite resorts. From there we found ourselves a good travel agent and got info and pricing from her. I would recommend narrowing it down to a few resorts that you really like and then get a TA to find pricing, etc. Good luck!