sandra1976

I would not be too concerned about getting sick... the only thing that got me thinking was when they said yesterday that they are suspending all flights to Mexico from Toronto some up to May 29th....

Hello Everyone, I can't believe all that is going on with Mexico first the drug wars...now the SWINE flu... My heart goes to you girls that are getting married within the next couple of weeks...I have been hearing the news and they are cancelling flights to Mexico i hope this does not affect any of you ....

Hello Everyone, I got Married April 6th in Mexico and used Mania as my DJ let me tell you he was worth every penny, all reviews about Mania are 100% accurate it was easy and a pleasure dealing with him. Great response on e-mails which makes planning a destination wedding very easy. I come from a Portuguese background and a lot of my guests where older generation, so the Portuguese music was a must. I got a CD of Portuguese music that i was to take on my trip so Carlos could play it, well i forgot the CD so Carlos came to my rescue and downloaded some songs from the net. I was very impressed because not only did he go through the trouble of downloading the music but he chose great songs and saved my wedding. As well I did not give him a list of music we wanted i let him pick and he did a great job all my guest loved it.... We had so much fun that i had to extend the party for an hour because no one wanted to leave.

Hello Everyone, I got Married April 6th in Mexico and used Mania as my DJ let me tell you he was worth every penny, all reviews about Mania are 100% accurate it was easy and a pleasure dealing with him. Great response on e-mails which makes planning a destination wedding very easy. I come from a Portuguese background and a lot of my guests where older generation, so the Portuguese music was a must. I got a CD of Portuguese music that i was to take on my trip so Carlos could play it, well i forgot the CD so Carlos came to my rescue and downloaded some songs from the net. I was very impressed because not only did he go through the trouble of downloading the music but he chose great songs and saved my wedding. As well I did not give him a list of music we wanted i let him pick and he did a great job all my guest loved it.... We had so much fun that i had to extend the party for an hour because no one wanted to leave.

Hello Everyone, I got Married April 6th in Mexico and used Mania as my DJ let me tell you he was worth every penny, all reviews about Mania are 100% accurate it was easy and a pleasure dealing with him. Great response on e-mails which makes planning a destination wedding very easy. I come from a Portuguese background and a lot of my guests where older generation, so the Portuguese music was a must. I got a CD of Portuguese music that i was to take on my trip so Carlos could play it, well i forgot the CD so Carlos came to my rescue and downloaded some songs from the net. I was very impressed because not only did he go through the trouble of downloading the music but he chose great songs and saved my wedding. As well I did not give him a list of music we wanted i let him pick and he did a great job all my guest loved it.... We had so much fun that i had to extend the party for an hour because no one wanted to leave.

Quote: Originally Posted by yamille Hey ladies, Has anyone brought down their own chair sashes? If so, did the staff arrange them for you- was it worth the hassle? I'm thinking about it... Thanks! I brought my own down and a long with everything else including centerpieces and just told them how i wanted it set up and they did a great job...and did not charge me for anything

got it..... great website becks

why does my pic not show up?? does it have to be approved first? or did i do something wrong?

Kelly your pics are great i can't to see mine.....

thanks girls

Quote: Originally Posted by robinbood Here is our propic slideshow (with sound) by Elizabeth Medina. She is awesome! Enjoy Robin and Heath Your Pictures are amazing everything looked so beautiful.....Congrats

Quote: Originally Posted by yamille good for you Lauren! I'm still worried about the dj situation. I hope everything worked out for Sandra. Everything worked out when i got there they didn't even mention the invoice from swank... But i told Perla that they should advise people from the begining about the fees, and she agreed. I never saw anyone supervising Carlos. My advice to other brides is if you have no e-mails stating the cost of outside DJ maybe print sections from this forum. All i paid was 300.00 and same with Meredith.... But i know that Kelly mentioned that she did not pay for the outside vendors to eat and i had to.. so just so you guys are aware they are not consistent with their rules and prices...i guess it depends how they feel. I had told Perla when i met with her that i wanted to add 4 people which was Carlos and his assistant , vincent and Paco from Del sol photography, she said that was fine. The day of the wedding i noticed they where not eating. when i asked Vincent he said he was told he could not eat....I then asked Daniela what was going on she said she would set up another table but it would be an extra charge and made me sign the invoice right away....

Quote: Originally Posted by KLC77 We ended at 10 as well. You can definitely move the party to the lobby area (there's some sort of entertainment there every night) or to the disco, but they don't open that until about 10 or 10:30 if I remember correctly. We had the same schedule and ended up extending the party to 11:00 because everyone was having such a great time and Carlos from mania was absolutely amazing..... i was glad i did because afterwards we tried going to the Funpub which opens at 11:00 every night and Daniela told us that it was closed for renovations .....mind you the next day there was nothing different about it. But everyone was in such a good hyped mood that they would party anywhere so we had a few drinks at the bar and then went to the royal pool for a night swim..... We did this a few nights and had lots of fun.....

Hello Girls, I'm back for three days and then i'm off to Jamaica for my honeymoon....Yahoooo Ok so everything was great at Paradisus they did not make me pay for the swank invoice all they charged me was the 300.00... They treated me like a queen and everything was beautiful...I loved it. The only advice i have is make sure you double check everything and stick to your e-mails because unfortunatelly they don't treat everyone the same. Both Daniela and Perla where great and my wedding was beautiful. Can't wait for the pics.....The resort is very beautiful....very happy we picked that hotel.

Ok I can see the light at the end of the tunnel after going through all correspondence I have had with Paradisus both Perla and Daniela I have found an e-mail where Daniela clearly states that the Extrenal dj fee is 300.00..... Therefore, I have printed it and highlighted it nice and bright to take with me....

Quote: Originally Posted by Freckles Hi everyone, We have asked Perla a couple times now what the status is on our fees and have heard nothing except she is still looking into it for us. We are so frustrated about this whole thing and wonder if this will get sorted out before the wedding, we dont want to have to worry about this for the next month! We dont plan on paying the 15% of SWANKs original astronomical quote, we were never informed of this rule before we recieved the quote, we never would have asked for a quote if we knew we would have to pay for it!! Does anyone know from previous experience or have heard if someone from SWANK is physically there during the reception to supervise Carlos or is it just the fee we have to pay for a "specialzed technician"? I mentioned this to Carlos and he seemed surprised and said he has never had someone there and has never had any problems with the resort. I get the same run around still looking into it and nothing.... I will see her in person tomorrow and then she needs to look into it right then and there.

Quote: Originally Posted by becks FOUND IT!!! Ask Perla for the current copy (mine is old) - and then detail out the fees described in the contract and compare it to what she's saying. Yes that is the one i have as well ....

Quote: Originally Posted by becks Do any of you have the contract from SWANK? When I was there, he had a contract that was specific for the outside vendor stuff. I'm looking for it now, but am afraid it may be long gone. That's were all my fees were oulined. I'll keep looking, but yes, those fees look pretty dumb to me. I'd really push back on that. The figures are obscene! I have the contract that he sent me that says that you have to pay $55/hr for supervision with a minimum of 4 hours plus the amp charge..... Then now I get this....

This is the breakdown of what Perla sent me...... outside AV fee 700.00 Lead supervising technician 200.00 Miscellaneous expense (15% of quote) 249.61 Tax 114.96 Labor 200.00

Quote: Originally Posted by yamille Becks- Your business will be a total success. You did such an amazing job at planning your own wedding other would be lucky to have you. good luck with it! I cannot believe your issue with Paradisus- I really hope that new charge was a mistake. WTF? Sandra- I am with you on your feeling about Paradisus right at this moment. I know that everything will turn out amazing but I think it's a good idea for you to speak with her. This whole SWANK/MANNIA thing is seriously out of control. It just doesn't make sense at all. I do understand that SWANK doesn't want to lose business- but then honestly they should either of these things: lower their rates look at what Carlos is doing and what is lacking from their own service not allow outside dj service *It's just a really annoying aspect of the planning for me right now. I have faith that we wil work it out but they do need to be told what we are all feeling right now. Sandra- keep us posted on what perla says after your conversation. Thanks! I called and Perla was not there i spoke with Leticia who told me that Perla was not in the office and was looking into my case. That she would let me know. I told her well i fly out on wednesday at 6am so i hope to hear from her before that...

Carlos said that it was ridiculous........ He said he understands that swank does not want to loose business but this is a bad way to do it.....

Quote: Originally Posted by KLC77 Wow Becks, that's crazy that they did that. I don't understand what they could be thinking. It sucks to have that associated with the memories of your wedding. On a positive note~ congrats on your new business. I hope its very successful! So exciting to be starting something new. Girls, since the dj thing seems to be the one of the biggest issues for upcoming brides I wonder if you told Perla that you all know each other and are wondering why there are differences in the price quotes for additional fees what she would say. IDK what she would do, but it really isn't right for them to be trying to charge Sandra so much extra when that's not what they've done for others. When I sent Perla the e-mail telling her that I was not going to pay more than 300.00 I told her I had heard that they where trying to do the same to other brides, and that it just is not good reviews for their hotel. Especially at economic times like these. Until today I still have not heard back from her. But I'm calling her today, because e-mails she can ignore but not a phone call. I don't mean to be so negative and give bad feed back on Paradisus especially since I have heard so many great things, but the good and bad experiences need to be discussed for future brides. I'm not making up anything I'm just sharing my experience and right now I don't think it's fair, they should have set prices for everyone and treat everyone the same. I hope that my wedding day blows my mind and builds back my impression of Paradisus.

Perla was the one that sent me the invoice she is aware of what they want to charge me. when i got it i called her right away and she said that she would send me the breakdown of the dj Charges which she did. I replied back with what i had from Dj Swank and there was one form that explained outside vendors where it stated that i had to pay $55.00/hr for supervision plus the amp fee of $50.0 per day. which i was fine with because it didn't even come up to the $300.00. And i clearly told her on my e-mail that this what i was told and this is what i will pay, not a penny more and i have not heard back from her.

Quote: Originally Posted by KLC77 Sandra, how many guests are you having? Just curious to see if its a larger group and that's why you are having a harder time. There will be 33 people in my group.

Quote: Originally Posted by Meredith Sandra - what date to fly to the hotel? I will be there until April 5th - before we leave for the honeymoon hotel (El Dorado Royale). If we will be there the same time, I can let you know what happened with the Mannia/SWANK charges. So far - Perla has only charged me the $300 fee. Her invoices don't include extra supervision time. SWANK mentioned that I would have to pay for supervision when I was talking to him about the slideshow. After I told him I would pay $150 for the screen (crazy prices - I'm not buying the screen, I am barrowing it..right?), he never mentioned extra DJ fees. ...So that is where I stand. I'll let you know how it goes down. Perla has not mentioned that we have to pay for invoice before we get down there. She hasn't mentioned anything about it all as a matter of fact. We were going to take the most recent invoice with us and pay by credit card before the wedding. I wouldn't pay before you get down there (unless you want to lock in the rates or something). Hey Merith, I know i said on a previous e-mail that i go down on monday but that is wrong.... I must have been real peed off....LOL i get there on April 1st at about 10:30am... I have already sent them the payment minus the DJ charge, Perla took for ever to add that to my invoice. I got a better rate doing so because my friend works at the bank and she got me employee rate. But i will not pay what they are asking me... the original quote he gave me was 1600.0 now they want me to pay almost the same for not using them They must be on drugs.....I'm just finding that Paradisus is nothing but a rip off.... Like what the hell is a cocktail hour without cocktails?