Queenie77

Thanks for the support ladies! I appreciate the chance to talk to people who understand what a mess this is. New developments... still no apology call to us. Just a text. She hasn't bothered to call the doctor's office to apologize or explain about the 300 calls they'll be receiving. She also failed to put that this is an adult event on the invite, so people are now using our site to RSVP, but then calling me because there's no space to add their children (which should be a hint to them.) The family's property is wooded, with a pool, a pond, a lake and a fire pit area... lots of hazards for little ones at night. She also failed to note this is an outdoor event in October, and that dress should be casual, yet warm - it's chilly at night in Indiana during October! UGH!

That's even worse than my situation! In our case, I hope mapquest works well, because they didn't include directions or a map to the estate. I also forgot to mention part of the reason these were a mess was that my MIL was too busy packing for a trip to Vegas to really focus carefully on what she was doing with these invites. But she takes off for a vacay, instructing me to go pick the invites up, address them and get them in the mail because she didn't want them to wait to get mailed until she got back. She had procrastinated too long, and then dumped them off in my lap. The deal is that I paid for $300 worth of envelopes and postage, and then I was also left with 300 hideous invites to deal with that weren't even my design. They went in the mail after my mom sat and glued my MIL's design together - because my MIL failed to mention that they wouldn't be assembled when I picked them up. Not even a thank you for doing what should have been my MIL's work. Last spring, my mom and I spent days cutting 900 boarding cards by hand, and then attaching 3 cards together to form 300 boarding pass invites. Then I had to do a manual feed on my printer... feeding 300 envelopes one at a time. We laughed at the time and said we would never do it again - and then here we were, assembling and printing and stuffing and sealing for someone who dumped the dirty work off on us and took off for vacation. It's not like I personally have the money or the time to reprint, and then buy additional postage for 300 invites... and I don't think I should have to, since I wasn't the one who messed up in the first place. They had three opportunities to proof what the printer had done - and they missed everything each time. Now they're just blowing it off like it's no big deal. I'm so mad I can't see straight.

My new MIL sent out our at-home reception invites with multiple typos. She made them herself, after telling me that the place where I had picked out some very simple, but classic invites wasn't good enough. So she makes them out of cardstock and flimsy animal print scrapbook paper. The print is way too tiny - you literally have to hold them 6 inches in front of you to read them. She didn't put our new last name anywhere on it - just our first names. She mispelled "newlyweds" and "barbeque." Worst of all, she put the wrong RSVP number on it... and it was her own phone number she messed up! She put a number that rings to an oncology office, which is going over really well with that business. I'm really frustrated because my new husband and I have had this entire reception hijacked. My family paid for the wedding and the honeymoon, and his family is paying for this at-home reception, hosted on their estate. My husband's family is wealthy, but his stepmother chose a DIY route for these invites. DIY is fine - I did DIY boarding pass invites that looked very professional. However, these DIY invites were thrown together and mailed out without me or my husband ever getting to see them, proof them or have any sort of opinion about them. Typos are very embarassing, and reflect poorly upon us. It also seems his father and stepmother want to change everything we wanted in order to impress their wealthy peers, which is what makes the poor invitation quality so ironic. The casual beach theme with a BBQ, has been changed to a fall theme (with animal print?) The food, decor and a band were all selected without our input. (The band is playing music from the 70s and 80s, even though most of our guests weren't even born until 1984. They know only six songs from the year 2000 forward.) Best of all, the response I got about the messed up invites was a text message saying that "people will figure out to call our families once they get an offer to make a gyno appt." Like this whole thing was one big joke. Then there was a small throw-away apology for not catching the mistake. I feel like this was a major mistake. Sloppy and unacceptable. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I also don't know what etiquette applies here. My mother and close friends are horrified for us, and said they think the best option is to send some sort of correction letter. However, they also think that the person who made the mistake in the first place should be the one to do that. Obviously she won't be doing that, since she was so dismissive about the whole issue. I'm not trying to be a brat, but I feel like we should get to have a little input about the party, and that some effort should be made to get the correct info out to people. Any suggestions? Help!

Hey there! We wanted to get out of Mexico too, but found that we were losing too much time in one day with connections and flight times. We ended up honeymooning in Cabo, which was a quick connection flight through Guadalajara. What we liked about it was that it has a totally different feel, and we didn't feel at all like we'd just moved from one Mexican resort to another. We loved both locations, and enjoyed the different vibe and the different activities we could do in each place. We did an AI in PV and a non-AI in Cabo, which also mixed things up a bit. We also looked into hopping from the Pacific side of Mexico to the Gulf side... but depending on your wedding date, hurricane season can cause issues June-November. Cabo and PV don't see many hurricanes, so they're great locations all year round. Happy planning and good luck!

I got married at Vallarta Palace on May 16th. Because we had 48 guests, we had enough room nights booked by our guests to get our stay for free, plus unlimited private receptions. They didn't limit the number of people on the packages, because the functions were all free. I would check out the Palace Resorts website and look at their free package (which we used, and just added on photos and the cake.) I have made a couple of other posts about our perks and experiences here in the PV portion of the forum that might give you some additional helpful info. We never paid an extra penny for anything regarding any of our guests - in fact, our guests were gifted $250 spa credits and $250 golf credits from the resort, so they were all happy campers! PM me if you have any questions, and good luck!

Welcome! It all works out in the end - a DW is a great way to go! Happy planning, and enjoy all the great tips on the site

Sounds wonderful Tina! Happy planning

Welcome Dina! We just got back from our honeymoon in Cabo and loved every minute of it! Happy planning!

Welcome and enjoy planning! We honeymooned in Cabo and LOVED IT!

Welcome Amrita! I'm sure you'll receive lots of feedback from other Punta Cana brides - you're in the right spot to get wonderful ideas, support and help. Good luck planning!

I am finally getting around to reviewing our wedding ceremony. I thought it might be easiest to simply post the letter we sent to the staff at Vallarta Palace following our wedding ceremony: To: The Vallarta Palace Staff We would like to extend our deepest gratitude for the fantastic wedding ceremony and vacation we experienced at the Vallarta Palace Resort from May 11-18, 2009. The entire experience exceeded our wildest expectations, and it was your staff’s hospitality that made our stay one of the best travel experiences we’ve ever had. I also speak for all of our wedding guests when I say that your resort went above and beyond to make our “wedding vacation†a dream come true for all of us. First and foremost, we were thrilled by the greeting we each received upon arrival at the resort. Each staff member we encountered was polite, friendly, and made us feel as though we could immediately feel at home away from home. The $250 spa and $250 golf credits were a wonderful surprise, and something that most of our guests are still talking about. Jorge was excellent in explaining what the promotions entailed, and assisted many of our guests in selecting relaxing spa services, fun golf outings and off-property tours. We enjoyed the variety of meals throughout the property, and wanted to let you know our favorite was MoMoNoHaNa! The food was excellent in all of the restaurants, and the service by the restaurant staff was impeccable. In addition, the overall pride in the maintenance of the property was evident in how pristine everything appeared to be in every area of the resort – it’s simply a beautiful place to spend a vacation. Most importantly, our group was there for our May 16th wedding ceremony, and Vallarta Palace turned out to be the perfect place to host our wedding events. Our guests have told us repeatedly not only how much they enjoyed their stay, but also how amazing they thought the wedding events and the wedding ceremony were. The setting in the gazebo was perfect, and translated beautifully to film and video. The garden was a perfect spot for photos, dining and dancing at the reception, with a breathtaking view of the ocean, the mountains and the sunset for all of us to enjoy. We would like to personally thank Anita and Salvador for their special services in sound, lighting and decoration. Their hard work added a special touch to an already beautiful setting. We also want to thank Lorena for all of her effort and coordination leading up to our event – and for taking such good notes regarding the details of our ceremony and additional events! A very special thanks also goes to Hector in group sales for making sure our group was taken care of and for the additional assistance and hospitality he offered throughout our stay. And last, but certainly not least, we owe much gratitude to Angeles, who stepped in at the last minute to coordinate our wedding events when an unforeseen emergency called Lorena away. Angeles moved quickly into action, verified Lorena’s notes and made everything transition seamlessly. Her attention to detail, her consistent follow-up and the personal interest she took in making sure everything was right made each of our wedding events everything we could have asked for. Overall, what else can we say? We thank each and every person who made our wedding and vacation a memory to last a lifetime. We will definitely be back to Vallarta Palace, and look forward to also exploring other properties in the Palace Resorts chain. Thank you, Kelly & Russ As I posted in another thread, Vallarta Palace went above and beyond to make our wedding perfect in every way. Our guests are still giving rave reviews about their stay, and I wish we could do it all over again year after year!

Glad to hear other people are still headed to PV. I hope things pick back up soon... it was already starting to become more populated when we left for Cabo for our honeymoon on May 18th. We had the time of our lives, and can't wait to go back to PV to explore more of the city, the beaches, and maybe stay at one of the gorgeous villas we saw on our way into the jungle hills. There's something there for everyone. Meghan - feel free to private message me, and I can tell you more about our experience at Vallarta Palace. I will post the thank you letter I wrote to the staff a little later - I promised them I would keep spreading the word about what a wonderful stay we had there - and my letter reads much like a review. If I remember correctly, we had to book either 25 rooms or 75 room-nights to get our 7-day stay paid for, and also unlimited private functions. We had about 48 people attend, and I think we ended up booking 20 rooms, but we had 92 room nights. So, we ended up having a welcome cocktail reception, a rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, the post-ceremony reception, and a farewell brunch. We selected the free ceremony and just added on the things we wanted, rather than selecting a package price with things we would not have used. The hotel throws in lots of surprise perks here and there for bridal groups... our guests were delighted from start to finish. As far as getting our guests to use our travel agent, we never mentioned anything about using a TA to earn perks for ourselves. We actually worded our letter to explain that the hotel works with travel groups, and to be included with the wedding party group (and to get the perks that come with that,) they would have to book with the rest of the group through the travel agent. Most were fine with it, because it saved them a small amount of money per night anyways. We also explained that if you had any problems with cancellation, delay or itinerary changes, TAs could get much more flexibility from the hotel than you could individually, and that Expedia, Orbitz and other online services offer you virtually no recourse should you encounter any problems. This was all we needed to convince our guests to use our TA for booking the hotel rooms. No one ever questioned it, and it ended up coming in handy as people needed to make changes because of the health epidemic. The point for using a TA was also proven when as part of the "wedding group" they were greeted upon arrival with champagne, upgraded to the Concierge level, received $250 to use in the spa, and $250 to use at local golf courses. Our guests were giddy with delight when they came back from their free 80 minute massages! Most people went ahead and booked their flights on their own, and fortunately also listened when we told them to book directly with the airlines, rather than online discount services. Again, that tip came in really handy with the outbreak - they were able to deal directly with the airlines, who were able to accommodate everyone efficiently. I hope that helps. I can answer any other specific questions you have. Happy Planning! PS... I can't figure out how to post photos from our trip. We literally have over 3500 (and counting) photos taken by the resort and our guests to go through. I'd like to pick a few to post. Any tips anyone?

Hi all! Russ and I decided not to cancel our wedding plans and to continue forward with our wedding at Vallarta Palace on May 16th in Nuevo Vallarta. We are SO glad we did - things couldn't be better! The hotel at first was at 5% occupancy, so things were very quiet. Service has been amazing at the hotel property - and everything about it is beautiful and relaxing. Our guests have started arriving, and there is another wedding party - so there are more people around now... but it's still probably only 30% occupancy at the point. The hotel has thrown in many perks for our guests - upgrades to the Concierge level for everyone, $250 spa credit, $250 golf credit. Everyone is having a great time, and they are thrilled about the unexpected extras. We have done the Canopy Tour (fantastic) and Rhythms of the Night (a must see.) I would suggest venturing out to do either one if you have the time during your wedding stay or honeymoon. We got a ton of great photos from both outings, and I was even brave enough to wrap a snake around my head for a memorable pic! Based upon our group bookings, the hotel is picking up the cost of our stay for the week, and giving us unlimited private receptions. So tonight we're doing a welcome cocktail reception, tomorrow a rehearsal dinner, a reception after the ceremony Saturday, and a farewell brunch Sunday. I have never been so happy with our decision to do a DW, and just wanted to share with everyone that things are gorgeous in Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta... so for all you PV & NV brides - you'll love it!

Well, we are getting married in Nuevo Vallarta on May 16th. We leave on May 11th. Right now, we are very fortunate, as all of our guests are supportive and plan to go if at all possible. We are collecting info, keeping our guests informed, and discussing a possible Plan B. We figure we'll be happy getting married anywhere at any date - we'll just roll with the punches. This is a frustration, but seems small in the overall scope of things, as some people have lost loved ones to this illness. Hopefully with people on alert and by taking proper precautions, it'll work out in time for our ceremony. If not, we'll just deal with it and see what we can do to shift everyone's travel fees to a new location or a new date if necessary.

Lorena booked us for a Welcome Cocktail Reception at the Pool Terrace, the Triton Terrace for a Welcome Dinner, and the Garden for our Reception Dinner. We're getting married in May, so it shouldn't be too hot to be outside. I used this link to get an idea of what to expect weather-wise: Puerto Vallarta Weather and Climate

Kelly and Russ - May 16, 2009 - Vallarta Palace!

Hey there! Just wanted to let you know we are getting married at Vallarta Palace in May, and Lorena has been great! TA Tammy encouraged me to start working with another TA who has a great relationship with Vallarta Palace. The minute TA Teresa got involved, I was assigned a WC from the actual Vallarta Palace Office (Lorena, obviously!) Almost immediately, Lorena sent me an email to introduce herself, and to give me all of her contact info and preliminary paperwork. She then checked in with me several weeks later to ask some basic questions about our plans... but without any pressure. (I am a laid-back person, and to be bombarded with questions or information all the time would be an overload for me - hence the reason for our DW.) Lorena and Teresa have promptly answered any questions I've had. Teresa always on the same day, usually within hours; Lorena anywhere from 1-3 days, which I hear is pretty good response time from resorts in Mexico. So far, Lorena has been very thorough and seems to really have a feel for exactly what it is we want. We get all the same perks you'd get without a TA, even though their site says that the perks don't apply if you use one. Teresa secured us a slightly cheaper rate, and has been able to keep our group organized. At this point, our stay will be free, and we get to have unlimited private receptions because of our number of guests. Lorena just sent me a "congrats" email for that just the other day, along with all of the cocktail party menus and dinner menus to start selecting what we want for our private events. Lorena has already selected the locations that would be best for parties of our size, and so it looks like we'll be near the pool for a cocktail reception, in another outdoor area for a welcome dinner and in the garden for our post-ceremony reception. On another note, I ran into a boutique owner in my hometown who started chit-chatting about where we were having our wedding. Before I could answer in full, she blurted out how she'd stayed at Vallarta Palace while she was in PV, and she and her husband loved it. She said the service was top-notch and the food was really good. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer. Feel free to private message me anytime!

Welcome Kamerrence! I am a fan of the Palace Resorts chain in Mexico. We went with Vallarta Palace in Puerto Vallarta, since it was a new destination for both of us... but I've heard good things about Moon Palace. Good luck and have fun planning!

I did over 300 invites, with 3 cards per invite. We bought some scissors from a scrapbooking store that were nice and sharp, and then had a party to cut the cards out. I could not find a decent price on cutting them out, other than the straight cuts to separate the cards. That was the quick and easy part, so we just decided to do it all on our own. The corner cutters weren't making nice crisp cuts, so we did it all by hand... but with lots of people working on it, it didn't take too long. It does make your hands sore though. Good luck! I hope you can find a great price to save yourself the trouble!

Tammy's right on the money with her info. We've held a block of rooms for our group at Vallarta Palace, and the release date is very reasonable. Just keep in touch with your guests, keep an eye on your deposit/payment dates for your guests, and the room release dates. Vallarta Palace does have room numbers or room nights they consider when looking at which perks you've earned. That helps if you have people in your party staying longer than 3 days - it might get you to your perks faster than considering room nights only.

Hey there! I did over 300 boarding passes. I just posted some info about how I went about it under Jennifer's "Best Tips" thread. You can see how mine turned out if you click on my .pdf in her thread. I saved a lot of money, because to do that many professional invites would have cost me a lot more, and they wouldn't have provided nearly as much information as mine did with the three passes I connected together. I had 325 3-card passes printed on 110 lb. cardstock at Staples for about $290, and got 350 ivory linen envelopes for another $35. The color prints on cardstock were 89 cents each. The worst part was cutting out a total of 975 cards!!! I had a little party of friends who volunteered to help. Not many people do as many as I did, so I think it could be pretty easy once you get the hang of moving things around in the template. I was really surprised to find that all of my guests thought that I'd had mine professionally made. They were so impressed that I'd done my own design, and I think having them printed on a high-quality professional printer made them look like the real deal. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

No, not at all! I shopped all the printers (Kinko's, Office Max, Office Depot, etc.) and Staples was the cheapest for printing in laser color on cardstock. You can even submit your order online if you want to upload it to their server and pick it up when it's done. There are no additional fees. It's much cheaper if you do it yourself on their color printer, (I think maybe only 35 or 45 cents,) but you must already have a print to make a copy of, and you'll lose some quality. If you want it to have maximum quality and color, then it's best to give them the file online, on CD or on a flash drive, and they'll print it for you directly from that. It's also cheaper if you're having them print it, but not onto cardstock. You could use a heavier 24 lb. paper and mount that onto a color cardstock yourself if you wanted to save money, yet make it a little sturdier.

Jennifer: I just finished my boarding pass invites (over 300 of them!) I did a lot of research and made several drafts. I found a site that had a thorough set of instructions and template options: Aylee's site. I also got some fonts from the dafont website, and used "nature," "hibiscus" and "barcode." I think I may have also gotten a "Scriptina" font from that site, and I used "Pristina" as well, which was already a Word font. I prefer to use Word, and you'll have to play around with text boxes to get the layers and spacing you want. It takes some patience, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to switch things out and move things around. I had mine professionally printed at Staples on 110 lb. cardstock. The prints were 89 cents per color copy, and all three cards fit onto one page. It made all the difference - when I printed them at home, they didn't look nearly as crisp, and the colors weren't as vibrant. I used copper brads to connect the three cards together, and made a jacket for the passes out of color 24 lb. paper, and 3-dimensional flowers I found at a scrapbook store. It's fun to make them your own, and to find ways to make them unique. Best of all, my guests are RAVING about how much they like them. I am adding a .pdf of my invites so you can see what I came up with. (I changed the names and contact info for privacy reasons.) Feel free to private message me if you have specific questions. Good luck and have fun! Boarding Pass Template Forum.pdf

Sounds like you are off to a great start. Good luck and happy planning!

Hello and welcome! We are having our wedding at a Palace Resort, and I think they have great options. Good luck!