mich999

I found our linen suits at Men's Wearhouse - they were Calvin Kelin tan linen suits and were buy one get one free - you can see a picture in my wedding review, page 2.

Is there not another DJ available? I can highly recommend DJ Ricardo. Or if your DJ's assistant is available, that would work too. I don't think you want music to end at 9:30 - that seems really early. Our music ended at 10:30 and we rushed to plug in our ipod in our little portable player to at least have some background music, but it's not the same as having the DJ system for everyone to dance to.

Jess - that's crazy. Why would he have to leave at 9:30? He can't possibly have another event that night, can he?!

Quote: Originally Posted by [email protected] Awesome review! Thank you so much! I am getting married there on July 9th...counting down the days. But I have one question, we are trying to decide on consumption bar or open. It's like $4500 for 45 people for the 5 hour open bar and that seems excessive if only half the group are heavy drinkers. Do you or anyone else have tips for this? Thanks!! We did an open bar for 4 hours, with a half hour break right before dinner when we did first dances, intros and cake. We also did a limited bar of wine, domestic beer, margaritas, pina coladas, soda and bottle water which saved us money - you just have to ask the Hilton to price a limited bar option for you (it's not on their current menu). If we hadn't done that, we would have probably done consumption because I agree, the full open bar with top shelf liquor is too expensive. Everyone at the pool every day was ordering pacifico, margaritas or fun fruity drinks, so I don't think anyone missed not being able to have a rum and coke!

Jess: Sunriders - I just emailed their general email ([email protected]), but Mario always responded - he was my contact person. Juan Carlos - on his website, he states that his packages start at $3000 for 4 hours and he can customize a package for you from there. We booked him for 5 hours for a wedding of 45 people and he took over 1000 pictures. We did not purchase an album, but you can always add that later if you change your mind. Every hour you add on to the minimum is an additional charge and I don't know if his hourly rates and charge for proofs have changed since I booked him last fall.

Hi everyone - just wanted to report back on my experience with Baja Raiders. Everything went smoothly (except for the waves). We booked their 10 person boat the Muchacho Alegre for 8 hours. As I stated before Judy was great - responded quickly to any email and provided a detailed confrimation email. Cost was $950 for the boat and then you could add (which we did) $30 pp for license, lunch, beer, soft drinks and bait (the all-inclusive package I suppose). The owner of Baja Raiders met us at the dock, walked us to the boat and got us our licenses. The crew was very nice and all business - we immediately went looking for marlin and caught a 175 striped marlin after only 2 hours. Unfortunately we had a couple guests get seasick (all those who took dramamine were fine but my sister who is prego couldn't take it) so we cut the trip early. We thought the Muchacho Alegre was a great fishing boat - ample cabin space inside for all of us to sit in there while it was cold early in the morning and space for about 6 people up top to sit where the captain is. The captain was a pro at reversing engines to help bring in the marlin too - that was super fun! This was one of the few boats I found for a reasonable price for capacity for more than 6-8 people. I would definitely use Baja Raiders and the Muchacho Alegre again.

Quote: Originally Posted by JGAMMAGIRL77 Very well done. Did you have any issues with the your reception location and hotel guest traffic? Jess Thanks Jess - they close off the whole area so it is impossible for anyone to walk through the reception area. You do have to pay an extra fee for the Whale Watching Terrace, but it is completely private... unless someone swims to the edge of the infinity pool in the evening and peers down at you!

My wedding review with pics is here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t43913, but I forgot to mention our live music vendors, so I thought I'd post them here since only Cabo brides will be interested in local musician reviews - I knew I'd forgot something in my initial review! (mods - if there's a way to add these two vendors to my review, that would be great too). Violinist - Violetta Poletek Los Cabos Wedding Entertainment - The best live Los Cabos wedding music available in Baja California Sur, Mexico ! She was fantastic. She has her own amp for her violin and you could here her loud and clear and she was beautiful. She played for an hour during our ceremony, playing all the pieces we requested, starting 15 minutes before and finishing with processional. Highly recommend Violetta. Mexican Trio - Los Mosquitos Booked through Hilton so I don't know how to contact them directly. They played during our cocktail hour, so unfortunately, I only heard them for about 10 seconds as we were passing through for more pictures on the beach. But my guests said they were great, mellow, playing great Mexican songs, which is what we wanted.

Thanks Erika - I loved them so much I took them with me. I was sad to leave the table and one of my bridesmaids just grabbed all the hydrangeas out of the 4 vases and we tied them together and took them to the lobby bar with us. This is us at 1 am with my giant bouquet of centerpieces : ) Oh - and in case anyone is wondering, yes I did reuse the hydrangea balls from the ceremony and rented vases for them to sit on the table which created a nice effect of alternating tall and short arrangements and justified the hydrangea balls purchase for a half hour ceremony for me.

More...

OK ladies - I figured it out and finally got some pics from another guest so there are some non-pro pics in post No. 15 of my review. Enjoy!! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t43913

Thanks Tammy - let's try this again...

Hope this doesn't come out huge...

AHA - finally figured out one pic. Ceremony site is above. Trying with other photos but they're coming out huge. I'm so embarassed I can't do this!! Oh - Sunrider cruise was $40.50 pp, they matched another quote I got from another boat.

I posted my review in the wedding review section - http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t43913 Unfortunately I'm technologically challenged and haven't figured out pictures yet, so I will try to do that tomorrow.

We got married on May 30, 2009 at the Hilton Los Cabos and we could not have been happier with everything. It was just perfect. Our wedding would not have been possible (or at least it would have been a LOT harder to plan) without this forum and all of you that take the time to provide your thoughts, experience and feedback with vendors and locations. I hope that this review helps future brides plan their own perfect day. I apologize in advance for length and wordiness! Transport – Brown’s Private Services Nadia at Brown’s was great. She always responded promptly to my emails and in the last few weeks before the wedding as guests were constantly changing reservations, she kept track of it all – she even sent me an excel spreadsheet with a summary of airport transfers for my guests when I started getting confused. Prices were reasonable and everyone was picked up on time- no problems. They also provided a 45 person bus for roundtrip transport for our rehearsal dinner. Nadia sent me a picture of the bus so I wasn’t renting blind and the bus was exactly like the picture, clean and air-conditioned and on time. We were very happy with Brown’s. Deep Sea Fishing – Baja Raiders We booked a charter for 10 people on the Muchacho Alegre through Baja Raiders. Judy at Baja Raiders was great, providing all the details and confirmation as well as driving directions to the boat. Price after license fees, lunch, bait and tip worked out to $140 pp which we thought was very reasonable. We caught a 175 striped marlin within 2-3 hours of fishing. Unfortunately, it was very windy and choppy and a couple guests got very seasick right after we caught the marlin so we cut the trip short. I can’t comment on how successful a full 8 hour fishing trip would have been, but we enjoyed what we experienced. Accommodation – Hilton Los Cabos We booked the Hilton without a site visit and I cannot say enough good things about staying at the Hilton Los Cabos. The property is gorgeous, the food and service outstanding (I could eat at the Madero Bar for a month straight) and the rooms were fabulous, whether they were two queen beds or a premier suite. Our guests could not stop talking about the hotel and there were a few guests that routinely stay in 5 star accommodations who raved along with everyone else. While the hotel is large, almost 400 rooms I think, it has an intimate feel and layout and I cannot wait to return. The staff was so friendly and genuine and kept thanking us for coming. Many of my guests went to the Hotel Lobby Bar after the reception (beautiful view and décor) and though it’s supposed to close at midnight, it stayed open past one for all of us that didn’t want the wedding to end – just amazing service. Rehearsal Dinner – Sunrider Sunset Dinner Cruise Our guests LOVED this cruise. We guaranteed 40 people (ended up with 44 guests) for a private 2 ½ hour sunset dinner cruise with open bar. The boat and crew were both great. Plenty of room on top and in the main cabin with a nice wooden bar. They put out small flower centerpieces in the cabin because they knew it was for a wedding. The staff hustled to get drinks for those sitting up top and the dinner was very tasty – way better than I expected for a dinner cruise. Mario was the contact person and was always responsive to my emails. We were thrilled with the cruise and recommend that everyone do a cruise for the rehearsal dinner! My only comment is that at the end of the cruise they stand on the dock with the tip jar that initially is sitting on the bar. Since I was tipping the entire crew at the end, I wished I would have known this so I could ask them not to ask guests for tips. So just be aware of this if you don’t want guests feeling like they need to tip too. Ceremony & Reception – Hilton Los Cabos I cannot imagine a more perfect setting than La Barca Beach for our ceremony and the Whale Watching Terrace at the Hilton for our reception. It was everything I pictured and more. La Barca beach is like getting married on a private beach because anyone going to the beach stays closer to the main part of the hotel and this beach area is off to the side. The Whale Watching Terrace – from the first moment I saw it on the Hilton’s website and in someone’s Juan Carlos slideshow, I fell in love. The terrace sits underneath at the end of the infinity pool and above the beach overlooking the ocean. You also get the entire Madero bar for the evening when you have your reception here. It was spectacular – I kept looking around wanting to pinch myself. Also, the Hilton went above and beyond with décor. I had flowers of course, and lugged down pillar candles and 100 votive holders for decoration. Dulce and Jaira had told me that the Hilton would provide some lights and candles so I figured anything else would be a bonus. What a bonus – large lights like old fashioned street lamps, lantern candles along the terrace edges, vases with sand and shells in them along the steps and on cocktail tables, large potted reeds to hide speakers. I was in shock when I saw all the extra decorations – it was amazing. Oh - and dinner was fabulous and the presentation was exquisite. Coordinator – Jaira/Dulce Hilton Los Cabos Please note that I basically served as my own wedding coordinator. I researched and contacted all the vendors myself, even the ones booked through the Hilton. As such, I cannot review Jaira/Dulce on how they would design or offer suggestions about what to do for décor and work with vendors, because I had a clear vision of what I wanted and I never asked Jaira/Dulce to perform these duties. I basically relied on the Hilton coordinators to implement/coordinate the actual day of the wedding and Dulce did a great job in the last month stepping in for Jaira (Jaira was the coordinator but was on maternity leave during my wedding). My experience with the Hilton wedding team was like other past Hilton brides on the forum. Early on in planning I read that the Hilton can sometimes be a pain to deal with, but on the day of your wedding, it is all worth it. Jaira was often slow to respond to emails and when she responded, she would only answer 1 or 2 of the 10 questions I had listed. As the wedding date grew closer, though, response time improved. If you’re not good at keeping track of details and you want someone to do all of that for you and prompt you to do certain things on a timely basis, just depending on the in-house coordinator probably isn’t wise, but that’s true with most venues. Since I planned on keeping track of everything, I just worried about whether they would do what they promised and coordinate the wedding day well – which Dulce did great. We arrived a week before our wedding and Dulce was extremely responsive, always available to meet and discuss details and was never late for a meeting. I gave her a list of things I needed the Hilton to accomplish on the wedding day as well as a timeline of events and she did a fantastic job the day of the wedding pulling everything together for me. While we had a couple small hiccups, everything got resolved and there were no issues the day of the wedding and that’s what matters. We could not be happier with how our wedding turned out at the Hilton and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. It was perfect. Photographer – Juan Carlos Tapia I don’t think I can add anything here that someone hasn’t already said on the forum. I felt like I was in a shoot for Vogue on our wedding day and I cannot wait to see the pictures. Juan Carlos also met with us and the Hilton coordinator the Monday before the wedding because I wanted his input on ceremony set-up on La Barca beach. He told the coordinator which way to set up so that the sun would not shine in my eyes and make me squint during the ceremony and adjusting the set-up angle also flowed better from the pathway to the beach and provided a better backdrop for pictures. That was extremely helpful and Juan Carlos mentioned that most people don’t ask for his input on ceremony location, so if you have any questions about how to position your ceremony on the beach make sure you ask him – no one will know better than him. As far as cost – as many others have stated, our photographer was an investment and the second thing we booked after the hotel. We worked our budget around these numbers and managed expenses in other places. Florist – Mazarte Floral (Martha Zarate) Flowers were amazing. I wanted periwinkle blue hydrangeas for huppa decoration and centerpieces and the ones Martha got were huge and the perfect color. I also rented hurricanes from her and additional vases to place bouquets so I could use them as additional decoration rather than have them just sitting on the dinner table. The bouquets were beautiful – ivory roses and pink peonies for me and ivory and light pink roses for bridesmaids. The flowers were fresh and lasted – I sent her two photos and she brought them to life. Martha was initially very slow to respond to my request for a proposal, but since she was a vendor through the Hilton I did not worry too much – after a few reminder emails she did send me a proposal and we had a phone conference on price and product to finalize details. Martha also provided and erected the huppa, which was perfect. I was extremely pleased with Martha’s work. Hair and Make-up – Suzanne Morel Suzanne is extremely responsive and very reassuring to deal with. My hair and make-up turned out great on the wedding day, as did my bridesmaids. However, I did not have a very good trial experience. Everyone on the forum says she’s expensive but worth it, so maybe I had unrealistic expectations of how smoothly everything would go at the trial. On the other hand, the coordinator that was assigned to my wedding for over a month and was at the trial was argumentative, unpleasant and it was just not a fun experience. I have talked to Suzanne personally about this and I’m not going to name the coordinator – I just hope she learns and improves. At the end of the (3 hour) trial, the coordinator also informs me that there’s another wedding the same day as mine that she needs to do make-up at now so she won’t be my coordinator – so why was she at my trial?! I was furious. In retrospect, it was a blessing in disguise because I did not like this coordinator and who we ended up with – Sylvia, was nice and great. But we still had to explain things to her and show her pictures the day of my wedding, not my preference. Lea, my stylist, was also great and remembered most issues, but given the expense, I expect the coordinator for my wedding to be at my trial – I thought that was unacceptable and Suzanne agrees with me – sounds like this is not a common occurrence, so I don’t know what happened with my wedding. At the end of the day, everything turned our fine for the wedding day and that’s what is important, but I can’t help feeling I didn’t get everything I paid for. Minister - Reverend Marco Reverend Marco was fantastic. All of our guests were impressed with his humor, wit and handling of the rehearsal and ceremony. I can’t say enough about how he made us feel and how wonderful he is. He should be every bride’s first choice in Cabo. DJ – Ricardo Patino I think Ricardo is the No. 1 choice for Cabo DJs on this forum and he did not disappoint. Always prompt in email responses, reassuring and professional. He had our entire song list and strung together the music masterfully. He also handled the sound set up for the ceremony and did an amazing job. It was very windy for our ceremony but there was no wind feedback on the microphones. He handled MC duties as well, introducing the bridal party and telling the guests if they wanted to see a kiss, no glass clinking, they had to sing a song with a spanish word in it (our idea). Of course then he had to accommodate guests seeking background music for La Isla Bonita, etc., which he handled effortlessly. I was extremely impressed with his equipment, everything on a mac computer and he was very organized. Ricardo is top-notch!! Oh – and ladies – remember to feed your vendors. Ricardo must have thanked me 10 times for dinner which made me think people don’t usually provide him dinner. Cake – Jennifer Hatton LOVED the cake. I asked her to combine the design elements of two other cakes I had seen on her website and it was beautiful and tasted fantastic. We had vanilla cake with white chocolate mousse and chocolate devil’s cake infused with kalua with chocolate nutella ganache. Delicious. Buttercream frosting was phenomenal. The Hilton served everyone a small slice of each flavor, which I hadn’t requested but was a great idea and on each plate was also a white chocolate starfish or shell which also tasted fantastic. I don’t know if this was Jennifer or the Hilton that provided the chocolate for each plate, but everyone loved the extra added touch and I appreciated it! I hope this review is helpful. Despite the length, I’m sure I’ve forgotten things that I meant to tell everyone. I know you are all going to yell at me for pictures, but I have only seen a few, my guests are not on top of posting their photos. I’ve tried posting one picture of our reception below (hope it works) and I will try to post some more this week, once I get some and I promise to post Juan Carlos’ slideshow when we get it.

I'll post a review this week, but just wanted to let everyone know that our wedding was everything we dreamed of and more. Can't wait to share my thoughts, but right now I need some sleep - travel from Kauai to Chicago is brutal!

Hi ladies - I'm leaving on Saturday for my wedding on May 30th!! I just want to thank BDW, past and present participants - without your input I wouldn't have felt so comfortable making the decisions I did regarding vendors, welcome bags, etc. This forum is an invaluable resource (not to mention addictive). Thanks to Tammy and the mods for all the hard work keeping it available for everyone. I will be sure to post a detailed review when I return.

Tammy - I have made those exact same arguments, thank you! Though I never made the celebrity argument because I figured he would claim they have private bodyguards so that wouldn't help my case : ). Again, I think it comes down to people looking for an excuse, not the facts. My 45 guests can't wait to go to Cabo next week, the 46th guest. . . I have no words left for him. I just hope Deanna has better success than I did because obviously her FI's kids coming is far more important.

I got quotes from the Sunrider and another boat, Escape the Sun (?) for a private dinner cruise and the Sunrider matched the price of the other boat cruise price I got. I went with Sunrider because I had read a few good reviews on BDW and couldn't find a lot of info on the other boat at the time I was booking, which was several months ago. We also had to guarantee a minimum number for it to be private - it was 40 people on the Sunrider, 35 for escape the Sun, but the minimum was not an issue for us so I did not try to negotiate that number down on either boat. Kids are half price. Except for not yet experiencing the actual cruse : ), I've been very pleased with Sunrider - they are responsive to my emails and reserved the boat without an initial deposit until a couple months before the wedding.

Deanna - I feel your pain. One of my bridesmaid's husbands is doing the same thing as a reason for why he won't go to our wedding next week. He first jumped on swine flu fears and when that dissipated claimed he was really concerned about violence targeting american tourists, though I can't find anything relating to Cabo on this topic that justifies his fears. I called the US Consulate in Cabo for information on violence against tourists and they said the last reported violence was a few months ago when two La Paz residents were kidnapped and held for ransom and released the next day - but this did not involve tourists. The consulate has seen an increase in passport thefts so they suggested putting passports in hotel's main safe (something pretty much every foreign country advises). Otherwise be smart, don't flash money around and use all the precautions you'd use when you travel anywhere. Perhaps you can call the consulate and get an updated report to show FI's ex you checked things out. Unfortunately, our research did not sway my guest and I think people looking for an excuse will find one - facts will not help. I hope FI's ex responds better. Good luck!

Melette - thanks for the review. We are using Sunrider for our rehearsal dinner (next week!!). I'll let everyone know how it goes. We leave this Saturday - hoping we don't have your flight issues, I don't think I could handle that with my dress in tow! : )

I saw Tammy's post and that location is unbelievable. I'm glad your plan B is working out and getting you excited again. Good luck!

I struggled with this question too. I ended up deciding that the save the date was for saving our wedding date, though I think it's fine to mention it as the girls above did. We sent out save the dates with only our wedding in Mexico info and the STD referred people to our website for more info. On the website we stated that we were having a "soiree" after our wedding for those who could not attend (as well as those who wanted to go with both). No one would book wihtout going to website for more info, so there was no danger of people booking without knowing all info. I also was not worried about people choosing to go to home party over Mexico - I think if they choose at home party over going away, they could not be counted on to go regardless.