nibsmom

chikara - I actually just contacted Tammy Host - the owner of the forum. She's a great TA! There's form you can fill out to contact her - just hit the banner at the top of the page. I asked around with a few TAs, and she was the best! For photographers, I'm sorry to hear about Del Sol! I love them too - they were way out of our budget. We are bringing a photographer from the states - Misti Abner.

chikara, I think that's a great rate - it's probably dipped because of all the stuff going on. I went through a TA on this website, and she negotiated us a lower rate than the MP was offering at the time for us. But, as it stands, your double rate is almost 150 dollars cheaper per night than ours is now! I'm not sure about the lurker thing - maybe it was because you were reading and not posting? It says noob now! Just remember to know all the forum rules so you don't accidentally break one! Congrats! I remember it being SOOO exciting when we first signed our contract. We're leaving now in a little over a month, and the time has flown by!!

My FI is like that with the Tivo too - all he records is Family Guy, and it's all he wants to watch...we watch like the same five episodes over and over...and it makes me NUTS!!!

Hey Estella, I don't have a veil for you, but I did find a seller on ebay yesterday that sells veils for super cheap - I got a cathedral veil for 15.99. You might want to check her out - I think I remember seeing some mantilla veils! I was looking for a super cheap one too - I am wearing a more expensive birdcage for my ceremony, but I wanted a cathedral for some of the TTD pictures!! The seller name is ginger4wedding. Hopefully I'll get it soon and can let you know if it's good quality, but she has very positive feedback!

I'll take all five hair flowers - sent you a PM!

Ah, I don't know yet what time I'll do my welcome dinner - maybe around 7pm. We have a lot of folk with young kids and some older people who will most likely drop like flies after 830pm, lol. We have a lot of guests arriving on Thursday, but our photographer doesn't arrive until Friday, so I'm not sure if I want to do anything on Thursday without the photographer! I'm sure I'll find a place to use the cocktail! Nooo worries. Liz, congrats! You must be so excited!! I know I am getting super excited - I wish I was as close as you are!

Tina those shirts are wicked cute!!! We ended up booking a buffet for our reception. Now I'm not sure where to use our free cocktail reception. I am torn between having it Friday before our welcome dinner, or for an hour before our wedding between noon and 1 - the wedding starts at 1 - to tide over our guests until dinner, and to make sure everyone has a cool drink for the ceremony!

LOL Tina, actually, I did buy the finishing powder. I was thinking about it after I posted, and I remembered when the woman at Sephora was putting it on, she didn't put on hardly any and she didn't put any on my nose. So, I'm going to do another run through myself maybe today or tomorrow and test it out. If it doesn't work, I'll probably order some finishing spray. I know there will be times I'll put my head on Matt's shirt, so I need to make sure I take care of that!!

Woohoo! I'm getting married the 18th too!! I feel like I have so much stuff to do still. We are hopefully finalizing our reception stuff with the resort today, so that will be nice to have that done and over with. How many of you are having receptions outdoors?? My FI is worried it might be too hot! I still need to do a hair run through too. My alterations on my dress won't be done until June 30th - and my TTD hasn't even come in yet - I'm getting a little worried about that one!! And many tasky things still to finish - ordering our guest book, putting together playlists for music and picture lists for photographers, etc etc...

Hey Ashnic, I would definitely search back in this thread - I'm pretty sure that people have used the Catholic Gazebo and done civil ceremonies! JodiMichelle - That's how I feel about it too!! Besides, I don't want to have to decorate a room - I want natural beauty!

Thanks for the info Momslehcar!! I still kind of want to go with the cocktail, but I'm thinking my fiance is leaning heavily towards the buffet or a plated dinner - men always think with their stomachs! Well, at least mine does. LOLOL. For July brides - are you doing your reception indoors or outdoors? I really envisioned it outdoors, but my fiance thinks it might be too hot. Any thoughts?

I don't think you need to worry about it. Isn't it proper etiquette anyways for guests to give a gift that at least equals the cost of their plate at a traditional reception? That's what I had always been told..! I've never heard of an AI including the cost of the reception. I am getting married at the Moon Palace and between the wedding costs and the reception costs we are going to be paying quite a bit extra!!

So cute! I've been looking for a short white dress too, and just haven't found one yet! I was at a graduation reception the other day and almost starting some grads where they found theirs...LOL. I restrained myself!

I don't think it's rude at all! Matt and I canceled ours, with really no good reason other than the fact that we didn't want to plan it and we won't have the money. We don't really think people will really appreciate it anyways - so it was a lot of stress for something that I'm not sure if people will miss! I think it's fine - it's up to you. There are lots of people who don't have AHRs! Like I figured out and what Morgan said - you don't owe people a good time because you got married!!

Hey kmac, I am planning on using the ipod system, so I can't help you with the DJ advice! But, if you're looking for prices, I have a document from my WC I can send you. If you want it, PM me your email address!

Hey all, I got a reply back from my WC regarding reception costs. We have a total head count of 26. 4 of those are children under 4 years of age. For a plated or buffet dinner, she quoted me a price of 1200 for the first two hours and 360 for the second two hours. That includes either the buffet or plated dinner, round tables, white linens, drinks, china, silver, etc. She told me that having a cocktail reception would be 600 for the first hour, and 300 for every hour after that - which would put us at 1500, pretty much the same price. However, we're supposed to get the first hour for free - which would make it 900 I guess. I'm wondering if I go this route if they keep bringing food out each hour, or if the food stops after the first hour. Seems a steep price to pay if they don't bring food out each hour!! She also mentioned that I only get tall cocktail tables for the cocktail reception, no sitting areas. She seemed to really be pushing me towards the buffet...I'm not really sure what I'll do. Eureaka, I got that book too, LOL. Also, I got The Knot Book of Wedding Vows and Traditions, and that has some awesome music selections in it as well. We've been using that book for finding ceremony music.

I've ordered a bunch of stuff from Vistaprint too. I used the postcards for RSVPs and reminders to make first deposits. I've gotten return address labels, and brochures for travel information! I'll probably make more address labels for after I change my name, and another brochure to put in OOT bags with the schedule and stuff. I hadn't thought about doing duplicate free orders...I actually kind of figured they'd keep track of who uses what free promotion, and would prevent you from using the getting the same item free twice...so I'm glad I found this! I love Vistaprint - they always do a good job, and everything always arrives superfast!!

I went to Sephora last night and took the plunge - and spent waaaayyy more than I should have LOL. I ended up getting the MUFE primer and foundation, which looked really nice and felt super light. I also got lip and eye liner from this line. I got bronzer, blush, lip gloss and mascara from Lorac, and I got Smashbox eye primer. Yup, I spent toooo much, but the make up looked fabulous and felt so nice! Everyone kept telling me it looked so light and natural, even my FI, but I felt like I had a face full of makeup because I don't wear anything except moisturizer on a daily basis. After, my FI and I grabbed coffees from Caribou, and I noticed every time I took a sip, I would have a little foundation blot on the top of my cup from my nose. This annoyed me, because now I'm wondering if I put my face on FI's white shirt, will it leave a huge foundation mark? Anyone who's use MUFE HD experience that? How do I get it to stay on my face, not on other things

Oh no! I haven't seen Dana on the MP thread in quite a while! I hope she didn't end up booking him!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca This guy sounds terrible! I contacted him when I was searching for a photographer and had a weird feeling about the wording in his email so I never responded. Good thing for me I guess. I am waiting for the photos from the photographer that I used, Martha Roque, but I must say, she was a total sweetheart! Yeah, I was seriously considering booking him too a while back. When he found out that our wedding was at the Moon Palace, I got an email saying "the Moon Palace doesn't allow outside photographers. You should really do some research before you ask questions." I was like....NEVERMIND! What an awful experience. I probably would have fired him on the spot. Are you getting any of your money back? I know I would try to! At least you and your DH look great in the photos, even if they aren't exactly what you wanted. I'm sure you can find someone to doctor them up for you. And, maybe when you have the funds, you could do a second TTD somewhere closer to home, or on an anniversary to make up for it!

I haven't been down for my wedding yet - but I'm not too nervous about the blood test. I'm sure that if it was awful, we'd all have heard about it from brides on the forum who have had their weddings! Considering I haven't read one bad comment, I think it'll be all good!! I was wondering what STDs they were looking for as well. I'd assume it's just HIV, because like your doctor said, I'm pretty sure they really can't test for anything else through blood.

Eureaka, yes, I did just email my WC today and told her that I wanted to have two hours of cocktail reception then two hours of dancing, etc. I asked her about cost, so I'll post back when I hear from her about what she says!! I know that I'll get one hour of the cocktail reception free because I have ten rooms booked. I think we've decided to nix the AHRs - neither of us wanted to deal with that stress!

Quote: Originally Posted by TinaM2b On the paperwork we have, it states $400 per table of 10 and $60.00 per table for additional hours. Hm...okay you're right, I should have looked at my contract. You're so smart! Mine has a clause that says "Private Group Functions are available without surcharge in meeting rooms and outdoor venues, except for beach when using inclusive Hotel menus." I wonder if that means there is a different charge for the last two hours, because I'm not going to be serving food. A question to ask my WC, I guess!!

Okay, so a question about receptions... We are hoping to have our reception from 5 to 9. We figured from 5 to 7 we'd have food out - we are just going to do a two hour cocktail reception. From 7 to 9, we are going to do dancing, the cake, and whatever else. How do they charge those last two hours? Does anyone know? Is it still 400 dollars an hour like a cocktail reception? Or is there a different cost for just having a bar, and then the cost of the DJ??

Hey BeachBride! Well, I haven't been to the MP, but I think I can answer a few of your questions...or at least one! I know the MP has rose petals you can purchase. I believe they are 40 dollars a bag! I also know there's a thread somewhere in the Riviera Maya/Cancun section on customs specifically. I'm a little nervous about customs as well, but I think as long as you explain it's for a wedding, they won't have issues with it. It sounds like that's the way it goes most of the time. You should check out Tracy's review in the post above yours too - I think she has a link to her review of Cecilia for her TTD!