taxchick

Hi Ladies, I haven't met many of you on the LV board because I recently switched from Aruba (got to be too pricey for my guests). Anywho, I just returned from my site visit because I have to see what spaces look like in person. Here are my opinions of what I visited. Venetian I thought that the chapel was pretty, but we are looking to have an outdoor wedding. The space was directly outside of the chapel, more like a patio with a fountain in the center. It was very beautiful, but extremely close to the pool. I wasn't happy with that at all because there is a chance you can get onlookers in swimsuits during your wedding. Customer service was ok. Mandalay Bay This was my second favorite location. We visited the Beach location, where weddings are only at 8pm once the pool closes. It is beautiful. Anyone looking to book this location can rest assured that it will be a tranquil ceremony with the waves lapping on the fake beach shore. We also visited the Valley of the Falls location, which is extrememly close to the Las Vegas Blvd. Once you walk completely into the space, you can no longer hear the street noise, only waterfalls. It is beautiful. If anyone is looking to book either of these spaces, you will not be disappointed. My only grip about this space is the area where the ceremony is held has two doors on each side of the wall that are largely marked with Fire signs. I point this out because they are really obvious. I would think that you could use draping to cover this, but I'm not sure what the rules are. The chapels there are decorarted similarly, and are beautiful and modern. Cesar's Palace Venus Garden I had seen the virtual tour on-line, and was very impressed, but not so much in person. It just looked a little worn to me. They were doing construction that the coordinator assured me would be over by August. The location is very close to the pool and you can hear all the pool noise. She stated that once construction concluded, more greenery would be added to make it even more private. I also visited each of the chapels, of which only one was really nice (stained glass window chapel). Wynn Primrose court This was my favorite location. It is very secluded and beautiful. It consists of two fountains, one on each side of the courtyard and tall trellice structure. All of the greenery is well lit, if you are having an evening wedding. Out of all of the places we visited, the Wynn by far had the best customer service. They are willing to go out of thier way to please you...for a price of course. Lastly, we visited Maggiano's for our reception space and it is wonderful. We are expecting about 50 people, so the size of the rooms are perfect and we are expectign great food. There is a balcony that runs the length of the banquet space, that just has an ok view (empty lot next door). We saw the space decorated for a wedding and it was really nice. The customer service there has been really great also. I hope this helped anyone who was looking for an outdoor space as well in Vegas. Btw, please excuse the spelling mistakes..I was trying to hurry and finish during my lunch break.

Hi and welcome to the forum! I just got back from a site visit (which I will post in another thread), but my FI felt the same way you do about being cheesy. Vegas is anything but. My FI was so impressed with the classy locations, that he even had to eat his words. My personal faves from my visit were the Wynn and Mandalay Bay. As everyone else has said, you can find tons on info on the websites. Plus, it is so different from trying to find info out in the Carribean, where you would wait for weeks for a response. Everyone was really accomidating and the locations were really nice. One more thing...July = REALLY HOT!!!

Hi jmastr05, My FI went to visit the Divi while we were there, a friend was staying there. He brought me back pics which were phenomenal! I think only one part of the resort is upgraded though, which I think are the suites. It had marble everywhere, a full kitchen with stainless steel, and a very nice pool view. I never saw the other resorts that you are mentioning, maybe because they are not in the high rise area. I would want to be in that area because all of the bars and restaurants are there. Hope that helps

Hi Sheree I have another question for you. Are you concerned about the price of flights for your guests? I think that is the only thing holding me back from booking. My flight from Michigan to Aruba over Memorial day was about $618 after taxes and fees. That's a little pricey to not be staying at an all inlcusive location. Thoughts?

Hi Sheree10 It's nice having someone on here that is an Aruba bride. I am currently trying to make a decision between the Renaissance and the Hyatt. The Hyatt just fits us so well, but the prices are higher than the Renaissance. The coordinator, Juney, is a wonderful guy. He will do just about anythign that you ask for. So, be assured you are in good hands. The island is beautiful. Also, a great thing about the island is that it has plenty of bushes and trees to cut down on the wind. The only reservation I had about the Renaissance is the lack of the modern rooms and location. It's about a $10 cab ride each way to get to the high rise area where the rest of the hotels are. No matter where, the island is beuatiful. Any questions I can answer, please feel free to ask.

Well Aruba brides, since we are few and far between I figured I would post my recent site visit. I just returned last night and I am officially in love with Aruba. The island is beautiful. It is hot, but the tradewinds cool things off very well. What I love is that the island is very safe and you can just walk out of your hotel and go to an abundance of restaurants, bars, casinos, etc. I hate being confined to my hotel as you are on other islands. I stayed at the RIU Aruba which was just okay. The rooms were just okay, nothing special. The furniture needs to be replaced throughout the hotel. Activities at the pool were just okay, not as interesting as other islands. The food is where the big let down happened. The buffet is not good...at all. I went to two of the restaurants and one of the two were good. But you have to get up at 9:00 am to reserve a spot at the restaurant. That is such a hassle. We ended up eating out almost every night were were there. Now, I visited the Hyatt and the Reniassance for my wedding and both were spectacular. The Renaissance has thier own private island for the wedding and reception which is simply beautiful. What was even better are the prices for rooms and the wedding/reception. Definetly affordable. It's amazing that more people are not looking at Aruba for their destination. I would not do all inclusive in Aruba. There are so many great restaurant choices. Next the Hyatt, which is very modern and sleek. I absolutely loved it. It is more expensive that the Renaissance, but worth the extra cost. It is a tropical paridise in the midst of the desert. Last words on Aruba, the people are so nice and so accomodating. The wedding coordinators are responsive (which is more than I can say about any other island that I've looked into) and make you feel like you are thier only bride. For extra picky people like me, it's worth a second look.

Are there any Aruba brides still out there? Did anyone review thier wedding for Aruba? I can't find anything in the search. I am going to Aruba for vacation in two weeks, so I plan to scout out a few resorts while I'm there. It would be nice to hear thoughts on how the wedding went though. Thanks

Hi Karol, The pictures of day 1 are absolutely beautiful. Was it really pricey to go to Turks and Caicos? I'm back to stage 1 since I am no longer going to Mexico. Thanks

Hello Ladies, I just discovered PF while checking out Trip Advisor. This place looks great. I just emailed them a couple of questions on the packages they have on the website, but I am so impatient while waiting for answers, so I thought I would just ask you all. They have on the website that the wedding package is $200/person. Is that right That is really high!!! Also, I noticed that alot of you hoted dinners every night. Did this prove to be pricey for the BBQ's and buffets? It sounds like someone said that open bar is included with the room fee. is that correct? I'll be patiently (not really...I'll be stalking this thread) for your answers. Thanks!!!

Thanks for all the info ladies. Since I wrote that post, I has switched location focus to Riviera Maya based on affordabiltiy. Well, I went to visit some of my top choices and I was not please. So now it is back to the drawing board. I have had tons of potential guests ask about the DR, so here I am again. Revisitng the place where I started. I still think that the wedding packages for the Paradisius are very high. However, I want to be sure that I am staying in a resort that I really like. So, I guess it is a tradeoff of what is more important. I know I can tend to be very picky and so is my FI, so this has been extremely hard because we want to be somewhere where they keep up the actual room and the rest of the resort and not just the landscaping to make it look nice. I know sometimes the cheese stands alone...and sometimes I feel like I am by myself because of how we are looking for a location. Oh well, hopefully I will find somewhere in the DR and be able to squeeze in a trip to check it out. **Getting off my soabox now** Thanks for listening.

Hi ladies, I am new to this section of the board. I am basically starting all over again. I just got back from a site visit to Mexico and I wasn't pleased at all. So, I am now thinking about other locations. I just did a search and prices were semi reasonable ($1200/person or less) to Maui in December. Does anyone know what the weather is like? Also, are the resort as nice in person as they are on the picutures? This is the problem I had with Mexico, the pics look great but up close and personal...not so much. Also, do you think that $1200/person is a lot to ask for people to attend a DW?? Thanks ladies!!

Hi ladies, I'll be sure to ask the questions you posted and take lots of pics. We will be focusing on the Cove side because we will have kids there. It's really difficult waiting to hear back to confirm things with the resort. But I guess they don't operate on the timing that I'm used to. It will just be nice to get some immediate answers to questions. 2 more days until I board that plane!!!

Hi brides!! Just an FYI, my FI and I are visiting the Adventura Spa/Cove Palace on Saturday!!! I'm so excited. We are trying to make a decision on our wedding resort. We will also be visiting a couple of others. I plan to take plenty of pics. If you ladies have any questions for the WC, let me know as we will be meeting with her. I'm so excited. Especially since it is snowing here today

Hi Sandra&Mario, I just got a quote from my TA for February 2010 and for a weeks stay I am being quoted about $1700. But I think that may be with a group rate since we are expecting a number of guests. I think that pricing you have is little high. On the website, regular pricing is about $400/night. Hope that helps.

That is a good idea. I had not thought about that. Thanks

Hi ladies, My FI and I just booked a weekend to RM next week. We plan to go and check out some of the locations we have in mind. Adventura Cove Palace Barcelo Maya Beach Others My question to current or past brides is, did you use an outside WC while having a resort wedding. I'm asking because I just got the bright idea to maybe hire one, so that we will have someone with our best interest to maybe go around to visit locations next weekend. It is so frustrating waiting on responses from the resorts for weeks at a time. Plus, I would like thier services for decorating on the actual day as well. Anyone have advice or recommendations? Thanks in advance.

Thanks so much for your help!!! I didn't know that about the TA. I haven't found a good one yet. I was going to go through AAA but the prices were higher than searches that I did on travelocity. I have stayed at a RIU before in Cancun. It was a nice hotel but I did want to go a little different for the wedding. I haven't checked into the Melia yet. It is all a bit frustrating as well because you want information right now, and sometimes you have to wait 2-3 days before getting a response. But, I plan to check into that on my lunch hour. Is anyone concerned about the ceremony being in spanish I'm not so sure about that.

Hello everyone, I'm a noobie here. My FI and I recently decided to go with the DR since it would be more cost effective for our guests. Well I just received the info for 2010 from the Paradisus (sp?) and it seems a little pricey. We are expecting about 40 people for our Feb or March wedding and looking at the details we are at about $7500 without pictures or extras. I was previously looking at St Thomas and the packages were much cheaper and included photography. Am I missing something? Are all the resorts in the DR pretty much the same on pricing? Help me please!!! Any resort suggesstions will be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!!!!

This is a beautiful hotel. Does anyone know if they have an all inclusive option? Thanks

I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself. My fiance and I have recently decided to do a destination wedding since our bill for our at home wedding was totaling near $35k. I would much rather spend that money on something else. Our tenantive wedding date is February 13, 2010, but is subject to change depending on travel prices. We are currently looking into Jamaica, Aruba, and St. Thomas as possible locations. Any advice given will be well received, as I am basically starting all over again into unchartered waters. I look forward to chatting with all of you!!!