AshManahan

Hi ladies! I suggest just using the DJ vendor for equipment that Luis uses. You get a 10% discount and their is something about if you wire cash to the hotel and don't charge you avoide like a 10% tax/service fee which you will find is hidden when you try to contract outside. Also you don't have to worry about another company just dropping off and picking up the equipment. This guy stays the whole time to make sure nothing goes wrong, also. Same goes for flowers, when you do a site visit, Luis will have the florist/decor person come. Just bring pictures of what you want. Pricing was very competitive. One of the advantages of using the contacts that Luis has is that you do all of your meetings in less than 2 hours, wire transfer one chunk of money and Luis handles everything else. When you are trying to enjoy your wedding day and event it is nice not to worry about anything else.

Flowers....just bring color pictures and links of anything you want. Luis will meet with you and the florist on your site visit and get them taken care of. Same goes for centerpieces, chair covers, table cloths, napkins, whatever you are thinking of. Its important to be clear with the color scheme you are looking for...i.e. just don't say "light green". Ice breaker...that is a good question. I was charged 2 $20 fees. I originally thought one was for the ice breaker and the other was for the reception. Then Luis told me that ice breaker was included and the other $20 was for my cocktail reception between wedding and dinner reception. I could be mistaken though. We actually ended up doing something cool for our "ice breaker". We went to the Mexican place before it opened, like 5:00 and did cocktails and snacks for an hour, then we moved to the back and had a very private table/area for our 20+ guests. It was really great!

The beach is not marvelous, but I will say it is better than any other in the area. The water is blue and you are able to walk into it without cutting your feet up, like other resorts in the area. They are constantly working to improve it as well. Unless you are going to book your wedding in Maroma, this beach is as good as it gets in the Cancun area. Dining options...you have the brick oven pizza place and grill outside by the pool. The grill is also open for dinner, think grilled food Upstairs mexican. Downstairs buffet. Next to the buffet downstairs is a restr. that switches between Italian and Asian each night. Also there are 2 theme dinners a week outside.

Holly, Your reception will be $20 pp. With that you get standard chairs, linens, simple wood dance floor, dinner (Oscar will make anything you want) and wedding cake. Also they do a welcome cocktail party, which Luis will refer to as an ice breaker. Everything else is extra or can be upgraded. Cost wise, this is much better than other resorts, especially those that use Lomas to coordinate. Also there are no rules on vendors, meaning you can use who Luis suggests or you can find your own. I posted my wedding album back a few pages ago, if you want to take a look and are curious about how much any of the decor cost, let me know. Good luck ladies, you will absolutely love HTR. Luis really is a doll, he is just always busy. You have to remember that this resort does huge corporate outings, they had a Maxim photo shoot, did the celebrity golf tour, etc. He coordinates everything.

$350 for the symbollic sounds about right. I wouldn't work through a TA, you will get better prices from Luis directly. Also their is a package where you get a free week, but with the current rates and such, I don't think it is worth it. You will get one free night in your contract though. They gave my husband a free room adjoining his best man's the day of, to get ready. I'm still working on more pics, the holiday's are killing me! No snow in Chicago, for once! I think I'll go shopping today. Have a great weekend ladies.

Hey ladies, forgot to mention one thing. The guy's I hired for hair and makeup were awesome. Fernando Fuentes at the Make Up Pros. They did my hair, my MOH, and mom's hair and makeup, and I think it was like 3-400 dollars total. Car service people were great also. They built me a link for my website with all my info pre-filled and gave our guests a discount. Also we did a party bus into Play for 3 hours and it was only $350 US. Cancuntransfers.com

Everything was great. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We had a welcome cocktail party planned outside, and it looked like rain. They closed the Mexican place for us for 1.5 hours, so we could have a private party, made signature cocktails for me, and then set the table for 25 for dinner. Luis is not good with email. I suggest that you call the hotel and speak with him. His English is pretty good. When he tells you he will take care of it, don't worry. You will have to go through everything with him when you get there, and he can get it done in like 5 minutes. Example, the pastry chef quit and took the picture of my Guinness cake with him. I went online, printed a new one, gave it to the Chef and it was done. Not exactly the way I wanted, but 1) it was close enough 2) it tasted great 3) it was FREE!!! In terms of value this is the best spot in the area. I've stayed at over 20 resorts and this is 1 of 2 that I will go back to. I really suggest making a site visit, the rates are discounted when you do it, and airfare has been pretty cheap lately.

Snapfish: Share:Registration

Here's a link to some of our wedding photos. Mostly ceremony and beginning of reception.

Hi ladies. Its been a few weeks, but I am finally getting around to loading some of our wedding photos from Hacienda Tres Rios. It was Amazing!!! I hope everything is going well for you. What a relief to be done. I feel like I need a two week vacation to get back to normal, but am trying to figure out who I can hire to put up the xmas tree instead Snapfish: Share:Registration

Happy Saturday everyone! I leave in 36 hours and managed to get so much done the last 3 days. Got kinda drunk Friday afternoon and ended up shopping on Michigan Ave. I think my wedding party will like their gifts Packing is out of control!!! I have 3 suitcases just full of OOT bag stuff, gifts, and small decor things I am bringing down. I picked up my dress today and am kind of cracking up about carrying it through the airport, customs, etc. It will be an adventure for sure. Anyway, Gemma, I wanted to say hi and good luck! I will be thinking about you on our wedding day!

Hi ladies! Glad to hear everyone is doing well and planning is moving along. I have 9 days left to go and leave on Monday. I am completely exhausted and have had no time to do anything. I lost my dinner cards and missed my calighraphy appointment for them. My handwriting sucks so I'm sure they are going to look crappy now. Also the paper I special ordered for my OOTs gift bag agenda insert never showed up and now is on forever backorder. I guess the only postivie/negative is that I gained three pounds last week, but my dress still fits I think it is time for some vodka and a sedative...

No worries about Ida...it blew right past!

Here is his website. I am thinking of using him also, but can't find any reviews, but his site is decent in terms of pictures. I also have his email if you need it.

I just finished sorting my pashminas into my gift bag piles. I went to pick up the tupperware tub thingy I stored them in and I swear it must weigh like 70 pounds. Thank God I've got an American Airlines platinum card and can check 9 total bags for our trip. Have you guys started working on makeup artists? I started researcing last night. I'm looking for someone who does airbrush. Have you guys found anyone? On a crappy note, I got my period today...early....with 31 days to go before the wedding. Also I have my next dress fitting on Saturday. Halloween---what the hell was I thinking Oh and a bird crapped on me on my way home tonight. I know about the alleged good luck, but in reality it is just another dry cleaning bill!!!! I finally got all of my quotes back from my new resort and can now say on a decor/fee/reception front we definitlely were getting hosed. But, I had to pay more for the rooms. Hope you ladies are doing well! Oh, and Chrissy...you are in for good luck...our football team is having its best season since I can remember...4 and 4. Go Hoosiers!!!

Chrissy, why don't you bring your own. There are some really cool ones you can order for 1-2 dollars each. Amazon.com: Beach Theme Candle Holder (Set of 1: Baby

We got everything on Thursday and Friday. There were a good bit of errors, but Luis was VERY quick to update the documents several times and send them right back. The quotes price wise were pretty good as compared to my last resort. We didn't find any surprises. Our DJ equipment is $700, but we have a lot of equipment, our DJ spins at a bar at the W Hotel in Atlanta so he is fairly high tech. Let me know what you guys need to know. We have 24 guests coming.

I got mine from Koozies Personalized Custom Wedding Favors Koozies. I only ordered 24 I think. Hadn't heard about kidnappings in Mexico in the Yucatan---does he mean on the west coast? It is awful there!

Mrs Vaugh, the beer is all on tap. No bottles or cans except in the mini bar, which is cans. I ordered some great collapsable Koozies for cans. I got them for about $3.30 each with a custom logo--it was cheesy, a guy passed out on a bar (almost) that says "I survived the Manahan Wedding 2009".

Well, I'm just going with the flow. Eventually I'm sure he will send me everything! I did email him today and remind him the wedding was 5 weeks away and I haven't paid a deposit, etc. Did you guys get your contract worked out?

Did you get quotes for DJ equipment? I still don't have my contracts.

I didn't get my contract yet, funny because my wedding is in like 5 weeks We did our site visit about 3 weeks ago. It was AMAZING. We met with the photographer, the flower guy, and dj equipment. We also did a wonderful tasting with Chef Oscar.

Kind of the same here. Have you been down to do a site visit? I can say that when we were there, he was all over it! Very timely, thorough, and extremely busy. He sent me an email yesterday with a link to the wedding he did last week but I can't open it. Maybe you guys can. It is the first one on the page, Marissa and someone. Mediamorfosis cinema+photography

Hacienda Tres Rios is a realitively new sustainable tourism resort in Playa del Carmen. It looks like there aren't any posts online for future brides, so I decided to start one! I am getting married at this beautiful, eco friendly resort this November. I had the pleasure of spending a few days there recently and am in love with this resort! The cuisine is the best I have had in Mexico. The rooms are lovely. The beach is very swimable for this area. I cannot say enough about the service. Every guest was treated like a VIP. The wedding coordinator I am working with is very efficient, I basically planned a very detailed wedding in 2 hours with him. Chef Oscar prepared a tasting menu of 15 items for us and then altered dishes to suit our needs. The activity staff was always amuzing, never intrusive. If you are looking for a destination wedding at a resort that truly has an authentic Mexican feel, this is the place. Please feel free to post and ask for any help you need!

I got my room rates directly from the wedding coordinator during our site visit.