simba1234

Thanks! I brought them down with me and they did take up room but not as much as I thought. I split them up between my luggage, my husbands and my moms. I also used space saver bags (the ones you suck the air out of with a vaccumm) and that saved me a TON of room. It just makes your luggage a little heavier so that's the down side...but that's not a biggie if you're splitting them up among different suitcases. I had 55 guests/towels.

wow...i haven't been on here in a while so I'm sorry for the late response (I hope I'm not too late & you didn't already get married). Yes, the priest himself will not do a rehearsal but you can ask your resort coordinator for a rehearsal. I did mine the day before my wedding and it was just our coordinator who showed me, the groom and bridal party how to walk in to the chapel, where to site, etc... It was quick, like 10 minutes. I did have wedding programs. I picked out my readings months before the wedding and just emailed them to Lupe for approval. The priest himself actually emailed me back to tell me he was ok with them. Did you take pre-cana classes? I got a book there with a selection of readings and I just chose from there. But you don't need that book. You just need one reading from the Old Testament, one reading from the new testament, the responsorial psalm, the gospel reading. My pre-cana book also had different options for the wedding vows, exchange of rings, and prayers of the faithful - I don't think you HAVE to choose those readings (the priest might just do the traditional ones). But I'm really picky about everything so I sent them every single reading that I wanted. You might be able to get one of those books from your local church. The order of my ceremony was like this: Opening Prayers Liturgy of the Word Old Testament Reading Responsorial Psalm New Testament Reading Gospel Reading 3. Liturgy of Marriage Giving of consent and wedding vows Blessing and exchange of rings 4. Prayers of the Faithful 5. Liturgy of the eucharist Preparation of gifts, eucharist prayer Nuptial blessing My readers actually did not get to do the readings which kind of annoyed me - this was the only glitch in my entire wedding (but there's always something so you have to roll with the punches). My bridesmaids were supposed to do them but the priest apparantly asked all my guests "who will be doing the readings" and at the time all my bridesmaids were in the room with me so because no one answered he assumed no one would do the readings and he ended up doing them himself. Hope this helps:) The ceremony was in English. But be warned that although the priest is Irish he's been living in Mexico for like 40 years so Spanish is his stronger language. He was reading everything in Spanish and translating it to English in his head before reading it out loud. It made the ceremony longer. We are all fluent in SPanish so in hindsight I would've had the ceremony in Spanish if I would've known his English wasn't so strong. I bought the aisle runner down myself. I had it custom made at customweddingcreations.com and loved it! I just asked the Gran Caribe coordinator for measurements. No And to this day that is my biggest regret. The wedding was so beautiful and SO MUCH FUN that I really wish we would have captured it all on video. It was not difficult at all. The pictures came out really beautiful...i just need to post them. Here are just a few from the slide show but I honestly don't think the photographer even picked the best ones for the slideshow. There are better ones, I just have about 4000 pics from my photographer and it's been hard to sort through and post them. THANKS everyone for the compliments:)

They look beautiful! I had my BD shoot with Jen too and she is truly amazing. She has a great sense of humor and did a good job with the poses and shots. I sent the book to my hubby with one of my BM's right before the ceremony and he LOVED it! Would truly recommend her to anyone.

They look good.

I don't think anything is set in stone. Bridesmaids know that they typically have to pay for their own dresses so I don't think they would be alarmed. I paid for my bridesmaid dresses because I only had 3 of them and I found really pretty dresses that they all loved for $100 each which wasn't a budget breaker for me. I just felt bad because they were already paying for their flight, hotel, food,etc.. so their dresses was my gift to them.

I think it depends on how satisfied you are with her. I had my ceremony at Gran Caribe Real and everything leading up to it was painful. They made the planning process really difficult for me and were not helpful at all. HOWEVER my "day of" coordinator was great and I was happy with the ceremony itself so I gave her a tip of about $60. My reception was at Le Meridien and my coordinator there was nothing short of FANTASTIC every single step of the way - she was awesome during the planning stages and my wedding reception was a dream come true. I tipped her a little more because I just couldn't be happier. I gave her around $150. So I think it really all depends. I think their tip should be a direct correlation to their service.

I had welcome cocktails a few days before the wedding just so everyone could get to know each other (best thing I ever did because by the end of the night everyone was one big happy family:). The night before the wedding we had a 15 minute Rehearsal just to walk through everything. I recommend it just so everyone knows what to expect and you're not as worried the day of the wedding. Then we had a "rehearsal dinner" a few steps away right on the beach. It was awesome and laid back in every way. Everyone just wore beach dresses and flip flops, we had fire dancers and then we plugged our ipod into the sound system and had a beach party. Everyone danced and had a great time. Ahhhhh... I wish I could go back:)

Yes, just haven't had time to post them:( I keep trying to get around to it but I've been so busy. Here is the slideshow the photographer sent me: http://www.morganlynnphotography.com/thenewmercados/ Â She also posted a blog with some wedding pics... Â http://blog.morganlynnphotography.com/ Â There are some many more great pics...these don't even scratch the surface...I really hope I have the time to post some soon.

Nope, I was quoted and paid dollars. You have to negotiate...they're always going to quote you more than the actual cost. A lot will also depend on the distance you're travelling each way....

Here's my slide show...there are only a few pics from the chapel but should give you a good idea. I have tons more pro pics from the chapel but I haven't had time to post them...I'm hoping to get around to it soon:) http://www.morganlynnphotography.com/thenewmercados/ Â The photographer also has a blog with pics from our wedding: http://blog.morganlynnphotography.com/ Â Â Â

Make sure you negotiate...they are really flexible. The prices they gave me at first was not even close to what I ended up paying in the end. Just be honest with her and tell her what you need and what you have to work with budget-wise. She'll find ways to make it work.

 Contact Patricia Luyando at [email protected]  She was my WC and she was nothing short of AMAZING...she truly took my dream and turned it into a reality. I can't rave enough about her. She was really great from beginning to end. Â

I don't know about this time of year but I got married on April 23rd and my reception started at 6pm and it wasn't too hot at all. It was actually really windy because this hotel is right on the ocean so you get all that ocean wind. It was really comfortable and perfect...no complaints at all and everyone danced the ENTIRE night so heat was not an issue.

I'm also a marketing manager...I think that's why I always have these crazy ideas in my personal life:) I'm not planning to create mock articles. I'll have a few headlines on the cover and maybe captions in some of the inside pages, but the magazine will consist of mostly pictures. I think photos are worth a thousand words:)

Hi Everyone - So, I JUST received the disk with my professional pictures this week so now I can finally start working on this project. I will definetly post updates, how to's and pics asap

Quote: Originally Posted by Belgium4 These are awesome pictures... congratulations from all out of Belgium - Europe! What did you do with your dress after the shoot? I might be interested in purchasing the wedding dress as is, no cleaning required. I hope you want to sell the dress to me as it is for charity reasons I'm asking this Thank you for your reply Wendy Hi - thanks for the compliments. Believe it or not I actually took the dress to the cleaners and they made it look brand new:) You would never think I rolled around in the sand with it lol. It looks white and new so I had it preserved and plan on keeping it for sentimental reasons. The dress was my mom's gift to me for the wedding and I also would feel really sad parting with it since it was so special to me:) That was my wedding dress as well so it wasn't a different dress that I used for the trash the dress. If it wasn't for those reasons, I would consider selling it or giving it to charity

Thanks for the compliments everyone:) I'm glad my review is helpful to brides getting married there. Bride2B22 - I think the two arrangements at the alter (on the table in front of the priest) are included and free of charge, but just double check with your coordinator to make sure. Every other flower I had to pay for. They give you about 3 or 4 different packages to choose from. I did negotiate with them to bring the price down so don't go with the first cost they give you. I asked them to substitute some of the flowers for cheaper versions that were still pretty - for example a lilly is going to be way cheaper than a orchid but I love lillies so I was willing to compromise on that. I LOVED the flowers...I don't think the pictures do it justice. I got them to bring the cost down and I don't think I sacrificed anything. Future Mrs M - I had an Escalade limo pick me, my BM's and mom up to go to the ceremony. My hubby & his guys had a Dodge 300, and that's also the same limo that transported us to the reception. The limos were really nice and clean, stocked with drinks, on time, etc.. My contact was Jesus Licona and he was awesome to work with. He was very willing to work with my budget and he even went to meet me at the hotel when the limo picked me up. I don't have any photos that show the entire limo, but here are some pics that our friends/family caught as we were headed to the reception. Jesus will also send you some pictures if you ask.

Quote: Originally Posted by Vanessa C Hey Simba, I was wondering where you got your runner? It is beautiful. Did u rent or buy it?Thanks, Vanessa. Thank you:) I loved my runner - it was the first wedding thing I ordered. I bought it from Custom Aisle Runners | Wedding Aisle Runners | Aisle Runners

I finally got my Trash the dress slideshow and I'm so excited, I wanted to share. Playing in the beach was soooo much fun and I just wish I could do it again! =) The first few pics are potraits in the hotel...but my absolute favorites are the ones in the beach. As you can see I went all the way in =) http://www.morganlynnphotography.com/angel+cynthia

Quote: Originally Posted by FutureMrsRobart Simba - I LOVE the beach towels and they make so much sense b/c a) they something that you would definitely use on the trip and 2) you'd know your towels from the ones that ALL the other guests would have around the pool area. Did the price vary depending on the amount you purchased or was it just a flat fee per towel? Thanks:) Yeah, the price per towel goes down the more towels you order.

Quote: Originally Posted by LChavez Simba 1234, Thanks for the bus information, I already contacted Cancuntransfers and they're going to send me a quote! Sorry, I didn't notice in your original post that you had already mentioned Cancuntransfers. I have a question about the Chapel. Did you use a live musician, or did you go with prerecorded music? If you went with prerecorded, was there someone from Gran Caribe to hit the "play" button? Thanks again. I had pre-recorded music that they provided as part of the package. They took care of it...I just told them what music I wanted and they played it.

Quote: Originally Posted by LowcountryGirl Has anyone used the ecofetti yet? If so, how did it go and do you have pictures? I bought the ecofetti and was not able to use it due to the wind. People were throwing it and it was blowing away in different directions. None of it got on me and so I have no pictures of it. After the first two attempts I just asked people to stop because we were wasting time:) This is something to keep in mind....if what you're having guests 'throw' is lightweight and your wedding is outdoors the wind might get in the way. I think the same would go for bubbles....

Quote: Originally Posted by lalanyc Since this is a thread about chair sashes, I have a question for you ladies - Do you have any ideas for unique applications of chair sashes?? I dont want to pay extra to have Tiffany chairs for our reception but I would like to do something a little different than just a bow in the back of each chair. Is anyone here doing something unusual w/ their sashes (could be adding flowers or tying differently, etc.)? I'm not a big fan of the bow in the back so I had mine tied to the side. I think it looked a lot sleeker and different. Here's the picture I used as inspiration and sent to my WC. These are some pics from my actual wedding... I don't have my professional pictures yet so it's hard to really see from these pics. But my resort actually tied them EXACTLY the way they were done in the inspiration pic. I thought it looked great and people even commented about it (who knew sashes would make such an impact:)

Quote: Originally Posted by yeya99 Any brave souls that have gotten married at the Gran Caribe Real Catholic Chapel please post your experience. Please please please pics and review of this site are greatly needed. Thank you! I just got married there in April and it was beautiful. I posted a review on this forum. Unfortunately, I still haven't received my professional pics but my photographer promised I would get them this week (fingers crossed). I'll be sure to post them as soon as I get them. I know how you feel because I searched the world over when I was planning and couldn't find any reviews or pics.

Quote: Originally Posted by LChavez Your pictures are beautiful! What a great wedding! I have a question for you, did you rent a bus to take your guests from one property to the next? How much was it and what company did you use? Thank you so much for your help. I did provide buses. I used cancuntransfers.com and I think they charge about $150 for a 53 passenger bus and $140 for a 40 passenger (each way). I booked all transportation through them so I got a discounted rate - I booked the following transportation: 53 passenger bus from Gran Melia to Gran Caribe for ceremony bus from the ceremony to Le Meridien for the reception bus from the reception back to Gran Melia limo for Groom & GM's to the Ceremony limo for Bride and BM's to the ceremony limo for Bride & Groom from ceremony to reception The total cost of everything was $950. This was by far the cheapest rate I got and I asked for quotes from about 8 different transportation companies. Their service was great too and limos & buses were clean and on time.