jaccat15

Hi there! We have a great thread that will help answer all of your questions- http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-brides-32238/ I'm unsure about the wedding package credit - you could def ask Cecilia when you book it and see what she says. They are great about stuff like that. As for the legal mexico thing - I would say not to go thru the hassle. Most brides either do it before or after their Mexico ceremony in the states. It's only paperwork back home really and nothing crazy like the Mexico process. Save yourself the aggravation and just do it before or after

I think the best way to make the marriage legal would be to do the symbolic ceremony in mexico and then go to your local courthouse when you get back and fill out the paper work - it's really only paperwork with a couple witnesses. Easy. We are having a religous ceremony in Mexico - bringing our own Rabbi from NY and she is going to also perform our legal ceremony back in NY. We thought since she is licensed in NY we could bring her to Mexico, have her do the ceremony and sign the marriage license after, but she apparently has to marry us in the state of NY for it to be legal. I'm working on whether we're going to have our legal marriage done before or after the Mexico ceremony. I feel like the Mexican legal ceremony has way too much involved. There isn't that much involved in NY! Save yourself the hassle (and horrible bloodtests) and do a symbolic ceremony in Mexico.

i have pics from my last site visit if you want me to email them to you i was there in March for my intial visit and this trip is only bc we have a wedding at NOW Sapphire (used to be the Paradisus) so we're going to tie up some things with Cecilia. msg me ur email and i will send from snapfish tonight!

Quote: Originally Posted by saza175 for the wedding deposit... cecilia said i can't use a credit card unless the room is already booked. we are booking the room next month, but i need to get the deposit in for the wedding ASAP you can do a bank transfer online thru your bank i think - check it out or go to your local branch

For the room deposit, we did that through our TA and gave a CC. For the wedding deposit, we gave that as a CC to Cecilia. She can forward you the CC authorization form via email.

i thought it was 2 as well............and she told me that they wouldn't take on 2 big (over 20 people) weddings in 1 day. When I see her in a couple weeks I will ask her, along with my 15 other questions!!!

omg - i've been away since Thurs night and I can't catch up! lol i heart our thread

Quote: Originally Posted by jay45 Just curious for those who have been married there (or there for honeymoon or any trip) is it worth paying the extra money for the preferred club? And did all your guests purchase rooms with preferred club? The preferred club rooms are closer to the beach and have a soaking tub on the terraces, they might also have liquor in the mini-bar - and the only other upgrades is the preferred club conceirge room with private internet (the main building has a business center with tons of computers and printers). I stayed in a swim-out room (regular service) and it was still amazing. We did not offer the upgrade to preferred club to our guests in the group rate - but we did offer each room type to book.

Quote: Originally Posted by mellyrobert thanks everyone for your comments. we are not doing a site vistit hence why i am so worried about the specifics. the one thing i am worried about is little personal touches. it seems like all the ladies on this site have every detail worked out! the last thing i want is to have to pack a bunch of stuff for the reception tables! does anyone have any suggestions for an outside photographer? I posted a thread about this http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...dations-56814/ We ended up booking Samuel Luna who came recommended from a bride on the board. Check the thread out

Quote: Originally Posted by ReeRee Hi Jaccat15 and saza175!!!! Thank you SO SO much for your info! your info is very helpful! I feel like I am stepping forward finally! I am very indecisive and this website is so good for someone like me to hear what everyone else is doing. Questions to both of you, how many guests are you having? Because I'm wondering more guests you have, more rooms to book, therefore more discounts? I will only have 10 guests or so, so I'm wondering if discounts won't be much with booking through TA. Happy Cinco De Mayo! Hii! this is the best website for us it's helped me sooo much! We are inviting 225 people but expect around 75ish to show. If you are only having 10 guests I'm sure you work something out with the hotel directly - I think they will work with you to give you a perk or two ;-) Working with TA also helps your guests if you want them to book hotel, air and transfers together too, no matter how many people.

Hi ReeRee! Congrats!!! Many of us are using our own TA's and I believe I did hear from someone that they are using destinationweddings.com. I'm unsure if direct booking is actually cheaper than getting a group rate from a TA. So far, it has been cheaper for our guests to book through our TA and not on their own via Expedia or any of those other sites. Also, a TA can negotiate perks for you and your group - such as free upgrades depending on how many rooms you book, free rooms, resort credits, and private check-in. You are right too - that if something terrible happens, they will handle it for you and your guests. You have enough to worry about as a bride - let someone else handle the travel arrangements for your guests I'm not sure how destinationweddings.com works but if they act as a liason btwn you and the wedding coordinator, I think working directly with Cecilia is the best way to do it. I looked into using Luxe Destination Weddings back when we got engaged but they were so pricey and we figured we have experience with traveling and could handle it all - which we are and has actually been a pleasure planning it. Good luck!

When your wedding date? Are you doing a site visit before your wedding? Cecilia can basically do anything you want - just email her pics and colors and she is so easy to work with. I met with her back in March and am going to meet with her again when we are down there for a friend's wedding Memorial Day weekend. I have heard though you can basically wait until you get down there for your wedding and she will take care of everything right before. As for flowers - you can use the designs in the packages and customize them however you want.

We are still working on our honeymoon - we are only staying at the resort a couple more days after the wedding and then heading back to NYC. We're going to go on our honeymoon for a couple weeks in January but aren't exactly sure where yet - maybe Thailand and the Maldives? I know there are tons of other sites with honeymoon registries - Starwood has a good one (W hotels, Sheratons, Westins),

here is what my friend just said, "I spoke to Cecilia. She said everything is the exact same except the name. The Staff is all the same and we will be fine" phew!

Hi there! Welcome to the board I chose the Gazebo b/c we don't want to walk on the sand, lol. The wedding team apparently does a good job of keep on lookers out of pics - and depending on when your ceremony is, people may be back at their rooms getting ready for dinner anyway.

hi ladies! my friend is getting married at Paradisus/Now Sapphire Memorial Day weekend -she had no idea about any of this :-( We will be going to the wedding for that weekend so I will let you know what goes on and how it all gets handled from a brides stand-point will keep you posted if I hear anything else!

Hi there! Congrats! there is a seperate thread for all Secrets Maroma brides here is the link below if you need it. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...8/index32.html I did a site visit in March and am planning on getting married under the Gazebo and then we are having the reception in the ballroom. All of the locations are amazing -just depends on how many people you will be having and also preference. We think AC is needed for our grandparents and some parents so we are going with the ballroom for the reception. All of the brides on here are very helpful and can def help with ANY questions! Happy planning!

those LED lights are very cool - i wonder if Cecilia has access to these.... One would think that if you are a wedding coordinator, you can get anything, right? i REALLY don't want to buy any decor and have to ship it.

hmmm - good question!!! are the LED ones battery operated? how does that work exactly?

thanks boo! yes - that's exactly what i was looking for i'm going to show this to Cecilia and see what she can get down there. i love the idea of having these line the aisle and have them around the gazebo for the cermony. Saza - good for you guys!!!

I will def keep you posted on all of the info i get from Cecilia. When my mom and I were there in March, we heard the harpist play on the lobby around dinner time and he was really good - we are thinking of maybe using him for the ceremony - but we'll see. For the welcome bags, we are doing canvas totes with a itinerary of events, sunscreen and lip balm, magazines, travel size meds (tylenol, immodium, alka selzer) and maybe a package of candy. Table decor I am going to work out with Cecilia - I really don't want to have to worry about table set ups or any of that. The only things I am planning on shipping ahead of time are the welcome bags, a frame for our kettubah, placecards and menu cards. I really don't want to bring more than my luggage or my dress with me on the plane. What are you thinking for the table decor? Are you going to do anything special to the gazebo? I am going to ask if she can wrap lights around it and line the aisle with tea lights in paper.

bandeau tops are the best! i never wear a triangle or halter anymore. if you have an issue with lines, a quick fix (a few days) is to use a gradual at home self tanner - or go get an airbrush tan at a spa. Jergens makes a gradual self tanner that works in 3 days or you can use their regular one that takes 1 week. no streaks!

No, we talked about it with them and they said to give them the songs we def would like played during the reception and the types of music we don't want - it's really their job to keep everyone dancing so we are going to trust that and let the DJ and MC do their jobs They are going to email us an outline when the time gets closer to fill in all the important songs we want played (entrances, first dance, bride and father, etc) I'm still thinking about what we are going to do for the ceremony though - any ideas? We are using the Carib. trio for the cocktail hour but i def want music for the ceremony. i'm going to have to talk to cecilia about options when i see her at the end of may.

The DJ that is included with the package is DJ Mannia - we are using them. I met with one of the owners, Erika and they are very professional and established.

gorgeous! congrats!!!!!