Fireweed

I second Yoanni at the Blau - I had my wedding there and he did an awesome job with our hair. Just one warning though - book early! He takes a long time, but he's really thorough.

We had about as many people as you and they just sectioned off a portion of the restaurant for the wedding party - it's kind of located behind some short walls and the string quartet. It was perfect, definitely private enough and it's a quiet/formal atmosphere anyways so other guests are not going to bother you. We weren't charged anything, and they don't decorate it much unless you ask them too, but it already looks nice. We brought decorations with us and told our wedding coordinator we wanted them spread out over the tables. You can also ask her to put flowers on each table.

That's awesome! When is the wedding?

I'm not sure what you mean by "everything is after"? The weather was about 24C when we were there - it wasn't too hot but warm enough to have beach days and swim. The water was wonderful. November might be a bit warmer than that - just look up Varadero weather history on google and you should get some information.

The resort changed their email address last December - you should try sales@blauvaradero.tur.cu!

We flew Air Transat to Cuba and the wedding dress doesn't count as your carry-on. Check and see if you're flying with an Air Transat plane or Canjet (they use both). My travel agent told me to call the airline a month before we leave and just have them put on my file that I'm carrying a wedding dress along. We had no problems - if you book through a travel agent they will let Air Transat know that you're the bride and groom so you get extra perks like we did - extra baggage allowance, premium seating and free alcoholic drink! The flight attendants were great with my dress and folded it in the overhead bin. I also put my husband's suit in my garment bag so it was all in one place.

Hmm we just had our wedding at the Blau in December and brought our friend who's a photographer with us. She had a camera bag with her with a few lenses/flash etc. and was part of our wedding group and it wasn't a problem at all. It was quite obvious she was the photographer that day and nobody at the hotel, including the wedding coordinator, said anything negative about it. I think maybe if your photographers don't bring a ton of gear and just act like their your friend and part of your group, no one will bug them about anything.

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Actually according to reviews here: http://www.holidaycheck.com/hotel-reviews_Hotel+Blau+Varadero-ch_hb-hid_77161.html The hotel is fully handicapped accessible. I wasn't paying much attention to that since we didn't have the need for our group.

Hey, I think the hotel is as wheelchair accommodating as most Cuban resorts. It's not to Canadian standards. It helps that they have elevators going to every floor. There is a boardwalk to the beach and beach bar, but then there are a couple of steps to the beach - so I'm not sure if that would work out for you? It's better than the hotels with the villas because the villas are walk-up only so you'd have to request a ground floor room. Thanks for the compliments! Our ceremony was at 3pm which is usual for that time of year. I think the sun began to set around 5 so that was the perfect amount of time. The beach bar isn't anything fancy - it's made of wood and has screens that go down to cut down the drafts if needed. There's a bar, some tables and chairs, and a small dance floor. It's not fancy but there's no way to not have fun there. The guys working the bar are awesome. I don't really have any detailed pictures but here's one at night. During the day they serve hamburgers and fast food here as well.

Also since you're going so soon, I'd contact the Cuban embassy in the UK right away and ask them for the procedure - they would be your best bet on what is required to get married in Cuba. Since you will need to send your divorce papers to be notarized and translated, this could take some time to do (I know here in Canada the wait was a couple of months) Just contact the Cuban embassy (I'm assuming it's probably in London?) and they'll let you know what to do.

Hi there, Below are the marriage requirements for Cuba - they're geared towards Canadians, but I think the rules are the same for every country. It's a bit harder to get married in Cuba after being divorced - it requires more paperwork which costs money to translate, but it's not impossible by any means. You can get married at the Blau Varadero resort. Just email them at sales@blauvaradero.cyt.cu for info. Alternately I'm sure you can get married in Havana at a government office of some kind, but I'm not sure where that is. Maybe contact the UK embassy in Havana for more info. Good luck! Cuba Marriage Requirements The information below outlines the marriage requirements for getting married in Cuba If you have never been married before, all you need is a passport that is valid throughout your stay in Cuba, and a tourist card (available from a travel agent, airline or the Cuban consulate). If either the bride or groom has been married before, the previously married person must, in addition to the valid passport and tourist card, also produce the following documents: if divorced: his/her birth certificate and Certificate of Divorce; if widowed: his/her birth certificate, Certificate of Marriage and Certificate of Spouse's Death. Have your birth certificate and any divorce/marriage/death documents translated into Spanish and legalized by the Cuban consul in Canada (service fee applies). In addition, you must: Create a sheet that lists your names, home address, occupations, level of education, nationality and the full names of your parents, living or deceased. Attach the photo page of your passport to this sheet. Fax copies of all documentation (including the extras described above if you have been married before) in both English and Spanish to your hotel in Cuba at least three weeks before your arrival there. Bring all your original documents with you. Your marriage will be formalized in the name stated on your passport. Your passport must therefore be correct, and the name on your passport must match that on all your other documents. After your wedding, your Marriage Certificate will be prepared as quickly as possible and either given to you before you leave (time permitting) or couriered at the hotel's expense to the home address on your documents. Your marriage is legalized by the Canadian Embassy in Havana and the Cuban Foreign Affairs department.

It does say that in the package, but you get a dinner booked for the entire wedding party at the a la carte for that night. There is no extra charge for it.

Hi Dasha, As you might have read in my review, you can always go down to the beach bar and dance there after your wedding, or your group can walk a short distance (less than 10 minutes) to a nearby dance club attached to one of the hotels. We had our first dance following the ceremony in the gardens. They set up a DJ for you, so just give him an ipod or CD and get him to play your first dance song there. If you have a beach wedding, your appetizers/cake is served in the beach bar, so you can do your first dance there. The wedding package includes a dinner at the nice a-la-carte restaurant for all your guests. The restaurant is already appointed with white tablecloths and you can request them to place flowers on the tables (you might have to pay extra for this?) or bring your own decorations like we did, and just let your wedding coordinator know you'd like them distributed on the tables. Hope that helps!

Thanks! We opted to get legally married in Canada before we left, so we booked the Renewal of Vows package at the hotel, which is basically identical to the wedding one but slightly cheaper. The cake and reception dinner were included in the package. The wedding coordinator Isabel Sabina at the hotel is great, but she is having a baby in March so I'm not sure if she's working right now or they have a replacement.

My hair was $40 and the bridesmaids were about $25 each. It's pretty reasonable - and they just add the total to your room number and you pay when you check out.

Yeah we used a TA which helped a lot - I'd definitely recommend it. It's free for you to use one and they take care of everything and answer all your guests' questions. I think our guests paid around $1600-$1700 after taxes but that's because we went at Christmas time which is notoriously expensive. We flew with Transat Holidays/Nolitours from Winnipeg. You should be able to get a much better price as long as you're not going over major holidays. When were you thinking of traveling?

Thanks! Honestly I'd go for quality any day over the location. It's so easy to get into town from any of the hotels - you can grab a double decker bus for 5 pesos and the ticket will last you all day so you can hop on and off as you wish. There's also a little car-train you can take for 2 pesos. They stop at all the hotels. We never had anyone get bored, in fact it was the opposite - a week wasn't nearly enough time to do everything! We also booked two tours - the Jeep Safari and the Havana Tour so that was two days gone right there, plus the wedding day. There was entertainment at night at the hotel, and there's also a disco close by - like a 5 minute walk where you could go if you wanted to dance in a more 'club' like atmosphere. We had originally booked the Bella Costa to stay in for the last two nights in Varadero. We basically walked into that hotel (which is also rated a 4 star), checked in, walked around, and then promptly checked out. The Blau was just worlds apart from it in every way, and the Blau isn't even one of the fancy 5 star resorts. We drove past the Barcelo Solymar a few times, it seems pretty okay, but I'd go by the Trip Advisor reviews. We actually ended up switching out hotel when we booked the wedding - started off with Sirenis la Salina and switched to the Blau based on the great reviews. It cost pretty much the same, and I'm so glad we did!

We had our wedding at the Blau Varadero on December 23, 2010 - right before Christmas. We were there from Dec 20 to 27th, and then honeymooned in Havana for 5 days and returned for two more beach days at the Blau before we left home. (The pictures are a mix of pro photos with FB pictures taken by friends and family) Hotel: A This hotel is one of the best choices you can make in Varadero by far. The rooms were nice and big and clean with modern bathrooms, good water pressure and big balconies. We had an ocean view looking over the pool and the beach and it was awesome to look at the sun setting at night and the water first thing in the morning. The king size beds are huge, though like in many places in Cuba, the pillows are rather small so I'd recommend bringing an extra pillow if you're super particular about that. We got a few channels on TV including CTV from Calgary and HBO. There was also a movie channel that I can't remember the name of that played pretty good movies. We never spend that much time in our room other than to sleep, but it was fun to catch a few minutes of a movie before going to bed. The maids clean the rooms really well. We tipped our maid with a peso and a small gift every day and she left us some nice towel art. The hotel is mostly filled with Europeans and some Canadians. It has a much classier feel than some other Varadero places - this isn't a place where there'll be a lot of rowdy drunk people running around. There's still dancing and music and entertainment at night and people having fun, but it's definitely quieter than some of the other party hotels, which is what we liked and preferred about it, and we were a fairly young group (20's and 30's) Seriously, there's a reason this hotel is rated #2 on Trip Advisor - our whole group had such an amazing time everyone's planning a trip back next year! The staff is great and you can tell the hotel management seem to treat their staff with respect, which makes a huge difference in the overall atmosphere in the hotel. The customer service in the hotel is top notch, and the management really cares about what the guests think - they handed out comment cards one night where you were encouraged to write what you thought and what they could change in the future. Compared to some other hotels in Varadero, this was a nice surprise! Food: A+ The food was excellent, both in the buffet and the a-la-carte restaurants. There were so many choices! We had lobster and shrimp, all kinds of fish, chicken, beef, pork, rabbit, lamb, duck etc. There is a pasta station with pizzas and pastas, as well as lasagna on some nights, lots of side dishes like french fries, rice, etc, a big salad station, a big desert station, a big pastry/bread station.....the food was honestly incredible. The buffet is clean and well appointed, and the servers are really friendly. We seriously loved every meal we had, including breakfast (probably my favorite part!) Beach: A+ The beach was amazing, really clean, plenty of sun beds and shade and the water was out of this world. I want to go back! Wedding: A + We had a great wedding at the Blau, so easy and relaxed and fun. We met with our wedding coordinator Sabina the morning after we arrived at the hotel and went over flowers and decorations and music. We just chose everything to be white - I just wanted a clean look and some of the flowers looked super cheesy in my opinions. We also ordered a chocolate cake instead of 'white cake' which she was surprised about but happily agreed to. We gave her our cake toppers - a buck and a doe we picked up a toy store back at home, and she gave it to the bakery in Varadero where the cakes are made. We got our cake back with green frosting on top to look like grass and the buck and the doe on top. It was actually really cute, and the cake was amazing - chocolate and coconut! So happy we chose it! I wanted white flowers and I was really happy with what Sabina got me. They were gorgeous. My bridesmaids and I got our hair done at the resort salon - the hair dresser was awesome - my hair looked amazing and held up all day (I just wanted it down and curled with a clip in one side). He was great at his job, all the girls loved their hair. We chose to have our ceremony in the garden instead of the beach for lots of reasons - more privacy, easier to hear everyone talking, the option of having our music played and the fact that I really wanted to wear my wedding shoes! The resort did a nice job with the set up, and the light was beautiful coming through the palm trees. We got the DJ to play our ipod so we could have our entrance and first dance songs, and it sounded really good in the gardens. After the ceremony we had our first dance in front of everyone and then had cake, champagne and appetizers with our guest. The DJ played music during this part too and it was really nice and relaxed. After this we went to take photos on the beach. We brought our own photographer with us but we hired the resort videographer to do a video because it was only $150 and we thought it would be fun to have. She was hilarious and very much in your face. She made us do a bunch of cheesy things which are super funny to look at now when we watch the video. Seriously though she did a good job and for $150 I totally recommend buying a video. Reception: A + We had our reception dinner at the Palma Real restaurant on the Blau grounds. The food was amazing, the service was incredible and they had a string quartet playing the entire time. We brought some beachy decorations and got our wedding coordinator to spread them among the tables instead of lugging down big centerpieces all the way from Canada. It ended up looking really pretty. After dinner we did speeches and cocktails in the piano bar at the hotel and then went to the beach bar for dancing. We tipped the guy a few pesos and gave him our iPod to play so we had our own music which was great. There is a dance floor at the beach bar and it's open on three sides with a roof. It was a really awesome place to finish up our night - the beach bar is open all night but we could only stay till 2am since we booked a jeep safari early the next morning. (FYI DON'T book a jeep safari the morning after your wedding day) Overall we had a great time. We love Cuba, and we were lucky to get nice weather in December so we could have beach days. The whole week went by in a blur, I'm really happy my husband and I stayed for an extra week. We were booked at another hotel to spend our last two nights before our flight, but we showed up to it, realized we just couldn't stay there after the Blau and went back and paid for two more nights at the Blau. It cost way more than it should, but it was totally worth it, we felt like we were back home! I'm so happy we chose to have a destination wedding, it was so much less stressful than planning a wedding at home, and you're at a hotel for a week with all your friends and family so the entire week is super fun and full of memories. I think most of my friends are convinced to have destination weddings now too.

I'm wearing the 2041 style for the reception. I love it, it's so pretty and lacy in person, and the sweetheart neckline is perfect.

Honestly I think if you want something just ask for it and they'll do their best to make it happen for you. Just tell them that it's important for you and that you chose the Blau based on guest reviews and their service. Â From what I've seen there is live music during the dinner, at least in the photos I've seen. You can probably mention it to her and see what she says. Â I've seen photos where people have done their first dance right in the restaurant and I'm sure you can do your speeches there as well. There is also a disco by the beach where you can dance afterward. It's supposed to not be very busy which could be good because you can give the DJ a CD to play. That's what I plan on doing, slipping him a few pesos and having him play our first dance song and whatever else we might want. Â As far as chairs on the beach there was discussion about this earlier in the thread. I think the resort is reluctant to put down chairs but they will do it if you insist on it. What did Isabel say when you mentioned chairs? Â We've decided to get married in the gardens and then just do photos on the beach. I think I prefer that because it's more private, they decorate it for you (and we'll bring some of our own decorations as well like poms to hang from the trees) and it's also more secluded from the wind (it can be pretty windy in Cuba in December and January). Â Â

Gorgeous pictures KPitch! I love your dress, you looked beautiful!

Hi and welcome! We're also getting married at the Blau at the end of December of this year. If you have any questions, just ask them at this forum, the girls are great at helping out! I might be able to help out with some questions too, I've talked to our wedding coordinator a few times and have a bunch of info.

www.photobucket.com has free picture sharing and when you upload your photos you can just share the link!

Very cute!