angelov321

just a few more pics

Dont worry about the weather. Some of my guests said they checked the weather before getting to Mexico and the forecast said rain the whole week of the wedding, including the wedding day. It rained only one time that week and it was during dinner and lasted no more than 10minutes. The days leading up to the wedding were cloudy, but it still was hot out. You can never tell with Mexico, so dont let the forecast worry you. Your day is gonna be beautiful!!! Sorry about replying to your pm. I responded last week and just now realized it didnt go through. I guess BDW doesnt work well with my phone

Here are a few. Im still waiting for my professional ones. This was taken from the Coba Gazebo. Everyone was able to see me pull up. Originally Posted by sxcT Thanks for posting your review Erika. Glad you had a great time and the weather was perfect for your special day. I love reading reviews because it gets me so excited. Just a few questions if you don't mind... - Did you upgrade your room using the promo dollars? If so, was it worth it? - Was the iPod docking station playing loud enough for everyone to hear? How much did that run you? - Do you have pictures to share yet? Can't wait to see what everything looked like...especially you.

Not a dumb question at all!! If youre about saving money, I would definitely go with the docking station. Its cheap and if youre well prepared everything will go smoothly. We gave the tech our Ipod and laptop to use. On our laptop we had songs sorted out in different folders. For example, our first dance was in the "first dance" folder, cake cutting song was in the "cake cutting" folder and hip hop and all the different music genres were in their respective folder. We also had the MOH's boyfriend, who is an expert in wedding scheduling and events, make sure the tech knew when to do what and when to play what. The only problem we had with the tech was that he wasnt following directions from us very well. We had a meeting with him before the recpetion and told him what to play and from what folder. I guess he got a little confused. So if we had to do it again, we would make our own playlist from beginning to end instead of just telling him to pick and choose songs himself. If everything is layed out for him, everything will be just fine. We gave the tech our laptop a few days before the welcome dinner so they could sort through our songs so that things will go smoothly. He used our Ipod as a "DJ". The ipod had an app that allowed all the songs to mix together so there wasnt any gaps or pauses in between songs. Basically, no one at the wedding knew that all the music being played was from our laptop and Ipod. It was exactly like having a DJ. FYI: whomever youre in communication with from the DJ company, make sure you ask them, and get a confirmation, that you want the tech to do announcements. There were many times I asked Michell about announcements and he never got back to me and when he finally did, he said there were no english speaking techs available. Luckily, my family speaks Spanish so it wasnt a big deal that the announcements were in Spanish, but thats not the case for everyone. Hope this helps with your decision. Let me know if theres anything else you need.

the docking station was about $325 per night. It came with 2 speakers and it was very loud. It sounded the same way it would sound if you hired the DJ. We upgraded rooms while we were on the cove side from regular superior deluxe to superior deluxe with oceanview because we made our 75 room nights. We had already booked the conceirge level and wished we didnt. Regardless of what room you stay in, they all look exactly the same. All concierge has is a few added perks, but it definitely wasnt worth the $438/night. If I had known, I would have booked the superior and then upgraded to concierge for free. One of my guests upgraded to the concierge level and they said they paid about $400 something for 3 nights using their vacation dollars. They were probably one of the only people that used the majority of their vacation dollars and it probably was because of the upgrade. lol

In my opinion, I wouldnt even tell the resort about bringing in an outside photographer. When I first started planning I asked Aventura Spa if I could bring an outside photog and they said to refer to my contract because it has a "no outside vendor policy". I left the issue go and after being on this forum I decided to just hire an outside vendor anyway. I simply just purchased a day pass for them and there was absolutely no issue with them being there. GL!

Ok ladies. Im finally getting time to post my review. Im posting it on here, but I also posted it on the ASP review section. Hope its helpful... Firstly, I have to say that this was the best hotel I have ever stood at. It was beautiful and the servers were the nicest and most accommodating people I have ever encountered. We arrived 4 days before the actual wedding and Im glad we did. We were so busy handling wedding stuff that I probably only got a half day to rest and enjoy the resort during the day. Between meeting with our wedding coordinator, Wilma and the DJ and OOT bags, and welcoming guests and it was a little hectic, but definitely worth it. We arrived on Monday and on Tuesday Wilma set up our meeting. During the meeting, she went over every little detail from the welcome dinner to reception. She showed us pictures of the different floral arrangements, bouquets, boutonnières, menus etc. If you haven’t chosen all the details before you get to Mexico, don’t worry about it. You can literally choose everything during your meeting. I had already purchased vases, tea light candle holders, and L.E.D tea lights. All I needed was cally lilies. She originally quoted me $90 for 20 flowers. Once I told her I could get each flower for $2 a piece back in the states, she called the florist and they came down on the price. We also negotiated the price on the boutonnières and bouquets for the 5 bm’s. In the end we paid $60 for 20 cally lilies, $25/ea boutonnière and $35/ea bouquet. The bouquets were very pricey for their size, but either way we still saved money. Wilma’s only concern was to make sure we were happy with everything. Every question we had and every request we made, she made sure we were happy. She definitely takes her job seriously. We were there for 2 weeks and every time we saw Wilma, she was running around. I know one of my concerns during the wedding planning was lack of quick responses from the coordinators, but now I understand why. They stay busy all day! There were times where Wilma was still working at 10pm. Thursday, the day before the wedding, we had our welcome dinner. Wilma recommended us the Spa Terrace which is one of the huts on the lagoon not far from the Spa side pool. She even added pink lighting on the outside poles to help with decorations, which I absolutely loved! The Spa Terrace was great; however, it was extremely windy! Girl’s dresses were flying up everywhere and liquids were flying out of our cups. It was actually funny how we all handled the wind. Eventually it died down and we were able to enjoy the party a little more. We rented the Ipod docking station for music and the tech who was handling the music was ok. He really didn’t follow our directions on which songs to play, which was a little annoying. Nonetheless, we all had a blast. We ordered the Italian menu for our buffet and it was awesome! I wasn’t a huge fan of the Italian restaurant so I was skeptical, but I definitely was proved wrong. Everyone loved the food! Afterwards, we all went to the disco for some more fun. Before midnight, my fiancé and I split up and I went to the Spa side to stay with my sis and MOH and he went to our room on the Cove for the night. I hired Fernando for a make-up and hair trial and he was awesome!! He was so nice and was funny. He listened to what I wanted and delivered. He did my make-up as well as my MOH. Everybody was complimenting us all night long! Wedding Day I had scheduled an appt for all the girls including moms, bm’s and hubbys 2 sisters at 9:30 for massages and 10:30 for mani and pedi’s. We all had the 50min holistic massage and mines was ok. It was relaxing, but I’ve had better massages. Some of the bm’s shared the same opinion as me and some enjoyed their massage, so I guess it just depends on who you get. At 10:30 we went to the salon to get our nails done and the ladies were very accommodating. They got us in and out very fast. I wasn’t extremely happy with my French manicure. The next day it had already started to chip L By noon we were all in my sisters room waiting for the make-up artist and hair stylist come. As soon as they arrived they started on the girls. Fernando couldn’t come to do my make-up, but he sent his teacher and he did an awesome job as well. By 2:00. the photographers were in the room. I hired Adrian Herrera and let me just say, he was the best decision ever! Ill get to him a little later. When they arrived I hadn’t started my make-up or hair so he took pics of my dress, shoes and bm’s. He then went to the Cove for a few minutes and took pics of the guys getting ready. By the time he was back, I was getting make-up done so he got a few “getting ready†shots of me. We ordered room service for us and the photogs and stylists. We probably ordered almost everything on the menu along with 2 bottles of champagne. At 3:00, my girls were fully dressed and helped me get my dress on. At 3:30 they all left to go to the Coba Gazebo. My dad came to the room and we waited for Wilma to come with his boutonnière, my bouquet and the horse and carriage. At 4pm she still wasn’t there. Around 4:05 or so she came and said some of my guests were late to the wedding and she delayed getting me because she wanted to wait until everyone was seated. I definitely wasn’t happy about that, but that was something I took up with those guests. I purchased the Diamond package, which comes with the photographer so he and the video guy came with Wilma and took pics and recorded me and my father. The horse and carriage was great! I loved it. My dad even starting crying and I’ve never seen him cry! We pulled up to the end of the stairs and I can hear all my guests cheering for me as I stepped down from the carriage. There was a big group of people eating at the Mundaca restaurant and they were all cheering also as I walked the long path to the gazebo. We had the harpist play and as I entered the gazebo I didn’t recognize the song being played. Later my guests told me, she didn’t play any traditional wedding music. I was disappointed by that because I did ask for traditional wedding music. Anyways, the ceremony was beautiful! The decorations were so pretty. We did a symbolic wedding so the judge opened up the ceremony with a prayer. The ceremony was definitely religious and we both liked that a lot. We did the sand ceremony, which was nice. The whole ceremony probably lasted 20min. It seemed like it went too fast. The judge pronounced us as husband and wife and when we kissed, fireworks went off in the background. I highly recommend the fireworks. As soon as we walked out the gazebo we had our first champagne toast and we thanked everyone for coming. We then went to take group and solo pics. Adrian was great with his directions. His vision is so creative! The resort photographer just followed along in Adrians footsteps. He didn’t do a very good job. As we were taking pics, our guests were at Pandero Terrace enjoying and international hor’dourvres and the Mexican trio. We totally missed our 90min cocktail hour because we were taking pics, but I know the pics were definitely worth it. Reception at the Solarium began at 6pm so at 5:45 my girls and I went to my MOH room so they can help bustle my dress. That ended up taking 45min! I was so late to the wedding lol Once I was ready, we started the party! We were introduced, had all the first dances and then partied a little before food was served. We ordered the Caribbean menu and it was really good. Everybody went up for seconds and some went for thirds. After dinner, we partied more and had lots of Tequila shots. JWe took a few minutes with Adrian to take more pics. When we came back we got all the wedding traditions out the way like the cake cutting, garter removal/toss and bouquet toss. Let me also say, the cake was delicious!!! We got tres leche and strawberry and it was soooo good! We rented the ipod docking station for the reception as well and again, the same guy was a disappointment. He didn’t play the songs that were in the “wedding file†instead he played all the songs from the welcome dinner. We had to keep redirecting him. It wasn’t an issue my guests noticed. They were all dancing all night and were really enjoying themselves. We also purchased some Cohibas and Wilma set up an area where the guys can smoke them. All the guys really enjoyed that. The servers were the best! They made sure no ones cup was empty and every time I went to the bar they asked me, “how many shots?†At 10pm the reception was over and I had my Moh go and collect my champagne glasses, cake topper and centerpieces no one wanted. While she was doing that, we all headed to the disco. We had a blast, until 2 of the bm’s got crazy drunk so we ended our night at about midnight. We had one of the bellmen take us to our room on the Spa side because my feet were killing me. I definitely recommend bringing flats! All in all, the wedding was fabulous!!! I had the best time ever! Wilma did an excellent job in preparing everything for me and helped make my day perfect. Just to add also, Pandero, Coba and Solarium are all within a few feet of each other. This was perfect for my guests because they didn’t have to walk very far to get to all the wedding festivities. Now to the hotel review… I have to say that the servers were all great!!! They are there to treat you like royalty. Atleast that’s how I felt. We had no issues with any of the servers. However, some of the public relations people and the people that handle reservations were another story. I made spa and salon reservations for my 5bm’s, 2 mothers and my 2 SIL’s. I had confirmation regarding the reservations before I got to Mexico. When the girls arrived, they all went to the spa desk to confirm their appts and some of the girls reservations were somehow lost. Supposedly there was no record. Then some girls had to pay a difference of $23 because the services equaled out to $173 and the max promotion credits each person can use for spa was $150. They would not budge on that. Lost reservations seemed to be something that just kept happening all weekend long for my guests. Food The food was great!!! Breakfast and lunch were buffet style and it was delicious everyday. The sit down restaurants were for the most part good too. The only negative to the restaurants is that service is very slow. We went to dinner at 7 every night and every night we were at dinner till atleast 9:30 or 10. We did have atleast 6-9ppl at dinner with us each night, which may have slowed down the service, but regardless, it was extremely slow. We ate at every restaurant except the La Huerta, I want a big fan of their menu. Mundaca, in my opinion, was the best restaurant. The steak was perfect! We ate there about 3x. Promotion credits Well, all I can say is that they really hype you up with the $1500 credits and its really for nothing. Yes, you can go swimming with A dolphin, visit the ruins and go zip lining, but really its just a bunch of hype. They gave us so too issues with reservations, confirmations etc. We spent too much time fighting with them. Hardly any of my guests used all of the $1500. All the excursions were corny except for Chichen Itza (Mayan ruins). Swimming with the dolphins was nice, but you only get to swim with one dolphin and do one trick with them, while other groups are swimming with 2 dolphins and doing atleast 2 tricks. And, you can’t take pics while you’re with the dolphin. They have their own photographer and once you’re done, they offer you all the pics they took for $250! Zip lining was not really that fun. It was really slow. Some of my guests did the romantic lobster dinner for 2 and said they could have done without it. The dinner wasn’t private like the hotel makes it seem like it is. Some guests used their credits to buy wine at dinner or take professional pictures around the resort. But really, its hard to use up all the credits. FYI about the credits: if you’re staying on one side of the hotel and then switch to the other side, you will lose all credits you had remaining. For example, we were staying on the Cove side from Monday night until Friday. We received $750 in credits and when we switched to the Spa side, we had $240 remaining because we had booked excursions. Once we checked in to the Spa side, we received an additional $1500 in credits because we were going to be staying there for 9 nights. We were told before we got to Mexico that we will receive $2250 in credits, which we did get, but we were never told that the $240 would be lost once we switched sides. We were planning to use credits for the wedding package so it took us by surprise when we didn’t have enough credits to cover the package. It took the hotel 4 days to refer us to the right person to help us resolve the issue. Finally, Bernadette from accounting helped us and let me just say, she was awesome!! So friendly and helpful. She gave us back the $240 and we were able to payoff the package. J Please save all confirmation numbers, emails etc when dealing with the hotel. I had to learn the hard way. Few issues: Two of my guests complained that items were stolen from their room. $60 was taken out of a guests wallet and also a girlfriend claims her Prada glasses were stolen from her room. The hotel did nothing to help them out. All they said is they are not responsible for lost or stolen items. So basically, USE the safe. If something goes missing and you didn’t use the safe, the hotel wont help you. Besides the reservation desk workers and the stolen items, we had an awesome time. The ceremony and reception were perfect and the hotel was gorgeous! I would recommend ASP to future brides for sure. We stood for 13 nights and we were never bored. The poolside entertainers were so funny and entertaining, the lagoons were beautiful and definitely made up for the lack of beach and the property is one of the most beautiful properties I have seen. They have monkeys, iguanas, crabs and small lizards roaming around. Everyday you find something new. I hope this review was helpful. Good luck to all the future brides. J

we only stopped at one other hotel on the way. My guests also said they only had one stop and some didnt even have to stop. When they do drop people off, the drivers are very fast. It really didnt take as long as I thought it would.

I couldnt ask for a more beautiful day for the wedding. It was hot, sunny and not as windy as it had been the days before. The majority of our stay was sunny and hot, but there were quite a few cloudy days as well where the sun didnt even come out. It rained a few times, but it was either at night or early morning. There was only one day where it rained all day long.

Im back ladies!! 2 weeks at ASP and Im glad to be home! I have a lot to talk about and pics to upload still. Im sorry but I probably wont get my review up until after Thanksgiving. We just got back today and already have to travel again on Wednesday for Thanksgiving weekend. But Im definitely available to answer questions. I promise to get back to you as soon as I am possible. I do have to say, my wedding was the best wedding I have ever been to. LOL We had a blast! Wilma made sure everything was perfect for me from beginning to end. Even guests who gave us problems about going to Mexico in the beginning of our planning were shcoked and pleased. ASP is definitely the best choice for a DW. You ladies wont be disappointed!!!!

When we first arrived at baggage claim, the line for customs was ridicuously long. Even longer was the time it took for our luggage to come out. By the time we got all 4 bags, the line for customs was very small. The lady at the booth simply asked us how much in value were our wedding items we were travelling with and I said less than $300 and she passed us through. They werent checking anybodys bags either. We worked a TA so he set up all the transfer reservations. We went to the front, looked for the Palace guys and our shuttle arrived within 10min. You can set up shuttle service with the hotel. Talk to Yesenia about it if you dont have a TA. The shuttle through the hotel only costs $10pp one way. I dont know when your flight is, but we landed at 12:30 and checked in at 3:00. The ride from the aiport to ASP is long. Hope this helps

Well ladies! Im off to Mexico tomorrow morning! I want to wish everyone an awesome wedding day and may all of your wishes come true on your day!! Talk to you all in 2 weeks! Erika

Well ladies! Im off tomorrow morning to Mexico! I want to wish everyone an awesome wedding day and may all of your wishes come true on your day!! Talk to you all in 2 weeks! Erika

Thank you for al the well wishes ladies!!! Its really appreciated. Well, I just finshed packing and Im getting ready to fly out tomorrow. I will post pics and reviews as soon as I have the chance when I get back! In the meantime, Happy Planning!!!! Talk to you all soon! ~Erika

I leave Monday ladies, so sooner than you know it I will be posting pics and writing a review Im so excited. These past few days Ive been bust buying decorations and trying to figure out my centerpieces. Wilma quoted me $116 per table (without bases!!!) for the ones I wanted. CRAZY!!!!!! I just purchased some really quote vases and other decorations to go with the whole piece. I also just purchased table clothes and chair sashes since the resort charges about $200 for 5 tables. Still gotta finish programs and finish my playlist. Countdown till I leave: 2 days!!!!

yay! Today is my Legal Day!!

Where did you go? Last Friday I went to get the Keratin Complex and it cost me $450! Ive washed my hair and my curls are almost non-existent and no frizz either. I had very tight springy curls so its so weird to see little waves. I havent tried straightening my hair yet, but Im excited to see how little time it takes me. I like how easy it is to maintain my hair now, but that price is too much!

Well, I leave on Monday! I cant believe Im getting married in a week! This has been the fastest year ever. LOL

Thank you ladies!!! Im so excited!! I will definitely post pics as soon as I can! I will make myself as available as possible to answer your questions also!

Well ladies, I leave for Mexico in 7 days! I cant believe this is the final stretch! It seems like these past 11 months have been the quickest ever. I still have the feeling like theres still so much to do. I cant wait to be by the pool, sipping on margaritas and not stressing about a thing! LOL

Good luck Nicole!! Your wedding is gonna be beautiful! Good thinking getting there a week before your wedding. Now youll have time to relax and spend quality time with your man. I dont know when youre leaving ASP, but theres a chance that we might see each other, Im coming down 11/8 GL and have lots of fun!!!!!!

Im waiting for Wilma to email me back on that. For the civil ceremony its towards the end.

maybe they have different judges or maybe either Wilma or Yesenia have out dated copies. As long as they are not too different then Im not gonna stress it. I really like the religious aspect of it. Im so happy with the new wording.

For Jersey, the vital statistics website said something like 6wks turnover time. Ridiculous!!! If you go through townhall in the city you were born, they can do it same day. The problem with FH and I, we dont live in the states in which we were born so we couldnt get new certified copies of our birth certificates. You have 3.5 months to go so youll definitely be fine if you take care of it now.

Hi ladies!! Im no longer doing the civil ceremony because I couldnt get a 2nd copy of my birth certificate in time. So Wilma sent me the symbolic ceremony script. I have to say, I like this one better. We were hoping for a more religious ceremony and the symbolic script is exactly that. SYMBOLIC CEREMONY - I would like to start this ceremony considering the holy word of God, and I choose for you for this especial moments Genesis one verses twenty six to twenty eight: .. and the Lord said "let us make the man on our image and God created the man in his own image at the image of God created he him male and female created he them and God bless them and said unto them reign over all the creation. - Dearly beloveds we have come together in the presence of God with ____ and ____ as you make your vows of marriage we celebrate with you the love you have discovered in each other and support this desition commited yourselfs to one another and to God for the rest of your lives Would you please pray with me? - Opening prayer –Dear Father give your blessing to all the things we are saying and doing today, thank for __ and __ thank you for the family and friends and for all the events that involve this calebration, you created marriage for your children and gave us love, now we present to you __ and __ who come this day to be married, may this pact of love they are doing be blessed with spiritual commitment and true devotion to one another, in Jesus holy name:: Amen - And Jesus said I am leving you a new command , love each other John thirteen thirty four And the specific description of love is in first corintians thirteen the chapter of love, here Paul the apostle provides an specific description of Love when he wrote: Love is patient love is kind it does not envy does not boast it is not proud it is not self seeking it is not easily anger it keeps no record of wrongs, love always protects always trust always hopes always perseveres love never failes and this three remain fait hope love but the gratest of these is love And now we will exchange the wedding vows ____ would you please as an expression of love look at __eyes and repeat the vows after me? Before the Lord God I ___ take you __ to be my wife to have and to hold from this day forward in sickness and in health to love and to honor until death parts us... And now ___ would you please look into __ eyes and repeat after me? Before the Lord God I __ take you __ to be my husband to have and to hold from this day forward in sickness and in health to love and to cherish all days of my life And now we will seal this pact by giving and receiving of the rings ____ would you please set the ring in ___ finger and repeat after me: ____ receive this ring as a symbol of my live and love that I am giving you in this pact of love ____ would you please set the ring in ___ finger and repeat after me: ____ receive this ring as a symbol of my live and love that I am giving you in this pact of love - Closing prayer –Dear God give your Blessings to this marriage and seal the commitement of ____ and ____ with your divine Love aniont them with your holy spirit ,assure them of your eternal presence in jesus name...amen And now because you ____ and ___ have axchange before us your promises of eternal love and in our presence have exchange the symbols wich make this pact vible by the power conferred in me pronounce you as husband and wife ____ you may kiss your bride Ladies and Gentlemen is my honor introduce you mr and mrs ____!!! Congratulations!!