Tricey628

Hi Ladies! Just did a search for the DFW area and found this! We just moved to the Dallas area July 10th (hubby is also military) and are hopefully closing on a home in Rockwall later this month. It's great to hear such good things about Dallas. Since we're just coming from a year in Korea, I'm just SO happy to be back in the states. I'd love to hear more, chat about wedding stuff, Dallas, meet new friends so let me know if you'd be up for getting together sometime or chatting online! Here's my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/patrice.alcocer

Hey ladies!! We just moved to the DFW area this month, and are having our wedding at Hacienda Tres Rios near Playa del Carmen on Jan 21. It's coming up so fast! If anyone is planning on getting together to chat about wedding stuff I'd love to come and meet some new people, make some friends. Here's my facebook~ http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/patrice.alcocer

Thanks to everyone for posting your photographer info again... Still researching, we'll see how it pans out. And thanks Matt for the advice, I would have LOVED to have had you guys, your work is just beautiful, and really unique. We're in the process of moving right now so my posts might be few and far between.. But, I hope to soon find out about bugs and get a site visit scheduled in the next few months depending on how fast we settle in. Will let you all know

Hmm...Doing a TON of research today on photographers and I'm pretty blown away by the prices of the ones I really liked. I fell in love with del Sol's work but they are definitely out of our price range after getting a quote.. I think you've probably posted before, but who are you all using? I remember Becks naming someone a while back. Has anyone else booked yet? At first I was thinking, wow, why spend the money to bring your own, but it's starting to seem more and more worth it. Assuming you pay for 3 nights stay and flights, that's only about $1000 for travel. I guess it would depend what they would charge for the weekend...

I think it's so cool that we all find each other this way Ed and I plan to get there on 1/16 and are staying through 1/23. How long are you staying after your wedding?

So cute! Can't wait till I have enough points to download~!

Sorry it’s been so long ladies, I’ve been really bogged down with getting ready to move. 6 days and counting! Becks I’m so happy everything worked out with the contract.. I haven’t gotten any information really from Allibe on vendors or names, like the florist, I was so focused on getting the s-t-d’s out and finalizing the contracts. SO happy that is done. And thanks so much for the info on the cocktail hour and florists! Thank God for you guys and this forum or I would be going crazy planning this wedding. The last day or so I’ve been emailing musicians and photographers though, so that will be my first step. Hinna- Same as Becks, our contract is rooms not room nights, and we didn’t have any trouble getting those perks. It seemed like they were something the resort typically gives? Maybe I just got lucky because Becks had already been quoted them (by Luis?) when she visited and we have the same TA. Wings- Allibe did give me some numbers for some of the flowers, she said as a rough estimate it will be $50-100 for the bridal bouquet, $50 for the girls, $25 for the groom and boys. I didn’t get quotes on anything else other than centerpieces which she quoted $40-50 for a “simple†centerpiece. Welcome to Avi and Shannan! Avi, I would also love to know about who you’ve chosen for all your vendors, and info about pricing- whatever you have! And Shannan, wow, I am so happy you found us here. I'm the Jan 21st bride...I wonder if we can find a way to share things and save money? Or negotiate with vendors for better prices for the 2 of us I’m going to try to PM you my email- I’ve never done it, so let’s see if it works!

I agree completely about the hair and makeup... I was actually thinking about doing it myself! At least the makeup, I don’t like to wear a lot anyway. I do think I want to do something nice for my BM’s though for spending so much to get there, maybe something at the spa if we don’t do hair/makeup? I wish we could get away with no site visit, but since we’ve never been there at all, I feel really uncomfortable. Oh well, at least it’s a nice weekend away… Congrats about your dress Wings! Are Claudia’s prices pretty reasonable? What kind of package are you doing? I’m not sure about the cocktail hour but I do have a “plate menu†Allibe sent that you can choose from and there are appetizers on it. I’m not sure how to post it on here but if you want to PM me your email I’ll send it to you if you don’t already have it.

Hi girls, @Becks ~ I emailed you just now... We got the group contract back and I think we're going to sign today. Still waiting on some negotiations, but she says it doesn't matter in relation to the contract being signed. @ Eadon ~ That really helps to see your breakdown. That's really awesome that you are able to pay for your guests rooms! I think my numbers on makeup/hair and photography/video are too high for one thing. For us, since we aren't paying for our guests rooms, Eddie and I decided we really want to give them a good party for their trouble, a nice dj or band, other events like welcome party, etc. It all adds up so fast though! My budget breakdown looks sort of like this: $300 catering ($20 x 15ppl) $800 ceremony etc $395 flowers (bride bouquet @ 100 two bridesmaids @50, centerpieces and altar flowers) $900 photography (maybe? I don't know yet) $350 hair and makeup (just for me) $250 music (we're doing iPod speakers) $200 cake (not definite. this is a guess based on what Allibe said) $4848 2 night stay for 12 people $2900 for me and FI including possible airfare I don't know about chair sashes yet, but that's the only other thing I would add in. Our trick to keeping cost down is limiting the number of people (we didn't want a big wedding) and by keeping it simple. There's nothing I have my heart set on other than being married by the beach.

Thanks for the input on the budget. It totally horrifies me~ I really thought I'd be saving more money having a DW! Considering your site visit and travel costs a "vacation" and not including it is a good idea! Or at least will help my brain get over it a little bit better. I think your budget sounds pretty similar to mine...Some things are hard to estimate! I really don't understand the full cost for reception thing, I would have a big problem with that if it were me. All of your guests will be staying at the hotel so what right do they have to require that they book with the group contract What if your guests have timeshares they book through, or have their own TAs they use? Or just find a better rate online? I think that's ridiculous too, my contract didn't say anything like that, and I would NOT want to pay full cost for a guest if they didn't book through the group rate. Is this something other resorts typically do to their wedding groups Let me know what you do...

Hi ladies! And welcome to Erin.. I actually just worked out my budget this week while waiting for the group contract negotiations, and man, it hurts. It’s like even if you save money on the big things, it’s really all those little things that add up. Some of it though is based on averages for things I don’t know yet, so I hope they will be cheaper! The travel between the trip itself and the site visit is a big piece, and then things like photo/video/music etc are going to be expensive. I haven’t received any pics of flowers. According to Allibe, the $800 fee and $20/pp includes all linens but only in white, no chair sashes, and serving dishes etc obviously since they are catering. Also includes officiant services, ceremony table with white linens, microphone if necessary, white garden chairs for everybody, recep. tables and chairs, all food and drinks, servers for cocktail hour and reception, all that. It doesn’t include cake, chair covers, other color linens, flowers, music, arch, aisle runner, dance floor (if needed), or anything else I’ve tried to think of to ask her. The only other costs she has said are $3 gift distribution fee. I’ve asked her a few times about other fees and she says there is nothing else. I think she will serve our vendors food for free, I’m waiting to hear more on that. Anyway, my budget totally freaks me out. It’s currently $21,400 and when I first worked it up (with fireworks etc) it was $30,000. I’m not really sure what else to do to lower costs though, without skimping on things. This is based on 35 people as an estimate. The breakdown is: Attire/Hair/Makeup: 2265 (includes everything for FI and I and paying for hair, makeup, mani, pedi for bridal party) Ceremony: 1360 (includes ceremony musician @ like 350, the 800 fee, guest bk, RB pillow, FG basket, arch, sand ceremony kit, unity candles) Reception: 2700 (includes 20/pp fee for 35 guests, music @ 1500, cake @ 200, other rentals linens, décor, etc @ 300) Other Events: 1400 (20/pp for welcome party with smores etc on beach, and same for rehearsal dinner) Photo/Video: 4300 (no idea, but want to do a BD shoot, and feel like photo/video is most important to us) Stationery: 1015 (includes std’s, invites, signage, pre-dept packet, welcome letter, wedding website, napkins, thank you cards, and programs with fans- we got those here, cost us 100) Gifts: 1110 (includes bm and usher gifts at 40/ea, parent gifts @ 80/ea, welcome gifts @ 15/ea, and favors @ 3/ea.) Flowers: 1160 (bride bq 100, 4 bm bq’s 200, hairpiece 10, corsages 100, groom bt 25, 6 ushers and dads bt 150, ceremony altar 50, pews/aisle 75, petals on ground/tossing 150, centerpieces 300) Travel: 4280 (includes 7 nights for us @ like 192/nt each ~2680, 600 flights, 100 transfers, 800 his parents flights, 100 his parents transfers) Site Visit: 1600 (3 nights for the 2 of us @ 150/nt/each plus flights and transfers) Misc: 200 (insurance? Still looking into this) We are/were hoping we can get the free room for his parents, still negotiating on that, that would save us another 2680 on that, otherwise add that in too Anything in yellow is stuff I’ve been told by Allibe – estimates on flowers she’s given me, etc. I can’t believe it gets so high so fast! How are you keeping your costs down? So far I still feel like HTR is cheaper than what I’ve seen elsewhere, the no vendor fees, music prices she’s quoted seem good? The 20/pp is amazing I think. How are you ladies keeping costs down- what are your budgets?? I did NOT thinking I’d be spending $20,000… Do you think any of my numbers are off or I could save anywhere? Wings~Who did you book for photo/video? I think that’s going to be my next step with research…

Haven’t heard back yet about the contract but I can’t wait to have that done and out of the way too! I was thinking about the people not booking through the TA problem, and really, if that happens, worst case scenario we end up with less than 10 rooms booked and have to cancel it. But we would know that ahead of time I think, and I really doubt we would have less than 10. Becks~ Your cruise sounds awesome! So jealous!!  My 2 best friends were married before me, one has a 2 year old and is thinking about trying for another, and the other is pregnant. I can’t wait for the days when we are all able to take girl trips together…We never really did it in college since we were all too poor, and now it’s baby-making season lol! Ana~ My rates are about $192 so it’s a little more, but I’m kind of thinking that’s related to time of year? We are January, and Jill had said it goes up even more in Feb and March… All in all $192 sounds good to me, especially compared to what the individual rates and online rates were. Who thinks it’s steep? The free room I’m not sure about yet, but I was pretty sure it was a free room for the whole week if you book a certain number of rooms, 25 was the current number… All of our rooms are all inclusive, and I asked our TA to include roundtrip transfers for everyone too. Scottsdale is actually where I got engaged! I absolutely love it there, I lived in Phoenix for 2 years and spent a lot of time in downtown Scottsdale. It’s gorgeous. I think my high school graduation was at the Pok Grand Lol…. I’ve heard of a lot of weddings there. My immediate family is still in the Poughkeepsie area too, so I try to come back as much as possible.

Love them! Especially the magnet attached, what an awesome twist on some of the other ones I've seen here.

Sorry so late responding! Amongst other things, we are getting ready to move in about a month, and I'm filling out zillions of job applications online... ugh. Got the contract from Jill, asked a ton of questions, and she is negotiating now for some changes for me! All in all it looks good and we are seeing what kinds of perks I can (hopefully) get. She already got me one thing I was hoping for, so I have my fingers crossed. Will let you know once I hear back. I will be really happy to have all of it done, and the STD's out (I'm waiting on some stuff to arrive in the mail so we can make ours). I saw your boarding passes Becks, they look awesome! How are contract negotiations going for you? Ana~ I grew up in Poughkeepsie and got my bachelor's in Albany. For the last three years though, I've been living in Arizona, Korea, and as of next month, Texas. My hubby's in the Air Force. We actually got married here in Seoul, JP style, and the wedding we are planning is going to be the big event for our families. Where are you from in CT? I haven't spent much time there, other than a lot of shopping at Danbury Mall, haha.

Yeah, I feel pretty confused by it all too. I’m waiting right now to get Jill’s group contract, she said she received it today. I haven’t heard back from Allibe. I asked her what happens if we have guests that don’t book through Jill, should we have a group block too? I do think it’s smart that you’re researching all the options – I personally went on expedia, cheap tickets, etc to try to compare prices once I got what Jill quoted me! I guess the reality is that we really have no idea how this works with the travel agent vs. resort contracts, and it’s our responsibility to take care of our guests. My info from Jill BTW was the same, you get 71 days to release the rooms, and it’s $100 deposit per room. I think the deposit is much higher but in the long run I feel good about it because of the benefits to working with a TA, like not having to answer anyone’s questions about passports, flight info, emergencies, and all that. We definitely don’t need to deal with that stress when the time comes closer! And knowing that there is the cancellation policy in place, and the money will be put toward our costs makes it easier to accept. My biggest concern is the 10 room minimum for the group rate, if for some reason (which is highly unlikely) we don’t get 10 rooms booked, I’m not sure what happens at that point, maybe they all go back to individual rates? Eek. I also would feel bad going through the resort if that takes away Jill’s commission (I have no idea how this works) because she has worked her butt off on researching stuff for me, and I’ve been bugging her literally every other day LOL. Then again, if my TA hadn’t done so much work for me, or was unresponsive to emails or something, I wouldn’t feel bad at all about doing that. So I guess guests have to book through Jill regardless of whether it’s with the group rate or individual? I’m still concerned though, what happens if some guests don’t want to use her? I can recommend it on the STDs and website and all, but I feel like there will always be a couple of people who go their own route. Hopefully the group rate prices convince them, since they are so much better. If they don’t book with her, I guess they won’t count toward my 10 rooms (that worries me).

OK, well at least I haven’t signed anything with anyone yet about my guests rooms, so I can hopefully secure some perks with that. I was wondering exactly what you said: what if some guests don’t choose to book through Jill? I just emailed Allibe to find out what happens. I wonder why Allibe’s contract didn’t include blocking rooms, must be because we’ve been working through Jill. Thanks for the good info! I’ll let you know when I hear back..

I'm so happy you both loved your site visits! I can't wait to get down there and see it. Becks ~ That's funny about the perks... I'm a little concerned b/c we just sent Allibe our signed wedding contract, and it didn't have the perks listed in at all. But I'm hoping we can take care of that with the group contract... Did you sign one of those as well? Am I understanding correctly that you reserved your rooms through the resort, and didn't have to sign a group contract guaranteeing a certain number of people with a deposit per room to receive the group rate and perks? Or did you just do that directly with Allibe/Luis? Would you guys mind sharing info about your contracts, so I can compare with what we've got? I'm not sure how to post mine on here....

Thanks for the congrats! What a big difference stress-wise it makes to be settled on a resort and date. I love being able to read about your experience and your site visit, it really makes me feel comfortable before we get out there. We hope to do a site visit sometime in the next few months, but are in the process of moving right now, so we’ll play it by ear. Maybe August/Sept/Oct. I’ve read all over the place about what a great chef Oscar is, and I can’t wait to try it out. Your conversation about the dog photo shoots and STD’s makes me laugh b/c Eddie and I are the same way about our dachshund, Oscar. We recently had a photo of him painted by a professional artist LOL. I thought about doing STD’s that included him, but I ended up going with the boarding pass ideas everyone has up on this site. And we seriously considered having him as our ring bearer in a little doggie suit. Too bad we can’t bring him. I like your plan on the other events, it seems a bit much to be paying 20/pp for everything. I was thinking of a bonfire on the beach with smores and cocktails for a welcome party if they’ll allow it. Allibe seems pretty strict about the “no reservations†thing, I’ve been really annoying and asked her a few different ways, but hopefully you’re right and we can just meet somewhere without reservations for things like the dept. brunch. If not, just all go early and hope we get in! Have either of you gotten any guarantees about perks to go with the wedding, like turn down service? So far, Jill has said that usually they give you a room free for every 25 rooms, an upgrade for the wedding night, a guarantee of an ocean view and king size bed for the wedding couple, and a complimentary anniversary night. Are you making things like this part of the contract, or just going with the flow?

Hi everyone, This thread is fantastic! I can't believe what a wealth of info there is on here. FI and I have been communicating with Allibe through our TA and just received our contract. We're planning a wedding for Jan 21, 2011- woohoo! It feels good to be at this point, decided on the resort, date held, and getting ready to send save-the-dates. Our TA has been amazing- actually, Becks, I think we might be working with the same person! It's been a process- we were originally planning on going with Paradisus Riviera Cancun until we saw that they had sold to another company. That just made me too nervous. Who knows how they might change things- for good or for worse. Thanks for posting the pics and information on pricing- it's really nice to be able to compare. We've been quoted pretty much the same as everyone else here. Too bad we missed out on that $350 ceremony. Are any of you having rehearsal dinners, welcome parties, dept. brunches, etc? I just heard back from Allibe about that, and it turns out they won't/can't do reservations at all in the restaurants unless we pay the 20/pp. That might add up- if you do 3-4 events?? What are you guys planning on doing? SO nice to meet you all! Patrice (and Eddie)

Hi everyone, My name is Patrice and we're planning a wedding in Riviera Maya for Jan 2011. Looking forward to reading through all the great info on this site!