nv+gms

I used this company and was pleased with the customer service and the product: http://www.idooriginals.com/index_files/parasols.htm This was 135$ less 20% for the food discount we were able to get - so just over 100$. The flavours I chose were a mixture of vanilla and strawberry. They were very tasty and guests even took some back to their rooms to have for the next day. I loved it because we didn't have to cut slices for the guests and because it still had a cake we could cut on top for symbolic sake. Cigar roller is 400$ flat rate. This price automatically entitles you to a selection of 200$ worth of cigars at no additional cost. Once on site they give you a booklet with all the cigar choices you have. They vary in prices with the most expensive one being 100$. My FI (at the time) was able to select 20 cigars of various name brands with the 200$ he was entitled. You may be able to select more or less depending on the price points you pick. Of course - if you go over the 200$ you need to pay the additional costs for the added cigars. There is no per person charge for the cigar roller. Congrats on being a new MRS!

We had 33 "adults only" as our guests. I would not change when the mariachi played. They went from table to table singing "romantic songs". I don't think the mariachi's are a "dance" type of group - so thats why I decided they would be good for dinner and not the cocktail party or the after party at the reception. I guess they may be good at a wedding ceremony too if you didn't want to pick a soundtrack to play - but I don't know if they would be value added b/c the ceremony usually is quick and you are paying for them for 45 min. Personally - I would not want them to play at my ceremony - I loved the ceremony songs we chose and downloaded on the ipod.

Thanks! I did not use the resort for hair and makeup. I was super lucky that miriam (aka murmel) had a friend who is a hair and makeup artist attending their wedding. She was open to taking me on as a client. She did an outstanding job and I was thrilled because I was even able to do a trial before we left Toronto and I also got her to make extensions for the big day! When you rent the amplifier you don't need anything else - your ipod hooks up to it directly. That is what we used for the reception. It also came with a microphone that was handy for speeches. Our friend also brought a docking station for multipurpose use that came in very handy for everything else. Thanks - and yes it was hard to come home! Esp since we are getting 20-25 cm of snow this Tuesday!

We are back! We had a sensational time at this resort and our events. We recieved many upgrades without even asking. We stayed in a honeymoon suite ocean side and all of our guests were upgraded to the premium section. I will post a detailed review in the next couple weeks but here is a summary of the events we had: welcome cocktail reception at palapa yoga: great canapes. Our friend brought an amazing bose sound system and we danced a lot. We also had a cigar roller which really impressed a lot of our guests. Very good security - they even tried to stop my sister from coming back from the bathroom b/c they said that there was a private event taking place! LOL. ceremony at beach zocolo: wonderful location - still my favourite. My guests told me that they even stopped people from crossing behind the ceremony. Very important detail for brides who want a legal marriage at this resort - the ceremony CAN BE PREFORMED IN ENGLISH! There was no problem with this - its not a requirement to have the ceremony in spanish at all!!!! The judge was also open to adding anything we wanted before and after his "official speech". He does have a script he has to say and the wording was fine to me - and again - it was spoken in ENGLISH! (only emphasizing this b/c I know a lot of people on this forum have changed their decision to have a legal wedding in Mexico because they thought it needed to be spoken in spanish). I added the hand ceremony and sand ceremony to our wedding and incorporated family. One thing that took us by surprise is that you have to thumbprint your wedding certificate after you sign it - make sure you bring a wet nap to clean your thumb afterwards! The judge had a dry napkin but it was hard to get the ink off our thumbs. I was concerned that I may touch and damage my wedding dress - but in the end this did not happen. Reception: @ plaza zavas. Very nice location. Food was family style and servers served guests individually. The assortment was amazing and guests loved the variety. The lobster tail was a big hit. Food was plenty and seconds were abundant for those who desired. Amplifier was rented - great sound. The only thing that kind of sucked is that when your time expires - they are quick to shut it down and start removing all the linens, decor etc.- but I guess this is to be expected - we just moved the party to the mojito lounge. We hired the mariachi band - awesome dinner entertainment. Big hit with the guests and nice touch to the ambiance. Our cake was a cupcake cake and it was fantastic - better than I expected. We had a petit cake on top with our personalized cake topper (bobble heads to our likeness). It was a hit with guests and no where near what I thought it would cost. Farewell group dinner at spoons: awesome too! Menu is std - ceaser salad, bean soup, choice of chicken and steak followed by cheesecake. Great presentation and flavour. Guests all complimented the food. Only thing that happened is that some guests were really hungry when they got there and collected a few plates of snacks for the table from the buffet. Apparently the servers did not look to pleased about this - but did not stop anyone from doing this. The section they close off provides a cozy semi private area for entertaining your guests. I think it makes a nice area for a wedding reception for those of you who are looking to save money by not hosting a private reception. We were an hour late for our reservation - 7:30 instead of 6:30 - and they were still very accomodating. My biggest recommendation: bring your own photographer if you can afford it. Our photographers were amazing. They captured ALL of our events and had no strict time limits. Other things they did for us: 1. Engagement photos at the tulum ruins 2. Trash the dress #1: used a long white dress from BCBG I purchased and we went to a cenote for some creative photography. They got tonnes of underwater photos of us and photos that captured above and below the water line. These are the photos I am looking most forward to seeing. Even when we felt pressured to get back to the resort because of time constrictions - they kept encouraging more photos! 3. Trash the dress #2: used the original wedding outfits - didn't trash them totally. Lots of cool and amazing shots again. Over 500 photos taken in this session alone. LOL. Our photographer is from the Toronto area - and I would HIGHLY recommend them to any bride! I can't wait to see all these pics and more! I will post some when I get them. Only thing I would do differently - stay longer! Normally we are not fans of staying at an all-inclusive resort for more than a week but we wish we had chosen the 10 day option. Everyday we were busy with one thing or another and when we weren't - we were trying to spend time with all of our guests. It left no alone time to unwind. We decided to go away in April now...Even some of our guests requested info on extending their stay - a testiment to how nice it was to stay at this resort. Good luck to all the ladies that continue to plan their weddings! I will post better details and photos in a planning thread as I find the time! Natasha

Re: Day Pass - if you are hosting a private reception on your wedding day guests not staying at the resort do not have to pay for a day pass. I copied this from my Miami WC email: Day Passes are available: Day Pass: Includes food and beverage, does not include food & beverage for private events. This must be purchased separately. Allows non-hotel guests entry to the resort for an 8 hour period. $99.00 Wedding Day Pass: Includes food and beverage, does not include food & beverage for private events. This must be purchased separately Allows non-guests entry to the resort for an 8 hour period on the day of the ceremony. $72.00 ***Please note that Day Pass charges can be waived if you host a Private Dinner Event***.

we are doing a mexican donkey cocktail party (for our welcome party - minus the donkey) - I can't remember off hand how much we paid - but it is all part of the pkg - min order of 5 canapes per person for a minimum of 30 I believe). The pkg is std - so if you don't have their big event pkg - ask for one (or maybe someone can post - I don't have my e-copy on this laptop) - then you can choose what is best for you and your guests. You can have the party anywhere you want - provided its available! Ours is on the yoga platform. As for the slideshow thing - who is going to stop you? esp if you rent equip. No one is going to stop you from doing a slide show - even if you don't have a formal party. But who knows- I'm random that way - i would just do it and smile politely afterwards. What does it cost them and do you need their staff?? Shoes - Micheal Kors - bought wedge heel sandals during last summer sale. Best deal ever! Thx for all the great wishes for us Jan brides! Will post all the details soon! Cheers, Natasha

No rehearsal dinner for us either. Cocktail welcome party and farewell dinner.

Haven't started packing! I've got all my extras in my bedroom in one area now though. I'm a list person - I will plan what I will need/wear for every night - that way I don't overpack clothing. I also roll clothes - saves space and wrinkling of clothes. we leave saturday and I am off as of Wednesday so I have mucho time! OMG - that sucks! LOL - maybe you can think of the vomiting as good luck - like when a bird drops one on you or when it rains on your wedding day! Do you think the dresses really need to be dry cleaned? I launder tonnes of stuff that say dry clean only - all the time - and there is no damage - silks, cashmere, formal wear etc included. I hand wash or use the hand wash setting on my front loader. Glad your dress changes are simpler! Awesome - thanks! Gorgeous!

I agree - poor response time (and only if you nag repeatedly). We've never had such shitty travel service ever and I even booked our photographer through another agency instead of our group deal and it cost the same thing. And let me talk about errors - we leave in a week and a half and have already noticed a handful of mistakes on the documents we repeatedly asked them to send us...icing on the cake for me for this poorly?/incompetently? staffed agency.

After Jan 24th - I will know. We booked him for our welcome reception. The total is 400 for the 2 hrs but it incl 200 for cigars of your choice - so you can choose many cheap ones or a few expensive ones.

I would not recommend them at all! They are terrible travel agents and are definitely NOT wedding planners (even their contract specifies this). They are a middle man for the company in Miami (at least for the hotel I've booked). All they do is fwd your emails and pretend to be important. I found this out early and demanded the name of the miami contact and worked with her exclusively for about 5 months prior to my upcoming wedding. We still don't have our e-tickets and were promised them either yesterday or today. Apparently they had yet another crisis they were dealing with yesterday and they would "try" to get them out asap. Anytime you need them they are either busy (so many wedding shows) or I love the infamous excuse "in a meeting". They screwed up a number of our bookings and many of our guests advised us of such. I just want my etickets so that I can make sure they didn't screw something else up again! As for specializing in Indian weddings - I can't speak to that - but my suggestion would be this: Hire an Indian wedding coordinator who has years of experience with Indian weddings locally and commission them to work with the coordinator you are assigned by the hotel you choose via phone. That way you know you have someone with true expertise outlining your needs to the coordinator for the resort. Heck - you may even be able to bring your wedding coordinator with you at the same cost of what the wedding holiday wants to rob you of. I would continue to do your research on this one! Also note: Some resorts are limited to the "vendors" that they have an agreement with. Often if you need something outside of that cost - you will be charged outside vendor fees. There is nothing that any coordinator or the wedding holiday can do about that. I could go on and on - but I plan on writing an article about this experience after my wedding. So I will stop right here.

Well - its only a 20 min ceremony - and I hear it ends even sooner. I have the script in English and its only one page long - come to think of it - I may include it as a handout... Shells http://www.conchking.com/ My bridesmaids are in black! I love black and chose it for the same reason you mention - it helps the other tropical colours and flowers pop! People also say that callilillies are for funerals and its my bouquet. I think you need to do whatever makes you happy! However, I would not switch my bridesmaid dresses if they have already been paid for!

Why is he mad? The ceremony is done in Spanish and can be translated by the WC into English. You can also integrate ceremony readings you chose into it before and after the judge speaks and you can personalize it with family/friends. I guess I don't find it a big deal - but I've also sat through 2 hour long Greek Orthodox and Indian weddings that were not in English at all! I'll let you know how it goes next month!

We paid it off in full too a couple weeks ago. You can still add things when you get down there - including last minute guests. I am doing the sand ceremony and I am bringing my own sand. Picked it up at Micheals - cheap. Takes up very little space compared to the shells and vase I am using! I'm sure you could buy sand there - probably through the resort. I am trying to limit my "need to find" items while I am there.

I ordered bows from Linen table cloth . com. way cheaper then renting and then u can sell if u wish. I was actually going plain until my sister X that. I think plain is beautiful too. As I keep reminding myself: are guests really going to remember this??? Money is best spent on other things in my opinion!

I just went to a regular store here in Toronto. They had multiples left - size 6 or lower only. I'm sure you'd find the same elsewhere but I would go soon b/c boxing week specials will soon disappear!

Just wanted to share something funny with those who get frustrated with the company they chose to book their wedding with: I chose a local company that specializes in "wedding holidays". I have yet to hear from them about my wedding plans (including wedding events, cost etc.). I haven't talked to them in several months! I have not even recieved my itinerary - and we leave in 2 wks! Everything I learned was through this website, The Knot and the coordinator I was assigned in Miami. I paid the people in miami direct. The worst part is that the local agency even screwed up multiple times trying to book my guests in the beginning! So basically they are useless! But this forum is golden - so don't get worried or upset if your local provider sucks!

I don't know if I am using my original wedding dress for the TTD - but I wanted to let everyone know that it is a great time to visit BCBG for a substitute. I bought a nice white dress there today for 3/4 of the original price! Here is a pic - you can tie the bow anywhere you want:

Don't look to them like true "wedding coordinators". Get your info from these blogs. My WC hasn't even been on site since it first opened! LOL. Also - when it comes to answers - they will be at your disposal when there is one month to your wedding. In fact - I got a price for something within hours one day when before I had to nag and follow up. My advise - be nice to them and they will be very helpful in the end. Also - I was doing the exotic gazebo then i worked out a deal for 2 colored sheers. However - I would have continued with the exotic gazebo despite the pic b/c there was a bride on here recently that got married and had them drape the exotic gazebo decor instead of candy cane it. My WC said that the sheers they use for the exotic gazebo are too short to drape - I don't believe it - I think its another money grab. I only changed it b/c I wanted a color.

I'm not recommending the travel agency we used - but they have done Indian destination weddings - maybe they can provide some references? This is the link to their website: http://www.theweddingholiday.com/www.TheWeddingHoliday.com/Indian_Weddings.html I know that they had a destination wedding at the Azul Sensatori a couple months ago with about 120 guests (Indian wedding). I also know that they could not have the reception at the resort because of the size of the party and I think it was 10-10-10 - a popular wedding day - making it even more difficult. Hope it helps...

I think you really have to be honest with who you think is a close family member or friend that will come and base your decision making on that. We only sent out 40 invites to close family and friends and 30-36 people are coming (6 are still trying to book at other resorts). We will party with all our other friends when we get back!

I would check with the Mexican consulate in England for the correct answers. I avoid my travel agent for any purpose outside of hotel/flight information.

I am not sure why it didn't post the first time... sites[1].doc

Probably zavas terrace - see the attachment below from my local WC - it has multiple locations on it.

Thought about the dj: You could always try and source a DJ with a good reputation and negotiate a price and add in the 500$ vendor fee - Could it really be more than the 1500$ that Lomas is charging for their DJ??? Just an idea but I've never looked into it...