lilbuddha

All you do is contact Yesenia in Miami. I have her e-mail if you need it. They have a specific site request form. We saw Aventura Spa/ Wyndham Palace; and Iberostar. We ended up canceling with Rui Playacar because we were so in love with Aventura.

Thank you so much for the review Nicole! You have been such a blessing! I have been so stressed with less then 6 months to go and so little time to plan--- I have been getting so frustrated with Yazmin that I am glad everything went so well with her. When I met with her on our site visit I loved her and felt we were in good hands but I am a planner/budgeter and not being able to get a hold of her has been stressful. But you have been wonderful. So I am going on faith!' Thanks so much!

Congrats Nicole!! LOVE THE PICS!! So happy I am going with Juan. He looks like he did a great job. How was working with him?? Also, can I ask where you got hte maracas you placed on the reception tables? I hope you feel better, you are a beautiful bride!

Question for the brides making your own centerpieces/past brides: Are any of you using real flowers in the centerpieces? has anyone tried to bring in flowers from an outside vendor? I found the website of someone who has stunning work venessajaimes.com and she has great reviews. I am frustrated because I still have no received a quote from Yazmin regarding our flowers (been waiting since August) and from everyone's posting I am expecting them to be super high. One of my bridesmaids volunteered to pick up all the arrangements or maybe I could do a guest pass like the photographer?? or would that be pushing it? I love flowers and it one part of my wedding I want to get the most bang for my buck and have what I really want. But all of the resort sample I have seen aren't my style. I wish I was as crafty as all of you!!!

Have a wonderful wedding Erika! Enjoy every moment!!

Asian Ideas is the site I am using as well. But we are using the smaller lanterns not the 12 inch. We are doing the lighting in fushia and plum.

Yes and yes, in fact my travel agent is the most amazing person in my life. Without her I would be insane...she handles all the points issues and got them to give us our 7 nights free and transfer it right to the Moon Palace where we are honeymooning. So in the end Honeymoon will only be 40 a day for 7 days. She also made it so that our guests could pay on a payment plan and not all the money was due at once.

I found lanterns that pack flat....so they shoiuldn't take up too much room in a carry on. Also, I talked to Yazmin and she said that they will handle putting them up if you bring all the materials that are needed. (waiting for clarification as to what else she made need ie: extension cords etc.) I also sent Lily the decor coordinator a message and her quote for hanging lanterns alone was $400.00!!! Which is totally crazy. I found them for about 15 bucks a strand online. Just an FYI.

Lately, I have been feeling like a bad bride. In the last 2 months+ I really haven't done anything for the wedding. Sadly, Jess, I probably need to come to your class and repeat elementary math since up until Natalie' s post I thought I had 8 months til my wedding. I am getting married on May5th, 2011. Now I realize I have just over 6 months!! I guess I have just been working so much that I missed some months??!! How did this happen?! My guests are there for 5 nights and 6 days and now I am feeling a little overwhelmed by all that needs to be done for all the events. My TA came to my house Monday to lay the smackdown on the bad bride. Guest list is at 70 now....welcome bags totally not done. Nor is any real planning for the other events. I booked the Amythest Package, we are having our welcome dinner on Maramcas Terrace and wedding reception on Solarium Mundaca. Can I ask about how much the welcome bags are costing everyone? I am trying to come up with a reasonable budget.

Hang in there, I don't think any wedding is complete without budget stress. If we were all loaded this would all be so much more fun lol.

too funny loved it!

Quick question: We received a 192 page song list from PSAV. While my fiance is having a ball going through each and every title I was hoping to streamline the process a little. Has anyone used any of their DJ and have a name that we can request. We love to dance so music is very important to us. We really want to keep the party going and the energy level up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Really??? Would you mind passing that along? Thanks!! Â

We asked Yazmin if we could bring in our own DJ when we were down there. The issue was as she explained it...was that they would need to charge us for the electricity we used (ie: equipment fee) and that would be fairly high. Although, everything in writing said no outside vendors it did not seem t be impossible. I just think nailing down a price and coordinating may be hard. Â

I work right in center city and live in NE Philadelphia. But let me know if you ladies are getting together for some "bridal cocktails" I will travel for cocktails Â

Are you kidding me??? The package prices that they sent us before we told them what we wanted weren't even that high!!! It should definately not cost that much. The max prices even for the biggest package was 2,500 for 4 hours!! Â Can I ask what package you were asking for? I know they asked what our decor was but we aren't going crazy over other decor. (Just told my FI what your quote was and he just hit the roof). So far DJ is biggest headache. Â Â When we get our quote I will let you know what it is. Let me know if you want me to email you the info that Yazmin sent to us to compare to what you got. ~Mia

We picked out wedding bands this weekend can't believe it!!! Â Now if only I could get a solid quote from JSAV.....arrghh!!

(Hoping for pre-wedding massage)  Then mani-pedi  One of my guests is a professional makeup artist and haristylist so she is handling most of our hair and makeup....  I am hoping to get a nap in but I am guessing this is naive of me lol.  Our wedding is starting at 6...since sunset isn't until after 7 in May.  While my fiance and I do not want to see one another before the wedding we are going to start pictures with our wedding party around 4. He will take pictures with the groomsman and bridemaids and visa versa.  We are actually having a hour and half cocktail hour so we can be there for a large portion of it. FI and I are gonna sneak away for 45 min to take pics together.  Party to start by 8...with dinner and dancing to continue on in disco

Yes Nicole! Please tell us how to figure out how many other weddings are booked on the same day. Also can I ask what time you ladies booked your wedding for? And what kind of time line you have planned for your wedding day? Â

Jessica, Â When we went down there Yazmin provided us with photobooks of some of the work done by the resort photographer. They did good work. They come with our package so we get them anyway. For me I was interested in a certain look. I really like black and whites and more of a photojournalism less traditional style. The resort photographers take very good pics and remember your guests are going to be taking tons of photos as well. Â When we started this process my FI and sat down like little kids and each made a top five things no matter how big or small that were important to us for the wedding. When we showed each other it was amazing the overlap....and how important location was and food. The nature beauty of the place comes through in any picture you take. Â Remember (I have these moments too ) but no one else has to pay the bill but you. And if you are busy stressing then you aren't enjoying. The last thing you want is to go overboard and regret it later. Â

Skadow, Â I am with you 100%. When we did our site inspection Yazmin took us into her office and started showing us swatches of table clothes...tons of them and I was overwhelmed because I hadn't gotten that far in planning. There were a lot more options then are contained in an e-mail. And if you don't ask for certain items they aren't sent to you. Â What she did say was that if you send pictures of floral arrangements (centerpieces bouquets etc) that you like or even table settings that you like she can get you a quote and replicate it. So I recently send her an e-mail with a bunch of different options because I know nothing about floral costs except that they are expensive. Knowing how much flowers cost will dictate what we can spend on other things. Â Also if you did not go with one of the complimentary cakes I was told by Yazmin that they can make any cake you ask for free of charge unless they need to purchase something special for it. (ie: cake topper etc) so I just sent her a pic of the cake we wanted. (hopefully that works out) Â The free events really helped our budget and we are not have an AHR. Which I am fine with especially since this destination wedding has ballooned up... Â I am so grateful for all of you guys in this process. Especially all the resent updates of price changes. It really lets me know that it is probably better to lock in prices and contracts early so they magically go up on us. Â

 Yes we are using JSAV for the wedding we are using lighthing and DJ services. I believe my fiance is in contact with someone by the name of Miroslava. She was very prompt in the beginning but now things have slowed down. FI has been great at handling this aspect so I know he will do a fab job with it.  As fo decor we are upgrading the chairs to tiffany through Lily at Zuniga productions (reccomended by Yazmin)....right now fiance and I are in friendly battle over upgrading the tables to square or rectangles or just having a mix.  We are also using Juan Navarro for our wedding photography. And so far he has been fabulous to work with.  I suppose though I should have been more clear in my question--- I guess when they said we had a wedding coordinator I thought she would be a little more proactive in getting all of the vendors on the same page. I supppose since they all work together this will just happen....but it is still stressful.  I would love to get a better handle on the DAY OF budget but I have been waiting for so many quotes it has been hard to make decisions.  Our guests are there for 5 days and we created a budget for each day....I guess I just feel like I am planning in piecemeal. (Sorry I probably sound like crazy control freak).

Question: Did any of the 2010 B2b's use any of the outside vendor's? Â Did you upgrade tables/chairs etc? or add lighting? I feel a little overwhelmed by all the options....and while my fiance is handling the DJ situation the woman hasn't gotten back to him in 2 weeks. He is much more patient then I am though....but still! Sorry bit frustrated by planning process.

My fiance and I were both able to get massages (you get to use 300 of the 1500 toward spa) and the rest we used to go to Tulum and swim with dolphins. we actually had about 600 leftover when we left because wanted to go jet skiing and we needed to use an outside vendor for that (160) for jet ski's and deep sea snorkel. You can also use some of it for a romantic dinner for two on the beach etc. We didn't use any to upgrade out room because they upgraded us when we got there free of charge. Our travel agent called and told them we were on our way and considering using them for our wedding. They even left chocolate covered strawberries and champagne in our room...and since i am easily swayed by food....they got my vote Â

They are swipe cards Can I ask how you would make the holders? Sounds like a wonderful idea!