SChica927

Ladies, good luck with the rest of your planning. Due to a serious health issue that has arised, we are moving our wedding back home (to either my hometown or his hometown)...

If there are other Indian brides that have questions, PM me. I'll try to reply... but now I'm down to 4 months till my wedding and need to find a venue and start all over again!!

Good luck, and thanks for all of your help!

See my post above, unfortunately, they're the only ones I know of in the area... I'm bringing my own person to Cancun as a guest.
 

Originally Posted by asanyc 

Hi Ladies! I realize this is a pretty old thread but in case someone is still around - could anyone share what they finally ended up doing? Was anyone able to find an affordable local artist/vendor in Cancun/Playa Del Carmen area? Thanks!!!

I'm actually getting super nervous about November... it's just around the corner and over half of our guests haven't booked yet!! AND... I still have SO much to do!!!! Ahhhh... so nervous!

But still SO excited!!

I love the lime green + hot pink combo -- sooo pretty!! Too bad my FI isn't a huge pink fan, haha... I'll save it in my book of ideas for my best friends' weddings!!

 

Originally Posted by choeft201 

Here is what my flowers ended up looking like..I loved them

I just PM'd you my email!

Did they let you book your tours in advance? Are you setting up group tours for your guests?

 

Originally Posted by nabreu7 

Ladies! I just received all the tour information, tours that you can use resort dollars and others that are extra. What are your emails and I'll send them over. I am booking my tours now, so excited. :0)

Great question, I'm interested in this answer too. I heard that it costs $250 but what does that include?

 

Originally Posted by jcoke 

Has anyone used the live streaming video service offered by the MP?  I am interested in using it but I'm wondering if the stream was any good or did the people watching it experience a lot of freezing of the video.  

 

Thanks

Also, just an FYI.  We're doing an all vegetarian menu... which isn't a "standard offering" from MP. So my WC just informed me that we can mix & match veggie options from the different menus MP offers.

That's great news for us! I thought I'd have to fight for an exception here because they don't typically let you mix and match menu... but no fight necessary! 

I would say ABSOLUTELY not. Especially because we're having an Indian wedding, there are so many vendors we need to have that most resorts don't even know about let alone provide! I'm getting married at the MP and we are bringing about 80% of our vendors with us as "guests" and they are staying to capture our entire 3 day event (incl photo, video, hair/makeup/mehndi, priest, live musicians, event coordinators, etc).

The #1 reason we even chose MP is that they are allowing us to use an outside caterer because they themselves don't serve Indian food. Every other resort we talked to around Mexico and various Carribean islands said absolutely not to a caterer... so we moved on to the next resort and eventually found one that worked.

Yeah, that's the plan! The other thing we're doing is... we have a LOT of events, and each event has its own icon on our invitation... so we're going to put the icon in the circle for each event's stationary/signs/program, etc...

So everything will have the same motif around it, but the actual central icon will change for each event... hope that works out and isn't too much!

 

Originally Posted by torilynnsmith 

Looks great!!!! I like the idea of a starfish or something different in the middle.  That way your guests would be able to resuse their bags.  I love the idea of tailoring your monogram to be more "user friendly" if you know what I mean.  Another nice idea may be to put your destination ie. "Cancun 2012" or something like that!

Not sure why that didn't show up. Let me try that again:

Originally Posted by SChica927 

Hi ladies, here's my logo! The floral/coral motif on the sides is our invitation motif... so it works out perfectly! I plan to use this on our OOT bags (maybe not our initials in the circle, we might put something else in it, like a starfish or something...). Then I have a few other ideas of where to put it... we'll see.

 

Let me know what you think!

 

Hi ladies, here's my logo! The floral/coral motif on the sides is our invitation motif... so it works out perfectly! I plan to use this on our OOT bags (maybe not our initials in the circle, we might put something else in it, like a starfish or something...). Then I have a few other ideas of where to put it... we'll see.

Let me know what you think!

I heard the Avery Iron-on isn't great. AND, it's not super cheap either. How many bags are you ordering?

Here are a couple of site's I'm looking into and will likely end up getting my bags from:

http://www.totallytotebags.com/ (from this site, I think we're going to go with the Mini Economy Tote -- I'm ordering samples this week).

http://www.cheaptotes.com/ (from this site, we'd get the Cotton Canvas Bag).
 

Both sites offer screen printing too. But clearly, the price for that depends on the number of colors you have -- the more colors = more expensive. For us, we have 3 colors in our scheme (eggplant purple, turquoise blue, and lime green)... so because it's so much to print all 3 colors, I've decided to only print 2 colors (the purple and blue) and i'm going to buy a lime green ribbon and tie it onto one of the handles on the bag to add that color in...

Our bags are coming out to about $3-$4 each (which is a bit more than I wanted too, but I can't find a better price)...

Quote:

Originally Posted by rae12vb 

I did and for 20 bags it was coming out to be about $120.  I thought that was a lot compared to what everyone else has been saying.

 

Has anyone tried the Avery iron on sheets?

 

We're actually keeping track of singles and pairing them up with other singles we think they'd get along with... but we don't have too many of these...
 

Originally Posted by rae12vb 

 

Did anyone have to handle dealing with people saying that they can't come because they are only a "single."  We have about 25 people going and my fiancees brother is trying to back out because he has no one to room with.

 

Here you go: [email protected]

Originally Posted by rae12vb 

SChica! Do you mind sending me Marvin's e-mail again?

Phew!! Glad everything worked out!! Congratulations!

Can't wait to see pictures and hear all the details!!
 

Originally Posted by aholen 

Hey girls,

 

Just wanted to give you a quick update. We were able to find my dress, thank goodness! Around 8AM the day of the wedding, I called my mom nearly hysterical, and we went together to the lobby to inquire. Kalena had indeed let people know that it needed to be found, so after talking to several people, we learned that it had been located. They said it would be delivered to my room, but I wanted to confirm that it was the right one. The guest services guy called the guy who had it, and of course their description was oh-so-helpful: "It's long and white." Ha! Anyway, it was the right dress. Turns out that they had delivered it somewhere in Nizuc. Who knows where or why. Ugh! Thankfully, the rest of the day was wonderful. I will be posting details, pics, a planning thread, and review when we return next week.

 

One lesson we've learned is that you can not depend on any information that you're given here. One person will say something, another will say the opposite. Very frustrating. The resort, however, is still amazing. I would just recommend that you either come in super organized, or with a "whatever will be, will be" attitude. Anything in between will = stress for you! And I would never have my dress pressed here again unless it was really bad. Definitely do it right away if you do want it pressed to make sure there's time to get it back (or find it!) before the big day. Absolutely ludicrous! 

Awesome! Thanks Kendall!!

And congratulations on becoming a Mrs!!!
 

Originally Posted by Kendall 

Sure!  Here you go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heart.bmp

Makes sense. My mom's going to India again late August-early October... so I'm going to tell her then what to buy (in terms of how many bangles and peacock feathers). So if you decide on either of the themes I'm doing, we can certainly work something out.

Yeah, we're on a strict budget too. Luckily, I've been able to negotiate a lot of our prices down for things, so we haven't gone over on anything yet. But I know once we get closer, all of the last minute unexpected expenses will pop up... that's what I'm trying my hardest to avoid!
 

Originally Posted by kjanda8 

I love the themes!!

I may be interested in the peacock stuff! Let me know how the costs of things work out.These are details that we can definately work out a little later. Once I have my themes sorted, I'll let you know.  

I really want my wedding on a strict budget, so I will have to be selective on what I want to spend money on.

 

Let me look into the horse decor. There was another Indian MP bride who got married in April that bought the horse decor and then decided not to do a baraat... so she told me she'd sell me the decor. I'll ask her how much it is.

For the Garba, I'm doing a bangles theme... so I'm bringing a lot of pink/orange/blue bangles & of course, we'll be bringing dandiyas. For the reception, we're doing a peacock theme and are bringing a ton of peacock feathers (I may also bring table runners for this, still TBD). If you're thinking about similar themes, we can totally split on cost for any of it!

We'll probably also bring a lot of stuff for our pooja, but I'm not sure what exactly... and I'm also not sure if you guys use the same stuff in your ceremony... but we can work that out later. Not sure if we'll be bringing anything else...

I also have this document that has some venues and capacities (I also e-mailed it to you)... this should give you a good start.

Originally Posted by kjanda8 

Wow! Thank you for the info!

As for the horse decor, I am not that bothered by it, but if it's not too expensive, I may consider it. How much is it?

On that same note, are you bringing other decor, prop's, etc. that I could split costs on??

 

I am estimating that we will have 100 people. We booked the wedding 3 weeks ago, and I already have 67 people on booked flights. No one has booked their rooms yet. My TA will be doing that for my guests.

But as we will be having the maiya parties separately, we will have around 50 people at the outdoor venues. Any locations come to mind?

 

 

Moon_Palace_Private_Function_Information[1].pdf

I'm not sure exactly... but there's this website I use all the time called dafont.com where you can DL all kinds of free fonts. They have a forum there where you can upload an image and their team of graphic designers will tell you what font it is... sometimes no one knows, but most of the time I've gotten my fonts!

Hope this helps!
 

Originally Posted by Sunshine2680 

Thank you! What about the Los Cabos? Which font is that one?
 

 

I'm really curious if someone has the answer about the resort daily shows/entertainment. I tried finding it on MP's website, but couldn't find it.  I want to put this into our OOT bags so people know the schedule...

Also, we're doing a beach party with fire show on Thursday night... but I've also heard that MP does a beach party with fire show on Thursday nights... so I'm curious where and when MP's is to see if we should change our event to something different... which sucks. Ugh!

Yes, the Kristen & Ali is written in Scriptina.

 

Originally Posted by Sunshine2680 

Love this! Does anyone know the fonts used here?

 

 

I put a bunch of my answers in red in your quote below:
 

Originally Posted by kjanda8 

Wow you have done so much research! I think your ceremony and your other traditional events will turn out very well as you seem to have it really well organized.

 

I have heard the mention of Zuniga many times on this site but I am still a little confused about their services. When I start looking into decor/setup, will my WC tell me to contact them? Or are they separate from the resort decor/setup? So Zuniga is MP's decorator (they're a seperate company, but MP doesn't charge an outside vendor fee to use them). I was given Zuniga's contact info a while ago and am working with them myself. Most of us work with Katie ([email protected]). So you can work with them and figure out all of your decor seperate from your WC.

 

We are getting the horse and carriage as well. I want my fiance to get ontop of the horse too, but I wasn't too bothered if they are not able to make that happen. If not we will use it after the ceremony, mostly for pics. Do you have the red/gold decor for the horse? Since we're only a week apart, maybe we could split that cost and I could use it and then just leave it with your WC at MP? What do you think?
 

I would LOVE to know the contact details for the company the has the Sikh musicians!! THat would add the perfect touch! email - [email protected] I'll actually just copy you on the e-mail with my contact and let her know you're interested. Then she can give you all of the details.

 

I thought about the Indian catering (cause I noticed you mentioned it earlier on this thread), but if it is really costly I dont really think it would be worth it for us. If you dont mind me asking, how much are they charging? It'll totally depend on what you want... we're getting a half of our Garba menu, full Indian Lunch, full Indian cocktail hour, and full Indian reception for $75/head. We ended up picking out more items then we wanted, so we're probably going to cut down our menus and hopefully get a cheaper price. If you just want a few items, I'm sure it wouldn't be too expensive. And they negotiate! Every time they've given me a price, I've went back to them with the price I want and have gotten it. This caterer is the same contact as the Sikh musicians, so you can ask them directly.

Maybe if they aren't so bad, we could get someting simple to bring the taste of India in mexico, like some Indian sweets! (esp since everyone on here says the deserts dont taste good)

 

We actually have a Dhol, and will be taking it with us. My brother knows how to play it, although he could definately use some practice. Too bad we arent there at the same time because my brother could have just  played for your wedding as well. That would've been awesome! But oh well, my Fiance's family friend is an amazing Dhol player, but we aren't sure if he's invited to the wedding yet... haha, so we'll see how that works out.

 

We will be doing a maiyan night for both the bride and grooms side. They will take place at the same time but at different locations at the resort. Although I still need to book my locations. We wanted both sides to at least have one event of their own, and the maiyan is the perfect event to do it at. We will be bringing all the "props" from here.

Any suggestions on the locations for these events? I've heard the Carribean terrace is nice too... how many people are you planning to have? That'll influence the venues you choose.

We definately want them outside. I heard that the Carribean terrace is beautiful, but I would rather not spend the extra to have that location, esp, when its not going to be used for everyone in our party at the same time. What are the next two best outdoor locations?

Our reception will be in the ballroom. I believe someone mentioned that the Star ballroom is the nicer of the two. But is there any real difference? So, the Star ballroom is definitely nicer than the Tortugas ballroom... we're using the Tortugas ballroom for our Garba & our Reception... unfortunately, the Star ballroom is occupied by an NCAA basketball tournament during our wedding weekend, so we didn't really have a choice. It sucks, but I just have to get over it.

 

I emailed Marvin for centerpieces, and for what I like, it ranges from about $65-120. Is that a reasonable price for centerpeices? What is the price range for MP? Again, it totally depends on what you want. Zuniga runs about the same.

 

Also, does anyone know their nightly entertainment for the week? I know someone mentioned there is a Beach Party of Thursdays, but would anyone know what happens on what days? I want to do one nightly show with all the guests, but I need to plan which day will work best based on the entertainment.

 

Also, Michelle Farina's is my Miama contact, and she wont tell me who my onsite WC is? She said that I will be contacted 3 months prior. I know alot of you ladies were able to find out, but how can I force her to tell me? So I worked it into my contract... I told MP that I wouldn't sign the contract for the Room block or the wedding unless they guaranteed to give me a WC ASAP. So I got mine several months ago... but I do understand the WCs are SUPER busy so I try not to bug her too often   Just keep pushing on your Miami contact saying you need to book your sites and they should let you.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

 

No, I was wondering that too... I really hope everything worked out for her.

 

Originally Posted by merrylee 

Has anyone heard from Aholen about her dress?  I hope they found it for her.  

We've been using one that's kind of basic/boring... I just e-mailed Rebecca at Allurements to see how much it would cost her to make ours more beachy/exciting! I'll let you ladies know what I hear. Thanks!

Yep, we're both Indian too and are having a traditional Hindu ceremony. We're flying our priest down with us. We're getting married in the Tucan Gazebo... having chairs set up. I'm hoping to have Zuniga build me a stage (for our mandap) on top of the marble table that pre-exists in the gazebos... it's about 3 ft high, so we'd have to build the stage on top of it, or around it... that's the last part of the decor I'm doing with Zuniga because it's going to be a headache to figure out

We're having a few events:

Thursday night: Welcome Beach Party/Mehndi party (I'm flying down a hair/makeup/mehndi person)

Friday night: Garba

Saturday: Baraat, Ceremony, Indian Lunch, Cocktail Hour, Reception

We're also doing a traditional baraat... so right now MP has said only Horse & Carriage... the carriage is kinda weak for this, so I'm really hoping I can get my fiance on horseback for this. We're working on it. Otherwise, I found another company in Cancun that has a horse they've used for baraat's in the past... so I might just suck up the outside vendor fee and bring in that horse. We'll see. For the music, we might have to have a CD/iPod, and we're still debating about bringing 1-2 dhol players with us... TBD.

Oh, the company that has a horse, has Sikh musicians too that they know of... in case you're interested. We're flying in our shehnai players.

The #1 reason we picked MP is because they are allowing us to bring in an Indian caterer (without having to pay the outside vendor fee). I worked this into my wedding contract so there was no debate later. If you decide you want Indian food, I can PM you the details/menu. Let me know.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjanda8 

Yes we are both Indian and we will be doing a Sikh ceremony. I haven't figured out exactly how we are going to do it, but I am almost positive I will be flying in an Indian preist to perform the ceremony. This is probably one of my biggest worries as I have not got this organized yet. My plan is to have the ceremony in the Tucan Gazebo and the resort already said they should be able to cover the floor in that Gazebo so we can sit on the floor during the ceremony.

 

Are you having the traditional ceremony? How are you pulling it off?

 

I think my next biggest concern after reading this thread, is that I should get my locations booked asap. I have only been talking to my TA and shes at MP right now to scope out the place for me, but I should probably find out who my on-site WC is, so I can start planning the deatils with her.