AnaS

Hi Rachelle, My wedding was on June 2, 2012. I wanted to have a bonfire the night before as a welcome party, but you cannot be on the beach after 7pm between may and November because it is the turtle season. We gave up on that since before 7 seemed to be too early. Same about a beach party for the actual wedding. We had a la carte on the lobby terrace and it was amazing. We were outside but ladies appreciated being able to wear high heals Well sorry to ruin some of your plans (bonfire/ bech party). I would still check with Ana, who knows maybe they changed rules. Happy planning!

@Tammy, I am a US bride but I did not use a travel agen and worked directly with the resort. The procedure is teh same no matter if you are a US or Canadian bride. I already had my wedding and everything went very smoothly. Thanks for offering the information though. Ana

Hi Camila S, I think I did not make it very easy to understand in my last message, so will try it again. (english is not my forst language ) I paid the $200 deposit to reserve the wedding day. I estimated how many guests I will have and then I blocked 35 rooms, each for 3 nights and paid 30% of the value of these rooms with double occupancy to the resort (as deposit for the block). I signed a contract with them for this room block and had a cancellation policy of 2 months before the wedding without penalty. 2 months before the wedding, I cancelled the rooms that did not get booked by my guests (out of the 35 blocked) . The deposit that I paid for the rooms was used to pay for the wedding and our rooms for the stay when at the wedding. I ended up using all that deposit, but they said they would have reimbursed any remaining amount if there was any. I did not use an agent and worked directly with the resort. This way I avoided having to ask my guests to book so far in advance, which I think is a little much to ask from our guests. Actually this way I ended up offering my guests a much better deal. They booked their flight on their own and the prices for the rooms were very good. Hope this helps. Let me knwo if you have more questions. Thanks, Ana

Thanks leahbecker! The dance floor was $700 and while at the beginning I thought it was a bit expensive and as I said not too big, I think it was worth all the money. People loved it!

I signed the contract and paid the deposit but made clear in the contract what the date is by when I can cancel the block without penalties (for me it was 2 months before the wedding). In my case people took a while to book their rooms. As we were approaching the date when we had to cancel all remaining rooms I reminded everyone with an e-mail to book their rooms.

I only paid day passes for the hair and make-up ladies since they were staying for a short period of time, so not too bad

I just got back from my honeymoon. Everything was amazing and I had the best of times I am so thankful for all the information I obtained from BDW that I have decided to provide a full review of my wedding including flow and what I did and in some places recommendations from what I have experienced. I really hope it will be helpful for some of the future brides.I am stealing someone else's structure for the review as I thought was extremely helpful for me. Our wedding weekend schedule and what I will be reviewing: Thursday: Wedding rehearsal and lunch Friday: Trip to Chichen Itza Friday evening: Welcome party Saturday: Wedding day 10am-2:30pm: Hair and makeup for me and 5 others 2:30pm-3pm: Pre-wedding pictures: groom and bride separate with their families and wedding party 4pm-4:45pm: Ceremony 4:45pm-5:30: Tequilla donkey 5:15pm-6pm: Bride and Groom pictures 6pm – 7pm: Cocktail hour 7pm – midnight: Reception Sunday: Snorkeling trip ______________________________________________________________________________ OVERALL REVIEW Ocean Coral & Turquesa: [Grade: A+++++++++++!!!!!!! ] We researched over 50 resorts and visited over a dozen places in Riviera Maya and we knew OCT was the one 5 minutes into our visit there. The place was perfect (had great locations for wedding ceremony, reception, Ana was SOOO great and well prepared for the meeting, prices for guests were the best of all the other resorts we have seen). The resort staff was very nice and professional with us (everything went right as planned), with our guests (everyone had a great time and some mentioned they will go back for personal vacation). The wedding coordinators were just amazing. Ana Bautista was my main point of contact through the preparation but once we got there for the wedding but her other colleagues were wonderful as well. While at times I might have been frustrated because it took them a while to answer my emails, I might say that they had everything under control and you should not be worried at all because they really know what they are doing. Room Rates: We negotiated directly with the hotel on room rates and got a very good price. It ended up being very close to what the hotel website was offering during the last couple of months before the wedding but much lower the rest of the time. We liked the idea of having some rooms blocked for our guests and we had a cut- off date by which we could cancel remaining unused rooms at no cost for us. I also liked not packaging rooms and air together for our guests and found that it ended up being much cheaper for our guests this way (total cost versus what the cost of packages that were offered to us when we were shopping around with different travel agencies). The resort continued to offer the negotiated rates even after we cancelled the remaining rooms on the block. We did pay a significant deposit to block the rooms (30% of the value of the rooms booked) but the all the money were used to pay our rooms and the remaining went into the cost of the wedding, which ended up being fine as we spread the cost of the wedding a bit over time. Thursday – Rehearsal & rehearsal lunch We decided to have our ceremony done in a little chapel in Puerto Morelos, so rehearsal could only be done at 11am when the priest was available, hence rehearsal lunch instead of dinner. We hosted our rehearsal lunch in John Grey's Kitchen restaurant [ Grade A+]. I wanted this event to be as informal as possible. We did not make any special decorations or music but it ended up being great. Food was fenomenal. Would absolutely recommend this place if you want to get out of the resort at all. Food included a family style appetizers selection (salad, spicy crab cakes burgers, bbq chicken wings and one more things that I cannot remember- People raved about the wings and the crab cakes J ), an entrée selection (pasta, fish, chicken and skirt steak – everyone loved their food regardless of what they choose) and a family style desert (I can't remember exactly but I know they were delicious) Staff was great, but service a little slow, although appropriate for a rehearsal lunch. Friday – Trip to Chichen Itza We provided transportation for all guests and asked them to pay for entrance fee and any food/ drinks they want outside of some snacks that we brought with us. Transportation: We used Grey Line Tours [Grade A] and got a bus for the day to take us and some of our guests to Chichen Itza and back. They charged us $650 for a 45 passanger bus for the full day – I think it was reasonable (although thinking back I realized that we paid more because they subcontracted it to another transportation company named Tema, so probably could have gotten even a better price if we went directly with them). Bus was clean, had a bathroom on board and the driver was so nice! Food: We went to Walmart the day before and bought bottled water (about 2 per person) and snacks for the bus ride (chips, oreo, other snacks). The bus came with a cooler so all the water was cooled before given to everyone. After the visit at Chichen Itza, the driver recommended a buffet for lunch very close by the ruins (it was a place where all of their organized tours to Chichen Itza stop there for lunch). Everyone enjoyed the food very much (it cost less than $10 per person). Friday night – Welcome drinks We invited everyone to the lounge area on Friday evening after dinner to have a drink with us. It was the first night all our guests were at the resort and we thought it would be nice to have them meet and enjoy a cocktail together. It was very successful even if it did not require any preparation or extra costs. (open bar right there and music playing till 1am). We did not stay that late but some of the guests told us they stayed till the end. Other OOT Bags: http://www.cheaptotes.com/ ($0.99/ tote and I ironed an image on it to personalize). We filled them up with snacks (that we purchased at Walmart in Cancun and a couple of personalized items: a chapstick and a box of mints that we got on Oriental Trading). We also included personalized welcome letters for each of the guests. For the kids we included some special items like coloring books, sticker books, water pistols, etc. I ended up distributing the OOT bags but I think they can help too at the front desk if you ask them Transportation (from/to Airport): Your Cancun DMC, Alejandra (Alex) Orozco [email protected]. [Grade: A+++] We paid for guest transportation from and back to the airport. They were great. Everyone said they had no problem finding them and they have been very timely, professional and customer service oriented. They monitored our guests' flights and made sure there was a car waiting for everyone. We had people coming from all over the world (London, Geneva, Bucharest, Amsterdam and 4-5 cities in the US) and have been impressed on how easy everyone found dealing with them. They also helped up group people together to cut the total cost down and in the end it was a small expense that meant a lot for our guests since everyone was travelling from far away Here are the rates they charged for airport transportation (prices are per vehicle not per person) 1-3 people $35 one way; $60 round trip 4-7 people $45 one way; $65 round trip 8-10 people $50 one way; $75 round trip SATURDAY - WEDDING DAY PRE-WEDDING Hair/Makeup: Melissa from MVP (http://www.cancunhairandmakeup.com/) [Grade: A+], Melissa and her colleague that she brought with her were great. I loved how my hair and make-up turned out and all of the other girls loved it too. We had a trial done back in December and there was something about the look that I did not like. Melissa was great and took the time to look at the pictures, understand what I did not like and fixed it perfectly on the wedding day. I would highly recommend her. TTD hair/make-up: OCT SPA - I used the resort SPA for my TTD photoshoot (these were included in the package) and while both hair and make-up were nice I did not love them [Grade B] In the end I was really happy to have chosen Melissa for my wedding day. WEDDING Photographer: Photos in Cancun ( http://www.photosincancun.com/ ) [Grade: A+]; We found Derek and Lorena through BDW. They were reasonably priced and responded to my initial e-mail very fast. We met them during our site visit and they even took some pictures of us to show us how they work. We absolutely loved the pictures so decided to go with them. We booked them for full day coverage and TTD. They were great: professional, tireless and took lots of pictures – we are really happy with the photos. We received all of our pictures on CDs two days after the wedding and now working with them to edit some of them. My recommendation on photos: The only thing I would recommend (that I did not do and in retrospect I think it would have been better) is to prepare a list of all the must have photos (I mean all the combinations and special guests that you absolutely want to have photos with. I thought I would remember, but with all of the things going on, you forget things and I feel I would have liked to have more individual photos with a few of my guests) Ceremony: Catholic mass at Iglesia de San Jose in downtown Puerto Morelos. Father Mario Gonzalez, [email protected]. Padre Mario is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He was great and accommodating allowing us to shape the ceremony as we wished. He conducted the mass in English and had us out in 45 minutes with a full mass which was great Iglesia de San Jose is a small church w/ an open garden next to the pews and provided for a nice yet special place for us to get married in Mexico. Décor for ceremony: We went with a simple décor (flower arrangements on the ends of the benches with organza in between benches and some more organza on the floors in the front of the church. I brought the isle runner from home (bought on Amazon for $30) Since it was very hot and the church does not have air conditioning, we gave all of our guests palm tree fans which were much appreciated by everyone and they complemented our green wedding color. Music: We used a string quartet that was great Wedding planner: Leanne Marie Rogers (http://www.leannemarieweddings.com/) [Grade: A++++] We decided to go with a planner for this part of the wedding day <ceremony> since it was outside of the resort and needed a lot more coordination that I did not want to be worried about on my wedding day. Leanne and her partner Maju were phenomenal. I did not have to worry about anything that day and they had everything ready as we discussed and I would say even better than I imagined. If anything went wrong, it was definitely not noticed by me, so kudos to them for their abilities. Initially I was torn on whether I wanted a planner at all, but I must say that I am so relieved I ended up working with them. It takes so much stress off of your shoulders that day and even before when trying to find vendors for different things and of course coordinating between all of them on the wedding day TEQUILLA DONKEY: At the end of the ceremony, we had a surprise for all of our guests that no one knew about. We had a tequila donkey outside of the church and a mariachi band. My hubby really wanted a tequila donkey and this was the easiest way to incorporate it into the wedding. I must say that people enjoyed that very much and it was a good way to start the good mood. Also it allowed us to add something Mexican to our wedding (not really sure if a tequila donkey is something common at Mexican weddings but tequila and mariachi bands for sure are and the donkey was fun J) COCKTAIL HOUR We had a one hour cocktail hour in between the ceremony and the reception. We organized it on the opposite side of the lobby terrace versus the reception so that guests could not pick into the reception area before it was time to move there. For food we mixed and match 7 different hors d'oeuvres from the different menus. I really did not check how they looked but did not hear any complaints from anyone. We only got food for 66% of the total number of guests and there was a lot of leftover. I would recommend getting maybe only for 50% of guests. We also had a mariachi band to entertain us during that time. They were less professional than the ones we used at church and they wanted to leave after 25 minutes although they were supposed to sing for 45 minutes. Ana saw them and had them continue playing for the entire time they were booked We used the end of the cocktail hour to take pictures with all of our guests in a location where the photographers set up a mini photobooth J RECEPTION We had our reception on the lobby terrace and it was perfect! J The days before the weding it rained a lot so was very concerned about that. Villa Marina (that was my preferred back-up was booked and could not be an option and to put a tent out on the terrace was really expensive ~2,700). My hubby convinced me that we should just take the chance and see how it goes and I am so happy he did. We had no rain and the terrace is by far in my opinion the best place for the reception. It was AMAZING! Décor for reception: I picked just white and green as my colors, so all the décor was pretty simple but it ended up being exactly how I wanted. I brought a lot of the things that were used for the décor to save money (chair sashes, table runners, candle holders and candles, paper flower confetti). Ana did a great job setting them up and I am so happy with how it turned out. We used 8 seating round tables and we had a separate table just for the two of us so that we do not have to choose whom to stay at the table and allow our weding party to sit with their families/guests. I really wanted to also use Christmas lights but in retrospect I would advise not to do it if you have the wedding on the lobby terrace because the terrace itself has lights on the wall that surrounds the terrace and they provide enough light even at night. Food: Here is the only place where I have some dissatisfaction. I created a 4 course menu by choosing things from the different menus that were presented but I ended up receiving different salad and different desert at the wedding versus my picks. Of course no one noticed and food was good, but I am a little upset that I did not get what I wanted. What we ended up serving: First course: Feta cheese and Balsamic vinaigrette salad (I had chosen Tomato and goat cheese pesto salad); Second course: Vodka and lime sherbet Entrée: Surf and Turf (Beef filet and jumbo shrimp) or Vegetarian strudel; Dessert: Parfait de stracciatella (I had chosen Coconut and pineapple Caribbean cake). They also served a few little cookies to go with coffee after the food. It all tasted good but I had no appetite that night. From what I could tell, guests liked it enough! Some guests mentioned that the food served at the wedding was much better versus the regular food served at the resort. Drinks: We had open bar throughout the reception and also put 2 bottles of wine on each table that we purchased at Walmart because we did not like the house wine. They prepared for us a green drink that they used to welcome our guests in the reception area which was so nice. I would not say that the drink itself was good, but it created a nice effect given that green was our wedding color. This was a complete surprise for me as we did not discuss it in advance. I loved it! Cake: Cake was delicious!!!! We picked the strawberry one. Ana did a good job decorating it too. Music: Doremixx (DJ Temo). (http://www.xcancun.com/doremixx/home.html). [Grade: A-] Overall he was good and I would recommend them for a wedding: fantastic music selection, our guests danced non-stop, they brought props that everyone loved. There were a couple of things that ticked me: I asked them not to play more than 2 songs of Romanian music at a time (I am Romanian) and had to go and ask him to change after the fifth he was playing at one time; after that he never played it again all night till I asked him to play some at the end of the night; he did not speak too much, not that was needed but I would have liked him to act more as an MC than he did. We also got a lit up dance floor but I thought it was a little too small for my wedding group (about 65 people and the dance floor was 3.75x3.75m about 12x12 ft). People really liked it and they danced both on the dance floor and on another area right next to it. I recommend it! AFTER WEDDING: Snorkeling Trip: [Grade A+++++++] We organized a snorkeling trip on Sunday afternoon. We booked through the travel office located on the left of the reception desk on the Turquesa side. Antonio was our travel agent and he managed to find us exactly what we wanted. We booked a private tour on a catamaran including transportation to the marina and drinks on board (water, soft drinks and beer) for about $1,500. (the equivalend of 30 guests at $50 per guest). It was an amazing trip and so much worth the money we spent. Everyone had an amazing time and people still rave about it. We sailed, snorkeled and flew/jumped from the spinnaker for about 4 hours total. At the end for $100 they provided me with all of the snorkeling pictures and all the videos they took during the spinnaker fun. Spinaker is some kind of parasailing with the exception that it takes you from the water and brings you back into the water and looks like a swing. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________________________________________________________________________________ Well, so this was a lot, but I hope it will help some brides planning. Please let me know if you have questions and I would be happy to answer them. I will post more pictures from the wedding later when I manage to reduce the number form the total 2,700 that I got. I will end now with a picture of me and my hubby J

Congrats Tropic Lover! I am so glad everything turned out great! I am getting ready too! My big day is in only 2 weeks.... can't even believe it is so close!

Hi Josie, My wedding is on June 2nd and I am bringing a bunch of decorations with me. They said they will not charge me a fee for them and they also kindly agreed to take care of setting them up. Happy planning!

@AwayWeGo: Congratulations! I am so happy you had such a great time! 66 days to my big day... Can't believe it is so close

Wow... your big day is tomorrow! All the best for your wedding day and for teh two of you! Let us know how it went when you are back!

Hi guilaine87, We decided not to use a TA for the wedding. We negotiated directly with OCT and got much better deals on the rooms for our guests. Overall everyone saved by booking their flight through kayak and the room through OCT versus everything we have seen from TAs. The downside is that we had to put down a 30% deposit from the rooms blocked and these money will go toward the wedding and they will return whatever was not used if that happens. Happy Planning!

I did not like the house wine at all... considered it undrinkable... Sorry! I am planning on buying wine from Walmart and paying the corkage fee (I think it is $5 per bottle)

I am using Photos in Cancun

These are pictures of teh rooftop. It is on the opposite side of the teen and daisy club, there is no noise/ nor any design on it and I think it makes for a very nie location for the ceremony. If I was not getting married in a church I would have choosen this location. I also like it because it allows to have the cocktail party in the same location if you want. You can use one side to have the ceremony and the other to set up a bar and appetizers if you want. But I do agree that the lobby terrace is anoter great choice as well. Happy Planning!

I am having a rehearsal dinner in Puerto Morelos. There are a couple of decent restaurants (not great) and not too expensive. I feel that this way we are getting out of the resort and enjoy some time just with close family and wedding party. Any group reservation in one of the a-la carte restarnats at OCT has an extra charge ( I think about $25/person). I believe you can do the buffet restaurant at no charge. Happy Planning!

My photographer is Photos in Cancun ( Derek and Lorena). They are amazing ( I had my engagement photos taken with them and I absolutely love them: so easy to work with, made me and my fiancee very confortable and pictures are gorgeous). They also have decent prices. I am doing both day of and TTD pictures

The other option is to make them guests at the wedding. You can get them a room and pay for their food and this may end up cheaper than the vendor fee and day pass + they have a place to crush that night and good food to eat

To build on that, i would not worry about Ana. She is great and if she is not answering is because she is very busy. FYI, calling her almost always worked for me. I am adding my thoughts on your questions in red: __________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Are there discounted prices for children? We have children coming from 15 years old to 2 years old. I am going to say yes, however the amount of the discount may depend on you're booking. Example: a whole package that includes flight, transfer and hotel (typical for Canadian brides like me), OR doing the flight and hotel separetly (typical for US brides). Our group is booked through Transat Holidays and yes there is a discount for children 12 and under. The amount depends on the adult quote, but from what I can remember is was a few hundred dollars less. I am a US bride that has the guests booking separately the flight and hotel and have received discounts for kids below 12 years old. I believe kids below 3 yeras old are free at the resort. I alos have lots of kids coming from a few months old to 12 years old. Our guests have found really good deals with Apple Vacations for the full package, so that is an option as well. I am not sure what their policy is for kids. For meals I think there is a slight discount for children and they have special children's menu if you want 2. Where are the locations we can get married? I saw pictures of the beach, the terrace and the rooftop terrace. You're right, but the beach has 2 locations. Beach on the Coral side (I've heard this one is busy with a lot of hotel guests). Beach on the Turquesa side is more quiet, however there is a not so good looking fence separating the hotel from the next property....but it's a lot more quiet than the other beach location. Lobby Terrace, this is where I'm getting married so I love it ;-) The other Terrace location looks good in the pictures, however when my TA visited she said the Teen Club is right around the corner and there are tacky murals painted on the walls. The three options you mentioned are the ones that I know about as well. I am having the ceremony at the chapel in Puerto Morelos and then the cocktain hour and reception on the lobby terrace 3. What are our options for having a sit-down dinner after the ceremony? Beach; Pool Patio by the outside bar and lounge furniture; Upper Terrace next to the lobby terrace; and Lower Patio below the lobby terrace where the stairs come down. Oh there's also a "plan b" indoor banquet room. Restaurants are also back-up indoor options but I think they are not 100% private 4. When is the best time to get married? We were thinking around 3 PM. It depends on the time of year you're getting married. Jan/Feb the sun sets earlier and as the months go on the days get longer. Check out this website that shows typical sunset times based on the month of the year. http://cancunmap.com/weather/cancun-sunset.html I am getting married in June and the ceremony starts at 4pm, cocktail hour at 6pm and reception at7pm AnaS

Hi jdavidso, The turtle nesting season is from May to November and what that means is that groups are not allowed on the beach after 7pm. I am getting married in June and wanted a welcome party on the beach the night before which cannot happen because of that. You could have the ceremony on the beach and move somewhere else ( terrace, restaurant) for the reception. Ana

Hello ladies, I started Insanity on Monday and I am soo sore! but I like it very much even though I cannot keep up with the video the full time. Hope that at some point I will be able to keep up with it! Reading this thread has motivated me a lot! Thank you! I gained some weight and not sure I will fit in my weding dress anymore since I ordered it a while ago and was supposed to be very tight at that time I am picking it up in 4 weeks and hope insanity will help me fit into it Keep these messages coming! Makes me want to go work out! Ana

Hi ThomasK, I have been to the resort twice and I like it very much. A few things that made me decide on this resort: - It is a big enough resort (~500 rooms I think), but not too big to require taking a train to go from one place to another like some of the big resorts there ( I visited some of those huge resorts and did not like the idea that my guests may not see each other while staying there) - The wedding and reception locations are multiple and all of them nice ( from the lobby terrace, beach location, outoor restaurant location, etc) - It is a nice place, think about something clean and neat, but not extremely luxurious at very good prices ( for guests and wedding). I compared both guests prices and wedding prices with a few other resorts and seems more affordable. There are places where the wedidng could be very cheap but it would become very expensive for guests - We felt the service was very good while we stayed there and belive our guests will feel good too - It has a 5 different restaurants for guests; so no worry that they will be sick of eating the same thing for a week (when I have heard a lot about all inclusive places) - It is kid friendly ( has a children pool, daisy club, teen club); We have families coming with their children, so this is a huge plus for them - Last but probably the most important, Ana, the wedding coordinator is fantastic. She has been the most prepared, nice and accomodating wedding coordinator amongst all of the resorts that I have visited in my initial trip ( and I saw about a dozen) On the beach and ocean comment: - The resort is located in Puerto Morelos. Puerto morelos has a reef neerby the shore, which indded creates a problem with seaweed. It is not the clearest ocean you can imagine (Playa del Carmen or Cancun are much better), but I saw them picking up the seaweed everyday while I was there - The beach itself is very nice; clean and nice I have pictures that I have taken, but I think the facebook ones that one of teh other brides mentioned are probably better (more professional). PM me and I can send you what I have too. Let me know if you have other questions. Thanks, Ana

Hi Little B, I was there on Dec 8th and peaked at your wedding . It looked like you guys had a lot of fun! Ana

Hi teganandtyler, Welcome! Do not worry about Ana, she will get back to you. For the date, you should tell her what date you are interested in. She will put a hold on it and when you pay the deposit it will be booked for you. The deposit is $200. We got a pretty good deal on the rooms directly from OCT (it was much better than anything we received from travel agencies). You should ask Ana about a quote, but you fist need to have a date. We worked out a contract with them, that took a little longer to finalize but we are very happy with how it ended up. The booking block gives you some perks too. Happy to chat more. PM me if you have more specific questions. Happy to share other indo, documents that I have. Just PM me. Happy Planning!

Hi DalChrisWedding, Welcome! I am having a cocktail hour with mariachi band too but on the lobby terrace. Prices depend on how much food (I think the price is between $16 and $18 per guest for 6 pieces of appetizers) and alcohol (price is $10 per guest for open bar) you get plus the band ( I forgot the price but it is in the . I am planning on getting less food than I have guests. People will not each eat 6 pieces and the cocktail hours is right before dinner, so was thinking of getting food for only about 75% of guests. Since the cocktail hours is on the lobby terrace I do not have to pay for alcohol because we will be using the lobby bar. We will be having waiters bring alcohol from the lobby bar. I am getting an outside photographer too. I am also getting an outside DJ. You can either pay the vendor fee or you can make them part of the guests list ( they need to be hotel guests and be part of the wedding list for food). Ana is absolutely wonderful. I have met her twice as I was there two times already. She is great. She spend a lot of time to make sure she gets all the information about what I want, give me options so that everything will be exactly the way I wanted it. Sometimes she takes longer to respond, but I think it is dependent on how far away your wedding is and how busy she is at the time with weddings. I took a bunch of other pictures last time I visited, so let me know if you are interested and I can share them. Happy Planning!