Chantal 1979

Hey, we also had the Divine package. We chose the Panela cheese with chipotle sauce, prosciuttto and melon, chicken quesadillas and veggie quiche. They were all tasty and there were more than enough. Happy planning!

We chose the Divine package. The extras seemed worth the price difference for us. We didn't have a DJ for the reception. We used the mexican trio included in the package during our cocktail hour and then rented the sound system ($150) and used an ipod. My husband used to be a wedding dj so we had a ton of music available to us already.

I don't know if there's a total guest count or percentage, none that I'd heard of anyway. We only had a couple friends come in from off the resort. There is supposed to be a day pass for those guests at about $80 per person I think, but my friends came in 2 days, just took a cab right in and walked through with no questions, payments or pass.

Hey Ladies, I'm back from my wedding and have finally found some time to write a review! Overall it was an entirely fantastic week with a few minor hiccups. We arrived on Monday with 20 of our group and began the check in process. Once we asked the concierge to call Pilar so we could say hello they realized that we were supposed to be taken to the preferred side for check in. They had accidentally taken our mothers who were sharing a room instead of us. It was sorted out quickly (although our moms would have been happy to stay on the preferred side, I'm sure). Our room was great, really spacious, and the view was...okay. Tuesday we had our meeting with Pilar where she went over everything in detail. We brought a lot of our own decor and she took notes to make sure it was going to be just what we wanted. We toured all the locations, went over the menu, flowers and timeline, plus planned our dinner, massage, breakfast and rehearsal. Wednesday our rehearsal was quick and easy and was followed by a dinner. I think I would have preferred the Carnival buffet but I guess it was closed that night so we had the buffet in the theatre followed by a show. THE WEDDING DAY Thursday morning I got up and did yoga at the cabana and then went for breakfast. My hair appointment was at 1 pm with Angel, who is absolutely amazing. I had a hair trial with him on Tuesday instead of getting make up done, so Thursday was easy and stress free. I opted to have a friend do my make up only because she is professional and she knows what I like, but I'm sure Angel would have been great. There was a little stress when my dress hadn't arrived back in my room by 3 when the wedding was supposed to be at 4. Someone called for it and it was finally returned to my room at about 3:30. The ceremony was beautiful. We had a symbolic ceremony and it was all done in English. It would've been nice if we'd had a chance to meet with the officiant beforehand, but it went smoothly regardless. While most of the guests went to cocktail hour at the Mix bar we had photos taken on the grass and the beach. We used both the resort photographer and our own. We had a lovely Mexican Trio playing guitar and singing during cocktail hour and had more than enough food without ordering extra. (Includes food for 25 and we had 32). The reception was great, but I wish we'd had it a little longer. It was scheduled for 7-10 and by the time speeches, cake cutting and champagne were done it was almost time to go. To be honest, it's a bit of a blur now, but the food was enjoyed by all, they did a fantastic job decorating and the service was great. The only small hitch was that they got our cake wrong... We had ordered lemon with raspberry and got some sort of mocha instead. It was still tasty, just not what we expected. After the reception we continued the party in the lobby bar with the live band and had a great time. THE RESORT This place is beautiful and very clean. We were all located in different buildings and it's bit of hike from one side to the other, but it just inspires you not to forget things in your room The staff is absolutely fantastic and make you feel incredibly special. There are lots of activities everyday so for those that want a bit more than pool and each you can always find something to do. Yoga, soccer, tennis, spanish lessons, water or beach volleyball, etc. THE ENTERTAINMENT I think it's pretty much what you might expect. We only saw the one show, a dance show of various styles. It was pretty cheesy but fun all the same. The live music in the lobby was great the nights they had bands. They advertise having movies on the beach on the website but we never saw this happen. The theme nights were the same as the shows, cheesy but fun. THE FOOD Food was pretty good, but maybe not as great as I expected. Spice (the asian restaurant) was very tasty and the Tepanayaki (SP?) was awesome to watch. Capers (Italian) was also good but didn't blow my mind. I'm a huge Italian fan though so my expectations were probably really high. We didn't do Cin CIn or Mercure (meditarranean, french) as there were no vegetarian options. Apparently Tamarindo was really good to, I didn't have a chance to try it. The buffet was always decent, (breakfast omelette guy was great!) and Castaways was great for snacks. THE HICCUPS Minor things that by no means affected our vacation or wedding but just were iritations: 1- We planned our private dinner on the beach for Friday night. We had pre-selected our menu and time with Pilar on tues. Friday night it poured rain so we re-scheduled for Saturday. When we showed up at concierge they had no knowledge of our dinner. After a 45 minute wait they finally got it sorted out and found our menu. We still got it, just had to wait. (A note to any vegetarians out there - do NOT get the vegetable stew with lettuce wraps. It's terrible and flavourless). 2- We had scheduled our champagne breakfast for Sunday at 10, I guess Pilar wrote the wrong date down because it never came. We waited for about 30 minutes then called and they had no record of it. We ran to the buffet to catch breakfast there. We couldn't reschedule because we were leaving the next morning. Apparently they thought it was supposed to be the day before. 3 - Photos. I know you are supposed to get an album with 30 photos but it sort of felt like they tried to trick us when we went to look at them. He told us to go through and select all of our favourites. So we did. All 180 of them. After that he told us to narrow it down to 24 they would make into an album or choose 30 they would put on a dvd. If we wanted more than that it would be $15 per picture. I just wish he'd been specific from the beginning. They did offer us all the pictures for $250 after that, which is not so bad a deal. Overall, it was a great success, all of our guests had an incredible time and I wouldn't do it differently if I had the chance. You'll all be very happy with your choice, just make sure you double check your appointments and avoid the veggie lettuce wraps I'm happy to answer any questions you have or send you pics!

Hi everyone! I will be at Now Jade tomorrow!!! Can't believe it's already here. I saw a few questions I can probably help answer. as far as food goes for the private dinners, there are the divine and eternity options (4 entree choices in total) and your guests can choose their entree in advance for free, on the spot for an extra $30 per person. There are 3 vegetarian menu options as well as a gluten free menu. Kids menu is choice of tomato soup or fruit cocktail, chicken fingers and fries or spaghetti, chocolate cake or ice cream. I am bringing a lot of my own decor, but am splitting it between 5 people to help me bring it. The cost of decor if you get it there is through the roof, so if you're money conscious I would say find a way to bring at least some of it yourself. For music we have a bridal party/parents processional song, bridal processional song and recessional - all with lyrics. I think the music is just a personal choice, it's more traditional to go with instrumental though. I promise to post a full review when I get home and let you know the ins and outs of my experience. Congrats all you brides and happy planning!!

HAVE SO MUCH FUN!!!!! Congrats, I'm sure it's going to be absolutely perfect

Hi ladies!! A question for all the brides that have already been married at Now Jade : what sort of tipping did you do? We figure we should tip Pilar... just not sure how much. Does $100-$200 seem reasonable? Also, did you tip the servers at the reception, photographer, dj etc? Thanks for any insight you can give!

Hey Mrs.Mom, I thought about shipping but decided against it. Now Jade will only get things through FedEx, otherwise you have to pick it up in Cancun. Plus FedEx will probably be more expensive then the airline's fee I have made my own centrepieces and am bringing them with. It seems they will only charge you an extra set up fee if it's something much more labour intensive then setting tables and hanging lanterns.

When are you there? We're there Jan 23-30, wedding on the 26th. I can't believe it' so soon!

Hey kimmysue, You're pics are fantastic! Looks like you had an incredible and beautiful wedding I'm getting married in two months and have the same ceremony/reception places as your was. Did they put up the white fabric on the pergola and walkway or did you specially request that? Also, on the terrace did you have your tables all in a straight line? And if you did, does it look like there's any other way to configure them? Thanks so much! Chantal

Thanks 'all the love'! That list is great and will definitely help with planning (especially declaring gifts!) Can't wait to read your review and hopefully see some pics too

Congrats! Can't wait to read your review and see the list

Hi fellow brides! I'm getting married there Jan 26th and initially chose the eternity package but am thinking of switching to the divine. I haven't asked too much about swapping yet but am hoping to with a few things. When I was initially thinking about booking Pilar told me that there was no swapping allowed but that's clearly not the situation... Are most of you dealing with Ana or Pilar?

Hey Irish Donna, You should check out weddingstar, they have lots of stuff like the knot but it's in Canada, plus they can apparently ship it directly to the resort if you want.

Hi Micaela, I'm having a wedding there in january and so far the planning's been easier than I thought it would be. We have about 40 guests and chose to do the ceremony at the Pergola (outdoor but more private than the beach) and then the ocean front terrace for dinner. They seem to be able to accomodate for any size group, so you could do outddor I'm sure. Happy planning