ElDorado2012

I'm def. not one who loves having attention on myself, so I did think it was going to be awkward being in my dress at JoJo's. I was even thinking about that when we were walking up to the location after the ceremony. But, once we got there and our group settled in, I didn't feel that way at all. The group spread out from the bar, to the bean bag chairs, to the tables over by the beach, so it wasn't like we were just awkwardly standing as a group in one spot. Everyone we ran into just smiled and told us congratulations, which really put me at ease. There was actually another small wedding party there at the same time as us, which was cute. They had gotten married at the same time but at the gazebo across from the chapel. Anyways, hope that helps any future brides

We got married at Gazebo 55 and it was gorgeous. It has the beautiful ocean in the background, on the sand, and it's at the end of the resort property so it's a bit more private than some of the other ceremony sites on the sand. I would definitely recommend it. We had our reception at the Tucanes Pool area and loved it as well. It's sort of shaded in by plants and trees so it's private, but it's right in the middle of the resort so it's close by to everything. I saw a wedding going on on the beach (I believe there is only one area where you can have a reception on the beach) and it looked super fun too. Either of those would be my recommendations If you are doing a private reception and want to save money, skip the cocktail hour after your ceremony and have your guests head over to one of the bars to hang out for that hour. We did that (we went to the Beach Bar-also called JoJo's Bar) and it worked out great. If you have any questions about anything, let us know!!!

Ugh that is so frustrating. I had the same thing happen to me. There's nothing you can do, just try not to let it get you too worried or upset. You're going to have an amazing time with the people who do make it out there.

I definitely don't think the showers are salt water. I never noticed a difference when I was there. I actually thought my hair looked and felt better while I was there, which I was attributing to the shower water. I brought my own conditioner, so I'm not 100% positive on that, but I do think I remember seeing it in the shower as well. Also, I have blonde hair and was in the pools for hours on end. I never had any issues with my hair turning green. Hope that helps

Cool! Thanks!!

Yay!! Congrats!! Our schedule was: 6:30 - Bridal party enters, followed by my husband and I 6:35 - First dance 6:45 - Dinner was served 6:55 - Toasts (during the salad course) 7:25 - Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dance (we did this at the same time) 7:30 - Dancing/party begins I didn't bring a second dress, but I was so hot and over being in my dress at the reception, that I ended up running to my room to change into casual a maxi dress. If you are staying in the regular side of the resort, this is feasible. If you are staying in the Casitas side, it's bit of a hike. If you are on the Casitas side and you really want to change, maybe see if the wedding planner can have a shuttle take you there and back or even give her (the wedding coordinator) the change of clothes ahead of time and maybe you could change in the bathroom or in another guests room which is closer... BTW - the public bathrooms around the resort are nice - they aren't gross or dirty - so it wouldn't be super gross if you had to change in there.

It's a Jenny Yoo dress. Here's the stock photo. It's discontinued now, but the name of the style is Hannah (they actually make bridesmaids dresses in the same style, just not in white). I'm selling it if you know of anyone who might want to buy it! I'm 5'5'' and I had it altered so I could wear flat sandals...

Yeah - just regular shirts from Macy's and pants from Dockers. We wanted to be casual. We considered linen, but like you I wasn't a big fan of how much they wrinkled up (we had just gone to a wedding where the groomsmen were in linen and they were so wrinkly even at the ceremony!)...

The Beach Bar (also known as JoJo's Bar) doesn't have food, but guests could grab an appetizer at JoJo's if they were starving (they would have to sit down for this, but if there was enough time and they were starving it would work out). No food at Guacamayas. I think your best bet if you don't want to pay for the private cocktail hour, is telling everyone to order room service or eat a late lunch and just let them know ahead of time that they won't be eating until the time of your reception. They serve the food as soon as you get to the reception (unless you ask otherwise), so you can pass that info. on to your guests as well. We didn't want to have to pay extra for the cocktail hour and so I advised our guests to eat late and everyone seemed fine... The swings at the Beach Bar were so fun! Great for pictures. We actually did all of our photo's before the wedding, so we just walked with our guests over to the Beach Bar and hung out with them until the reception began.

Here's the pics I have of the beach bar. I love the outside swings. The whole area is good for pics The pic of the tables shows you where your guests can sit. There's also beanie bags which you saw in the other pics...

Our candles (the one's that were actual candles - we had both real and battery operated) stayed lit fine. If you are worried about it, bring the battery one's and ask the wedding coordinator to add them in if the real one's are blowing out. I'm sure they'd be happy to do that.

We got them from Mishka Designs: http://mishkadesignspv.blogspot.com/p/maraca-designs.html You can have any color and design you want! There are way more colors and examples if you search around her site. Or, if you do a Google image search for "wedding maracas" you can see more examples. She's great to work with (she's actually a wedding planner and designer). I wish she lived closer to Cancun or we would have hired her to design our wedding. Her designs are amazing.

Thanks! We had 32 total including my husband and I. There were four tables of 8 at the reception. Quote: Originally Posted by Jillsepher Great photos! Thanks for sharing. How many guests did you have?

Allie H - on that fourth pic down you'll see outside tables from JoJo's bar that your guests can sit in. The beach is just beyond that, so it's really a pretty setting

For the table we ordered the full length "tan" colored linens. They were either $30 or $50 per table (I can't remember which). I wasn't expecting them to be shiny, but I ended up liking them a lot. I can send you the pic Valeria sent to me of them when I chose them if you want. The chargers I brought from home because the cost to rent a charger through Lomas was ridiculous. They were from Bed, Bath and Beyond and were $2.99 each. The centerpieces were through Lomas and were red carnations and roses. I brought those gold votive holders from home with battery operated tea light candles. We also used/rented three votives per table from Lomas with the actual candles in them and they held up fine. It wasn't windy or breezy really when we were there. I do have pics of the beach bar, let me find them and I'll send The Guacamayas bar is where everyone will be every night for the entertainment. It's a large area that's fairly informal. I don't have any pics of that area or I'd send. It's set back a little, so it's not right on the beach, but it's close. The Beach bar is right on the beach. There's swings at the back of it and tables from JoJo's restaurant that your guests can use while they wait for the reception. I would definitely recommend the Beach Bar. Our group loved it and it's in a great location. The Martini Bar is very pretty and elegant inside (and it's inside so there's air conditioning), but it's in the lobby, so it's fairly far from most of the ceremony sites (I'm not sure where your locations are?). It's not far from Tucanes though, so that's good. It's just a different style from the Beach Bar and Guacamayas Bar. Here's what I'd say - if you are looking for privacy for the group, the Guacamayas Bar is the best. It's sort of set back in it's Palapa so I don't think too many people head there until later in the evening. The Beach Bar will be less private, but beautiful and a really fun atmosphere if your group likes to party. The Martini Bar is more elegant. Hopefully that helps you choose I'm happy to answer any questions!! Let me know if you have more!! I'll try to find the Beach Bar pics and send soon. Quote: Originally Posted by AllieH Great pics!!!! Is your table set up the "standard" one? I noticed the gold chargers, and was curious. Did you bring the centerpieces with you, or did EDR supply them? How did the votive candles hold up in Tucanes? do you have any pics of the beach bar? either Guacamayas or the Martini bar were recommended for us for the cocktail hour, and I wasn't sure what to recommend. Sorry for the questions!!!!!

If anyone has any questions, please let me know!!

I was hoping to have a shot to show you of the Beach Bar (also called JoJo's Bar), where we went to after the reception, but all our pics have people's direct faces in them and I'm not sure how our friends and fam. would feel about having their pics posted online. It was a really cool area though and very central from Gazebo 55 and Tucanes and had swings that were great for photo's. I would definitely recommend it as a meeting place after the ceremony if you aren't doing a private cocktail reception before your reception.

The Tucanes area where we had the reception and shots of our tables.

A few more of my and my hubs around the resort and at the ceremony.

Here is a pic of the resort grounds...

I figured it out. I had to reduce the quality of the pics, so the color and clarity isn't nearly as good as the original photo, but at least you can see the sites... This is our ceremony at Gazebo 55