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Our wedding started in Las Vegas on Friday, then we flew to Cancun on Monday, went to Akumal then North to La Amada on Wed. I did make sure my guests always had assorted sunscreen, bug spray, magazines, games (dominos are great for beach fun cause they don't blow away), snorlels, shot glasses and tequilla. We went all out on accomodations and excursions for everyone rather than doing some of the traditional wedding things. But I do love the idea of gift bags. Sunscreen is a great gift bag idea, but I found that there were so many different skin types that not everyone uses the same strength. Also, The Beloved is fully stocked for your guests with a mini bar containing sodas, waters, beers, shots, candy bars, and other snacks. I racked my brain to think of things to put in a bag, but couldn't think of a thing anyone would need. There were these really cute towels that fold into bags that would have wedding date and names, but it was over $180 to ship. The hotel will make your guests feel special upon arrival with glasses of proseco and cold towels, and they will han out your itineraries. There are drinks and food everywhere at any hour. There are great blogs on this site about bags and ideas, I just didn't use them. Of course we had gifts for our wedding party that we handed out at the rehersal dinner. Jewelry, flip flops, and some cheap matching sunglasses for pictures sake. I work with weddings and have seen a ton of different little gift ideas handed out at the reception, but I'm not sure any would work well at the beach, but I know there are zillions of websites that have beach gift ideas. Good Luck!! You will have the time of your life, but it will fly by quick, so remeber to keep things simple for yourselves. This hotel and beach are so amazing you don't need much more to impress, so enjoy your family and friends!!

I am working on the wedding photos now. I have a picture of the sea shells but we opted out of the gazebo because we just wanted to beach behind us. Walmart is in Cancun, so about 25 minutes from the hotel. We always rent a car in Cancun so we stop on the way to the hotel. The Walmart is huge and they also have these grocery stores ( Iforget the name) that are also stocked with everything you will need. If you are taking a cab from the airport I'm sure they will stop for you, or you can arrange a ride to town with the hotel. Most priced are about the same as the states, maybe a bit cheaper, but liquer is way cheaper and so is sunscreen.

The DJ is provided by the Hotel and you can either email him, make a CD, or request songs and he can look up almost anything on the spot. We had a CD ready for our actual ceremony music and first dance etc. He was pretty fluent in English and did a great job. He can also take your Ipod. The Minister that showed up for us did not speak English so Nielli translated and pretty much did the ceremony. If that is not acceptable to you make sure you keep pushing for another minister who does speak. I brought my own photographer so I can not help on that. So in the downloads sent with flowers the is a picture of a basic table and chairs. That is what is included and is very nice. Chairs are covered in white for dinner and chairs are provided for reception also covered in white. Tall cocktail tables are also included. The extras are the funky lounge looking benches and light up cocktail tables. We went with the basic and it was beautiful. Nobody really notices those things with the view. You can bring your own bows for the chairs or table runners, but I don't recommend shipping them as it is very expensive and there is no guarantee they will arrive. We rented the Villa instead of paying extra for the wedding planner because it is breath taking as is. It was $5000 for the night and worth every penny. I bought my centerpieces in Cancun because I wanted goldfish bowls and I did not care for the ones in the pictures. I picked bouquets from the pictures but asked for the flower colors to be changed and they had no problem with it. So if you see an arrangement you want but don't care for the color, you can change it. Cancun has several flower shops and you may want to make a quick run to Walmart there to pick up extra sunscreen, bug spray, and liqueur for your late night parties. We also bought a few snorkels and floaties because the gift shop is WAY to expensive. The cake is the same deal. We looked at the pictures and picked the style cake we wanted but brought our own swarovski ribbon, crabs, and cake topper and they put it all together for us. So yes, the chairs are included. And they provide the basic gazebo and sea shells leading down to the gazebo at no charge. I really believe less is more on that beach. Maybe bring little things that pop the color if you want. I brought some table runners for under my fish bowls and was glad I did not order colored napkins. It really is such an amazing place I feel you should do as little as possible and relax. Also, we took a few excursions to Islands and golf. The Hotel will provide box lunches when needed. We had a lunch catered at the Villa for the wedding party at no extra cost. They will go above and beyond for you and it will be wonderful food that your guest will talk about for a long time. You can also mix and match the menu. We ordered a dinner and switched the salad. We also picked whatever appetizers we wanted off the whole list, 3 hot, 3 cold. They asked if we wanted a signature drink at the cocktail party, so think about that too. And just give them a list of special dietary needs like vegetarians or fish allergies, no problem. They have an such amazing breakfast buffet that anyone can find something to eat there. We had our rehearsal dinner in Cancun at Puerto Madero so I can not really answer questions about that. I'm glad to answer any questions I can! I wish I had some help when I was planning to save some stress. I went down a year before the wedding and picked everything. The wedding planners changed every few months so I had to keep re planning. I literally got to the hotel on Wed for the blood test, sat down with Nayelli and had the whole thing planned in an hour. It all turned out perfectly. We are so used to the way they do things here in the states with the planning years ahead and surprise costs that I think this sometimes looks to good to be true, but it's not. Good luck my little brides to be! One last note- We used Wendy Hicks as our travel agent and life became so much easier. We just put her contact info on our website and BAM! she made it all happen. She helped with our rooms and every ones transfers. [email protected]

We did our rehersal in Cancun at Puerto Madero so I am not sure what they offer on the beach. Remeber, it is pretty much always breezy and depending on the time of year it can down pour at the drop of a hat. A dinner on the beach could be hard to move if you need to in a hurry. I saw a dance floor set up that was being used for a reception on the beach by the Isla Grill and it was covered so I guess that is a possibility, but it was just for dancing and not for food. I will say they brought us a lunch over to the Villa and it was awesome, above and beyond , but never as good as the food at the restaraunts. Not sure about your budget but the Owners suites are big enough for a rehersal dinner and would allow for a nice change of pace.

Sorry I forgot to adress the entertainment. The only entertainment we used was the DJ at the reception and that required renting a generator, but that may have been because we had our wedding at the Villa instead if the Hotel. I have heard that you can get other entertainers and we even ran into a saxaphone player taking a break on the beach a couple years ago and he had played for a couple that was havng dinner on the beach. I know there is a lady named Gabby who is the event planner for the hotel if you want to spend the extra money. I really loved the sound of the beach and the relaxing atmoshere because it gave everyone a chance to get to know each other and catch up. There is music in the Lupita Lounge and it is more of a party atmosphere if you like that.

The Hotel offers golf as and activity and there are water skis and canoes available for rent by the Excellence Hotel. We took our guests on the Isla Contoy trip with Kolumbus Tours and it was a highlight for everyone. The boats leave from Puerto Jarez which is about 10 minutes driving from The Beloved. We had rented vans because we scheduled a couple excursions for our group. I am pretty sure that you can arrange transportation with the desk if you decide to do an outside trip. Our wedding lasted many days so we wanted to give our guests a change of pace, but this hotel is so ralaxing and beautiful that it's really not needed. The one thing my guests did say that they wished they would have had more meals at the Lupita Grill.

Sure. Don't give up on the Hotel, as I said I pretty much went in on Wed before the wedding and told them everything I wanted and It was perfect so save yourself some stress and relax. The Bonfire we had was around $350 and on the beach right next to that pavillion thing (not sure if you have visited). They had a big tray of marshmellows and some sticks. There were three waiters that kept bringing margaritas and beer. Our rehersal dinner ran a little late so I think we started around 9:30 and I went till 11. There were chairs and beach loungers to sit on as well as cocktail tables. It was the perfect way to relax after our dinner! Hope that helps but I am happy to answer any other questions you have. This hotel will cater to whatever you need, they are amazing. We got married at the villa and they delivered a beautiful lunch to the wedding party that day at no extra cost.

We did out rehersal dinner in Cancun at Puerto Madero and it was also so amazing. The resort is so beautiful but we wanted to give our guests a little change of pace. The wedding was only 35 people so we took everyone. After we arrived back to the resort we had a bonfire and I also recomend that. It would be a great way to combine your rehersal dinner party back into the whole wedding group after your dinner. We chose the farmer dinner because we had a couple fish alergies and because we were having steak for the rehersal dinner. They are so nice about mixing and matching dinners. We chose our apetizers off three different selections. The food was also amazing and they had to transport ours from the hotel over to the Villa Balam Ha. They were also happy to take care of the guests with dietary needs. I also want to add that every one of our guests raved about the Lipita Grill. They all wished they could eat there again and again. I will for sure post pictures as soon as I find our where my husband has them on the computer!

Just got back from my wedding at The Beloved. We got married at Villa Balam Ha on May 19th. Everything was amazing and my best advice is not to over stress or over plan. Wendy Hicks is an angel and I highly recomend using her help. This hotel has been through 4 wedding planners since we started planning. We decided on food, flowers, dj , bonfire, cake etc four times. Yes, it is still very hard to get a hold of anyone or get a retun on an email. I emailed and called to get info sometimes once a week for months. But when push came to shove, I picked my menu, my cake, my flowers, and all other details on the Wed before the wedding and everything exceeded my expectations. Nayeli was awesome!!! We changed the menu around to suit dietary needs. We changed the flower arangement to suit our colors. We did all of that the day of our blood test, 3 days before the wedding, and it all turned out perfect. We have been staying at this hotel since the week it opened and knew it was the place we needed to get married. The house we rented was private and we had the whole beach to ourselves. Our guests have only great things to say. I would have saved my stress level had I known that weddings in Mexico are not the big mental and financial drain they are in the US. Every staff meber was more than happy to go above and beyond, from the valet, to the bartenders, to the staff who served our dinner at the Villa. Thanks to every person who helped us make our wedding the greatest week of our lives!!!

I am another future La Amada Bride. We visited the hotel the first week it was open and fell in love with it, so naturally when we got engaged there was no other choice. We will be getting married in May at Villa Balam Ha. Just wanted to be a part of the loop so I do not miss any of your great ideas!!