WPGBride

Agreed definitely without the bling looks more elegant and timeless

Your dress is unbelievably amazing! So jealous you got your pronovias $300 off

Just came to mind. But being a photographer in any of these destination wedding hotspots sounds like a sweet gig. You get paid for your work and a free nights stay at most likely an all inclusive resort. And probably several nights a week. Maybe it's time for a career change for me!

I love your invitations. Just the right colours and the sunburst is so pretty. Are you doing any other things like thank you's, and timelines for bridesmaids, etc in the same design?

They turned out amazingly! You made the right choice. I could only imagine how nervous you were

Trivera5521 The most Amazing dress I have seen in a while! The original colour was wonderful, however there is just something about getting married in white that I couldn't give up either. Michelle11 Love the uniqueness of your dress, there is just something about it that says fresh and fun! AlexisinJamaica your dress is gorgeous, you look so elegant and sophisticated! My dress was Alma by Pronovias and was the second lightest in the store. On the big day however it was 42celsius/107 ferinheight outside and by the time the ceremony was over and the photos nearly done I had fainted. Dispite wanting to spend the entire day in my dress I had to take it off because I had gotten heat stroke and would not be able to go on while wearing it. I truly regret not getting a second lighter cocktail dress in white for this just incase moment that did unfortunatly happen to me. I was lucky though I did have a cute dress in my bag that was white, however never expected to wear it under those circumstances.

I definatly found that because we are from a city that had no direct flights and the majority of our guests live in the same city that boosted the price up about $600 just for round trip transfer flights. Our guests paid I think it was $2300 for 7 nights at Dreams Riviera Cancun. A lot more expensive than we had bargained for and especially during off season.

I walked down the aisle to the beyonce instrumental version of ave maria I'm sorry to the brides who love somewhere over the rainbow " by Hawian artist Israel Kamakawiwo" or IZ or whoever its by, but it was extremely over played the two weeks I stayed at my resort. Every day I heard a bride walk down the aisle to it. And then the first wedding I attend while back at home the bride chose the same song ! I mean its great if you love it, definatly go for it! It's all about your vision and your day, just that its been overdone

We did not do a rehersal dinner per say, but we did try to have everyone attend dinner a few of the nights we were there. What I would recommend is A. Go early! The dinner resturants open around 6:30pm. B. If you send a single or two people to the restaurant to announce the amount of your party they will start to set tables aside (if this is already when dinner rush has begun, it could be upwards of an hour wait). C. DO NOT go to Seaside Grill for large parties. The restaurant is circular in shape therefore it is impossible for them to push together the tables so everyone can be seated together. D. Bordeaux, himitsu, el patio and portofino are your best options for a rehersal dinner. Good Luck and don't pay, Its ridiculous they would expect that.

I was told not to worry about planning to early and when it was time to plan I was informed that there was another bride getting married the same day as me and she had chosen the ceremony location I wanted, the time I wanted, and the reception location I wanted. When infact I had booked my wedding and all guests well over a year in advance. I was extremely angry about this because I was told not to worry about details. In response to my anger however, I was given the Seaside Grill for my reception location for free. This turned out to be an even better location to have my reception, however, since they were using the restaurant tables instead of the ones I had planned measurements for I was short table decorations. My advice is to lock down your times and locations as soon as possible and to save the email so if a coordinator mixes things up and gives it away to another bride you have proof

I recieved my photo book of our wedding first and the pictures were blurry, very dark (I'm an african american bride and this does me no justice what so ever) and we did not get to choose the layout of how the photo book was put together. When we recieved our trash the dress photobook, it was of much superior quality. The images were clear and the colour was spot on, as well as with a better quality cover. When I spoke to Anel about how much better this trash the book when compared to my wedding album. Her reply was that the wedding photobook was a part of a package therefore lower quality, as I had actually paid for a trash the dress session I recieved a better quality photobook. However both my mother and mother in-law paid for our wedding photobook on their own and recieved the lower quality version. This was never explained to me and was not allowed to upgrade any of the wedding photobooks. My recommendations, if you want the better quality photobook insist on it and if there is a difference in price I strongly recommend it. As well insist that you have some input in the layout of the photobook. You might be able to choose which photos you like, but one that you really like might be added as a small 1inch x 1inch photo in the book when you really wanted that photo to be a whole page worth.

I agree my video was of very poor quality. When friends asked to see it who were not there I was embaressed to show them because of the quality. There was music (that I did not pick) throughout the ENTIRE video. Even the part where we said our vows. A huge disappointment and will probably never watch.

We booked the most basic room and then was upgraded upon arrival to Preferred club suite ocean front. Then for our last 3 nights we were upgraded again to the Presidential suite. I have no idea why we were upgraded twice but it was great. We stayed for 2 weeks so that could have something to do with it.

We used the extra room for the guests who weren't staying at the hotel to come to and put their stuff because they were coming early in the morning to enjoy the hotel and to get ready in as well. However you only get it till 4:00pm so your stuff has to be out at that time. The room was no problem in getting, except we had to ask for it, I don't think they would have just offered it. So definatly inquire ahead of time if you want the room.

We got our photo book while we were still at the resort. If we were staying only 1 week though I think it would be mailed out to us. We also got a disc with all of our photos. If you like to upload photos to Facebook and other social media sites ask for low res and high res of the same photos. The low res ones you are able to upload to social media sites and the high res ones you can print off for yourself. Also ask if you can arrange your photos in the photo book how you want because they send it out to a company who pics and chooses your photos for you, this way you will have more control of what you'd like.

I think you mean Xel Ha, Xcaret is the cultural one with lots of shows. We heard good things about Xel Ha from everyone who went, and lots of people chose that one.

Definatly do the Dolphin Swim. We did Xplor and it was not what we were expecting. It was an all day event where the shuttle bus picks you up at 8:00am or earlier. We were there before the park opened so we were lucky there were no lines. The ziplining at first was great but once we got around to 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th we wanted to stop because once you've done one you've done them all and there is a lot of stair climbing to get back to the top and if you don't get there early lines with 100+ people (just like an amusement park) I think there are like 14 ziplines in total and its an entire circuit. The amphibious vehicles are controlled and on a track so you can't get that ATV experience of going fast and racing (if that's what you're looking for) If you get stuck behind someone going 20 then thats what you'll be going the whole course. The only great thing about this park was the cenotes, where you can swim and do raft paddle. So we ended up leaving by cab, after 3 hours once we went through all those attractions. They were not exciting enough to repeat any. I could not imagine staying for the entire 8 hours for the shuttle to come back to pick us up. Headsup: When they say all inclusive drinks, they mean non-alcoholic beverages, they do not have any liquor at this adventure park. All in all if you want a natural experience of seeing the REAL jungle and not a tourist adventure park I would suggest picking a smaller park. We did end up redoing the ATV's with a small group and it was amazing. A couple of hours of riding your own ATV, with no speed limit and crazy twists and turns through the jungle. They also stopped off at a real cenote you had to walk through the jungle to get to and there we took a break and were able to go swimming. They also stopped off at a cave where Mayans used to use to perform ceremonies and live. Great tour I will have to find the name of the place and really reasonable price. Dreams also offers snorkling equipment and you can do snorkling tours through the hotel. As well as for a reasonable fee you can scuba dive at the reef! Only an in pool intructional course needed before going out to the reef. I would definatly suggest doing this it was beautiful. And if you want good quality photos bring an underwater camera from home it might be cheaper than the hotel gift shop disposables. Hope this helps for excursions! My husband and I did so much I'll just stop there.

I got my hair done at the resort and I gave the lady a picture and she did a good job even though my hair was shorter than needed to do the style exactly. The makeup however, I did not bring a picture. I asked for a light smokey eye, and she made me up to look like a clown. So much makeup that did not compliment my skin colour, nor was smokey eye. Also if your concerned with hygiene they do not clean their brushes and dip them back into the makeup. I also brought some of my own colours because I felt like they would not have darker foundations to match my skin tone and I was right. If you are concerned with these things I would bring your own makeup and bring a picture and maybe it will match. My guests said the food at the cocktail hour was good. My husband and I did not get to enjoy it fresh because of having to take pictures, so by the time we got there what was left of the cold food was not at its best. I would recommend the Tempura Shrimp Satay, those all went and my mom had to put some aside for me so that we would have a taste of everything. The reception food was amazing, but really depends what you choose. For a starter I would recommend the Raviolis filled with Spinach and Three Cheese Sauce way better than our pasta entree By the time we were ready for cake, after the included desert mind you, everyone was too full to really eat the cake. So unfortunatly the cake mostly went to waste. The desert we chose was the best desert we had during our entire stay at the resort, absolutly delicious! Millefeuille ADD Headups: if anyone's a cheesecake lover, the cheesecake is very different from what I know. Maybe they use different milk or prepare it differently, but it is not the same at all! And you can choose more than one entree if you have a headcount of who wants what ahead of time and a seating plan so they know where to place each entree.

Hi KellyKellz, Evangelina (Gina) was my wedding coordinator. On the day we arrived we dealt with Yamina and she is much better than Gina and speaks better english. We had a language barrier with Gina and certain things we told her we wanted done or didn't want done she blatently ignored or just did not understand. Therefore I suggest make sure she understands completly what you want and expect.

Music plays through the whole thing. So we don't get to hear our vows and it is not as artfully video taped. Plus we got 2 cd's for the whole video and it cuts off on the first one just before our kiss

Well theres pros and cons to each. Lobby Bar - in the evening due to events will be PACKED and therefore little seating and the bar only seats about 10. Its hard to get a drink and if its busy they sometimes mess up the drinks. However, since there is entertainment usually in the lobby or the steps of the lobby that is something else to entertain your guests. The lobby bar is also not in an enclosed building so it will be hot. Desires Bar - Its air conditioned, actually pretty cold unless your dancing. Theres a good size bar and plenty or table our couch seating. The dance floor is good and they have screens for the music videos to play on. Since it is a bar the music is loud and sometimes outdated, but the DJ takes requests. Its a good place if you have a group that likes to dance ! Depending on the other guests staying at the resort the bar could have a crowd or not. I was there for 2 weeks and the first week of people at the resort weren't really bar people and the second week of people the bar was always full.

With big groups its hard to get seating altogether and all at the same time. Definatly get there right when it opens. I would suggest Portofino (Italian) or El Patio (Mexican) they are the best laid out restuarants for big groups. Unless you want to do a buffet at World Cafe, then you can definatly get everyone in the same area all together and since its buffet everyone can eat at the same time.

Wow your video is great! did you pay extra for this videographer because mines totally different

Yes I used the sound system. It was nice to hear my entrance music way before the guests saw me. It also helped hear the officiant on such a windy day and with the sounds of people around. I would definatly recommend it. All the ceremonies that I saw at the Gazebo had the sound system I'm not sure if all the beach ones had a sound system though

I got the ultimate package but I think it is included in all packages. We got to see and approve the slideshow a couple of days after the wedding and we got the finished link about a week after the wedding. Anel was our photographer and she put it together. I noticed though that each photographer is different.