DinaQtobe

The resort isn't too far from Puerto Morelos. There would definitely be a liquor store there. Walking would take a bit of time so you would probably want to hire a taxi. My husband went into town with his family and needed a large van. It was 70$usd round trip for the 8 of them. I am sure you could negotiate a better price if it didn't require a van. You could save yourself the headache of worrying about it if you order from the resort, but if you plan on going into town you could save some money. If you wanted to go into Playa Del Carmen or Cancun, hit up a Sams club, Costco, Walmart or the MEGA grocery store, those places should have decent selection. Hope that helps! I remember Mega having a large selection of liquor, but I don't know if Grey Goose or Johnny Walker were available.

We were at Now Sapphire. There was no issue from using bookit. I used it for our trip. I actually called their call centre and had a good experience. There were no issues at the resort or with the wedding coordinator due to the fact that we all used a different method of booking our trip. We had 20 guests. My parents have traveled extensively in the Riviera Maya. They are actually members at the Karisma chain of resorts. They are used to a certain level of service and gourmet food. For this reason I was worried about bringing them to the Now Sapphire for our wedding. I had nothing to worry about. The food was amazing, service was fantastic. My parents actually said they would return to NS they were so impressed. I have also stayed at two karisma resorts and was impressed with the Now Sapphire also. Bookit also often has deals where every 5th room is free. You will need to contact bookit to see how this works though. I believe they all need to be booked at the same time.

My guests booked on their own. On our wedding website I indicated various ways to book their stay at our resort. Most used bookit.com, one couple used their own travel agent, one went through Westjet Vacations. For one week in November at the Now Sapphire, including flights from Canada, the price was around $1500/person. That was booking about 6 months in advance. I thought that was a fair price, as it included our flights. I understand how frustrating this is. I also struggled with the cost per guest for our wedding. I was on travel websites for months trying to figure out how much it was going to cost - trying to guess whether it would come down or not, stressing about whether my guests could afford to go. It was stressful. I did get in touch with a few travel agents, and they advised me to have guests book on their own because my guests were flying out of multiple different cities, and therefore no special group rates or discounts. In the end this worked out the best for us. I didn't have to worry about anyone getting in touch with the TA before the deadline, about guests making payments, or worry about any kind of a room block. If you do go with a TA and you get savings from booking as a group, I have heard of brides that use the savings and spread it out over all of their guests that book. They take an equal amount off of every guests total, which is an option for you if you wanted. Additionally, March is a very expensive time to travel. There are cheaper rates for October because it is a low season. Have you considered changing your dates at all?

If you do not upgrade anything there should be no hidden fees. If you have hired a DJ then you will get speakers through them and it should be included in their cost. We did not hire a DJ and the rental of speakers was $130/hr. Speakers are included for the ceremony, but not the reception. As for the dance floor: a space is cleared for "dancing" for your reception, which is included in the package price, and is what I would call a dance floor. The dance floor cost that you see is likely for a light-up dance floor. This is something extra and not necessary in order for your guests to dance (though it does look pretty cool). We had our cocktail hour and our reception in the same location - it can be done and is wonderful!

Can't wait! I am returning to EDR in September for a weeks vacation. Quite excited! It's 4-5 months away but my excitement is building!

Is it the actual flower that you are more particular about, or the color? For me, colors were more important and they made my bouquet with flowers that matched my colors. If you are more particular about the type of flowers, it may cost more. Many flowers aren't readily available in Mexico, or aren't in season and that is what adds the extra money.

Mrs. Roy! You are having a destination wedding, you can do whatever you want! I would suggest you choose a resort that is established with weddings, with good wedding packages, and a dedicated wedding coordinator. These resorts and WCs are experts with all styles of weddings, which means your wedding will go off without a hitch regardless of how much or how little planning you wish to put in. Though I did have a few DIY projects, I left a lot up to the on-site wedding coordinator. Most things were decided on when I got to the resort, and everything worked out perfectly. What you are describing as what you want is absolutely possible! Good luck!

My mom threw a bridal shower for me. Though I didn't really want to create a registry (asking for gifts is a strange concept to me!), I did because my mom had asked me to. I registered for mostly smaller gifts, things that we needed, but were mostly under $30. We did have a few items that were a bit more expensive too. The shower was a way for many guests to wish us well, as they weren't able to attend the wedding. It was so nice to have everyone celebrate. I am very glad that I registered. I have been invited to a shower of a friend of mine that has not registered. She and her fiance both have their own place, and I have no idea what they need, no idea what to get them. I definitely see why registering is a good idea. DW brides should have the opportunity to have a shower, for sure!

I had large tumbler mugs that didn't stack well. I put socks and smaller items inside of them and then wrapped them in clothes inside of our luggage. I put the bags in the front flat pocket of the luggage, which didn't actually take up space inside the luggage. I had to pack and re-pack a few times to make it all work. Good luck!

Yes! My husband had his suit steamed also, which was included in our package. We also had the groomsmen's shirts ironed - $2 each, which I thought was very reasonable! Talk to your WC in your meeting about any of the items you will need steamed or ironed

Both places that I went provided me with a strapless bra/bustier to try on the dresses. I wore a neutral color panty.

I bought the garment bag at the bridal salon. I think it was $15. The resort will steam your dress for you. My dress was chiffon and after the steaming it looked amazing.

I have been to the El Dorado Royale, and it is AMAZING. Hands down the best food and service I have EVER had at an all inclusive. There are tons of restaurants to choose from, you can eat somewhere different almost every night. There is also a Martini bar! All of the indoor restaurants are air conditioned too, which is awesome. The service everywhere at the resort is wonderful. The pools are wonderful and many rooms have swim-up suites. The resort offers bike tours, or bikes that you can take out and ride around the resort. The resort is quite long, so there's lots of area to bike or walk. There is a big green house behind the resort that you can bike to also. EDR grows many of it's own vegetables and herbs right on site! The only downside is that the ocean is a bit rocky, and there are huge sand bags in the ocean. The sand bags are placed to help the environment. (I have noticed these sand bags at other resorts in the Riviera Maya also) There are areas that are fine for swimming, but not as nice as the beach in Playacar/Playa Del Carmen, or Punta Cana, for example. I guess it all depends on what you are used to. If you are not a "swim in the ocean" type of person it doesn't matter to you! If you really want to splurge, book a room in the Casitas - so amazing, much more private and super romantic! My husband and I went to the El Dorado Maroma for our honeymoon (a sister resort) and we were given a few perks (for free) for our HM. We had a wonderful breakfast in bed, dinner on the beach, discount at the spa. I think there were other perks, but I honestly can't remember. We felt very spoiled at the EDM, the most romantic honeymoon we could have asked for! Wish I could go back to either resort! We were married at the Now Sapphire, just down the beach from the Excellence. I walked by the resort on the beach and it looked amazing. The beach there is very nice sand. Lots of lounge chairs! Hope I was of some help! I don't think you can go wrong with any of those three resorts!

What airline are you flying? Definitely carry your dress on the plane. Don't put it in your luggage. I purchased a garment bag when I bought my dress. I carried it on the plane. The airline that I flew did not have a closet. When priority boarding was called we went up to the gate and boarded before everyone else. As soon as the attendant saw my dress (it will be obvious it's a wedding dress), she put it in an overhead bin and closed the doors. She made sure no one else put anything on top of it. She was super sweet, and I was so grateful! Most people were super happy and congratulatory for us. We kind of felt like VIPs! I also put my husbands suit in the garment bag with the dress, so it didn't feel like I was "wasting" a carry on. We had everything we needed to get married in our carry-on bags - attire, shoes, rings, portable speakers. We each had one carry on and then the dress - it worked out perfectly for us.

We saved money in quite a few areas. 1. We purchased our invitations at hobby lobby and then put them together ourselves. It took one evening and was not hard at all. I waited until they had a great sale and got 50 for $30. I bought my stamps in bulk which saved a bit of money too. I did not do traditional RSVP cards, but instead had people RSVP online (only about half even RSVP'd anyway!) 2. My dress - I bought my dress and veil off the rack at a sample sale. I got my shoes at TJ Maxx. 3. We got my husband's suit at JosABank. We waited until they were having a sale on the suit he wanted. We got it for half price! We got his sandals at an outlet mall, again, saving money. 4. We didn't use a DJ or rent speakers from the resort ($150/hr!). Instead we invested in a set of speakers for 120$. These we can now use at our home too! 5. I didn't do OOT bags. Instead I bought travel mugs from Sam's club in the summer and gave those to our guests. Six mugs were $20. My sister personalized them for me, which also saved me money. 6. We used the photographer included in our package. We also had my sister supplement the photographers pictures by capturing pictures of getting ready and the dinner. Though I did buy her a nice gift, it was nowhere near the cost of extending our photography coverage. I know this is not an option for everyone, but for us it saved a lot of money. 7. Decor: the resort wanted to charge anywhere from $80-$300 per centerpiece, then extra for linens, chair sashes, etc. I used the white linens provided in our package. To add some color, my mom made us a beautiful table runner. I had 3 bridesmaids and used all of our bouquets as our centerpieces. I brought down plastic cups/vases to put them in. I bought some seashells from Michaels, and some battery operated tealights from the dollar store. I had the wedding coordinator place the shells and tealights into wine glasses to add to the bouquets as centerpieces. All of this cost us nothing, but saved us tons. The resort is beautiful on its own, it didn't need a lot of decor. Also, when I think back to the weddings I have been to, I don't remember the centerpieces. Instead I remember the ceremony, the food, the dress, and how much fun I had! I hope this helps give you ideas on where you can save easily. We did splurge on a few things, our rings for example. You can see photos of our wedding by going to the gallery on my profile. If you have any questions please let me know!

We had a JBL wireless, bluetooth speaker. We had 20 people and it was loud enough for dinner and just barely loud enough for dancing. I bought the system at Costco. It was perfect for us because it was small enough to put in our luggage and we didn't have to worry about plugging it in. We also loved it because it operated on bluetooth - so we used our phones wirelessly to play the music.

I didn't wear shoes at all! I made barefoot jewelry and wore that for the ceremony and photos. I had a pair of wedge sandals that I wore for the reception. My sisters all went barefoot also and I don't think they even put on shoes for the reception or dancing! You want your feet to be comfortable, and walking in the sand with shoes that are uncomfortable is not a good idea. My verdict: Skip the shoes for the ceremony. Maybe wear them for the reception (and then switch to your flat sandals for the dancing).

I bought my dress off the rack about a year before the wedding. At the time it was two sizes too big. In that year I went down another dress size. The seamstress I went to did an amazing job. I was worried that the dress wasn't going to turn out, but it was amazing. The dress fit perfectly. It did cost a bit more to have it altered, but it was so worth it, especially with how much I saved buying it off the rack. If you buy it in your current size you should have no problem having it altered to fit your future body. If you buy it too small, it might serve as motivation for you, but it could also cause a major stress! But do what you think will be best.

I haven't touched my website since a few weeks before we left, but maybe this will help: http://dinapatrick.ourwedding.com/view/4800763738851257/31110520 I changed it as we moved closer to the wedding by adding the "what to pack" tab, and rearranging some of the tabs. For example, I moved the "Booking" tab lower after the RSVP date.

I would say that 15 minutes is a good estimate for the champagne toast. You will meet with the WC before the wedding and go over this timeline, and they will make good suggestions too!

You could make tags for the tequila bottles with names on them. Give your seating chart to the WC at your meeting and they will arrange all of the bottles in the right spot. I did this for my wedding with one long table, but instead we had small gift bags filled with chocolate. I did this instead of place cards, as I was afraid they would blow over. It worked perfectly.

The bridesmaids walked down to a traditional classical processional song. I walked down with my parents to Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Isreal K. We all walked back up the aisle to "Hey Soul Sister" by Train, as I wanted something a bit more up tempo. Every time I here that song now I get the biggest smile on my face! Pick songs that have meaning to you and that you love. I watched a lot of destination wedding videos online and this helped me a bit.

I am certain that the resort could do this for you. Something like a "late night buffet". It would cost you, but it's doable. Room service is available 24hours.

You are right, many of your guests will be involved in picture taking, and many will watch - they wont even notice how fast that hour goes by! Also, the lobby bar is very close to both ceremony sites, so if people want shade, some drinks and to sit down there's an area. OR, there is another bar right beside both the tequilla and beach terrace. Guests can grab refreshments there. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the bar was already set up for your reception and guests could get drinks in that hour. We did not extend our reception. After the reception "ended" the bartenders packed up and we continued to dance (this was well before 11pm) as we had our own speakers. After that we all went to the disco before it opened. I asked one of the staff to turn on the music for us and they did. It was almost like having a private reception in the disco for a bit before it opened. It was a lot of fun, and it did get busy once the disco opened, but it was a great time even then. I flew with westjet, and they do not have closets on the plane. When I purchased my dress I also bought a garment bag from the salon. I carried my dress through security and onto the plane with no problems. As soon as the flight attendant saw me with my bag, she immediately knew we were getting married. She took my dress and laid it flat in an overhead bin at the front of the plane then immediately closed the bin doors. If anyone tried to open the doors, she stopped them. Turns out there was another bride on our plane and her dress went in the same bin (and I didn't feel so bad about taking up so much storage space). Most people are very excited for couples that are getting married. They were all so sweet. Now Sapphire will steam your dress before the wedding. Go over this with your WC before the wedding. It was included in my Divine package. My dress was perfect. We also had my husbands suit and shirt steamed, and the groomsmen shirts ironed. Everything was returned the night before the wedding. They even made sure my dress was delivered to my parents room as that was where I was getting ready! You ladies have nothing to worry about, your weddings will all be perfect! If I can help ease your mind at all, let me know.

I made a photobook through shutterfly. I waited for a sale and got my book for half off. I then made one for my mom through picaboo. While both websites are similar, I found picaboo easier to use and more user friendly. However, it was easier to customize my pages with shutterfly. I guess it depends on what type of book you are going for. Picaboo also has good sales.