anniebee02

Hello Hello!!! Thank you, our photographer was amazing... And he is an absolute blast. He is always willing to work with brides and this is all he does, travel and capture your amazing moments! I got my hair done at the resort, there is a shopping area and they also have a spa there. The lady that did my hair was named Cele, but there were quite a bit of brides/bridesmaid's getting their hair done there also that were AMAZING... So no worries there ladies. I did my own makeup, got myself all stocked up and ready, did a few trial ones with my makeup girl here in Dallas and then went at it. But I am sure the ladies there can also pull it off... I would suggest you just have your own product. FUN TIMES!

Yes, we too did the Dream Package. Great choice, you will not be disappointed, especially with all the added features such as romantic dinner on the beach, massages, facial, etc. Also, I am more than certain you can keep the robes they give you after you are married, that say Just Married or something like that on them. We didn't keep them because we thought they were for use there only, but after we returned we saw that our package details did include them, so I would check with your butler because they are REALLY nice! It's those little add ons that you don't think about, but are sweet to have. We used our photographer, that took our engagement photos as well. His name is Dan Dalstra and he one of the most amazing people I've ever met. He works with budgets, payment plans and I have to say does some of the most amazing work ever. I've had plenty of my married couples say they really wish they would've had a photographer that caught those moments you don't think of, and are too involved with other things that you don't get to experience. We've received our photos back and are not opposed to anyone viewing them... Please check them out to get a feel about his services, as well as check out his website. We had rain at our wedding, or else I feel we would've captured many more beautiful group photos, but what we were able to do with the circumstances was amazing. Enjoy: www.annabelandreid.dandalstra.com and www.dandalstra.com I'm just one of those that loves photos and capturing the important moments in life... That's all we'll ever have to look back on and grow our legacy through!

I too think your fiancé is crazy (no offense)!! But this is a once in a lifetime thing, this cannot be left to amateurs or for memory... Guys, they just don't understand. Since you can't open photos on here, how about you find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annabel.marquez send me your email in a message and then we'll go from there... This way I can get you the link to our photos and you can check out everything Dan did... I don't know how much Adventure Photos charge, or if they only do a few hours. I would think they would work just like any other photographer and you'd have to book them for the whole day, but not certain. Dan was $1,800-$2,000 for his services, and his accommodations/flight, etc. was extra. We flew him in for 3 nights (Friday-Monday) and he was able to take photos of our rehearsal, day of wedding (Crazy awesome ones) and we even did trash the dress the following Sunday/Monday. By far, more than I would've imagined... He also took photos of my guests with their spouses, children, etc. to document their vacation. He gives you the copyrights to your photos and your link. I think for his travel we spent an additional $1,300, but that was for the Grand, you might be looking at something less for the Maya/Lindo??

Sure thing! It's always so nice to get as much info as possible from brides that have actually been there. The beach wedding will be amazing, but just be ready for some stragglers in the background... It's so weird how some people just don't care and will stand there to watch. I guess it's just frustrating because they get in your bubble for photos, etc. The beach in Mexico is public, so please make sure to get some photos on the rocks that are closest to the Grand, they make for a beautiful shot... Do you have a photographer yet? If not, Dan Dalstra is absolutely amazing... Let me know if you need any help on that!

@MommyBride14- Are you having a beach wedding? Or indoor one?? Either way, can you honestly say you remember anyone's centerpieces from there weddings?? This is going to sound bad, but pass on those items and get the DJ that's where the fun is at! If you are set on some centerpieces, go buy some seashells from World Market/Dollar General/Pier 1/Wal Mart & then put a nice candle in the middle... Something like that will look great, and with all the glass wear around it to illuminate nicely it'll look gorgeous!!!

Girl you seem to be right on track! Your wedding is going to be awesome, I'm very excited for you. Do you need a wedding photographer??? I've got the best in the business... www.dandalstra.com check out his website!!!

Oh and I apologize, I didn't send mailed invitations, I sent Evite's for the wedding... We already had it narrowed down to who would and wouldn't be attending so we thought this was a great way to save money... We only had 40 guests at our wedding!

@MommyBride14- From everyone I've talked to that's had a destination wedding, and from my experience, the WC usually doesn't start the process until about 2-3 months before. It's a very easy process, about 4 pages of checks, and marks. The biggest part is choosing your menu, if you are having a private reception, and getting them the wedding list of people attending, etc. Other than that, it's really easy... Nothing to get stressed over. Now if you are going to have a DJ I'd request getting that set up immediately because they book up... DjDoremixx is the best in the business, Ivan Gomez- Check out their FB page also!

I wore platform wedges on the beach, but the reception was inside, not on the beach. They put down a carpet like walk path... Oh wait was that because they had to bring my wedding in when it started raining... Oh my, I can't remember now... Sorry! But if you'll have your father walking down the aisle with you, just make sure he holds on to you... It's a short walk, and I honestly think those will be best, rather then heels. Yes, I would suggest wearing shoes to your wedding alterations/trials. I bought wedges that I knew I would wear after the wedding, not fancy wedding shoes... No one can see them and you need to think about the comfort portion... You're center of attention this day, you want to be as comfortable and beautiful as possible! Great luck!

Oh those door hooks do sound very cute! How exciting!!! Very true... You only get to experience this once and you might as well live it up!! The steakhouse was good, but I can imagine ALL of the restaurants are great, Iberostar is just amazing! You know, now that I think about it, if you're staying at the Lindo you might have to pay for the steakhouse at the Maya. You don't want to spend your money on that when you've got great restaurants at the Lindo, I'm just not familiar with them because we never ventured over there. We had two guests stay at that resort and they said it was amazing, so I'm sure you'll be fine. You do have to make it out to the Disco "Galaxy!" it is absolutely hilarious because it is a Star Wars theme... But the DJ was great on the two nights we went there... Tons of fun, but I'm not going to lie to you... We felt like we were the oldest people there, and we're in our late twenties, early thirties... Just saying! I'm very excited for you, it's going to be amazing!

Yes, the resort does allow it and when you meet with your WC she will ask you for them... I think those are one of the items that I wish I would've known because I think that's very sweet. But once again, don't worry so much about all the other decorations for the reception because it gets heavy & costly, and you'll have a beautiful venue already- trust me! Also, for the rehearsal we decided to only have dinner with our family members, since everyone else was going to all be partying and enjoying their time together at the wedding the following night. This gave our families time to really chat with one another. We did have a rehearsal happy hour at the Maya Lobby around 5:30 for everyone to lounge, take some photos and hang out, then just our family had dinner over at the "El Rancho" steakhouse at the Maya. Once again, your WC can assist in getting this all taken care of. Do you know who your WC is? Are you getting married at the Grand, Maya or Lindo?

You will NOT be disappointed, the reception is where you finally relax & enjoy the night!!! The DJ has to be reserved through your wedding coordinator and there is no additional fee from the resort, just the cost for the DJ- trust me you will not regret it. You can always reach out to Ivan through his FB page/website & he'll give you a list of music & some other info... It's good to have that stuff! That's so awesome that you will focus the wedding around you/your hubby & daughter, that's what it's all about! Having a destination wedding is always a challenge because you just don't know who will or won't make it, but please make it about you & your hubby, the rest will fall into place! We didn't give anyone an agenda, we let them just have fun and enjoy their vacation. I'm assuming you'll be staying at the Maya or Lindo because of your daughter? Trust me, you'll make a spot for meeting up & just make sure to make reservations for dinner ahead of time for everyone... I think at those resorts you can make them 2 weeks in advance but you do need people's names & confirmation #'s (from their travel arrangements) to reserve ahead of time, just an FYI!

The light up dance floor is $1,000, but worth every penny of it... Yes, it is an outside vendor but they work with Iberostar so you would pay Iberostar and get it set up through your WC. I think there might be another DJ they work with, which I've heard is really good as well, but I can speak from experience, Ivan Gomez and his team are the best!

My husband and I thought about purchasing a dingy suitcase that we would leave in Mexico, but ended up fitting everything into our check in bag; it was a huge bag. We were over about 5 lbs, but I was able to use my bride charm and have them waive the over weight fee, I suggest you milk it all you can. But I definitely suggest you just take as minimal as possible and make it fit in your bag, trust me when I say that even if you don't have much, your reception will look amazing... Plus everyone will be too worried about the booze, food and dancing that they won't care about your decorations. Did I tell you guys about the awesome DJ we had doremixx.com Ivan Gomez, they are amazing... Just saying... Oh and the light up dance floor! My suggestions are to skim out on the centerpieces and extra costs, but definitely get the dance floor... I'm getting my photos together so you can believe me when I say the dance floor and the DJ is definitely what's important.

Hello Iberostar Brides!!! Well my husband and I just got back from our amazing adventure in Mexico and we couldn't be happier. Let me just tell you that you will NOT be disappointed in choosing Iberostar for your resort on this very important day. Of course there were a few hiccups with the complete adventure, but that is expected from such a big event and a few of them were all up to mother nature so we couldn't do much about them. Our wedding was held at the Iberostar Grand, which is adults only, and we choose the Dream Package. Jessica Aguilar was our wedding coordinator and she is one of the sweetest, most attentive individuals I've ever met. Throughout the beginning she showed a complete interest in our wedding and made it possible for us to add a few special personal touches. She truly gets 5 Gold Stars in my book and she is one of the main reasons this resort is categorized as the 4th best in all of the Riviera Maya resorts!!! It's a bummer that Jessica is no longer going to be a wedding coordinator at the Grand. She has accepted the hardest position in the world, but also the most rewarding, she is now going to be a stay at home mama! When chatting with her I asked if she knew who the new WC would be, but she was uncertain, but whomever they are... THEY HAVE BIG SHOES TO FILL!!! One thing I do want to elaborate on the personal touches, don't go too crazy trying to take things with you down there. Make your wedding parties flowers simple and easy to manage, the rest will definitely fall into place. Plus the resort is just gorgeous that even if you didn't have any extra decorations, it will all look 5 star to your guests. The best part of this package was that we really wanted to have a private reception with the DJ and all the fun festivities that came along with it, plus you have to have a private reception if you want children to attend the party. I will allow a paragraph to the DJ as he was FANTASTIC, give me just a second. My family stayed at the Maya throughout their vacation, because of the children, two others stayed at the Lindo and the rest of us stayed at the Grand. If you are traveling without children, hands down the Grand is the way to go. We had external guests as well that stayed in Playa that were allowed to join us on the resort the day of the wedding. Any external guests are $150 per individual and the guests staying at the other resorts are $50 per individual, and they are allowed onto the grounds of the Grand at 12pm the day of the wedding. The children cannot come onto the grounds until 30 minutes before the wedding, but that is really enough time to get some photos with them and then get everything going. Also, please keep in mind that the additional costs will be charged to your room. So if you do have people staying off the resort or at another one of the locations, please know that you will have to pay the costs for them coming on. If you choose to collect that money from your guests or not, is totally up to you; just an FYI! This package also comes with spa services, which at first I didn't care too much about, but after the fact was thrilled with. Couples massage was really necessary after all our guests had left the resort and it was just my hubby and I. Along with this, there is a facial, and you should really get this done the days before your wedding, not the day of because you don't know how your skin is going to react to the products. Unfortunately my facial had been scheduled for the day of the wedding so when I arrived I was informed of this and it kind of caused a cluster of events, and going back and forth as they didn't have room for me to start my hair/pedi/mani early. I had to leave and then come back about an hour later, for a lady that is already stressed out on this day, it really is important to know when you should arrive and what you will get done, this way it all runs smoothly. With this package you also get a trial hair and the hair style the day of the wedding. My girl was amazing, her name was Celene aka "Cele and she was sweet and paid close attention to what I wanted. The other services were great as well and definitely nice to have once you could stop and relax. My recommendations, get your hair & mani done on the day of your wedding (of course you would've already done your hair trial the day before or a few before). Your facial, pedi and massages should all be done after... Reason being is that those are all relaxing items and you really will enjoy them once you know everything is out of the way, just saying! Our wedding was supposed to start at 5pm, but when the wedding adventures started we heard thunder, and right around 5:15 it started raining. The Iberostar friends know this could happen and they were prepared to bring in all our items and get us set up inside. The inside is right through the doors of your accommodations and it's absolutely beautiful, so if this happens to you, don't freak out... It'll be ok! We could've possibly had the wedding right on time, but the minister was not there on time which caused us to hold off on getting it started. I would definitely suggest that you request a meeting with the minister the day you are meeting with your WC and DJ, which is usually a day or two before. If they cannot attend, then request that the minister be there 15-20 minutes before the wedding so you can let them know about the special touches you want. We wanted to say our own vows and weren't able to because she arrived late, it had started raining so we were a little chaotic and we didn't even know who she was; at first I thought she was a lady coming to congratulate us, not the minister; this was a little frustrating. I chatted with Jessica about this after the wedding and she agreed, this is something she has began to work on and hopefully for your wedding will get figured out with the new wedding coordinator. It was sad that we weren't able to say our vows in front of all our guests, but we decided to say them during our private romantic dinner on the beach, which is another add on in the Dream Package... Ladies, you only get married once and WOW this was definitely a bonus to the event. We had the romantic dinner on the Wednesday after the wedding, the day before we came back home, and it was a great way to end our honeymoon... It did sprinkle a little on us, but we were able to shrug that off and then it was an amazing night! Now, let's chat about the DJ www.doremixx.com his name was Ivan Gomez, and YUP they ROCK!!! Not only did he play ALL the music we wanted, he met up with us two days before the wedding at the Grand and chatted through everything with us. They had this thing on lock, had everything set up, had fun props for all our dancing queens and just made the night. We ended up renting the light up dance floor, and once again I say "You only get married once, live it up to the fullest!" The dance floor was crazy amazing and if anyone needed me, they could find me busting a move on it! I can't recommend Ivan and his team enough, I really wish there could've been a way to just go party with them on one of the other nights, I know all our guests really wanted to, haha! The DJ does have to get set up through the WC, but trust me, this is the DJ you need for your wedding, no and, ifs, or buts, you will love them! We are in our 30's and so were most of our wedding travelers, but we did have our parents, aunts and uncles with us. Even they loved the music and had a great time with their services. They really do cater to any age group and will make sure to have you on the dance floor. We should have tons of photos from our photographer in the upcoming month or so, once we get those, we will post them for all to see. Hope all this info helps! But most importantly, sit back and enjoy your day... There is no other word for this adventure but AMAZING!