loripanori

Hi Betty, The noise on the beach from waves etc definitely wasn't loud enough to drown out the music... they play the music on a large sound system, so that it ends up being plenty loud to sing and dance along to, but not so loud that you can't talk to people. The music would more likely drown out the sound of the waves than the other way around, so I think it depends on whether you'd prefer the sound of music or the sound of waves. My husband and I are both very into music, and probably would have found it too quiet if there wasn't music playing at all times. We're the sort of people who immediately notice if we're in a restaurant and there's no background music playing. But it's kind of a personal preference I guess - I've heard of other brides with smallish groups not having music at all for dinner, and just having dinner and then drinks and mingling afterwards. One thing to consider is that if there are other weddings at the same time, you may end up overhearing their music since you're not playing any. We had our reception on the North Beach, and there was one on the pool deck that started later and went half an hour longer than ours, and we didn't notice or hear their reception at all until our reception ended and the music stopped. Without our music we could hear their music and the hooting/hollering/etc from their wedding, but while we had music playing we didn't notice it at all.

Yes, I think you will get credits for most of the items included in the package, but the credits can only be used within the same category. So if you cancel the extra boutonnieres or coursages, you can only put whatever credit they give you towards other items in the flowers category. This works well if you want to have bridesmaids bouquets (which aren't included) but no boutonnieres or coursages (which are included). But it doesn't really work if there are no other/different flower purchases you want. If that makes sense, haha. Someone asked about getting a credit for not having a dessert with a dinner - I don't think you would be able to do this, because the cost of dinner per person is just one lump charge, and isn't broken down into the different parts of dinner. I'm also not sure if they let you take a credit for the Mexican Trio, and if so, what you can use that credit towards. I'm assuming you may be able to trade the trio for a different type of musician, or maybe you could put the credit towards the sound system or DJ (since it's all "music")? But I'm really not sure.

Our reception was on the beach, and the only extra lighting we added was the light-up dance floor. It wasn't dark at all - they will set up lights for you at no extra charge, they just charge to use the more fun/festive lighting options, like the lanterns, tiki torches, etc. If you don't purchase extra lighting, your guests won't be sitting there in the dark, so don't worry about that! People actually commented on how much they liked the lamp posts that they set up for us on the beach (which were included, we didn't pay extra). You can see them in this picture that I posted earlier: In terms of costs, if I did it again, I would probably cut out the centerpieces - maybe just have one for the table at the ceremony and use the same one at the bride & groom's table for dinner, and then take a credit for the second centerpiece that is normally included. The centerpieces are expensive, and they're out for such a short amount of time. I don't think anyone would have noticed if they weren't there. I would probably also cut out all of the boutonnieres, except for the groom's boutonniere, and take credit for those as well. Our groomsmen and parents etc had on dress shirts but no jackets, and the boutonnieres were too heavy for the shirts. I'm pretty sure most of the shirts were left with holes, and half of the bouts were flipped upside down on their shirts within a short amount of time. So these changes would probably save a few hundred in the flowers category. I would probably also switch to one of the buffet options, because I don't think we would have needed an extra hour for the reception with the buffet. We didn't have a lot of speeches - just a brief thank you from the groom and I, and a couple of short toasts. So I think with a buffet we could have did dinner in an hour, and then would still have two hours for dancing (which seemed long enough since we had a small group). This would save on the charge for the extra hour of the reception, as well as an extra hour of the DJ (so almost $800 in our case). Since our dinner ran so long, we paid the DJ for 3 hours but really only needed him for 2, which bothers me. I really don't think you need a DJ during the meal - you can rent the sound system and play an ipod, and the technician will turn off the music whenever someone takes the mic to make a toast etc. I also wasn't super psyched with our DJ - so if I did it again I might just make a dance playlist and use the sound system rather than pay extra for the DJ.

Quote: Originally Posted by JustNoelle Hi Savs, Was your final costs including the resort's photography? I haven't seen my tentative invoice from my WC and its stressing me out. We didn't get an invoice or tentative invoice ahead of time at all, but I had our final price figured out almost exactly from the various prices that had been given to me. The only thing I was off on was the amount of credit given for not having the cocktail hour. We also added on an extra hour of reception on impulse at the list minute, but I'm glad we did. I stressed to Lorena that I wanted dinner to move very quickly, and she told me they would have it move as fast as our guests were eating, but it was sooooooooo slooooooooow. Took pretty much 2 hours from start to finish (I was aiming for 1 hour!), and we only had 24 adults. I'm sure it would be a lot faster with a buffet. But anyway, because dinner was so slow I was happy to have the extra hour of dancing. Our final cost was around $7650 (including photography). It broke down roughly like this: $3000 wedding package $1100 photographer $620 flowers (3 bridesmaids bouquets, 2 extra centerpieces, 4 flower girl baskets, extra boutonnieres & coursages, flowers for the cake) $290 extra food & cake $450 extra hour of reception $400 sound system (2 hours - 1 hour for the ceremony, and 1 hour to play music during the first hour of the reception) $1000 DJ (3 hours) $640 light-up dance floor $550 extra costs for legal wedding -$400 cocktail hour credit So this doesn't include our trip itself, or any of the stuff we brought with us, just the actual wedding items we were charged for by the resort. I think we may have been given a few small breaks in some of the prices when we decided to add on the extra hour, like I don't think we paid for the child's meal, or an extra bottle of champagne (for having 4 extra adults), small stuff like that. But we also realized later that we didn't get one of the boutonnieres we paid for, and we didn't get any cake or flowers returned to our room. I was mostly sad about this because they told us to just leave all the flowers and they would bring them up, and so I left my bouquet behind, and ended up losing my bouquet photo charm which was a real sentimental item for me.

We took the credit for the cocktail hour, the original plan was to have our guests and the Mexican trio mingle around the beach bar and have drinks etc while we did pictures. This didn't work quite as well as we had hoped - The photographer ended up taking us a bit down the beach (not far really, but far enough that you couldn't easily grab the people you needed for the pictures if they were still at the beach bar), and so some guests followed, some stayed at the bar, and the trio didn't really know where to go or what to do, haha. There also wasn't a ton of room around the beach bar for our guests - there were still lots of people in the swings and on the loungers with their bathing suits on etc., plus extra people hanging around from the wedding before ours, so a lot of our guests ended up spread out and sitting on the beach loungers, which I wasn't super happy about. For the first part of pictures, we were doing different groups of people (families, parents etc), and it was kind of tricky trying to wrangle everyone and keep people there, because people kept wondering off. So, it didn't work super well for us, but I have heard that it worked really well for other people. I think if I were to do it again, I would make sure that everyone followed to the pictures area for the first half hour (so that everyone you need for the different combinations of people is nice and handy), and then I would just send them all away until the start of the reception, haha. Just tell them it's "free time" until the reception, lol. There's lots of places to grab a drink, I'm sure no one would really mind.

In case it helps, here is an excel file showing the differences between the 3 packages. Package Differences.xlsx

We just had our wedding recently, so I have a lot of the prices handy. It was one thing I struggled with in the planning, so I'll put all the info here in case it helps anyone. We had 24 adults, 1 child over 6, and 5 children under 6 (infants). Ultimate wedding package was $2,999 (no extra tax or fees) (Anything I list as included below was included in the ultimate package but may not be included in the other packages) Photographer - We had package #3, this included 6 hours of coverage and 100 pictures (+50 from the ultimate package, so 150 pictures total) = $999 + 11% tax = $1,108.89. Flowers: Brides bouquet - included Groom's boutonniere - included Additional boutonnieres for groomsmen, parents, etc. - 2 are included, extras were $20 each Coursages - 2 are included, extras were $35 each Bridesmaids bouquets - $80 each Flower girl baskets with petals - $25 each Centerpieces - 2 are included, additional were $80 each Decoration of cake with flowers - $40 * Prices of the bridesmaids bouquets and centerpieces will vary depending on which you choose. * All flowers have 11% tax on top of these prices. Food & Beverage: Dinner - Included for 20 people, additional adults are $48 each. Children over 6 are $24 each, children under 6 are no charge. Champagne - included for 20 people, each additional bottle is $40 (I'm not sure how they determine how many people per bottle, but we had 4 extra adults and paid for one extra bottle). Cake - Included for 20 people, extra is $4 per person. We were charged for 30 people, so they included the children/infants here. Extra hour of reception - $15 per person, adults only. Credit received for not having an official cocktail hour - $400 * All charges in this category have a 11% tax and a 15% service fee (e.g. For the $48 per person dinner charge you will pay $60.48). Music: Mexican Trio - included Sound system to play Ipod, CDs, etc. - $180 per hour (You will be charged for 1 hour to have the sound system for your ceremony, even if it is used for less than an hour). DJ - $300 per hour (minimum is 2 hours, you can use the sound system for the first hour of your reception during the dinner, and then hire the DJ for 2 hours if you like) * All prices in this category will have 11% tax added. Additional Decor: Paper lanterns - $10 each Tiki torches - $15 each Bamboo poles with 12 lanterns hanging - $150 Lights under tables - $30 each Light-up dance floor - $580 * All will have 11% tax added Legal ceremony There was a charge of $500 + 11% tax (so $555) for the extra items required for the legal ceremony (blood test, translation of the marriage certificate, etc). ** One thing to note is that the resort gives you your final prices/bill for the wedding in US Dollars, but then actually bills your credit card in pesos. Either the conversion rate of the hotel and our bank was different, or there was a foreign transaction fee or something of the sort worked in, but the amount billed to our card was about $300 higher than what we signed and agreed to at the hotel.

I had Lorena for my wedding on the 18th, and had the same problem with not getting responses as we were approaching our departure date. I ended up sending an email that I marked as high priority, and made it into an itemized list that was summarized all of the questions I still needed an answer to (because they were spread across a few emails at that point), and just said I needed the answer to these ASAP because we were leaving soon. Then Question 1, 2, 3, etc. That email finally got a response, so you could try that. I also made a summary document with all of the important details I wanted included in our wedding and emailed that to her, and she had it at our first meeting and said it really helped a lot, so that might be something you could do to make sure everything you want is covered and listed in one place. Honestly though, you will get so much done and answered when you first sit down with her when you arrive - you can add or change pretty much anything at that point, so don't stress too much!

YouTube automatically detected that it has copyrighted music in it, so it may not play for all people, but so far it's still working in Mexico and Canada!

In case it will help anyone with anything... here is the video of our legal ceremony from April 18, 2013. This is from the videographer included with the ultimate package. It's still fairly low quality, but I think it's improved a lot from some of the earlier videos I've seen from the resort videographer. No cheesy hearts exploding, etc. If nothing else it will give you an appreciation for how windy it was on our day! lol For the footage of us doing pictures at the end on the beach, we were closing our eyes for a few seconds and then opening them in hopes of getting less pictures with eyes squinting at the sun. Photographer was Santiago, who was FANTASTIC.

One of the things that drove me nuts was the inconsistency in the prices people were quoted... The price in the lighting document I had, and confirmed by Lorena, was definitely $30 per table for the lights under the table... Try to get the lower price if you can! Kellynnrose - I will send you all the decoration documents I have in just an hour or so when I get back to my laptop.

Hi Elsa, Lorena told me the lights under the table would be $30 each + tax. Hi Kerri - our wedding was at 4:00, and we did hair and makeup at 12:00 noon. This ended up working well time wise - I was done at the salon around 2:15, and the photographer came to my room to do the getting ready pics at 3:00. He went to the guys room first and did their pics at 2:30.

Quote: Originally Posted by BettyT Hi, I want to change my reception from the pool terrace to the beach as well! I haven't heard back from Lorena for over a week now and I don't know if I can change it at this point since my wedding is less than a month away. Were there other receptions on the beach at the same time as yours? We don't plan to get a dance floor - do you think I will need to get extra lighting? Was it cold on the beach in the evening? Thanks! Betty Hi Betty, Yes there were 3 receptions the night of our wedding - we were on the North beach, there was one on the pool deck (which borders on the beach), and another on the South beach. The receptions didn't interfere with each other at all, and we didn't hear or notice anything going on at the other receptions. You will likely still be able to change your reception location (as long as one of the beach locations is still available). We changed ours very last minute, I think it was just the week before our wedding. It wasn't cold on the beach at all - I don't think anyone wore a sweater at night the whole week we were there, and definitely not on the wedding night. And it was windy, but there was no blowing sand so that wasn't a problem (I was worried for eating etc). We were really happy with the beach - it had a very unique and special feel. Everyone kept remarking that it felt like a once in a lifetime sort of event, and "when would you ever do something like this again", sort of thing. For lighting they set up all kinds of vintage-style lamp posts at no extra charge. I'll attach a picture. I'm not sure if they'd use even more light if you didn't have the dance floor, but I think they would make sure you had enough light for your reception. It just wouldn't be the same fancy lanterns/tikis/etc that they charge for. We came to realize that they weren't going to leave us all there in the dark, so they would have to set something up, haha. Actually, a lot of our guests commented on the lamp posts that they used, that were included at no extra charge, and how nice they looked. Here's our flower girls dancing before the dance even started... they all LOVED the light-up dance floor. The lamp posts they used at our reception are in the background.

Hi Elsa, We lucked out, there was a wedding before ours (and one after - 3 at the gazebo that day), that ordered the white drapery. Lorena called me about an hour and a half before our wedding and asked if I wanted them to take the drapery down or leave it up. So we didn't have to pay for it! I'm not sure how much it normally costs, but I was so happy with how it looked afterwards in our pictures. I originally wasn't even sure if I wanted it left up, since it wasn't what I was expecting or picturing, but I'm really so happy we kept it. I think they took it down for the wedding after ours!

Whoops, only one uploaded... That's the preview image I have from Santiago. I'm gonna try to attach two more photos my guests took.

A few photos, I can't resist, haha...[/img][/img]

Hey ladies, Our wedding last Thursday was fantasic. We're still in Mexico (at Secrets Maroma this week - amazing), so I will write more when we get back. Just wanted to say that we LOVED Santiago as our photographer, he was so much fun to work with. I only have one preview image so far, but we really had such a blast shooting with him, and he took a ton of different photos that I can't wait to see. We also love love loved our reception on the beach. So glad we moved it there from the pool terrace. We had the light up dance floor but did not pay for any other extra lighting, and it was perfect. There were a few things I wasn't 100% happy with, but I almost feel bad complaining because my overall feeling at the end of the day was that the whole day was perfect. Anyway, more to come!! ps. Not sure if it's always so windy at DRC, but it was super windy almost the whole week we were there. Which is definitely nice to help with the heat, but a bit harder to work with if you have your hair down or wear a veil etc. I had a long veil and it was pretty much out of control in the wind, to the point where we had to hang on to it a bit so it wouldn't be pulled off my head. When we were signing our papers the minister told us to tuck it into the back of my dress cause it was blowing like crazy and getting in the way, but now I'm a bit bummed because for the picures from the second half of the ceremony (first kiss etc) my veil is tucked in! Lol, oh well, what can you do! Made for some great pics with the photographer later on the beach though.

Hi Nikki, We're getting married this Thursday and have Jorge as our DJ. We were late adding on the DJ, I'm not sure if that's why we were assigned Jorge instead of Mauricio, but I'll let you know how it goes!

Hi Nikki, We're getting married this Thursday and have Jorge as our DJ. We were late adding on the DJ, I'm not sure if that's why we were assigned Jorge instead of Mauricio, but I'll let you know how it goes!

Holy cow, we leave first thing Sunday morning! I can't believe how time has flown by. We still don't have a menu figured out - the chef emailed us once but hasn't gotten back to us since about any of our requests. I'm hoping we can sort that out when we get there, otherwise we will probably switch to the buffet (which I would be happy with, but my fiance seems quite set on having a seated/plated dinner). We're also still trying to decide whether to add an extra hour to our reception. The cost of this is $15 per person (+ tax and service), plus the cost of the DJ for an hour, is that right? We have a smallish group (24 adults, 6 children), and I just don't know if everyone's going to be up dancing! If they are, then I would want to extend it, but if everyone is just kinda mingling around and not dancing a lot, then I wouldn't want to pay extra to extend that by an hour. So hard to know.