MrsSheppardToBe

@@MrsSheppardToBe

 

Hi Jenna,

 

Was wondering if you had any pictures of hair & makeup that you wouldn't mind sharing?? I wanted to show my bridal party examples of the resort salons work so they can decide if they want to go that route or do their own.

 

[email protected]

 

Thanks!

Amanda

Sure thing, I'll send you a picture tonight when I get home from work.

The resort's salon staff was amazing... did 3 of us for hair and makeup within 2 hours and we all looked amazing!

hey jill, congrats!! you're getting married the week after me, but we will miss each other at the resort unfortunately, we leave on the 7th and I'm sure you won't be there yet!  I sent out just little save the date postcards with date and trip info and my TA's email and number.  Goiing to send out formal invites later.

 

 

 

jenna how on earth did you do it for 5000?? our package alone cost that!

Because the weather wasn't very nice during my wedding week, we downgraded to the romantic package for $3100, and then we spent $1800 on the photo/video package

Jenna did they charge you for putting up your decor?  what was there primarily?  The only thing I'm thinking of bringing is paper lanterns with one of those ugly dollar store battery operated faux tea lights inside to give the illusion that they are glowing…did they have a lot of those?

 

Im doing coral and mint/turquoise for my colours (ironic i know…i chose the colours before the resort) and in the wedding checklist they only show a really limited number of bow colours (which didn't include orange…but obviously they have orange as they posted pics from the fushia and orange wedding). did they end up having a lot more colours than they said they would?

 

ps. hows the married life treating you??

The basic setup was white chair covers, fuschia chair bows (my color was pink, so I'm not too sure what all their choices were but I do think they have orange) and they decorated the rooftop terrace with white linen and there was a pretty floral centrepiece on the table where the ceremony was.

You can bring your own decor and they will put it up for you at no extra charge.

Honestly, they do a great job and need little to no instruction.  The whole destination wedding thing is really casual and laid back.. you will realize this once you are there!  I though that I was going to be so picky and everything but the day of the wedding I was lounging by the pool with my fiance without a care in the world!  I was a bride who was really into the whole wedding planning process, but 99% of the wedding planning will really be done at the resort 3 days before the big day.  I felt a little disappointed that I didn't have a ton of planning to do, but in the end it was nice that I didn't have to coordinate a bunch of vendors and everything.  I feel like if my wedding was at home it would have cost at least $10,000, but my bill at the end (including photo/video) was less than $5000.

Married life is amazing!  People say that nothing really changes, but I really do feel different.  Just wish people would stop asking me when the babies will start coming!!!!  Haha

not sure about the iberostar. to extend the reception by an hour its 12 use/person/hour + 100 for the sound equip/hr and 150/hr for dj. Daniel just emailed me yesterday to tell me that.  Never hear of brides being charged to put up decor, seemed like it was the norm - one bride said ana looked shocked that she DIDNT bring her own decor. They could have changed that by now though if everyone was doing it, would definitely be more labour intensive for the staff.

And just a heads up - they have a MASSIVE pile of decorations left over from previous brides.  If you don't bring your own decorations, you can probably look through their huge stash.

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if there are any Canadians out there who know the process for changing your name and legalizing your marriage once you recieve the Apostile Seal from Mexico?

Jenna Im so SO happy for you!! did you have a quartet playing at your ceremony? (I'm so impressed that they played 1000 years).  I can't wait to see pictures and would LOVE to see your video if you feel up for sharing!!

also, how did you decide how to time everything during your reception?  were also just doing an iPod and I'm a bit nervous about when to do the speeches, first dances, bouquet toss, garter toss etc.  I'm thinking about delegating someone in our group to be a bit of an MC.  How did you work that out?

Thank you!  I pretty much just winged it during the reception.  We just did a few speeches as people were finishing up each course during dinner - we could usually get 2-3 speeches done between courses before the next course was brought out.  I had my Uncle MC the reception and he did a great job!  The first dance/father-daughter dance was done after the dinner was finished, and I did the bouquet/garter tosses halfway through the dancing part of the reception.

@@MrsSheppardToBe

 

Congratulations Jenna!!!! so happy for you! Thank you for the details!

 

Some pics of hair & pakeup would be greatly appreciated, if you feel like sharing! I wanted to show my girls some examples so they can decide if they want to use the salon or not.

 

Question did you let them know which songs to play for which parts of the ceremony?? or how did that work?

 

Yes I'm with @@BeeJewell...curious to know how you planned out the music on the ipod, because im doing the same. I am planning on delegating my bro as an MC to intro the bridal party to the reception area etc.

 

very happy for you!

Cant wait to get married!!!

Thank you!!  I made a playlist on my Ipod called "Ceremony Music" and edited the title of each song so they knew which song was for what.  For example - "Bride's Entrance - Bless the Broken Road".  They needed very little instruction and did a great job!

Hi Everyone!

I am back from OCT and am officially a MRS!

Let me tell you that this resort is amazing!!  I am so happy with my decision to get married there, everything was better than I dreamed and my big day could not have been any more special.

The weather was okay... when we landed it was raining, and it rained the entire next day.  I had my 3-hour meeting with the WC (Areli... she was so sweet) and we went over EVERYTHING!  She showed me the unpromising weather forecast for my wedding day, and showed me all the Plan B wedding venues in the event of rain.  To be honest I wasn't overly impressed with the banquet rooms at first, because I was so disappointed that I wouldn't get the outdoor reception I've been dreaming of.  However, the room turned out to be very nice and my reception was awesome!

The ceremony was held on the rooftop terrace of building 17.  It was a beautiful ceremony, they covered all the chairs in white linen and fushcia chair bows.  I brought my own fake flower petals from Michaels and they spread them along the floor where I would be walking down the aisle.  They also draped white and pink fabric along the arch where my ceremony took place.  They played all the music for my ceremony, and even played one of their own songs (A Thousand Years) during my sand ceremony, since I didn't choose my own song for that.  After the ceremony, there was a waiter handing out champagne to everyone and we did some group photos.

I chose the hotel's photographer (Photopro) and trust me, they did a FABULOUS job!  I know the reviews on this site for them aren't that good, but I had a really tough time narrowing down which photos I wanted to keep because there were so many good ones.  They put together a nice photobook for me and my husband and made 2 smaller ones for our parents.  I also had their videographer film my ceremony and he put together an awesome DVD for me!  So impressed!  I would definitely recommend the hotel's photography services for your wedding.

Also, the hair and makeup team was AWESOME!!!  They did hair/makeup for me, my mom, and my sister and we were all amazed at how talented they are.  It was $145 each for hair and makeup and they made sure we were all very happy with our looks before we left, and we were all SO happy!  Also, I would highly recommend them as well

Our photo shoot ended just MINUTES before a big downpour of rain!  We were so lucky!!!  The entire wedding day was overcast, and I told my groom to decide whether to do an outside or inside ceremony.  He had to decide by 1pm which was 4 hours before the start of our ceremony.  He chose outdoor, because that's what I wanted.  The judge was also 25 minutes late because she was late coming back from a wedding in Cancun because it was already raining there.  I was SO nervous! 

My reception was really nice - I ordered the Feta and Balsamic salad, Champagne sherbet, Surf and Turf, and Creme brulee.  The presentation and taste of the food was amazing.  Everyone said it was the best meal of the entire week, and I agree.

I didn't have a DJ, I just brought my ipod with all my songs on it and a guy from the resort played it.  He was hard to find sometimes when I wanted to change the song for the bouquet toss, garter toss, etc.  However once a waiter saw that I was looking for him, he appeared within minutes.  My reception was from 7-10 pm.  The waiters at the reception were right on the ball all the time, very attentive and provided efficient service.

All in all, my wedding was everything I dreamed of! 

If I could give you brides any advice, it's DON'T STRESS about the small stuff.  Yes, the WCs take weeks to reply to emails but they are SO attentive when you are actually there, and that's when all the decisions are made anyways.  You really don't have to worry about planning details with the WC beforehand, other than choosing the venues for your wedding events.  Everything else can be left until you arrive.  Also, as detail-oriented as you are now, you won't be on your wedding day.  I was so stressed about absolutely everything leading up to my wedding but when I actually got there, I was like "I don't care about anything!  My wedding will be perfect no matter what happens!!" And it was, it really wasn't the flowers, the venue or the music that made my wedding special.  It was sharing my special day with my family and starting a new life with my husband.  Everything else was just the icing on the cake.

If anyone has any questions for me, please don't hesitate to ask!

XOXO

Mrs. Sheppard

In 48 hours I will be at OCT!!!!! OMG!  I can't believe the time is finally here.

Just trying to get through this final day of work before I become a Mrs... I seriously cannot focus one bit.

Daniel emailed me to confirm my spa appointments and he let me know that my maracas have arrived!!

Oooh I can't wait!!!!!

One week from today I will be married!!!!! OMG!

Thanks Jenna!

 

I am getting ready to send the wedding reservation form and credit card authorization... even though I haven't had any contact with the wedding coordinators at the resort. Is this the best way to go to get the ball rolling? I know Britt mentioned she waited a long time to hear anything back and finally had to call them directly. I just want to have confirmation of the wedding date, all the other details I am ok with dealing with closer to the actual date. What was your experience with confirming your wedding date?

My experience was a bit different... I went through my TA, who originally contacted the resort WC and got the ball rolling for me.  I was cc'd on their emails, and sent my credit card deposit to the OCT WC myself, and the WC sent me a confirmation of my wedding date within days.

Welcome @@HwesleyE and congratulations!!

I'm glad you're finding this thread helpful.. it definitely has been a huge help for me.

The planning time seriously goes by SO fast! It's crazy.

Good luck with everything!  It really helps to stay active on these boards.. you can learn alot.

Hi @@aborgesbride

My timeline is pretty vague right now..... I know the ceremony is short, like 15-20 min. I don't see the champagne toast being too long... I would think just 15 min or so but I have nothing to go on.

My ceremony is at 5pm, and my reception will start at 7pm. I'm only doing a 3 hour reception. They told me that it costs $500 per extra hour which I thought was crazy so I'm not doing that.

I figure that after 10pm most of my guests will be going to bed, and so will we. We've planned a busy honeymoon day at the resort - we're doing the Delphinus couples dream swim with dolphins!

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I'm using the resort photographer.... www.photo-pro.com.mx

Their packages are very reasonable... I'm paying $1100 for a photo/video package, and they can live stream your wedding online for anyone to watch.

I've just decided to make everything really easy for myself by not using any outside vendors.  It saves a lot of $ and it's less hassle because everything is at the resort.

Yay @@BeeJewell you must be excited! Congrats and good luck with all your planning! It'll start to feel more real for you now that you have a confirmed date!

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OH SNAP!! Thats so exciting!!  Good for you jenna for taking every single bride on here's advice to just relax and trust that it will all work out! (i hope you're still around when I'm 13 days away from my wedding to remind me of that!)

 

I saw those pictures too, so so beautiful ..makes me want to reconsider my colour choices! (coral and mint/turquoise..i know , corney that those are my colours and I'm going to ocean coral and turquesa BUT i took that as a sign that it was the right resort! haha)  what colours are you doing @@aborgesbride?  

 

Ill keep you girls posted when i hear back from ana!

 

britt

That's awesome!  Were those your colors before or after you picked the resort?

So happy for you!!

 

I actually just came on here to let you know that i just called AGAIN as whoever it was that i spoke to on the phone on wed never did return my email…and to my surprise it was Ana that answered the phone, hooray!!!!! So i wanted to tell you two to call right now if you want to get something accomplished!! @@MrsSheppardToBe

ana said that she will send a confirmation email tonight. fingers crossed!!

 

So happy for you that things are falling into place!! keep me posted!

 

Britt

ps, what do you two have as ana's email.  Im just a little nervous because she said she was in a meeting and I think she only got Chris' name written down but not mine and all of the emails are from me.  Would love to send her a follow up email.

Yay!!! I'm sure you will get your email tonight.  Ana is pretty dependable.

I think I'm just gonna let my issue go, and if I don't hear back by the time I leave for the airport I will just book my hair and makeup appointment when I get there.  I'm sure they have my emails...I sent 2 or 3 emails requesting my spa appointments, and I'm sure everything is ok and that they are just going to discuss this with me when I get there.

Things are finally starting to sink it and my wedding is starting to feel real!  OCT posted a few pics on their Facebook page of a hot pink/orange wedding they did today and those are my colors so it's nice to be able to visualize my own wedding which will take place in 13 DAYS!!!! OMG!

I'm just gonna stay calm for the next 9 days until I leave and trust that my wedding will be perfect and magical just as I've always dreamed.  No stress here!

Let us know when you get your confirmation @@BeeJewell

@@Brides2behelper

Thanks.... just out of curiosity what is your relationship with OCT?

@@Brides2behelper

Thank you!  I'm just nervous that I will get to the resort and they won't be able to get me in for hair and makeup on my wedding day.  I just want confirmation that my appointments are set.

I'm glad Ana is still there! She is so good at what she does and she's got some awesome feedback on here.

Right now I'm a little nervous because I emailed them 3 weeks ago to book my hair and makeup for my wedding and I still haven't heard back. I emailed again the other day too! Just want to have my appointments all lined up before I go.....

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It's almost time!!!!!!!    I am at work rihgt now taking a break from dsome major project finishing.  I'll be gonw for three weeks and I said no laptop - deal with it!!

NO LAPTOPS ON YOUR WEDDING!!!!  Haha let your work deal with whatever comes their way... this is your vacation and your wedding!  No work allowed, lol.

And YAY you just made 150 posts Now you can open attachments lol

@@BeeJewell

ugh that's frustrating!!!

Honestly I wish I could help but I'm not sure what to recommend, other than get your TA involved?

Here are the phone #s I have for them: Tel. 52 (998) 287 2100 | Ext 2004 Fax. 52 (998) 287 2101

@@MrsSheppardToBe

 

Yes don't freak out! Its all going to be great no matter who is coordinating! I mean really who knows if they're really gone for good, or maybe he meant they're on vacation? I dunno.

Supposed to get my confirmation today, so fingers crossed I can get it all settled & finally get all the major details settled with the resort...like reception & ceremony locale.

I'll let you know what happens & who sends me the details...I do know that this Sergio guy, had all of my emails I sent to vanesa, so try not to worry!

P.S. are you gonna do your hair & makeup with the resort salon???

 

@@Leslied

You really did ease a lot of my worries though! soo relieved I don't have to worry about what wires to bring etc etc! Getting very excited, your wedding sounded exactly how I hope mine turns out. A super fun party with friends & fam!

Ya I never thought of bringing napkins...duh loll but that's a great way to add the pop of colour....im doing peach & gold & creams.

Your napkins & table runners sound beautiful! wish I could sew loll!

 

have a good day ladies!

I hope you do get your confirmation soon, I remember being so stressed not knowing if I was going to get the date/venues that I wanted! What venues did you choose for your ceremony and reception?

And yes I am getting my hair and makeup done at the resort salon. I'm not using any outside vendors so I'll save a lot of $ on vendor fees and I feel like it's much less stress since everything is at the resort.

Hi Amanda!!

 

For the sound system, you don't need to bring anything other than your ipod.  They had all necessary wires and such.  No stress!! 

 

For the extra hour of reception, I believe it was $100 plus $12/per person for the waiter service.  We were a total of 16.  I didnt care how much it cost at that point in time as we were having SUCH an amazing time!!  It was worth every penny and we have no regrets!!  The waiter service was really worth it!!  They were always around (more than one waiter) and we made them work hard by getting round of shots over and over again.  They were also very prompt with bringing out drinks...it was great!! Im also glad we paid for this vs. having our guests go inside and wait at the bar for a drink.  I think this would have split people up and would not have made for the same ambiance.  

 

For the napkins, my mother made them and also made the table runner.  Our colors were fuschia and orange...my mother made them in fuschia and it added a nice pop of color to the table.  We were all sitting at one table together (rectangular) which made for a nice ambiance.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions...I'd be glad to help!!

 

Leslie

 

Wow!! Im completely shocked!! I really have a hard time understanding why they would no longer work there??!!  Weird!! Don't worry...Im sure someone will pick up where they left off.  I remember when we sent the deposit, I did not receive confirmation for a few weeks.  Then I emailed them to inquire and they sent the confirmation.  

 

I know theyre not too good with the email communication thing.  Been there!! I honnestly don't understand why it took so long for them to answer emails.  While we were there, everytime I would walk by their office (which was often as our room as in that direction), they were always in front of their computer typing away.  Even late during the evenings, they were still there.  

Yeah I know!  Sometimes I'll get an email from them at like 8pm my time, and I'm 3 hours behind them... so it's like 11pm their time!  Crazy!

Kinda shocked that Ana and Vanessa are no longer there... they were my main contact people!

But I will not freak out and I will listen to Leslie and trust that my wedding will still be AMAZING.

Why is there a problem bringing wedding stuff through customs??

@vanessav53@Jennypert

Leslie,

Thank you so much for your review! And congrats!!!!! so happy for you that everything went well!!!

A few questions if you don't mind loll what did you need to bring for the Ipod hook up to the speakers?? Also, if you don't mind my asking how much did they charge you for the extra hour of dancing??

 

Great idea about the napkins at the reception & champagne in the room for getting ready! I think i'm gonna borrow those ideas loll.

@@MrsSheppardToBe @@Leslied

 

Ladies, how long after you put in your deposit did you start confirming details about the wedding with the coordinator, like reception & ceremony location etc.?? Communication hasn't been the greatest & im trying to be patient, but its kinda stressing me out a bit loll

 

thanks!!

 

Amanda

It was pretty much right away, like within days!