Retro Couple

The $15 per person per hour fee really bothers me since most people are only extending their reception by an hour or two anyway and what possible use could the space serve from say 9:00 PM until 11:00 PM? I have 38 people attending our reception, so 38 people x $15 a person is $570 for one hour and I would need two hours, so $570 + $570 = $1140. I know some people have said that Pilar has waived the extension fee or "forgot" about adding it on to the final invoice, but if we were required to pay I would say to heck with it and head to the sports bar for the last 2 hours of the night. Sorry, mini vent there. Maybe I'm turning into one of those rumored creatures known as the groom-zilla. haha Chris

We solved this by doing the sweetheart table and 4 additional round tables. We mainly did this so that my bride and I could have a bit of time together at dinner to converse, as well as the fact that we didn't want people in the bridal party to be separated from their spouses (I was a groomsman one year and had to sit at the main table while my fiance sat with strangers). The alternative to doing the sweetheart table would be doing 3 full length tables edge to edge with the dance floor in the middle (kind of like a straight edge 'c'). I can't remember who did it, but someone in this thread did it that way. We thought about doing it too, but we felt it kind of awkward to converse with people side by side rather than across from one another, and knowing my family dynamics there would be people yelling across the dance floor to one another. I can't think of another way to do it, but there's a lot of smart, creative women on here who may have an idea. Good luck! Chris

I think this is pretty consistent for many destination weddings - ours included. It seems that everyone is an expert on Mexico and pricing for resorts / travel and everyone seems to think that the longer they wait, the better deal they will get. Unfortunately this is not the case for the Now Jade. Our destination wedding travel agent said that the Now Jade is one of the most popular resorts for weddings and I asked her in all the years she's been working at the agency if she once ever saw a wedding party who waited get a fantastic deal. She told me that in January a couple's wedding party was split in half since half the people wanted to wait to get better prices and in the end, half of the wedding party didn't attend the wedding. We gave our wedding party a full years worth of notice and 4 weeks to the wedding we still have people scrambling. We paid $1590 for each person for the Now Jade including flight and hotel. The rates were $2500 in January/February. A couple of people were able to get last minute deals through bookit.com, however they paid about $1700 and have to make several stop overs rather than a direct flight, so yes they saved money, but they leave an hour before our flight and get to Cancun 6 hours after us (the price you pay for cheaper rates I guess!). In fact, I had to re-choose a groomsman because one of them decided to try and wait it out for better pricing and by the time he was ready to book it was too late, the rates had gone up to the point where he couldn't afford it. Luckily I had some other great friends who already booked and were willing to fill in for his spot, but still, it's way easier to just book in advance. Good luck with the outcome, and please feel free to use my examples above as scare tactics to get people on the ball, haha Chris

I tried to calculate it from the bottom up, and unfortunately there was no savings - just the opposite in fact. We have 38 guests and my fiance prefers the Divine dinner, so 38 people x $53 = $2014, and that's just for the reception dinner alone, that does not include cocktail hour, cake, and champagne toast. Plus there's an $800 dance floor cost for the reception I noticed on the additional services section, and since the reception dinner is not included in the complimentary basic package, I assume that charge would also apply. I am hoping that by purchasing a higher package above complimentary we will have more leverage in negotiating certain fees, or perhaps exchanging services we don't need for others we do. At this point though, based on reading both Now Jade threads several times, there is no rhyme or reason as to what fees can be waived, negotiated, exchanged, etc. so I'll just have to be diligent and hope for the best. Chris

I am extremely worried about the costs of my wedding spiraling out of control and a $2199 package turning into $5000. What confuses me the most is that there are some people who are getting fees waived (such as the podium, decoration fees, outside passes, etc.) I also read somewhere that the additional hours of the reception were waived, which to me sounds very reasonable considering that the resort wouldn't even be using the reception space from say 10:00 PM until 11:00 PM, so charging for the extra hour to me just sounds like a cash grab. I don't want to be a jerk but I am going to have to be firm and negotiate some of these extra fees because I simply can't afford to be nickel and dimed and I would prefer to be giving extra money to the actual resort workers rather than to the resort. Sigh. - Chris

Hello again Jade Brides, Jade Groom again, just wondering if 6 people at a table in the Bamboo room is too small? Thanks! Also, still worrying about negotiating with the resort. Any tips? Thanks!

I am also under moderation I typed out a lengthy post asking some great questions and I'm worried that my post will be lost in cyberspace somewhere as it has been 4 hours and my post is still MIA.

Hello Ladies! Jade GROOM here (I know, what a shock eh?). I've been surfing through all your posts here and have been writing down some good notes and passing on the information to my future Mrs! I have to say I am really impressed with this thread, lots of people put in a lot of work and research and it's helped me so much in the planning of my wedding! I have a couple quick questions that hopefully someone can answer; 1. What are your thoughts on the beach wedding? Was it too windy and was there a lack of privacy? I've seen some wedding videos on the beach where people walk behind the bridge and groom non-chalantly or are swimming in the background and this drives me nuts. I know it's a resort and people are there to have a good time, but a little respect for a few minutes of privacy isn't too much to ask is it? My fiance was really pitching me the Pergola but I convinced her that a beach wedding would be so wonderful- sand at our feet, smell of the ocean, etc. and now all I can think of is a windy mic where our vows can't be heard and screaming children in the background. I think I've ceaded that her original thoughts of the Pergola were spot on, so we might look to change it, but was hoping for some info from you guys. 2. Does anyone have any good photo shoot locations nearby the resort? I saw someone posted earlier about some abandoned houses that looked really neat, but there was some debate if they were still there. Can someone confirm? I also heard that the Puerto Morelos lighthouse(s) offer some great scenery. 3. Did you have any trouble with costs skyrocketing at the resort? From what I have read here it seems like there is a hidden fee for everything and the costs of the wedding can jump exponentially. My bride and I have arranged the things that are the most important for us (photography - $5.4k eek) and have built our budget around that. What I'm worried about is getting to the resort and then the costs keep adding and adding. I don't want to be someone who is comes into a foreign country, starts making demands and being a jerk, but at the same time we simply don't have the money to be bleed to death once we get there. It sounds like a lot of these "hidden" costs are being waived by Pilar, but did anyone have any experiences where they had to be firm, and what was the result? Like I said, I totally don't want to be "that guy" but I just don't want to be taken advantage of. We are cutting costs by: - Bringing our own decorations - Buying flowers outside the resort - Using an ipod rather than a DJ - Any other suggestions? 4. What were the funnest activities you guys did while at your wedding? Snorkeling? Xcarat Park? Mayan ruins? Once again I thank you guys so much for all your hard work. It's helped us a ton! - Chris Wedding Date - 2013/04/13