Hey LC Brides! Im actually getting married there in three weeks!! Im happy to see a new LC thread because during my planning I was felt the old ones were a little outdated to be very helpful for me. Here are some notes based on some of the items you've already been discussing:
- Blanca is my wedding coordinator. She's been pretty good, I don't have any major complaints. After we paid the deposit I didn't hear from her until about four months before the wedding. I was a little concerned because I didn't know what the process was and how much they provided, how much other brides brought, etc. Reading the threads on this site really helped me knowing what other brides did. Basically Blanca and LC are super flexible and if you want something just ask and they'll tell you what they can provide or let you know about how you can get it. For example we didn't want to upgrade the whole bar, just the tequila (FH is mexican so the family will want the really good stuff) so we're getting our own locally for a great price and bringing it. Plenty of other venus wouldn't allow this. All the planning is a very collaborative process that I feel really good about at this point. We also asked to modify the menu they sent us and they did it with no problem. I didn't like most of the decor I saw in photos they sent and I was worried about that but Im pretty excited to see what I have planned. Its a little scary not being able to see mockups the way you would working locally with a florist, but I think it'll be good.
- resorts: my guests are staying at Velas Vallarta. The resort itself is the most gorgeous in the marina area and the staff on the ground is super friendly and helpful however I would NOT recommend them for a group event at all. The events manager is HORRIBLE and her supervisor wont return phone calls or emails either. My FMIL is insistent that we host a small welcome event (drinks/snacks) at the hotel and its going to cost a fortune and oh right, its three weeks out and we still cant get timely responses to get the damn thing planned.
Viktoria, you're not going to get a resort near LC (its really isolated) but you want to look for one close to where the boat leaves from, either the main marina in Puerto Vallarta or the marina in Nuevo Vallarta (your choice). I was a little confused about this before I visited a few months back. Our hotel is in the "marina district" and its an easy walk to a marina, turns out even though its technically the same marina, is a different part and not walkable to the LC boat so long story short we have to pay for the bus to get our guests there. Its a lot more expensive than taxis but we thought that was much too complicated to arrange. I don't know about Nuevo Vallarta but I don't think there are even any hotels, certainly not on the beach resort type places, within walking distance to the PV boat. Its the main marina where the cruise ships dock. If you look on google maps and zoom into the marina, you can see Vallarta Adventures labeled there.
- photographer: I asked if we could meet with the LC photographer when we went on a site visit but I was told that wouldn't be possible. I didn't like not knowing my photographer so we started looking elsewhere. On the previous LC thread many brides raved about Photo Shoots Vallarta so we set up a meeting with them. We totally hit it off with Eva and she was amazingly helpful with tips for Las Caletas since she has shot there plenty of times before. She made recommendations to the timeline based on the lighting for the time of day/year to get the best pictures which can be a huge issue at LC. It gets darker there earlier than sunset because the sun goes down behind the mountain and many brides have been really disappointed that their photos were in the dark. Photography is one of the most important things to me so her help was invaluable!! Photo Shoots Vallarta's prices were actually a bit cheaper than the in-house photographers so when you add on the $300 to bring someone else the prices were really similar.
Please let me know if you have any questions and I'd be happy to weigh in based on my experience!