JenniferH114

@@vanessajfelice - I rented three sets of the exact vases you're talking about for $12 a set/$36 total. I chose to deal with the wedding coordinator directly because I don't like dealing with a middleman (in any situation, really). I'm not saying that's why you were quoted so high. I'm just mentioning it because I got things done quickly and efficiently without using a third party to communicate with the hotel.

I have a couple of pictures of the tables in my gallery (close-ups), but just know that we brought everything with the exception of the tablecloths and place settings. We brought the burlap runners, maracas, custom coasters, mini sand jars, centerpieces (except we rented the vases themselves from ERC), starfish, etc. We loved how everything turned out!

@@victoriasalv - I made the album public for today, but it won't let me paste a link on here. Can you give me your e-mail address?

Also, Juan had no problems getting in the resort. We didn't even have to meet him. He just showed up at our room. He is very familiar with the property and knew all the places to go.

@@victoriasalv - Yes, we did the Gold package. We used the photos that were included in the package for our welcome dinner. I was not impressed... just being honest. The vendor fee was $500.

Are you on Facebook? I have a whole album of the photos on there. It might be easier for you to see them on there. Juan ended up giving us over 900 photos, so it was overwhelming at first. Of course, as you start to go through it's easy to find ones where you think you look funny or something and pull those out, ha! Maybe I can make the album public for today and send you a link? That might work.... not sure, though.

I would HIGHLY recommend Juan Navarro. I cannot say enough wonderful things about him and his assistant, Arturo. Our photos are beautiful and unique. They went above and beyond; they even stayed well over the amount of time we paid for (9+ hours). The pricing was awesome. I am also so glad we added the photo album. I was worried that we had wasted money on it, but when we received it we were both blown away.

I thought Beach Wedding Studios was just so-so. They didn't "wow" me at all, but everyone is looking for something different.

Our guests stayed anywhere from 3 - 6 nights. I can tell you that our guests who stayed for three nights in a "standard" room with roundtrip, non-stop airfare from Chicago paid $2300-2500 per couple.

Ha... too funny! Those are the bags we used.

We were very happy with our food choices - and I was even happier when it turned out that the lobster was an actual lobster tail! - but I was most pleasantly surprised by the avocado soup we had at our welcome dinner. It was seriously delicious!!! I kept hoping I'd see it again at one of the restaurants, but we never did.

Here are our menus:

@@lynne1609 - ERC has a property map available on their website.

Google "Excellence Riviera Cancun Property Map" and you should be able to find it at the top

@@victoriasalv - I know the feeling, and I'm not trying to say that anyone shouldn't feel that way. I was just trying to give a little bit broader perspective.

We got married on the beach. It is not that far. My father-in-law has difficulty walking; he uses a wheelchair almost all of the time. Two of our friends walked him down to his seat and back up. He would not have been able to make the walk on his own, but that's because his level of limited mobility would not be good for trying to walk on sand. He did just fine with help, so it was not a problem.

@@lynne1609 - I understand the frustration in not getting replies in a timely manner. When I was planning, it would generally take a few days to get a reply, but when our date got closer the replies were quicker.

I do want to let you know that there are no wedding "teams" there to handle different roles. The wedding planners - when I was planning it was Jessica, who worked with us, and Gloria - handle EVERYTHING. I can't even believe how many hours they must be working. They handle the weddings, wedding prep and planning, any rehearsal or welcome dinners/events and prepping for those, replying to e-mails, managing décor and setup... the list goes on. They are also around during the events, so they are there all day and then they stay around for your event to make sure things go smoothly. They have a lot on their plates. Not to mention, we only see a glimpse of the number of wedding that take place at the ERC on this site. The hotel is typically busy with weddings.

I'm not trying to make excuses for them. It's frustrating, and I know it doesn't help much because you want to make sure that you are getting the attention you need, but things will work out. I would just keep sending follow up e-mails after a few days if it's a pressing matter. They know what they are doing. Unfortunately, if your wedding is months away, you are not their priority, but you will (and should) be when your date gets closer. It's just the reality of planning a destination wedding. Trust that ERC is awesome and your day will be wonderful.

@@lynne1609 - You are in such great hands at the ERC! I was so happy with how everything turned out for us. Except for being a bit windy, our day was honestly perfect. It was well worth the money we paid (for both our wedding and our ten day trip). Our guests also loved it, which made us feel good since we know they paid good money and took time away from family/work to be there. I had done so much research prior to locking in with the ERC, but I'm so glad we did. Flowers, hair, make-up, decoration set-up... all A+ for us!

I highly recommend going back through the pages here because you'll see a lot of photos and great information. This forum was such a big resource to me when planning.

Congratulations! It will be here before you know it.

@victorissalv - Thank you! Our welcome dinner was moved from the foyer to Oregano because of construction in the foyer at the time, but we were very happy with the move. The mini piñatas were from Amols. Oregano is the outside area near Barcelona and the Toscana. It was nice being at the end of the resort (not a lot of traffic).

We brought one extra suitcase (large) and one large duffle bag for the welcome bag items and décor we brought. It was not a problem at all. We put my dress and other things in the suitcase coming home, and we were able to fold up the duffle bag and put it in the suitcase when we were done with it. It actually worked out really well. Those two extra bags were packed to the brim on the way there, though. We also threw some miscellaneous items in some family members' bags (who are much lighter packers than us!) going there.

@@kathryn78 - I'm not exactly sure what they do about things that have been left behind, but I would imagine they let you use it. You would just probably have to specifically ask for it.

I only had my bouquet, a bouquet for my sister (extra $), the boutonnieres and a small centerpiece for the ceremony table. Just be warned that the flowers outside of what's included in your package are expensive! My sister's bouquet, which was a smaller version of mine was $99.

We did a beach ceremony, cocktail hour on the pier and reception at Las Olas. I would not have changed any of our locations. They were perfect.

We went through Maracas Mexico and they were excellent!!! We ordered 35 custom maracas (three colors), 35 custom paper fans (on the chairs at the ceremony) and 90 meters of custom papel picado for our welcome dinner. It was about $550 total and shipped straight to ERC without issue. I would HIGHLY recommend using them. They are very quick to respond, and their products are beautiful.

@@victoriasalv - We rented the vases directly from ERC. Three vases of three different sizes for each table. We brought the rest.

Okay, going picture crazy...

@@victoriasalv - The seaweed is definitely there. We did not often go in the ocean. Did it affect our trip? Not at all. Perhaps more importantly, did it affect our wedding? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, you can't control Mother Nature and that is just one of those things in "her" control. We didn't even think twice about it, though, to be honest. Also, we did not experience any odors from it, even when walking down the beach.

The tapas is next to the Mexican restaurant and the coffee shop is upstairs off the lobby. I definitely recommend both.

@@victoriasalv - I'm assuming by "left' you mean she's no longer working at ERC?!! That's so sad!! Jessica was seriously incredible. I'm sure they'll get someone else who is great, but she really knew her stuff and took care of things with minimal direction.

Everything will be great... it's just a bummer to hear!

@@kathryn78 - We ordered custom maracas, fans and papel picado from Maracas Mexico. I HIGHLY recommend them. Everything turned out to be even better than we expected. They are quick to respond and so great to work with.

@@victoriasalv - They are key cards.

@@kathryn78 - I forgot that when we put together the centerpieces for the actual reception we didn't do seashells around the bases. We did that for the trial run. I also attached a pic of our cake, just for the heck of it. I can't stress enough that Jessica and the staff are extremely helpful and really took care of a lot of things all on their own, with a little initial direction. She knows what she is doing.

@@victoriasalv - I made our appointments about six months in advance through their website. After the initial inquiry, it's all via email.

@@kathryn78 - We rented glass vases (three of each per table - different sizes) from Jessica and filled them with sand, shells and water. We used floating candles, and my mom had made burlap wraps to go around the vases. We also used shells around the base and then other décor for the table.

@@victoriasalv - We used DJ Mannia and they were so great!! I emailed them months ahead of time and they sent me a questionnaire regarding the music and things we have planned (entrances, dances, etc.). We were beyond happy with them, and they followed our music selection the entire night. I simply requested top 40/upbeat dance music and said no classic rock or "oldies" and all the played was fun, upbeat music - even some old school dance/rap songs from the 90's. We didn't give a specific song list. Everyone loved the music. It was exactly what we were looking for, and it worked well for our group. (Of course everyone has different taste in music, but you can request whatever you want.) I do not care for the cliché wedding reception songs (e.g. Come On Eileen, Brown Eyed Girl, etc.); they listened to my request and didn't play any of those. The DJs were so nice, too.

Thank you!! We are so happy with the outcome. I've gotten teary eyed a few times already from looking at them. Juan obviously chose the sampling for his website, but there are definitely even better ones in full set that he sent to us. I ended up uploading over 350 of the photos to Facebook to share with family and friends because I love that many of them, which is a good thing! I just can't say enough wonderful things about Juan and Arturo.

Our photos are ready!!! Here is a sampling that Juan posted on his blog. He sent us over 900 photos total. Overall, we love them and we are so happy we went with Juan (and Arturo). We love the creativity that they added to our special day. 

http://juanphotos.com/blog/wedding-at-excellence-riviera-cancun-jennifer-and-matt/

@@Sabes44 - Juan just got back to me and said mine should be finished up today. Arturo was in a (minor) motorcycle accident, so Juan was working solo and things were taking longer. I'll keep you posted!

@@Sabes44 - We have not received our photos yet. A few weeks ago I sent a follow-up "thank you" to Juan and he said he'd be getting started on them the following week. I actually just sent a second follow-up yesterday, but haven't heard back yet. While I am very excited to see them, I know it's busy season and it's not uncommon for photos to take weeks. I'm just hoping they come soon!