JenniferH114

@TA Wendy - Okay, I know which one you are talking about at ERC. It is rather small, though. I don't think most weddings would even fit in there because of the limited capacity.

@@upstatekj - Thank you! Not yet... He said he was going to begin working on the edits last week. I can't wait!

@TA Wendy - I was married in the beach gazebo at ERC last month and our guests faced the ocean while we stood at what would be the front (closer to the ocean - looking at each other). Maybe I'm mixing up the gazebos you are referring to because I know they have a smaller inland gazebo, as well.

@@Giocivs88 - You can carry your dress on but it is generally considered one of your carry on items, so be prepared for that. Our flight attendants told me to put my dress in an overhead bin and close the bin right away to basically claim it. No one else even attempted to put anything in the overhead bin, so it worked out really well. They were very strict with what we literally carried on the plane. Even with the two of us together they made my husband take one of the items I had so we each physically carried two pieces on. (I was carrying a carry on suitcase, a tote bag and my dress and he just had one backpack.)

@@upstatekj - We did not take pictures at the spa. We didn't give Juan much direction at all because he was very familiar with the resort, and we felt like they were already really creative and taking pics all over with us. We booked six hours, but they ended up being with us for 7.5 hours, which was a nice surprise and certainly not expected but much appreciated.

@@upstatekj - I had Jessica handle the music for the ceremony. She had a few songs to choose from, but we went with Train's "Marry Me." I just didn't want to have to worry about it and it ended up being great. I thought the music was plenty loud. After walking in, everything was a blur - honest - so I have no idea if a song was played afterwards or not.

We did our first look before the ceremony. Juan took us to the back of the property where it's really lush with foliage and very private. There is not a lot of foot traffic back there. The pictures he let us glance at looked great. I thought it was a very nice setting.

@@victoriasalv - We did a symbolic ceremony, but I'm sure they will give you a choice. If not, ask Jessica. She will make it happen. I'm sure it's common, though. Considering we went in not having any clue what would be said, we were more than pleased with the ceremony.

@@upstatekj - The steak and lobster is actually an option on the welcome/rehearsal dinner menus, but she said I could mix and match from any of the options (rehearsal or reception). It ended up being a lobster tail, too, which was a nice surprise. It was seriously delicious. Oh, and the cilantro avocado soup was amazing. Every person loved it. I kept wishing I'd see it on a menu at one of the restaurants, but we never did.

@@upstatekj - He stood on both sides at different points during the ceremony, which was nice. You can have a more religious ceremony or one focusing on love. We went with the "love' ceremony and it was perfect. The wind wasn't bad during the ceremony for us, but for pictures my veil was everywhere! We had to keep trying to tuck it under my arm to hold it in place. For the most part, all of the food we chose was awesome. I don't think there was anything that we regretted choosing, honestly.

@@JaimeCKL - I got my hair and make-up done at 12:30pm. It took a little over two hours total, but I have long hair. Our photog, Juan Navarro, came at 2:30pm, so I actually didn't get to the room until 2:45pm. We had plenty of time to get ready after that, but we were doing our first look before the ceremony, so we wanted to be ready for pics by 4:00pm.

@@JaimeCKL - We didn't end up choosing a restaurant because we never had a problem getting in anywhere. My suggestion would be to use it for the hibachi since that's the only restaurant you have to show up at 4:30pm for to make a reservation at 5:30 pm for later in the evening. We went to hibachi with about 25 of us, so the reservation through Jessica wouldn't have helped. Otherwise, we got in every restaurant within five minutes, if not immediately. I might add that for parts of our stay the entire resort was booked and we still never had an issue. I think one night a few people had to wait about 20 mins for the Lobster House, but the martini bar is nearby so no complaints from them.

You do get the basic honeymoon package.

Angel did my hair and make-up, as well. He did a really great job. They use all MAC products. If you bring your own lashes they will put them on for you. I have really long hair, so mine took two hours total.

I did not use anything that other brides left, but I did leave almost all of my stuff there. I would imagine that the only useful items that were left are the chair sashes, if they will work with someone else's colors, a bunch of white starfish from the table décor and burlap table runners.

Also, we had thirty people on the pier for the cocktail hour, along with the Caribbean trio and our photographers and servers walking around. There was more than enough room.

@@yycbride2016 - Yes, I'm in Chicago. Sorry! I didn't think about that.

@@Sabes44 - Congratulations! We used Juan, too, and we LOVED him! I'm excited to see all of our pictures, as I'm sure you are, too!

@@victoriasalv - We met with Jessica the day we arrived (Wednesday) because we had plans Thursday during the day and our welcome dinner was Thursday night. Everything she had on file was right in line with everything we had discussed, but I also checked in and communicated with her frequently. Either way, she is on top of everything. We confirmed both menus and apps for cocktail hour in November and not a single thing changed. We printed out menus for the welcome dinner and reception. I had been nervous that she might come back and say that something wasn't available or had to change, but we had zero issues.  

@@yycbride2016 - They were from www.weddinglinensdirect.com.

@@upstatekj - YES!!!! He and his assistant were incredible! They stayed an extra 1.5 hours over our already six hour package. The shots they were giving us peeks of were awesome. I have no idea when we'll start seeing some photos, but I can't wait! I HIGHLY recommend him and his pricing is so (relatively) reasonable.

@@yycbride2016 - I ordered a lot of our stuff from Etsy, including the starfish. I love the ones we got and I thought they were very reasonably priced. I was willing to pay a little more for better quality, plus I love Etsy and supporting small businesses.

As a side note, if you are buying a lot, many shop owners will negotiate price with you. I always sent a message first and said something like, "If I order XX starfish, would you be willing to give a bulk or discounted rate?" I think pretty much every shop owner gave me some sort of discount.
 

I ordered my chair sashes from weddinglinensdirect.com. It was $49, including shipping, for 80 sashes and they were perfect! I could've gotten some from the resort but for how inexpensive and lightweight they were, I just brought them myself and opted to have the rose petals included in our wedding package instead.

@@jswllms - There are a few photos in my gallery.

@@jswllms - www.cubavera.com

@@TaraMarie33 - Great story!! Here are my thoughts...

- I don't see a problem with bringing a photographer. Lots of people do it. We ended up not going with our resort's photog and booked a different (local) one, and we are so glad we did. My only piece of advice would be to make sure you really like your friend's work. I know it's a friend, but this is one of the most important days of your life. I personally think photos are one of the most important elements of the day. You want to make sure it's done right.

- We only had a maid of honor (my sister) and best man (his brother), but we paid for MOH, MOB and my SIL's hair and make-up. (MIL declined the offer since she has short hair and doesn't wear much make-up anyways.) It was a drop in the bucket considering how much help everyone had been, on top of paying good money for their trips to the wedding. I wanted the ladies closest to us to look and feel their best, so I knew from the start we'd be treating them. I kind of think it's just part of planning a wedding/budget, especially if you want a more polished look for everyone. It's kind of hard to have a couple girls do their own and then a couple get theirs professionally done. It might be a little obvious, but that's your call.

- Groom and BM ordered their linen blend suits online a few months in advance to leave room for exchanges for different sizes, so I can't speak to going to fittings.

- We brought two extra suitcases of décor and gift bag items. We brought a number of things including chair sashes, cake toppers, table runners, seashells, starfish, menus, colored straws, custom drink coasters, tote bags, mini aloe and sunscreen, etc. What helped was that we ordered custom maracas, fans and papel picado from Puerto Vallarta, which shipped straight to the resort, so that saved a lot of packing room.

@@JaimeCKL - Those sound like excellent choices. I'm not sure if you've been to ERC before, but the only thing I want to point out is that the X-Lounge is right by the main/bar pool area. I'm assuming your festivities would be taking place in the evening, so there shouldn't be as many people left by the pool, but I just wanted to let you know.

@JamieCKL - I started emailing Jessica last June when we were ready to book the ERC and I had our locations reserved shortly after official booking everything. We did our ceremony on the beach, cocktail hour on the pier and reception at Las Olas and I would not have changed any of those locations. The beach gazebo is at the end of the resort, so there were people around but it's not a high traffic area. Also, walking down the aisle to the beach gazebo you have to cross a little bridge and I think it just made for a nice entrance. Las Olas was seriously perfect for us with 30 people. We had a DJ, and the fire and percussion show was performed right in front on the beach, so people lined up and sat along the edge to watch. It was even better than we could've planned. It was hot out, of course, but there was a strong breeze in Las Olas, so that helped as much as it possibly could. The décor and lighting in Las Olas fit with our beach theme, too. Honestly, I'm sure you can't go wrong with any location, though.

@@miracure - Is this a destination wedding? Regardless, I personally think that everyone should always be allowed a "plus one" if they are not being invited as part of a couple. Unfortunately, though, people are allowed to invite whomever they chose since it's their wedding.

If it's a destination wedding, they can't tell you that you can't go on the trip, but, sadly, they might not include you in the wedding festivities.

I am not surprised that you weren't specifically addressed on the invitation because your relationship is still very new (and I truly don't say that to be rude), but I am surprised if your boyfriend isn't being allowed a +1, which in this case would be you.

@@veryvalentine - I did not end up getting any additional feedback. The two of us ended up doing an all day excursion (after everyone else left) through Edventure Tours. It was pricey, but we left feeling like we did a lot (ruins in Tulum and three snorkel stops). We love to snorkel and we felt like the places we stopped we really different from other environments we've snorkeled in, so that was a big plus. We also only had one other couple with us, so it was basically a private tour. Our guide, Edgar, was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I would highly recommend a tour through them.

Hi Ladies! I can't believe that we are already back home to reality. (I seriously already got misty-eyed once at work this morning thinking about the wedding. Not joking!) I will write a more detailed review when I have more time, but I just want to let you know that you (we) made the best decision in choosing ERC. The resort itself is stellar, and our wedding day could not have been any more perfect. The décor setup, the food, the DJ, our photographer, the fire show, the weather... everything was just as I had hoped it would be. Every one of our guests thanked us for picking such a top-notch resort, and they all had a blast at the wedding. Jessica and the entire staff are really exceptional. I'm happy to answer any questions, but as others have said, you honestly have nothing to worry or stress about. I'm so excited for you all to have the special day of your dreams like we did.

In just under 48 hours we'll be on the plane to the ERC!!! I can't believe a year has gone by so quickly.

@victoriasalv - The only additional flowers I purchased are for my sister (MOH). I ordered a smaller bouquet to replicate mine, but in all white. We are making our own centerpieces and bring other décor for the welcome fiesta and reception.