JenniferH114

@Sabes44 - We leave in the morning on Wednesday, May 13th. I completely agree with you regarding Las Olas. I couldn't imagine our reception being anywhere else on the property (for what we were looking for).

@victoriasalv - Yes, we are pretty much all set (except I still can't stop buying things!!) and very excited. I'm going to pack up everything we are bringing for the wedding this weekend so I can see where we are at in terms of luggage. In my mind, we are just two weeks away, since I know the Monday and Tuesday before we leave will be a blur with everything that will have to be done (e.g. double checking everything, packing clothes/personal items, getting nails done, etc.). We are doing a beach ceremony, cocktail hour on the pier and reception at Las Olas.

I just wanted to give an update... Jessica told me that the chef said they can make the cake I requested (vanilla cake with lemon filling and coconut frosting). Don't be afraid to ask for things even if you don't see what you want on their lists!

@KatyMcBride - As others have mentioned, traditionally alteration start a few months before the wedding. Even if you'll be maintaining you weight, which is great!, you could change your mind about shoes, etc. For how expensive alterations are, you don't want to run the risk of having to do them twice. There's no hurry to getting them done.

@victoriasalv - My locations have been confirmed since last summer/whenever we decided on them. I believe that two month rule only applies to the Lobster House.

Yes, there is a more detailed info packet for each package. I'm sure you could just ask Jessica for the cake info, too.

@victoriasalv - The cake options (flavors) are in the wedding package info packet from Jessica. They are the more detailed info packets. She sent me the one for the gold package upon sending her our travel confirmation/info. I'm waiting to hear back from her to see if we can do a vanilla cake with lemon filling and coconut frosting. We'll see. I heard their fruit fillings are good.

@Giocivs88 - I think you'll be fine placing an order in a few weeks. I would suggest reaching out to Maracas Mexico now, so they know you are interested. Then you can get your design in order and give your final count in a few weeks. They were very helpful and replied to emails within a day.

@Giocivs88 - Did your RSVP date pass already? If so, I would follow up. There are 30 of us, including bride and groom, so I ordered 32 maracas and fans. It's probably worth ordering a couple extras, just in case, so if it's only a couple of people you are waiting on you could probably place an order.

@Giocivs88 - We did a mix of starfish and palm trees using three different colors total (two colors per maraca) and then all the custom writing. They were $5 each. Shipping to the resort for our whole order is $100. They do recommend ordering two months in advance, just FYI.

@Smellsey - I think you put the information out there for the boat tour and require some sort of RSVP from people. That way you will know for certain (or at least closer to it). You may be surprised to find that some people just don't like going on boats and others may not want to take the time away from their day because they would prefer to do other things. Then again, everyone may end up saying yes, but at least you'll know.

@victoriasalv - We ordered maracas, sandal fans and papel picado (for the welcome party, which is a fiesta theme) from Maracas Mexico out of Puerto Vallarta. They will ship everything right to Jessica at the resort. http://www.maracasmexico.com/

@victoriasalv - We are giving out welcome/gift bags at the welcome party. We ordered (from Mexico) custom paper fans for the ceremony (will be on the chairs) and custom maracas for the reception (will be on the plates). I think it's totally personal preference. Some people don't even do welcome bags.

@victoriasalv - Thanks! You, too.

@victoriasalv - We discussed and decided that we are not exchanging gifts. We just bought a house about a week ago, and we have a goldendoodle puppy coming our way the week after we return from the wedding. We are thinking of the puppy as a joint gift.

I can't believe we leave three weeks from tomorrow!!! Ahhh! We are staying for ten nights. Our guests are staying for a range of three nights to six nights. We aren't really thinking of this as a traditional honeymoon since we travel often; it's more like a regular vacation (except for the whole wedding part ). That's why we welcomed our guests/friends to stay as long as they want and we aren't changing resorts. So, my mom has been like another MOH for me (along with my sister), so I got them both Kate Spade tote bags and a pair of Toms. I'm getting my mom and future mother-in-law a custom mother of the bride/groom ceramic ring dish (Etsy). I bought my sister's jewelry for the wedding. I might pick up a couple of other small things for them. I'm getting my step-dad a custom hammer (Etsy)... sounds funny but it's really cute and fitting since he's a carpenter. I'm going to leave the father of the groom up to my fiancé, but I'm guessing something to do with beer (ha!)... glasses or something. The guys were going to go golfing (since we didn't do bachelor/bachelorette parties), but it was going to end up costing close to $300/person with transportation, greens fees, club rental, etc., so they decided against it. We are not paying for any excursions for our guests. Because of the varied time frames it would be too hard to plan, plus it would just be very expensive (over $3000 for 30 people). We are surprising everyone - even our families - with the private fire and percussion show. No one knows about except for us. We also put quite a few things in the OOT/gift bags. About seven of us girls are swimming with the dolphins on Thursday morning, and then we'll be doing an excursion ourselves after everyone leaves.

@victoriasalv - Welcome and congratulations! I think you'll find that this site is such an incredible resource. It has been such a huge help. We are doing a symbolic ceremony, but I still don't know much about what will be said, etc. Ha! We just plan to go with the flow. In regards to the legal ceremony, I have read multiple places that they do put a lot of emphasis on the signing of the documents. It's basically the most important part. We are doing a welcome dinner, but with a sit-down dinner and two hour open bar. Originally I had chosen Garibaldi Square, but after a site visit in November, I quickly changed the location. Of course, everyone has different preferences and opinions, but after seeing it in person I just felt like we would've felt squished in the back corner of the resort. I also didn't like the layout of the area for a sit down dinner. It might work/flow much better for standing apps and drinks. We moved it to the foyer because I loved the ocean view from there, but now, as of this past week, we had to switch to Oregano due to construction in the foyer. We sent our STDs July 2014 and invites in early December 2014 with an RSVP date two months before the wedding date. I figured most people will know if they are able to go on a trip by two months ahead of time, and that gave us time to have numbers for ordering certain things we had left on our list. Most of the "major" planning and decisions were done by December. Since then we have just been wrapping up gift bag items and decorations. Also, we booked an outside photographer and put our deposit down with him in July 2014. Jessica has been a huge help, so don't be afraid to ask her questions. It is typical for responses to take a few days, but I have noticed as my wedding is approaching I am getting responses within a day or so. A year will FLY by!! I cannot believe we are exactly four weeks from heading to the ERC. Enjoy planning and feel free to ask away! All of the girls here have been great!

@@LaurenC3432 - Everything we ordered came in waaayyy ahead of schedule, including my dress which came in about 6-8 weeks early!

@@Shaylala - We are getting married in Riviera Maya. Our guests are paying about $2400 for three nights and the other half of the group that's staying longer (about six nights) is paying around $3300. This is with nonstop airfare from Chicago. Our resort is adults only and highly rated, so that adds a premium.

@@Sabes44 - From what I have read, the ERC is not a resort that expects guests to tip for day-to-day services, though I'm sure it is welcomed when/if you find it appropriate. I'm referring more to the wedding itself... the DJ? Jessica? Servers? Photographer? I guess I will just plan to have cash on hand for tips and see how the service is and how the night goes?? It's a tough one...

Hey Ladies! I know this has been discussed before somewhere on this thread, but what are you guys planning in terms of tipping? Not necessarily exact amounts, which can be hard to determine in advance, but, in general, who are you planning to tip? I'm kind of stumped on this one. I think I recall someone saying before that Jessica didn't want a tip?! (Not 100% sure, though!) I'm not trying to be cheap about it, but I also feel like we are paying a pretty penny for certain things, so I don't want to go overboard either.

@@misbosox - If you are getting married at the resort, even if symbolic, that should be sufficient for the honeymoon package. We are not bringing our marriage license; we just automatically get the honeymoon package. That would be crazy if you went through all of that with the resort and still had to show a legal marriage license!

@victoriasalv - I did not send a separate invite for our welcome party because I just didn't think it was necessary/thought it would be too much. We mentioned it to a lot of people in conversation. Coincidentally, I also just sent an email to everyone this morning with some additional details and put the info in the email, along with mention of dress codes at dinner and a very, very brief wedding day agenda (ceremony... cocktail hour... reception... and locations of each).

@jabbott - I'm not sure if you are planning to get married at a resort, but, if so, most resorts provide you with a wedding coordinator at no additional cost. Good luck with your planning!

@SusanMarie813 - It's not Expedia or Orbitz, per se, it's the resorts. The websites are just being forced to move their bookings. They aren't doing that "just because." We did use a TA for our wedding, but, otherwise, we always book through Travelocity (because the prices can't be beaten) and - knock on wood - we have never had an issue. That being said, it doesn't make the situation any less of a nightmare to deal with. I'm sorry to hear that it happened and I hope you are able to get it resolved.