JenniferH114

@@smileitseb - Oh my gosh!! I put in the name wrong! Can you please tell me how you addressed your payment? I'm confused by all of these names!

@acw271011 - Yes, it's because the fees on PayPal are super high. I was told PayPal was charging a 10% fee for clients and then also charging an additional 16% fee on their end. I'm guessing the fees are higher because it's a foreign transaction.

@smileitseb - I had to argue with MoneyGram, but they sent the payment. Fingers crossed now!!!

@@acw271011 - Thanks for the info! @@smileitseb - Blanca got back to me. We are going to try submitting the payment one more time. If it gets denied again we'll move on. I really have a heart set on what we ordered!!

I stayed at the Majestic Elegance (Elegance Club) last year. The grounds were very nice. The food was decent but hit or miss. One night we accidentally ate on the Colonial side bc we were so turned around and the food at the Mexican restaurant was horrendous!! We talked about how bad it was the rest of the trip. If you can, stay on the Elegance side bc it's a step up so you get access to both resorts, but technically the Colonial side does not get access to the Elegance side. The Elegance Club was definitely worth it, too, but it's adults only.

@smileitseb - I think they are fine, too. I never got a "scam" impression. I wasn't saying that to try and worrry you! We had to answer some questions, but once they heard that we have never met them in person and the payee is "Maria Concepcion" and we have not communicated with her, they gave us the lecture and said no-go. They also said that if it's a company, they should have an account setup through MoneyGram and they don't. I am really sad because I LOVE our designs, but with this roadblock, I'm thinking we will order custom papel picado from Etsy, since it'll be easy to pack, and I'm working on getting a custom maraca quote from our resort's preferred vendor. Oh, and Western Union's fees were really high, so we didn't try them.

@smileitseb - So, I was originally promoting them to other brides, ha!, but we have now run into an issue, and I think we have to go with a plan b. Our order was all set, and we went to make our payment through MoneyGram this morning, but MoneyGram red-flagged it. So, then we has to call MoneyGram, and they basically lectured us saying that this has fraud written all over it and they denied the payment. I checked with our resort and they have received shipments from them before (but they don't guarantee anything since they aren't a preferred vendor), so I honestly don't think get the impression that it's a scam, but now I don't know how we'd pay them even if we wanted to! How did you guys send your payment??

@IzzyDeee - So, this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I don't think the situation is as serious as it's being made out to be. I'm not going to say you are overreacting, because emotions are hard to control and you feel how you feel. I just think that too often brides get hung up on me, me, me. I'm speaking generally now, not just about you. Yes, this is "our" day and we should feel special, but sometimes it's important to take a step back and realize that not everyone will be as enthusiastic about your wedding and wedding events as you are, and that's okay. I specifically told everyone that we are not having a shower or bachelor/bachelorette party because people coming on the trip is celebration enough for us, and we couldn't imagine asking for additional gifts. That is obviously a personal decision that we made, and I'm not saying that choosing to have those events is wrong, but sometimes people don't realize just how much they are asking of someone. All of these events add up in time and money. Just because someone "signs on" to be a bridesmaid shouldn't necessarily mean they are contractually obligated to be at every event you ask them to attend. I completely understand being upset and hurt because she is a close friend of yours, but there is likely something more to it. Having to drive 2.5 hours is not the end of the world, but for some people that's a hefty round trip to make multiple times. If she booked her trip and already paid in full, I would try to focus your energy on being grateful for that. She will be there to support you on the day the matters most. I'm really not trying to put you down in saying this. I'm just trying to offer a different perspective.

Has anyone ordered goods through Maracas Mexico out of Puerto Vallarta? If so, did everything go smoothly? Basically, I'm trying to confirm that they are a legit company.

@Jocelyn73115 - It's all personal preference, of course, but I would not want to plan the honeymoon portion before because I would probably be thinking about the wedding and getting everything in order the whole time. Even though everything will basically be done/ready, there would still be an element of stress involved for me, personally. For that reason, I feel like I might not fully enjoy it. For us, we travel quite a bit so we aren't really looking at our trip as a honeymoon. We will have some days alone during our ten days there, but we're looking forward to hanging out with friends and family. I definitely understand the desire to have some alone time, though. It'll work out!

@purplekitten - I'm sure you don't want to start to an argument with your WC, but I would certainly address your concerns and, perhaps, even be a little stern on the fact that if you don't start getting answers in a reasonably timely manner and/or better customer service you want to speak to a manager at the resort about getting the fee for an outside vendor waived. Again, this depends on your comfortability level, but at the end of the day it's still your wedding and you are still the one paying for service.

Southwest has direct international flights out of Chicago. I can't speak for other cities, though.

@@upstatekj - Funny! We are actually planning on having the DJ play VSQ during dinner. They're great! I ordered a smaller, all white version of my bouquet (BB-32, I think) for my sister/MOH and it's $95.

@@Giocivs88 - Jessica said, "You have included a sound system during the ceremony you can bring your own music in an ipod and my staff will play it."

@@Sabes44 - Ahhh! It's pretty crazy that we leave seven weeks from today! Honestly, most of the items are checked off of the list. There are a few more things to tie up but nothing really major. I think it'll help once we start packing everything up, which I'm sure we'll start to do a couple weeks before. How are things going for you? You're right around the corner, too! I know it's been asked before, but I still have not decided what to do for ceremony music. I was thinking maybe just quietly play some mellow caribbean tunes for the whole ceremony?? I honestly just want it to be simple. I was hoping I wouldn't have to worry about this at all, but oh well.

@hellosassypants - I'm so sorry that happened. How horrible! Southwest has some of the lowest fares from the US and you get two checked bags free. I love Southwest. Good luck!

@@Sabes44 - It's not a lobster tail, but it's on the private rehearsal dinner menu options. She said I could pick and choose between both sets of menu options for either event. I thought steak and lobstek would go over better at the wedding reception. Also, I don't eat fish (except shrimp and lobster). Jessica said I couldn't mix and match entree proteins,so I chose the one with the fish for the welcome dinner. I really would've prefered to have done a chicken and shrimp option, but there are none.

@Giocivs88 - Jessica will let you choose two options for dinner but you have to give her the total counts ahead of time and then you'll need assigned seating so they know who gets what. I was going to do that at first but then decided against it because I didn't want to deal with it. We mixed and matched from the menus and chose the steak & lobster for our main course. For the welcome dinner we are doing the chicken and salmon as the main course. Here are our two menus:

I know I mentioned this a bunch of times before, but we are making our own (three total). We are bringing everything except for the vases, which we are renting for $4 each. We also have burlap runners, starfish, custom drink coasters, colored straws for drinks, custom menus and custom maracas, which will all add to the decor.

@@Sabes44 - I can't say for sure, but most resorts do not serve bottles because of safety concerns. They break too easily and there would likely be glass all over the beach and near pools. In other news, I decided I'm going with BB-32 for my bouquet and then I'm getting a smaller version of that bouquet in all white for my sister (MOH) who will be wearing a fuchsia dress. Her bouquet is $95usd. Also, the resort will hang our papel picado for the welcome party for $50usd. I just like mentioning prices I'm told because I know there have been some discrepancies in the past!

@CaroV - I do have the entertainment price list if you want to give me your email address I can send them to you. The general wedding package information is available on the website and it is accurate. The only "perk" they offer is $850 off any wedding package if you book the Excellence Club for 7 nights or if you have 5 rooms of any category booked for at least 7 nights. We booked the Excellence Club. Hopefully these links work... http://www.excellence-resorts.com/weddings-romance/weddings/packages-and-promotions?phpMyAdmin=vexSgyLRpncstaZE74-dT3d-yfe http://www.excellence-resorts.com/media/EG_Fact%20Sheet%20Weddings_3730.pdf Jessica Moreno is our wedding coordinator and she is awesome!! It is typical for responses to take a couple days, but now I am used to it and she has always answered every question and confirmed every request. We locked in most of our decisions in November/December, so we've been pretty set on the resort end of things. I still have questions that come up, though, and she has been really helpful. More recently I asked for our current invoice and everything matched up perfectly to a spreadsheet I have been keeping, so they are on top of things. Flowers are included in the packages and you can pay additional for upgraded bouquets. The gold package includes a band for about an hour, which we are using during our cocktail hour. The DJ is $1300 for four hours. We are bringing all of our own decor, but they do include a couple of things but you would have to ask about specific ideas you have.

@CaroV - We were impressed with ERC during our site visit, but I haven't been to EPM so I can't comment much on it other than saying I've heard it's awesome and people have their preference for various reasons. I am rather picky and we have traveled quite a bit, so I have plenty to compare to. There is seagrass at the beach from what I've heard, but it's cleaned frequently and I'm not concerned one bit in terms of pictures. In doing research on the resort, I googled lots of professional wedding photographers' portfolios for weddings at different resorts, particularly ERC. I think it gives a much more realistic expectation of what to expect on your day. I've never noticed seagrass in any of their pictures, especially because of where the beach ceremony gazebo is located. Overall, I think the beach area is very nice and quite large. The wedding gazebo is at the end of the resort, which I really like. It's not right in the middle of the beach where all the traffic is. I haven't heard anything significant regarding the resort being dated. It's definitely not resort with super modern decor, though. They also just did a number of improvements starting this past September and finished more recently. Everyone has their own preferences in terms of resorts. We liked the style of the ERC, but that's not to say that EPM isn't awesome either. I've heard and continue to hear wonderful things about both. I still actually read reviews of ERC from time to time just to keep myself in the loop. We are doing the Gold package, which is the best option available, and it's $45 per additional guest over 20 people, but that covers everything included (ceremony, cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres and four hour reception with five course meal). We also added a DJ, hired a private fire and percussion show, and hired an outside photographer. Even with all of that, I think we are getting a lot for the price. ERC (and I'm sure EPM) really includes a lot in their packages in my opinion, and as compared to what I've heard from other brides (being charged for chairs and napkins?!?! crazy!). There is no nightlight nearby. Playa del Carmen and Cancun are both car rides away (about 30 mins). That wasn't a concern for us, though. The dance club did turn into a sports bar, but it is still open until 1am. Of course, everyone has different wants and needs so it's important to know what things are most important to you. We knew we wanted a higher end, adults only resort in a location that our guests could fly to non-stop from Chicago. Price was also important. Some of our guests are paying $2500 for three nights per couple, and that was the most we felt comfortable asking people to pay. (We have a number of other guests staying longer but that was their choice - six nights was in the $3200 range.)

@smileitseb - Just an FYI, most resorts do not serve beer in bottles. Those ponchos are so cute. I just wanted to mention it in case the intention was for people to use them at the resort.

@@CaroV - Check out the Excellence Riviera Cancun. I'm obviously partial because we are getting married there in about two months. We did a site visit at the end of November and we were so impressed, so we are confident we made a great decision. It's adults only and it's a higher end resort, so travel packages won't be as inexpensive as some other places, but you'll have to figure out what price range you are looking for. In terms of the wedding, I've read a lot of different posts on here and I feel like we are getting an AWESOME deal in terms of everything we are getting and added to our package. I cannot speak to how large of a party they will accept, but I do know that every person over 20 is an additional pp cost. If you have more specific questions, let me know. Good luck!

We never had to put down a deposit. Our payment is due when we meet and confirm everything with our WC.