danielleesme

Congratulations! I hope today is the best day ever!! Happy Wedding Day! 

@@Wafflesmom, thanks for the hello!

Glad to hear that the MMs weren't a problem! Your suckers are an adorable idea! So cheesy that its so good! 

Wedding planning is coming along...haha, we are ordering bridesmaid dresses this weekend, and starting to order/find decor options. I just found out that we are not allowed to use sparklers, so I have to find a Plan B.

Your wedding is coming so soon! When do you leave? 

@@danielleesme I attended a wedding in Riviera Maya 3 weeks ago and they gave us personalized M&Ms that were individually wrapped. My friend and I were talking about wedding stuff during their wedding week and she never complained about getting the M&Ms there, but I didn't specifically ask about them.

Oh this is so excellent to hear!  Thanks so much for your insight! I am probably stressing more than I have to! #weddingbrain 

Hello Ladies!

 

I am trying to resurrect this thread for the Sandos Ladies!  I am getting married at Sandos on April 22nd, 2016.  It feels like a dream being able to type that after how long it took to get to this point!  

 

I picked Sandos after looking at a million places all over the US and Mexico (a backyard BBQ wedding in our home town of Chicago was going to cost ~$20,000, I decided let's take a vacation instead!). I really wanted to find someplace that was affordable for guests to stay at. I want a small wedding (25-35 people) and originally thought I really wanted Dreams Tulum. Eventually I settle on a NOW resort instead because they are more affordable for guests and closer to the airport.  But I liked Sapphire, not Jade, which is not all ages and we have a 15 year old coming so I was back to the drawing board (again).

 

I absolutely fell in love with Al CIelo and Beloved (lovelovelove) but these are WAY more expensive for guests and since they are all coming so far to be with us, I didn't want to ask for more from them so I looked into "most affordable all inclusive resorts" and then checked out the wedding packages at all the resorts.  Sandos WON!

 

It is affordable for guest yet not dumpy

There are BEAUTIFUL wedding packages (beach, garden, palapa) that are very reasonable! (I'll let you know how that works out...if I've learned one thing during this process is that people love to hide costs everywhere)

It is all ages, yet there is an adult only section

They have a cat cafe where they feed stray cats (my fiance and I are huge cat fans)

Close to the airport and Playa Del Carmen

GOOD BEACH- This was very important since the only thing my fiance really wanted was to get married on a nice beach, and a lot of these resort have not so nice beached, which you find out after reading hundreds of trip reviews!

 

Any other Sandos brides?  We are doing the Turquoise Breeze package and are doing the ceremony on the beach and the reception on the Palapa (extra $200 for beach and I believe $800 for the Palapa).

I am getting married only 2 weeks after you at the same resort! We have family all over Canada, so having a DW was the best bet, plus a reception in our hometown 5 weeks after the wedding! When we had narrowed it down to 5 resorts, we picked Sandos because we like their beach the best. Plus, it is so family friendly and decently priced for our guests. We might go somewhere else more romantic for the honeymoon, but for the wedding, it is perfect!

We are also doing the Turquoise Breeze package and also love that they have a cat cafe! 

I am super excited to have found someone who is getting married so close to my date at the same hotel; a lot of these are a bit dated. Please let me know how your experience goes!   Good luck with the rest of your planning!

@@danielleesme, we have had Brides in the past bring candies as edible favors, and mini tequila bottles. my question to you is,what type of favors are you looking to bring? 

 

Happy Planning!

 We thought about doing MMs, and we found that they can be sent to us in individual packaging. I was thinking about contacting Customs before we actually order them, but the general consensus that I have read is that candy is typically okay, so *fingers crossed!

Thanks so much for the lovely welcome!

@@danielleesme Hi Danielle! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Which resort are you getting married at?

 

I love Vancouver Island. We are many, many, many years away from retiring but when we do, that's where I want to be. My fiance lived there for a year and I loved visiting. Mike's family all lives in BC and we are in the Toronto area. We chose a DW for the same reasons you did.

 

A lot of ladies bring their OOT bags down with them. I've read making sure to pack your receipts is always a good idea. Not sure about edible favours. I'll be interested to hear what past brides reply. We are stuck on favours - no idea what to do. A lot of brides do maracas and I like that idea but my sister-in-law did that so we want to switch it up a bit.

 

Good luck with your planning!

Hello Ash, thanks so much for the welcome! VI is lovely, and although it rains a lot, the temperatures stay close to 0 and rarely snows (basically everyone knows about the "Snow Storm of 96" because it snows so little and that was a decent sized storm for us!  ) It is definitely a great place to live, but we moved for work. (I miss the ocean more than I actually care to admit!) Where on the Island did Mike live?

Chris' family is all over GTA and southern ON, and I lived in Hamilton when I was a kid. His sister is smack downtown TO, (literally across the street from Rogers Centre), and we love visiting!

I found an Canadian Etsy site (I think while going through this site actually!)

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/239071202/mini-pinatas-fiesta-weddings-mexican?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=mini%20pinatas&ref=sc_gallery_1&plkey=3caa3ae58513c3b435672cda9affc66b6ae10d3b:239071202

where they make mini pinatas. I am in LOVE! I thought it would be cute to fill them with personal MMs in our wedding colours? My sister in law did MMs as well, but she did them in etched shot glasses, so they are kind of different? It is hard to find something different, especially with the CAD dollar being so low. Fingers crossed it picks back up! 

We are getting married at the Sandos Playacar Beach Experience, in Playa del Carmen! Where are you getting married?

Thanks for the warm welcome! 

Hi everyone! My name is Danielle and I am new-ish! I have been on here since May, but haven't actually posted anything because most of my questions are answered right in the forums. I am getting married on 5 May (4 months and 4 days! Ahh!), and as I have already used this site so much, I thought I would say hello 

Me and my fiance (Chris) are from Vancouver Island (BC) and currently live outside Whistler. We are getting married in Playa del Carmen, and we are so excited! We chose a DW, because, like so many couples, having family across the country was difficult to choose a spot. We discovered that an all inclusive in Mexico was cheaper than travelling 7 days to Toronto or Kelowna. Plus, this was a compromise from my lovely fiance, who actually wanted to elope vs a big wedding 

Current projects are favours and decor. Did any of you have any troubles bringing edible favours/OOT bags into Mexico? That was my only fear, but I didn't want to spend the money on non-edible favours because so many get left behind.

Thanks everyone for all the insight so far; looking forward to being more visible on this site!

Talk soon!