Wedding Coordinator/Communication

Dennise was our wedding coordinator, and I had been emailing with her for about one to two months leading up to the wedding, settling all of the details for our big day.  She answered all of my questions, always within a few days.  She provided an Adventure Weddings PDF and a Word document with questions, and we replied back and forth in the Word document.  We were pretty easy going on what we wanted, but I think if you have specific ideas, they would be able to meet them for you, no worries.  Everything at our wedding turned out amazing!

We got into Puerto Vallarta late Saturday afternoon, with our wedding set for the following Wednesday.  Dennise came to our resort, the Barcelo PV, to meet with us the day before the wedding, which I thought was a really nice touch.  I had prepared a list of questions as well as a bag with some things to give her.  She took that and gave it to the other coordinator, Blanca, who met us at the marina the next morning.  Dennise also had a package prepared with a list of things to bring for spending the day at Las Caletas as well as a very detailed timeline for the wedding day, which was great to share with the ladies going over early as well as our photographer.

Overall, our experience with Dennise was great.  She checked in with us a lot throughout the wedding day to make sure that we had everything that we needed.  There may have been some times early on in the planning where it took a while to receive a response, but when it came to crunch time, she was wonderful!

Wedding Day Transportation

I went over early with my mom and two aunts, since we didn’t have a wedding party.  We took a taxi to the marina and Blanca was there to greet us.  She helped us hang up my dress and store our bags on the boat and when we arrived at Las Caletas she had someone take it all up to the bridal casita for us.  The boat ride over was great, as was the return.  They had juice, coffee, tea, fruit and pastries for us on the way over, and an open bar and music on the boat ride back.

Brad came over with our friend/photographer and his wife, with the crew from La Boca.  They arrived early, after my hair and makeup were done.  We did not do a site visit to Las Caletas beforehand, so we didn’t have to pay extra for them to come over. 

Relaxing at the Bridal Casita

We hung out at the casita and went down to the beach for a swim during the morning – it was crazy to think that this beach full of people would be where our wedding was taking place a few hours later!!  My aunt and I went for a half an hour massage at noon.  It was a great way to relax! 

Everything is built into the hill, and I know some girls had mentioned that it’s a bit of a hike to the top, so I was prepared to be exhausted but it really wasn’t that bad (though I’m sure it’s a different story with the weather in July!).  I even made out fine climbing up in my wedding dress after doing pictures!  By the time we showered after our massages and were ready to go for lunch, the hair/makeup guy had arrived.  I came back from lunch and had a nap in the hammock out back while Jamil did my mom’s hair.

Hair and Makeup

Jamil, who was with Joel Salon in PV, was arranged through Dennise and did both my hair and makeup.  He did not really copy my pictures at all, but I was unbelievably happy with the result!  He really knew what he was doing, I wouldn’t change a thing!  I had wanted to have my hair half up, half down, and over my left shoulder, but I am SO glad that Jamil put it all the way up.  It was ridiculously hot and sweaty when dancing, and I know that my hair would’ve bothered me if it was down.  My makeup was seriously bullet proof, even through the tears and the sweat!  It was expensive, but I would do it again in a heartbeat!

On a side note, I got eyelash extensions done, and while they were great, I wouldn’t have them done again.  Jamil had fake eyelashes that I could’ve used and spared myself the expense and care and maintenance of my eyelashes.  However, take that with a grain of salt as I also hated the gel/acrylic nails that I got put on for the wedding.  I think I’m more of a simple girl and I like to feel like me!  I’d do the nails again, because they looked fab for the wedding!

Pre-Ceremony/First Look Pictures

We did a first look at the bridal casita, which I would recommend.  Brad stood with his back to the window and I came up behind him (from inside) and he turned around to see me in the window.  Then I came outside and we hugged, with pictures being taken the whole time.  We went down to the beach for more pictures, where they were already setting up for the wedding!  

By the time we were done, the rest of the group was arriving, so Brad and our photographer went down to meet them.  I waited in the casita alone for a bit before we were ready to go, which was actually quite nice!

Staff

The staff was excellent!  They, too, made sure that we had everything that we needed/wanted throughout the day.  Blanca was very friendly and helpful as was everyone else that was around.  I don’t remember seeing them too much throughout the evening, to be entirely honest! 

Flowers

Our colours were yellow and blue.  I sent Dennise a picture of a bouquet of yellow lilies I quite liked and they made my bouquet with yellow lilies and yellow roses to fill in underneath.  It was beautiful!  The accents that we had, including the boutonnieres and the flowers on the chuppa, were all done in yellow lilies and other yellow flowers as well.  It was perfect!  I had told Dennise tropical flowers were fine for the centerpiece and accents, but they did lilies and I think it looked great done in yellow and lilies.  It tied it all together very nicely.

Ceremony/Minister

Chui had emailed us the week before the wedding with options for the ceremony.  He rode over in the boat with Brad and came right up to introduce himself to me when they got there.  He did a great job with the ceremony.  We had him read a welcome, we did our own vows, the sand ceremony, signing of the certificate, a family blessing and then he introduced us as Mr. & Mrs.!!  A language barrier is to be expected a bit, and it wasn’t too bad, except that the staff (and Chui!) kept introducing us as Mr. & Mrs. Myers (instead of Wyers).  It was really quite funny, we didn’t care at all, but I think it maybe had to do with the Spanish/English thing?  J

After the ceremony, we did as many family/friend pictures as we could.  We had a small group – there was 26 of us all together, but we were able to get group shots with our families before the sun went down, and then our photographer said he should be able to work some magic with the rest that were taken after the sun had disappeared completely.  I would definitely recommend doing pictures before the ceremony if that is something that is important to you, especially if you are having your wedding around the same time of year, given the time that the sun sets.

I don’t remember being overly hot during the ceremony or dinner.  It was only really when we were dancing that everyone got really hot.  The staff handled this perfectly.  I won’t get into it too much so that there are some surprises, but they really went over the top to make sure everyone was happy!

Dinner/Toasts/the Extra Mile

We had asked our friends to MC, which Dennise said was fine, but our friends ended up just letting the staff do their own thing and they made a nice speech to us instead.  It makes sense to do it that way for sure, but we had wanted to involve our friends, especially since we didn’t have a wedding party.

Food/Cake

The food was excellent!  We shared the lunch buffet with the other people that were at Las Caletas for the day.  I figured that there would be a lot of the same food at the wedding, but there was plenty of variety, and everything that I had was great!  They put a plate of appetizers by mine and Brad’s plates, but I don’t think either of us tried them.  We were into dinner by then.

We asked to have our cake to be chocolate with Khalua icing, and they actually soaked the whole cake in Khalua; it was so good!  A few people didn’t see them when they came around the dance floor with the cake, and it sucks that you have to order a cake big enough (at a minimum) for each person there, but I would get the cake again.  Cutting the cake was one of the traditions that we actually wanted to keep!  And it was really good!

Dancing/DJ/Music

We ended up paying for the DJ, mostly because we didn’t want one of our guests to have to play the music.  It was worth it, especially because we didn’t have to worry about a thing!  The DJ was great – he played all of the songs that we asked for, played to the crowd and was apparently even taking requests (even though I didn’t know that or notice anyone going up to him).

Las Caletas/Décor

There are no words to describe this place!  Seriously!  I’ve heard it said before, but the pictures seriously do not do it justice!!  The candles when the sun goes down, the rocks everywhere, the greenery and, of course, the beautiful ocean!  It is amazing!  The perfect romantic spot for a wedding!  They do a great job decorating as well…we didn’t get a lot of decorations (chuppa with coloured fabric and flowers, petals on the table runner, candles, one centerpiece and our favours) but they were not required!  The place is beautiful!

We had Las Caletas make our wedding favours – hand painted maracas.  I believe they were $8 each, and worth every penny!  We had half made in yellow, half blue (which made the table look great!) and they said “Anya & Brad Wyers, December 5, 2012” and there were two palm trees painted on the back.  I would highly recommend them!

Fire Dancers

Do it!!!  Every review that I read by a bride that has gotten the fire dancers says to get them and I agree!!  Worth every penny!!  They were so much fun and a great surprise for the guests.  They came so close to us; I expected it, but there was nothing like it!  It was unbelievable!  There was a fire show at our honeymoon resort the next week, and it paled in comparison to the fire dancers at our wedding!!!

Tips, etc.

We, personally, didn’t tip anything above the included tips, other than a last minute 200 pesos to Dennise as we got off the boat at the end of the night and I think my mom gave the hairdresser 50 pesos.  I think that because we pay so much for the private wedding and because there are tips already included per person that was enough.  That’s not to mention that we paid for the extra hour as well – which is also something I would do again and found worthwhile.  I didn’t want the day to end!

Summary/Experience

We had our dream wedding come true with Adventure Weddings at Las Caletas.  It was perfect!!  I honestly didn’t even notice the small stuff very much when it came to experiencing the wedding day, but none of it mattered anyways!  I got to marry my best friend in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

I don’t think there’s anything about Las Caletas that we wouldn’t do again, other than maybe ask them to serve the cake a little later, when everyone was seated and a little less full from dinner!  It was an amazing experience.  It was priceless to us to be able to have such a unique, private wedding.

We don't have many of the professional pictures yet, but here are a couple of us on the beach before the ceremony: