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Hello! We recently got engaged and are looking at doing a destination wedding somewhere in jamaica (July 2018)!! I would be guessing that we expect about 20-25 people to attend. I've been on so many websites in the last few days and I have to say I am beyond confused. First off, a lot of places I see seem to be geared for a wedding with very few in attendance. Secondly, we would like a reception similar to what we would have in America. Lasting around 4-5 hours with traditional dances etc. We also want to keep the price reasonable for our guests to stay. We definitely are laid back with a lot of things but our top wish list would be: Great beach Resort that is geared for adults but has lots to do on the resort Options for a wedding reception like I listed above Cost effective (would like to keep the wedding,reception, and week long stay under 8k <----is that even possible? I will probably have a million more questions that I feel more comfortable listening to the advice of fellow brides that have gone through the process or currently In the process! Thank you so much for any help you can give ????????
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Just looking for your experience at this resort for a destination wedding.
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Hello Ladies! My fiance and I have our wedding planned for April 2016 at the Grand Sunset Princess in the Mayan Riviera. We have the beach wedding organized along with the "Chill Out Party" for a more private post celebration. The package they sent me includes some floral arrangements for me to choose from but I am so unsure of what to expect on the day of the wedding! I want a white bouquet that looks classy. I would love all the advice that I can get! Thank you!!
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It is OFFICIAL!!!!! We booked the Grand Bahia Principe for Dec 07th 2017 Wedding in Jamaica for 2pm at the Gazebo. We were torn back and forth deciding a resort, finalizing our decisions and dates....dealing with family and everrrryttthing else, BUT it is finally over! I am soo relieved that we can finally relax, we have our date and now we can send out our invites! (I made them and ordered them on-line today. TOO CUTE!) I can't believe it's all coming together...FINALLY! ANY OTHER GBP 2017 BRIDES OUT THERE?! Share your dates & planning!! Let the countdown begin! 258 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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HELP!!!!!! i was wondering if anyone knows of all inclusive resorts in riviera Maya or Cancun that has options for beach receptions? i have been researching resorts for a couple weeks and its overwhelming!!!! i am looking at a resort that has some nightlife, we just recently went to iberostar in Jamaica and it had no night life what so ever. i have been looking at breathless, barcelo bavaro and Riu, which i couldn't find that any of them offer beach receptions. thank you for the help!!!!! danielle
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Hey everyone, I am so excited to just start this journey to planning a destination wedding in Cabo! We are looking to book something very affordable but also something that makes sense and is all in inclusive and simple.. does anyone have any Cabo suggestions? We can't wait! Also I would love to see photos of destination wedding dresses what is your dress inspiration? I am struggling and feeling so bogged down with traditional gowns (which are beautiful!) which just aren't the right fit for my easy laid back ceremony... help?
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Help ! I'm stuck in between venues in the DR. My fiancé and I have been working with a travel agent for quite some time now and we are having difficulties finding a venue to best suit our big day. What are the opinions of the best venues for a wedding in the DR. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
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HELP!!!!!! i was wondering if anyone knows of all inclusive resorts in Punta cana that has options for beach receptions? i have been researching resorts for a couple weeks and its overwhelming!!!! i am looking at a resort that has some nightlife, we just recently went to iberostar in Jamaica and it had no night life what so ever. i have been looking at breathless, barcelo bavaro and Riu, which i couldn't find that any of them offer beach receptions. thank you for the help!!!!! danielle
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Help ! I'm stuck in between venues in the DR. My fiancé and I have been working with a travel agent for quite some time now and we are having difficulties finding a venue to best suit our big day. What are the opinions of the best venues for a wedding in DR. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
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Hi everyone! I'm new here but have read many many posts about Cabo weddings! I'm currently planning a wedding for Cabo Del Sol with Yarai from Memories! I wanted to find out experiences from other about rehearsal dinners and after wedding day breakfast etc. My fiancé and I originally did not think about this aspect of the wedding but now that we are we don't know what a good option is for either! I would really appreciate any feedback and if you're a Cabo Del Sol bride any advice you have on keeping the costs lower would be appreciated! Thanks ladies
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Hello All! New to the forum! I was recently engaged (12/23/2016) and I am now in planning mode! I never realized how much you have to decide on before you can even start to think about actual wedding things! Ahhhh! So we have decided on destination! Our family is all spread out and either way, a lot of people will have to fly to where we are located now, so we figured...why not! We LOVE Cabo San Lucas and have decided on Cabo for our location, but I have NO idea where to start on resorts. I am still in the very early beginning stages of this but already I'm feeling the pressure!
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Repost Brand new, in the box directly purchased from Ugg Australia. Size 7.5 but they run really big. (My guess is that they fit like an 8.5). I am typically a 7.5/8 and found the size 7 to fit me comfortably. I also have the size 7 that I wore for the ceremony and for an hour at our wedding reception. Soft nubuck shapes the Lucy wedge sandal from UGG Australia, in nude with braided raffia trim. UGG Australia "Lucy" nubuck sandal. 4 1/4" covered wedge; 3" equiv. Peep toe tops 1 1/4" platform. Straps crisscross over ankle. Fixed bow at back of counter. Leather lining and footbed. Braided raffia-trimmed midsole. Rubber sole provides traction. "Lucy" is imported. I had the hardest time finding a neutral colored wedge sandal to wear for my beach wedding. I'm 5'0 and needed some height but was worried about wearing heels in the sand. These wedge style sandals were perfect because they were soft, comfortable, and TALL! I was able to walk in the sand without sinking! I also really liked them because they blended in with the sand and gave the appearance that I was barefoot. This design has been discontinued and very hard to find so I purchased two pairs of these sandals and never returned the ones that were too big! Originally purchased for $115.00. Please make a reasonable offer for either pair if you're interested. Feel free to message me with any questions!
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Hey ladies!! I'm new to this forum! I'm just wanting to see if anyone has had their wedding at Dream Sands Cancun!! We have ours booked for April 7 2018!! Just wanted to get some feedback of the Pros and Cons of the resort and how everything went for your wedding!!
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I am planning a destination wedding in Cabo next year and trying to decide on a photographer. I'm considering options both in Cabo (Destination) and my hometown (Local). I know there are different pros and cons to each, so I'm curious to know what you all choose. Were you happy with your decision? Anything you would have done different when looking for a photographer?
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Hi ladies, I just got back from my wedding site visit at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya. I'm posting my review that I also just put up on Trip Advisor as I had a really hard time finding any information on a wedding review of this resort in particular before I visited. I'd like to know if anyone is having the same experiences as I am or have had to this point. Particularly with the home office in Miami. I'm dealing with Andrea Perez and she's awful. To be honest, if my deposit wasn't already paid to this resort and 40 guests room deposits already paid, I would probably move elsewhere. Whilst the actual venues to get married are much nicer than other resorts and a bit more private (eg- the palapas over the water vs a gazebo right in the pool area), I'm not sure it's worth all of the aggrevation I am going through just trying to get finalized costs and a contract to sign to move this wedding forward! We have guests attending from 4 different continents and that's stressful enough to deal with! I don't need the added stress of problems occurring in the run up to my wedding or worse, day of! I would also post pictures but unfortunately, my husband got into the hot tub with his iPhone in his bathing suit pocket and, well... good bye all pictures we had taken! Even the rice bag trick didn't work. The phone is fried. Thanks. Here's my review... We visited this resort for 4 nights just prior to Easter for our wedding site inspection. We booked this resort for our wedding this coming July without having previously visited or seen the resort firsthand and went off pictures from the internet and the recommendation from a travel agent based on our needs/wants. This resort needs to step it up in the service department majorly! Across the board, the service we received at times was appalling and downright rude. We're due to have our wedding here in July 2015 with approximately 40-50 guests in attendance and I wish I could change resorts. But unfortunately, we're too far down the line with planning and room deposits to switch so we'll have to make do. In comparison to our experience at this resort, prior to arriving at the Hard Rock, we spent 3 nights at the Excellence Riviera Cancun where the staff and service were, well... excellent! It was such a let down to then arrive at the Hard Rock and to be let down from the get go. Here's our experience... Check in: We rented a car and drove ourselves to the resort. The bell hops met us at our car and unloaded our luggage promptly and took the car via valet (free parking). So far, so good. We were offered a glass of some neon blue (non-alcoholic) drink as we walked in. It's disgusting. Took one sip and put it down. In comparison, we were offered a glass of champagne AND a cold wash cloth at the Excellence. The check in desk is chaos. They don't have enough personnel behind the desk to keep up with guest demand at peak times. We were about the 3rd group in line and waited about 30 minutes to get to the desk for our turn. We were checked in, told our room wasn't ready but were being upgraded (score!) and to come back in about 15 minutes for our key. Fine. We were fitted with bracelets and given a photocopied map of the resort. That was it. No explanation of the map (which isn't very clear or big and a bit difficult to read), not direction to go to the bar up the hallway if we wanted a drink, nothing. We felt a bit lost and were already feeling a bit put off given how well we were treated at the Excellence only 2 hours earlier. We came back about 15 minutes later, got our key and room number but given no other information. I had to ask what we were meant to do, if the bell hop was going to bring our bags up, if we had to go get the bags, etc. It was all very confusing and annoying that the desk staff didn't seem to go out of their way to explain anything. We also realized that we had different colored bracelets than most people and it was only after we met with our on-site wedding planner the next day, Natalia, that we found out these were VIP bracelets. Wouldn't that be something the check in desk should have told us?? Weirdly, where our room was (8325), there wasn't an elevator located near by, but the stairs were right there. So the bell hop wound up carrying all our bags up the flights of stairs. It was all very strange. The room: It was just okay. The rooms are definitely on the small side. It was nice to be upgraded from a garden room to a sky terrace room (which we've also booked for our wedding in July). However, they gave us what I call a half terrace room in which it only has 2 chairs and a hot tub upstairs. The other terrace rooms we saw across the way had a bathroom, 2 lounge chairs and an 8 person table and chairs in addition to the hot tub. Not sure why they skimped and gave us a room that didn't have all the amenities they advertise for the sky terrace category?? The mini bar was a bit of a let down. The Excellence gave us bottles of wine, snacks such as Oreos and Snickers bars, etc. The Hard Rock just gave the basics in terms of drinks (coke, diet coke, juice, water and beers). Weirdly, they give 2 cans of Dos XX and 2 cans of Tecate light. I was pretty surprised by the Tecate light as this is pretty cheap beer and I wouldn't think the Hard Rock, with the prices they charge, would cheap out on the mini bar and top it up with this cheap stuff. In comparison, the Excellence gave us 4 nips bottles of Corona and 4 cans of Corona light. On the 2nd day, the mini bar filler came around whilst we were still in the room. He told my husband he would come back but when we came back after a long day at the beach, he never did. We called to have the mini bar refilled (the book says you can call any time for a refill on the mini bar) and were given a bit of attitude by the operator who told us they had completed all of the mini bar refills for the day. Eventually they came and refilled it that evening but not with everything we had used. The coffee and coffee maker were fine. Annoyingly, they never gave us any brown sugar which my husband likes. I kept thinking they would fill it up each morning and include what was missing but they never did. The iron and ironing board were bad. The ironing board cover was very worn and threadbare. The iron barely worked and dripped hot water all over my husbands foot when he tried to use it. We didn't try to use it again after that. Bathroom toiletries were fine. Basics were there. What was nice at the Excellence is that they also offered a toothbrush travel size Colgate toothpaste which I thought was an extra nice touch that perhaps the Hard Rock could take on. We had an issue with the toilet in our room from day 1. You would flush it but then the toilet would keep running. We called maintenance who came up the next morning whilst we were out and 'fixed' it. Unfortunately, it still wasn't fixed and required another call to maintenance. We finally gave up after the third call and just gave the handle a jiggle to make it stop running. Housekeeping was hit or miss. They only give you the bare necessity number of towels. So we only had 2 at any given time. What was extra annoying was that we had the roof terrace with hot tub but were never given any towels for the hot tub! We looked across at other similar rooms, all which had 2 rolled up towels next to the hot tub. We called housekeeping who very rudely interrupted us when we were requesting towels to say that they should already be up there. We told her there were none and we would like some but they never showed up. Not at all during the 4 nights we stayed there. We finally started getting them from the pool towel hut. Beds were comfortable and pillows fine. Pools: We didn't spend much time at the pools. This is primarily because the hacienda side pool was teeming with children who weren't really being supervised by their parents and on the heaven side, I was taken back about 12 years to my college spring break days with booty dancing competitions, which wasn't really the atmosphere we were looking for either. My husband walked through the Heaven pool side to go get us drinks and some drunk girl who was up dancing decided to slap him on the rear end as he walked by and then her equally drunk friend decided to slap him in the privates! I mean, really out of control. What is wrong with these people?! And what is wrong with the bar staff that continue to serve them or the fact that none of the staff around the pool/DJ area said anything to these girls?! Beach: We spent most of our time at the VIP beach on the hacienda side. Primarily because it actually had shade (the Hard Rock must want people to have heat stroke with the lack of shade/umbrellas they provide) and because it was less chaotic than the pools or regular beach. The sand is pretty awful. Rocky and can sometimes hurt your feet. Not powdery at all. The swimming was fine. There was great snorkeling right in the protected coves off the beach. We saw plenty of fish, including 2 resident barracudas and a baby barracuda. The grounds: Can be pretty appalling in some instances. We were shocked at how poorly the grounds were made or put together in some places. There is a giant pool that sticks up in the middle of the sidewalk in one area (not sure what it's purpose is), but someone ripped it out of the ground and threw it to the side. That evening, we were walking to the Heaven side and I nearly broke my ankle because it was dark and I didn't see this 6 inch wide hole in the ground. Another time, walking through this large courtyard area where they seem to hold concerts or team building exercises, we came across a giant pile of rusty screws. Just lying there right in the middle of the walk way. No idea how they got there or why. I saw a spotlight type light, meant to illuminate a tree just ripped out of the ground and thrown to the side with the electrical wires still hanging out the bottom of it. There also seemed to be quite a bit of trash thrown about. Presumably by drunk guests who have no class and throw their garbage anywhere they like. There were cracked tiles in some of the floor areas and the inside of the one elevator ride we did take was disgusting. Fingerprints everywhere and the wallpaper like covering they had over the glass window side of the elevator was half ripped off and torn to shreds. Really bad looking. Bar/restaurants: The restaurants on the heaven side are leaps and bounds better than on the Hacienda side. The Brazilian on the Hacienda side was so so. We found the cuts of meat were not the best and they were quite fatty with veins running through the meat. We had a third plate on the table which we dedicated just for dumping fatty pieces of meat that we didn't want to eat. By the end of our dinner, this plate was overflowing. The Italian and French on the Heaven side were excellent, as was the service. Really top notch. The Mexican on the Heaven side was equally good. The pool bar food on either side is disgusting. Don't bother ordering chicken wings. They are horrible and forget blue cheese. I'm not really sure what they put on our plate. It was white and very runny but really had no cheese. The lunch is just so so. No matter which restaurant you go to, it's primarily the same buffet food. We had lunch at El Toro one day, and they'll put meat on the grill for you... don't bother with this. The meat is cooked burnt on the outside and then raw on the inside. What would be good is if there is somewhere you could go that just had plain salads or chicken wraps or club sandwiches. These are all on the room service menu but annoyingly, you can't order it anywhere at the pools or restaurants for lunch. The breakfast is decent. Lots of choice, you won't go hungry. We ate one morning in the Hacienda side Mexican restaurant which is reserved for VIP or timeshare sales. You should avoid. It's noisy and there's not enough room at the food station. It's annoying listening to the reps constantly trying to sell other guests on these timeshares and the waiter service is crap. We were nearly done with our breakfast before they came around offering coffee and practically left before they brought it to the table. We watched other guests just get up and walk over to the coffee service station and serve themselves rather than wait. In hindsight, we should have just done this. The bar service at both pool bars is terrible. Our first day, first drink we went to go get, we went to the Heaven pool bar. It's chaotic and you're not really sure where to stand or where to order. We finally, after 10 minutes, managed to get the bartenders attention to order our drinks. He never said hello, never smiled. In fact, he seemed downright annoyed we wanted to order drinks. He started walking away before I had even finished telling him what we wanted. I had to call him back over and then tried to hand him our 2 insulated mugs which he rudely just replied 'take off the covers'. We stood there gobsmacked. The very first drink we try to order and this is how we're treated?! So rude. He couldn't have been less bothered to help us. We found this to be the case most of the time at both pool bars on either side of the resort- chaotic, never know where to stand to order, and bad and sometimes downright rude service. On the flip side, the 2 gentleman waiters who brought the food/drinks back and forth on the VIP beach Hacienda side were wonderful. Energetic and always had a smile. We didn't mind tipping them because they worked so hard and were very grateful. Overall in terms of service, with the exception of the VIP beach servers and the servers we had at the italian, french and Heaven side Mexican restaurants, the service is terrible at this resort. Never smiled at, ignored most of the time and it almost seemed like they were annoyed when you would interrupt their casual conversation among each other if you needed anything. As a comparison, at the Excellence, no matter which member of staff you passed walking by- a bartender, bell hop, chambermaid, someone changing a light bulb, they ALWAYS stopped what they were doing, looked at you and gave a friendly 'hola' with a smile, Now that's the kind of service and staff I like to see! Not these morbid mopes who look absolutely miserable. Wedding on-site coordinator: Natalia saved this trip for us. She was great. Met us in the hacienda lobby the 2nd morning we were there, gave us a tour of the entire resort, told us we had VIP bracelets, answered all of our questions, showed us all of the wedding venue options at the resort. She is the only reason we are still having our wedding here. She provided me with some reassurance that this wedding with my 40 guests won't be a complete disaster. Especially as the service in the 'home office' in Miami is terrible. Our contact in that office is horrific. The information she provides and the quotes based on our requests are not organized, hard to follow and come in drips and drabs in different emails. I've finally told my WOW (not sure what this stands for but these are travel agents who are Hard Rock specialists) wedding travel agent in NY to deal with her as I could no longer without losing my cool. So I've basically cut off all communication with this woman in Miami which is not good considering this is the woman who needs to put my contract together and final costs before anything can move forward at the resort itself. But honestly, I've given this woman everything she could possibly need to quote my wedding, including my own 20 page look book with picture examples of exactly what I want everything to look like from the flowers to the table setting to the papel picado hanging over the dance floor. And she still tells me she doesn't know what I want. It's unbelievable. There are also fees for setting up in different locations, fees if you want them to place a program on each chair, fees for everything. So she includes line items for set up fees in my quotes, but it's not clear to me what is included in these line items! All very confusing. We also found the Hard Rock contracted vendors to be wildly overpriced so we are actually bringing in outside vendors for multiple things such as the flowers, DJ, photographer, hair/make up, etc. Even with the $500 outside vendor fee per vendor, it still works out cheaper. Hard Rock needs to make their prices with their vendors more competitive if they want to retain the business! Our budget for this wedding is about $15k and at least half of that is going to be with outside vendors, if not more. Also incredibly annoying is that we're staying a total of 10 nights for our wedding. We are getting 7 nights 'comped' due to our wedding guests, HOWEVER, we are paying a good sum of money to upgrade to the Sky Terrace Suite room (comped rooms only go up to platinum room category) and are paying full price for the last 3 nights. Because of the 'comped' room rate for 7 nights, we only earn 3 nights worth of resort credit, which is $500. The inflated prices they charge for the resort credit activities, we can hardly do anything, which really doesn't seem fair that we're the bride and groom and are bringing all of this business to the resort and we get the least amount of resort credit out of all our guests? Just doesn't seem right. We want to have as good a time as everyone else and we won't be able to do everything we want to because of this. I can understand if we weren't paying to upgrade on those 7 nights, but we should at least earn something for the money we're paying above and beyond the comp rate. So that's it really. Did we have the worst time? No. But would I return if I didn't have to for my wedding or another vacation? No. There are less expensive resorts that are much nicer and where the service is much better. I think you're paying for the Hard Rock name here and it's just not worth it. Sorry, one last thing... we are not going with a Colin Cowie set up for our wedding. For the price they charge and the fact that you can't change a single thing about the design (even if you want to use real flowers vs fake flowers they have in some of the packages) it's simply not worth it. This was confirmed when I saw the black and white themed set up on the beach. It looked pathetic. I felt so sorry for the bride and groom. The chuppah looking thing with the crystals hanging down looked like it had seen better days. It was rickety and cheap looking and looked like it was about to fall down. The hooks with the glass balls of flowers lining the aisle looked drab. Save your money on these Colin Cowie packages ladies and just go with the complimentary wedding and pay to customize. You'll be much happier! This way you can get the colors you want, the flowers you want and don't have tacky crystals hanging everywhere.
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I'm two months away from our big day and working out a few add on's with our planner (adding guests, changing some minor details) when she hits me with a $350 "beach cleaning fee". Our ceremony is on the beach that is in front of the restaurant that is our venue... I'm already paying a good deal of restaurant fees and also fees to set up chairs on the beach ($5/head) and now this? Moreover, we signed our contract nearly a year ago and it did not include this. She makes a flat fee, but has not exactly been easy to negotiate with- i.e. I tried to ask her to negotiate with the officiant, and she reduced $25, but said she didn't want to negotiate with him. I feel that all her prices are probably well padded but it's a destination wedding and hard to micro-manage. I'm pretty annoyed about this fee though, because it's a significant amount of money. Has anyone heard of a beach cleaning fee before? It doesn't seem like something typical when I googled it.
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I wanted to share with you all how I ended up choosing the resort I am getting married in in Cancun. I found this to be the most difficult and daunting part of planning. You all have been so helpful so I wanted to return the favor for any others looking or getting started. I also have more info on my flowers and budget and I will post that separately so people can get an idea of what things will cost. I was very concerned with pricing and I know asking what you paid for your wedding is a little sensitive but I will start a new thread with my wedding flowers cost. I knew I wanted to get married in Cancun, not Riviera Maya or Playa Mujeras, but downtown Cancun as I have been there many times before and for my group it would be a perfect destination between partying and beach/resort/relaxation. I started out by writing down all the hotels I liked and then I started emailing info. All I got from the coordinators were the pdf files with the packages, but realistically, that was not enough to make a decision. With my personality, I need to know all the ins and outs and what to expect before I choose a resort. I've heard things can add up and there are a lot of hidden fees. I don't mind spending money but I want to know in advance what I'm getting into to avoid any arguments later. I also received lots of recommendations to get a travel agent and they would be able to help me. I did get a travel agent but making the decision on which resort still came down to me knowing all the facts. With the above being said about my personality, a lot of people on this forum as well as the coordinators recommended to choose a hotel based on where I saw myself getting married and which grounds I liked. For me, this wasn't enough. I badgered the coordinators to show me all of their fees, including outside vendor fees, how it works with the extras such as dj, photographer, and decor, as well as extra guests and linens, etc. The hidden fees I found were astonishing, some hotels were charging extra money to walk in sand if you had your reception on the beach or to keep the food warm. Off the bat, I discounted those hotels since those were things I didn't want to deal with. I chose my resort on one thing alone after all my research: Outside vendor fees. I wanted a resort with low outside vendor fees as I didn't want to be bamboozled into paying high resort pricing when I could get the same thing outside for cheaper. The resort I chose is Dreams Sands Cancun and the date is 1/28/17. Dreams Sands outside vendor fees are $150 per a vendor which is very reasonable compared to the others who charge $800 or $1000. I made sure this fee was per vendor and not per person. The resort is not as beautiful as lets say the Hyatt Ziva, but ultimately I would be very agitated had I found out these high fees later on when I started planning. The coordinator at Hyatt Ziva was actually not very helpful when I contacted her and was trying to get me to book the package on the very first day that we spoke on the phone. After receiving a more detailed email from them, I crossed Hyatt Ziva out. Thats it, I based it on one factor. I also made sure this hotel is in a great location right near party city and its affordable for guests and allows kids. So far, planning seems ok. Dreams Sands seems easy to work with but I will definitely fill you in on all that as I get closer. How did you all choose your resort?
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If you're looking for a photographer for your Los Cabos wedding, please consider Juan Carlos Tapia. It was very easy to work with him and we ABSOLUTELY love our wedding photos!! A wedding is a celebration you cannot get back so you should have quality photos to remind you of that special day! So please check out... www.juancarlostapia.com
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Every time I go on vacation, I prefer an early flight this way you get to the tropical country by noon, check in, unpack and can enjoy the day. This however, also means you leave early on your departure date but you get home in time to unpack, laundry rested for work. Unfortunately for my wedding, I chose the most economical airline and as a result, the flight times leaving Toronto are 6 p.m. which means the guests arrive late. As this will be the first wedding for both of us and we only want to do this once:) we are having a legal wedding and we have to be in the country several business days before our guests. I was kind of upset at first as I wanted to be on the same flight as my guests but on the other hand, I get to relax a few days and get myself organized. Most of our guest arrive from North America on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. We are arranging for guests from Europe, South America and Asia to arrive a few days earlier as they will be in the air for a day or two and will arrive around the same day/time as us and will also stay several days longer. As we will not be on the same flight as my guests, we will not be in attendance to introduce everyone so most will not know each other. We have our separate work friends, we share different hobbies, our families are in different countries and neither of us live anywhere close to our relatives. Here is where I need your opinion: We will have a welcome cocktail for guests as they arrive but as guests will want to check in, unpack, get settled and are arriving late after 9 :30 p.m. should I have a welcome reception on the Saturday night or should I organize a Sunday brunch/lunch for everyone to meet each other? I am not sure if guest may be too tired or will want to relax. It is also a odd time as guests in Toronto will have to be at the airport 3 hours before the flight after 3 p.m. meals on the flight are not free and the arrive later which means dinner service is over by the time they arrive so they may be hungry. I am on the fence on what to do. Part of me thinks some may be excited and may want to mingle other may want to get a good night sleep and enjoy the day which brunch/lunch may be more appealing. Any thoughts? Thanks
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We got married at the Grand Sunset Princess on June 20th, 2015. The majority of our guests stayed at the Platinum Yucatan Princess hotel (adults only) but the wedding took place at the resort next door. We had two families attend with their children. Guests staying at the Platinum Yucatan Princess have access to all three Princess hotels. It was a perfect day. I’m struggling to combine the right words to accurately express how blessed, grateful and elated we feel. We keep replaying our wedding week in our heads and we know that it was a unique, epic, ‘once in a lifetime’ event that we will never forget. I truly enjoyed myself. I was in the moment and as everything was happening around me I knew it was an epic experience. I took in all the love and really felt it. A few days to ourselves June 13-17 We decided to leave a few days before the group and I can’t say this enough, but it’s honestly the best thing one could do. We had time to unpack, set up, meet with vendors, run some errands. When our guests arrived we were ready for them and were ready to spend time with them. I can’t even imagine arriving at the same time. I would feel like I was constantly trying to catch up. Sunwing Vacations We were lucky that they cancelled our Sunday flight and rescheduled it to the Sat June 13th. We stayed one extra night at the resort courtesy of Sunwing! Yay! Our group rate for our guests with a price drop was $1250 double occupancy. The rooms were gorgeous and our guests were very happy. We received 1 free trip for every 10 people. We ended up receiving two free stays. Since we stayed for 11 days and upgraded our rooms we ended up paying a difference of $1600 for both us. Well worth it though. We received a free upgrade to Elite Class which included 30kg each + 20kg each just incase. Our travel agent was able to negotiate this for us. It helped us out a lot indeed. PACKING We ended up bringing with us 4 luggages, 2 large carryons, suit, dress, and my sister brought 1 luggage for us an another BM brought another luggage for us. NOTHING BROKE!!!!! And we didn’t lose anything. We cleared customs just fine. We got the green light, literally, and off we went to the resort. All my tumbler packing tips I received from @@calgarybride2015 CHECK IN We were so impressed with the hotel when we arrived. It was so pretty and luxurious. Our check in went smoothy and the concierge staff was really excited for us as they knew we were getting married. They upgraded our room by one category. The hotel was fully booked the entire time we were there. My sister also travelled with us and she booked a swimout platinum room. The room was stunning. Her room was ready as soon as we checked in at 10am. Our room was ready at 3pm. We left our bags in her room and went over to the buffet. We checked in on June 13th and the rest of our guests check in June 17th. Nobody had any issues with their rooms. Nobody had to make any changes. It worked out perfectly. The guests that were there for R&R somehow got the rooms with the swimouts that were further away from the party pool. The party crowd had the rooms close to the party pool. Our group was quite loud. The resort suddenly had life when our group arrived. The nice thing about the rooms close to the party pool is that you couldn’t hear anything when your balcony door was closed. Tropical Storm The day we arrived it was raining non-stop. The pilot announced that it was a little misty and that it would clear up by the afternoon. I think the pilot just wanted to make us happy and get us off the plane because that was far from the truth. The storm was actually a tropical storm category 1. It lasted from Saturday until about Monday night-ish. There was no escaping the storm either. We tried to drive out to Tulum and it was even worse there. We started getting nervous because everyone said that usually the rain passes but that this actually very strange. The staff at the hotel kept saying that it hadn’t rained for weeks prior to this…all things I didn’t want to hear. I was nervous about our outdoor wedding events because I kept checking the forecast and it kept saying, rain, rain, rain, rain… I finally cried a bit on Sunday and decided to just let it go. We made sure to work on all the last minute details and ironed out the things we needed to get done. Monday: We met up with Katy from Love and Lace. We rented quite a few décor pieces from her to personalize our wedding reception look. She was extremely patient and easy to work with. I truly recommend working with her. We had 6 luggages with just our clothes, and gifts, and welcome bag items, I can’t imagine bringing décor too. Meeting with Wedding Coordinator We met with the wedding coordinator on the Tuesday and she was very nice. We went through all the details and it felt very official. She went through the décor details and a few details with our ceremony. We added a few things and added a bit of a script for a ceremony. We also asked the officiant to do a ceremony in Spanish and English. I didn’t translate my vows but we thought it would be nice to have the ceremony in English and Spanish. Finally the weather turned and it was nice and sunny. Welcome dinner: The majority of our guests arrived the Wednesday and we booked a welcome dinner at 6pm at the Mexican restaurant La Hacienda. Everyone came out. We were worried people would be tired and it would be too rushed but it worked out fine. We decided to bring all our welcome bags with us. My dad arrived late as he arrived a little later so we gave out the bags as we waited for him to come down. The food was delicious and the guests loved the bags. They were so impressed with the details and snacks. I think everyone’s favourite items were the snacks and the hangover kits. Handing over those bags was like handing over a newborn. We were so proud of them, people thought we totally over did it , but we were happy to be able to do that for our guests! J Some of additions in mexico were candies from Sam’s club, post cards, sabritas (chips). Welcome bag fails: I had ordered plastic hotel key covers from a vendor on ebay and instead of mailing me the covers, he sent me 1000 grommets. Ya, no. We purchased small bottles and made labels for aloe Vera and sun lotion. We thought that we would be able to find somewhere that carries bulk sun lotion and aloe…but no. They sold them in the smallest volumes and they were still pretty pricey and though they were stores outside of the typical tourist areas. TBC....
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I’m wearing my Grandma’s veil from her wedding in the late 1940’s. Here’s what she looked like. Gorgeous, right? Here's what the veil looks like now. It's in pretty good shape! But it does have a few tears that need sewn up. I’m also going to have the seamstress sew some sparkle in to make it go better with my dress. Here's my dress with a different veil for reference: My grandma's veil has a headband attached to it that I just don’t know how to wear. Our wedding is on the beach so it’s going to be very windy and wearing my hair down is not an option. Is there a way to style my hair and wear the headband so it can go underneath a low updo? Or am I just going to have to have the headband removed? I'd rather not if possible just because it's so sentimental to keep it as she wore it. Thoughts??
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Hello Ladies! I have been recommended this wedding videographer in Riviera Maya and I HAVE to share it with you! His name is Santiago and he owns and runs Becker Wedding Films - http://www.bbweddingfilms.com I also have seen a lot of his work on his Facebook - BB Wedding Films His style is so beautiful and unique, the work he produces is much more than just an ordinary wedding video but more like a peace of art that really shows a couples love story, as you can tell, I am hooked!! It's definitely a great choice for people who are really into art and culture, he seems to capture this in every of his example videos. I have had excellent communication with Santiago these past couple of weeks and I am now in the process of securing my package with him (I am so excited!) His prices are not for budget brides as such but extremely reasonable and for whats included and at such high quality he really is worth every penny! I hope some of you girls get a chance to check him out and fall in love with his work as much as I have! Hanna
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Every bride is unique and we loving to share some great ideas about how to say welcome to your guests in a fun, original and beautiful way!! Las Caletas, Video: http://goo.gl/DPeKKS Website: http://www.adventureweddingsvallarta.com/ Planner: http://bit.ly/PlanYourWedding
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Hi Brides! I am looking for any help you may have for a great photographer in Punta Cana .. that is reasonably priced .. and when i say that .. i mean. . no more than $2000 for a decent package (7+ hours of coverage) .. i feel like when looking at the prices of photographers my budget is low .. but considering my wedding is costing $3000 alone .. i don't have much room left for the photographers! I am from Canada, and I hate that all these prices are in USD!! It kills me .. are there any photographers, other than Photo Phil, that charge in CAD?? I love Karina Jensen's style .. her prices aren't too bad .. but i just wanted to check and see if any brides found someone with the same style, but less $$
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I am planning my wedding in Costa Rica and I was looking at Jonathan Cooley the photographer for Costa Vida and his wife at Four Winds weddings? Just curious if anyone has ever used them before? Thanks!