Amy & Andy's Wedding Week Review (no pics...don't hate me)

[Amy&Andy]

First off….the wedding was spectacular! It was so beautiful, memorable, and everything I wanted it to be. The look of everything was so chic and fabulous, I’m so pumped to see the pictures! I promise as soon as my sloooooow family gets their pictures loaded on Snapfish I’ll post some non pro pics. For now….you’ll have to use your imaginations Sorry

 

Seattle Airport:

Well…the morning started off a bit crazy because I got zero sleep the night before because I just couldn’t shut my brain off! We got there on time and had 6 suitcases, 3 carry-on bags, and both my dress and Andy’s suit to carry on. We divided up the suitcases among family and sent them on their way with our fingers crossed everything would make it in one piece. It was fun having 13 of us all on the same flight, but was really stressful getting the bags labeled and divided up. I would suggest putting the luggage tags, etc. on all of them before hand.

 

Los Cabos Airport:

I was dreading the red light/green light portion of our airport experience, but was pleased when all of us just went right through…..nobody even had to push the button. It was so weird, as if they were all taking a break or just didn’t care that day. Big sigh of relief….every bag made it and we were on our way!

 

Transportation:

Epic transportation was waiting for us with a sign with our names on it. Mr. “Corona†helped us to our van and assured us there was a cooler of beer waiting inside! At $3 a beer (a bit expensive for Mexico, but hey beggars can’t be choosers), we were just happy to be in Mexico and shared our first drink on the bus! It was a short 15 minute or so drive to Dreams from the airport.

 

Dreams hotel: Checking in

We were greeted with champagne and cookies at the front desk and were in our room with bags in about 10 minutes. They were super helpful getting the bags to the right rooms and wrote down all of our party’s room numbers down for us to keep track of where everyone was staying. There was champagne chilling and a fresh fruit plate waiting for us! Andy thought the fully stocked fridge with the mini coronas was the best thing he’d ever seen!

 

Room:

We initially weren’t thrilled with our room location since it overlooked the smaller, quieter pool on the Oceana terrace side of the resort. In the end we figured it wasn’t worth the trouble to move. It really ended up being more convenient for the decorating of the wedding and wedding day since we were located at the Oceana terrace for the reception. That allowed for my mid reception wardrobe change and for the photographer to move quickly between my room and the room Andy was getting ready in across the hall. We were in one of the bigger suites with two bathrooms and a large kitchen and table area. The two bathrooms worked out really well because I ended up having one for getting my hair done and the other for doing my makeup. Some of the guests in our party had the rooms with the fantastic views of the main pool and ocean, but they said they were super noisy in the evenings when they had events in the lobby bar and on the beach.

 

Restaurants:

I thought the food was fantastic, but I’m really not too picky. I am vegan (eat occasional fish and apparently loads of wedding cake), and had no trouble finding plenty of foods to eat. I loved the breakfasts with all the fresh cut fruit and the smoothie bar. For lunches we mostly ate at the buffet that was located close to the pool because we could take food to go down to our chairs by the beach. We ate dinner at every restaurant there, and everyone had their favorites. We ate twice at the Italian Portofino which was my favorite….the salmon was delish. One night we had horrible service at the new Asian restaurant, but the food was very good…the sushi was actually quite yummy.

 

 

More coming......

[Amy&Andy]

Other Dreams info:

Gym: was perfectly fine…..there are treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes and a small selection of weights. I worked out 4 of my 7 days there and it was always busy. It got pretty hot in there….I don’t think they had the air conditioning turned up high enough!

Activities: My mom and I did the beach walk down to the Hilton where you can swim in the ocean. It’s the only beach nearby that is safe to swim in, so that was a lot of fun. I highly recommend making your way down there; it is totally worth the walk!

Nightly activities: We went to the beach party one night and the music was great! We danced a bit and enjoyed being on the beach with the fire pits and lounge chairs all set up around the dance floor. Karaoke night was definitely not our thing and ended up annoying the heck out of our guests with rooms near the lobby bar. We watched a bit of the Latin night dancing….very impressive, worth checking out.

Spa: I went for a massage with my new MIL the day after the wedding to unwind from the crazy stressful week. It was the best massage I have ever had! I enjoyed every second of it. We both had the Swedish 50 min massage. The whole experience they give you at the spa is worth every penny. It is a beautiful facility….definitely make a point to get a massage there!

Fishing:

Andy and 6 of the guys from the wedding party went on a fishing excursion on Tuesday and they had a blast. I’m not sure the company they used since the Dads planned it, but they were very happy with the service. They got lunch and beer provided along with their fishing licenses included in the price. Andy ended up catching a 180 lb Marlin! He was so pumped up about catching the only fish of the whole day. It was as if the fishing gods gave him a nice wedding present

Sunset Cruise: Wow!! This was the best money spent on the whole trip! We had a private tour booked on the Sunrider which meant we got to walk past the whole huge line of people waiting for the public tour and wave goodbye We felt like total VIP’s!!! We had a dedicated bartender…..cocktail server, chef, and captain….all of which kept the party going all night long! The dinner was super good (grilled skewers, veggies, chips, guac, salsa, fresh cut fruit, beans, etc) everyone commented on how it was one of their best meals all week. After dinner we all went upstairs to dance and party…..we were all surprised when they brought out the sombreros and tequila shots….yikes! I had a few too many and was really hung-over on my wedding day, but that’s a totally different story If it’s in your budget, you must book this tour for your guests. Everyone had so much fun touring the Cabo bay and seeing the Arco and all the beautiful sights.

 

Wedding day:

I woke up with a heck of a hangover from the sunset cruise the night before. My eyes were really puffy and I felt real nasty all over. I put cold rags in the freezer and kept those going on my eyes all morning, and was back to normal by mid afternoon. By the time I got in the shower the excitement really hit me and I was feeling much better. I was all alone in my room for the majority of the getting ready stage. I drank coffee and watched TV all morning and just had some nice time to myself. My aunt-in-law came to the room at about 3:00, which was waaaay too late to have time to do the hair and then my makeup by 5:00. She thought I was doing my makeup before the hair, and I had the impression I was doing makeup after, so it was really a mad dash to get everything completed on time. She finished with my hair at about 4:20 and I still had to get my makeup done, get in my dress, and do any finishing touches by the time my photog and video guys came at 5:00. I was barely finishing up my makeup when everyone arrived at my door….I wasn’t dressed, and was freaking out just a bit. Thankfully Manual wanted to take pics of some of the details I had set out (invites, jewelry, shoes, etc) so that killed some time. I just zipped right into my dress in a matter of minutes…..had all the undergarments and things on in a flash and was ready to start taking pictures. I do regret that I wasn’t ready when they got there, but I was able to get some fun getting ready pictures that weren’t originally on the plan.

Ceremony:

I finished my solo pics with the photog and was on route to the spot to meet our wedding coordinator and my step dad to walk me down the aisle. I was standing there at the meeting spot waiting all by myself while everyone was running around to get in their places when one of the waiters from El Patio offered me a shot of tequila. I said no thanks but I’d take some champagne….he kind of looked at me like, is this girl serious, and ran as quickly as he could to get me a cup of champagne (in a to-go coffee cup!) I had a few gulps and was on my way! The walk seemed like it was forever…I kept telling my step dad to slow down so I could walk on the sand. Andy had the most joyous look on his face that I have ever seen in my life. He said he liked the dress right away! The only crazy moment happened when the first gust of wind took my veil right off! My mom happened to just reach right out at that very moment and grab it. Everyone laughed and we went on with the ceremony without my veil. I loved the vows, sand ceremony, and everything about the ceremony itself. I wasn’t nervous at all, and actually was able to have some humorous moments thrown in. Andy’s voice cracked a few times, but it was cute that he was more nervous than me!

Reception:

We went to take our pro pics and the family went to the cocktail hour. We did our thing with the pics on the beach, in the hammock, and around the hotel. My dress was so dirty at the end and Andy somehow managed to rip the bottom when he picked me up for a shot. At that point I didn’t care….it was a disposable dress. We were introduced as Mr. & Mrs. Callis and then shared a drink and took some more pictures with family. After that we had our first dance and then the father-daughter/ mother/son dances before dinner. After the dances Sam left and we finally sat down to eat. During dinner Manuel stole us away to go take more pictures with the dusk lighting on the beach then we cut our cake and then he and his assistants took off. During the last dessert course I ran back to the room to change into my dancing dress and my Aunt-in-law put my hair up with the flower. It felt so good to take the dress and spanx off and get the hair off my face! I was ready to party! We danced only for about 1.5 hrs then had to close up due to the curfew at Dreams. We went back to the room to drop off all of the decorations we wanted to save and to put the cake in the fridge for later. The room was decorated so so cute for our wedding night…but I’ll leave that a surprise for you other Dreams ladies. We did our thing….then I ate a buttload of cake….my reward for getting through that crazy week!

Food:

I really can’t tell you how the food was because I was not paying attention at all to what I was eating. I think I was really just eating out of survival instinct, knowing I needed to shove something in my face so I didn’t pass out. I do remember the crab cake was yummy, and the fish was good as well. Those who had the tenderloin said it was the best steak they had all week. They did comment on how yummy the cocktail hour food was. They said the poppers and beef skewers were very good.

Music:

We had the Ipod set up and it was perfect. Andy’s best friend was in charge of making sure the correct music was played for each dance and then helped keep the flow going if no one was dancing to a certain song. I would definitely have someone in charge of that, so the bride and groom don’t have to worry about it

[Amy&Andy]

Photography: Manuel Burgoin

He was so amazing! I’ve yet to see the finished product, but I know they will be spectacular. He called us his “magazine couple” and was so so sweet and easygoing in coaching us at what to do. He had a really creative eye, and was very easy to work with. He brought an assistant who worked super hard as well to capture all of our details and decorations while Manual shot us. They were all very hardworking and so sweet. I’m really looking forward to seeing his finished work. He showed us a few on his camera and they were stunning. I can’t wait to see them, and would definitely recommend him.

 

Video: Sam Perches

Well first of all…..He’s very very good looking! All the ladies in my family were enamored with him. He is from London and has a very nice British accent….kind of random in Mexico! He was very soft spoken, calm, and easygoing…..perfect for putting my fiery personality at ease. He had an assistant there as well who went to shoot Andy’s getting ready process. It was so nice to have two shooters there capturing different angles. We had our wedding on a Friday evening and left with the finished video on Sunday! It was so special to be able to come home with our wedding video and watch it when we got home. I would highly recommend his services.

 

Cake:

Our wedding coordinator arranged our cake, so I’m not sure where it came from but it was DELISH! We had chocolate cake with hazelnut filling, but we think it was just chocolate fudge filling…..regardless it was yummy! I ate a huge pile of it back in the room after the wedding….in bed….in my jammies…..not exactly the sexy wedding night look I was going for, but I was HUNGRY We proceeded to eat the leftovers forkful by forkful from our fridge for the next two days. We also had some sent to Portofino for our last night there and gave some away to our favorite waiter Guariamo.

 

Décor:

I had brought almost everything down there with us: hurricanes, floating candles, table runner, place cards, shells, glass gems, cake topper, etc. It was a trip getting it all packed and in suitcases, but I was so thankful to have it all done and prepared ahead of time. The tables turned out even more beautiful than I could have imagined. We had a ton of candlelight, and other lighting from the lanterns, luminaries, and tiki torches. It was just stunning. I can’t wait to see the professional pics of it all.

Travel:

Most of our party used Tammy Wright and were very pleased with the service. She was able to answer a bunch of questions for me along the way which really helped me out when I had a few crises. It is wonderful that she has such a good relationship with Dreams. I felt like they went above and beyond on a few occasions because we were associated with Tammy’s business.

 

Dreams Wedding Coordinator: Yarai

She is very sweet and very organized. She was a great help at confirming all of the items we got directly from Dreams. I really feel like she could have done all of the work our outside coordinator did. We ended up tipping her quite a bit in the end because she worked really hard to get everything put together for the ceremony and reception. There were apparently a few mishaps with the chuppah and she made sure it was all worked out.

 

Outside Wedding Coordinator: Baja Weddings

This honestly is my one regret. I hate to even bring it up because it just makes me upset. I think I could have done all of this without paying the large fee to an outside coordinator. While we were able to save some money by having them book our photog and sunset cruise early on in 2007, I’m sure we were overcharged for a number of other things. Gaby didn’t show up on the wedding day until about 5:00, after everything had already been set-up. I’m not sure what’s normal, but I think that was quite ridiculous. She did have someone sent to our hotel to take us to the sunset cruise, and then another was waiting at the marina, which was very helpful in getting us to the right spot. There were a lot of comments made by my family about how Gaby got snotty a few times and wasn’t really available to help since she got there so late. I’d save your money and use Dreams coordinators and the help of the forum to plan everything. I suppose just having one regret is lucky. Unfortunately it was a very expensive one

 

 

Other:

The Dress! He LOVED it! He really was so blown away at the whole look of my hair and makeup and dress. He asked me where those boobs came from because they were definitely up and on parade thanks to my chicken cutlets! I think he was surprised it was that fancy. Everyone commented on the dress and how it sparkled and fit me just perfectly.

The BD Book. Wow……he was really surprised. I thought he may have had an idea about it, but he said it was a complete shock. He kept saying, that’s my wife! I saw the video of him opening it up already and I can tell he is pretty blown away. He looked at it again when we got back to the room as I was eating my cake and wanted to know all about the shoot. He also asked if I had brought my cute little “Andy’s wife” boy shorts and was really bummed when I told him I’d forgotten them Remember to bring one of your outfits if you took BD pics! He’s still been looking at it since we’ve been home

[*Heather*]

Great review! Congratulations! I can't wait to see pictures.

 

How much was the Sunrider Sunset Cruise per guest? I'm thinking about doing this as well.

[Maura]

great review amy, im so glad you guys had an amazing time - you should post your couple teaser pics from that other thread in here just for the photo whores

 

what time did your ceremony start?

 

I cant wait to see photos!!!!!!

[MelanieS]

Great review! Congrats on a wonderful weddng. You were so quick to submit it that we'll try to be patient for the pics.

[TammyWright]

wow amy...great review!! that is so cute that andy wanted to see you in your outfits.

 

i can't wait to see pics from manuel!

[jajajaja]

Wonderful review Amy. I'm so happy everything went so perfect! Whew- it's all done. Now you can relax.

[jwilke5]

Wow, great review! You wedding sounds like it was amazing, despite the minor glitches Can't wait to see your pictures!!

[Alyssa]

Amy!!! congrats - what an amazing review - i am so happy for you i can NOT wait to see your pics!