Barcelo Los Cabos

[msamanda]

Hi Nadia,

Sorry to hear about your stress. Have you tried calling Violeta? I called her once re: our contract, she was very helpful and was on things right away.  Might help, just to call and firm up some details as I was getting no response from emails.  105 people?  Holy smokes...are you all going to fit in the Gazebo?  the pics I have seen, make it seem rather small. I think I read on line that another bride (maybe on facebook) estimated 65 people could sit there comfortably.  Anyways, thats just what I have heard.   Suzane morel has been awesome. You can goto their salon in Cabo and its a bit cheaper, or they can come to you. In our case, they are coming to us, its just my twin sister and I that are the wedding party.  I am paying $195 USD for hair and make up.  Their pics on their website (you can goggle them) are amazing and of great quality. Plus they use MAC make up! so you are getting great service.  I had a phone consult with them, paid $200 deposit and that was it. They have a cheaper rate for bridal groups, u can find their current prices on line.  I am very happy with their service so far. I was not getting a response from the resort about hair and makeup so I booked else where!   I will have to pay $60 usd per outside vendor person, they also include an english speaking translator in their service which I think it awesome!!!  There is a barcelo facebook thread that is excellent. Often if you post there, you get resonses quickly re: violeta not responding. they have a moderator who gets her onto things, so prehaps google that thread as well..might be of some help.  Congrats on your up coming wedding!!! Can't wait to see some pics.

 

BTW- center pieces for $105? thats insane, I hear there is a walmart type thing near by...maybe it might be a fun activitiy to make your own?  I wonder if you could also purchase your own flowers maybe in cabo and quickly make your own??  Might be a lot cheaper. I am not sure what their rules will be.    We also are doing the banquet hall option in our package so far. Any idea of what the tables are like?  Size wizse-  I am looking at ordering my own linens....!  thanks

-Amanda

[Nadia]

Hey Amanda

Thanks for the tips!  Yeah I have tried calling her and have spoken to her a few times.  Shes getting a little better the last 2 weeks but the big things that arent confirmed yet are kind of annoying

Violeta said the gazebo can fit about 65-70 chairs comforably and then the younger guests know they may have to stand around the chairs.  The ceremony will be about 20 mins so Im not that worried but I will see it when I get there and decide if we want to change it to the beach but i doubt we will- were paying extra for some extra decorations for the gazebo.

Thats not a bad price for hair and makeup, my bridesmaid is a make up artist so i just needed hair and my hair was covered in my strawberry package.

If you find any more info, please let me know. If not, I will def post some pics after the wedding

And no idea about the sizes for the tables but im renting overlays thru a vendor Violeta found and i got her down to about $12-15/overlay depending on what your looking for.

Nadia

[littlemisssunshine]

Hi Ladies!

 

We have booked our wedding at Barcelo for June 30, 2011! Trying to get in touch with Violeta can definitely be annoying at times- but I'm hoping closer to our wedding date it will get better. I had thought about getting an outside wedding coordinator so they can deal with contacting violeta and all the wedding stuff, but in the end it was going to cost way too much money- I'd rather deal with trying to track down Violeta myself than pay thousands of dollars for someone else to

 

We chose the Strawberry Package and are planning on a Gazebo ceremony and a beach reception. We have about 30-40 guests coming. I think we're going to book Suzane Morel for our hair and makeup as well. As for all the other details, I have no idea still- lots of time to figure it out. I'm looking forward to chatting with you ladies to get advice

 

Amanda

[msamanda]

Nadia,

It is nice to have a makep up artist as a guest!  We are bringing an amazing family friend who is a wedding photographer in chicago. We booked her for a steal of a price and we are so excited to have her coming.  As for the gazebo, we are still undecided, so I definately cannot wait to see your pics.  I can't get over how expensive things are in mexico.  I am looking at bows for the chairs at about 90 cents a piece and over lays and table runners at anywhere between $3-9 a piece I believe.  Then again, I will be stuck with the product afterwards, but things in my colour, fuschia seem to sell like hot cakes in the after wedding sales forum, so I am not worried.  I hope things get easier with dealing with Violeta closer to your wedding.  I know it will be amazing, I hear she always comes through!!!

[msamanda]

Amanda,

If there is any advice I can give you now, is if you are going to book an outside vendor (Suzanne Morel) get on it now and book with her. (I can't believe her phone consultation was so indepth, I was so impressed).  One of the reasons why I chose the Barcelo Los Cabos was because they are so new to weddings they do not yet have restrictions like the majority of the other major resorts (including other Barcelo's) that will not let you bring it outside vendors.  I have read about a lot of nightmares about the resorts suddenly implementing these changes and brides having to fight to bring in their dream vendor.  I booked early, and I have already informed violeta via email that I have booked this vendor and I will need the 60usd day pass for them.  Now I have it in writing and she knows.   I think it is obvious as the wedding market increases, they will find more ways to keep the money on site.  Keep in mind they do have their own spa and connections for photographers etc.

Just my take on the issue, I didn't want to get screwed last minute!

cheers

-Amanda

[Nadia]

Hey Ladies

 

So Violeta has been much better now that im 2 weeks away and we had a 2 hr phone conversation the other to discuss details!  Still some stuff to get back to me about but im not as worried now.  Hope the weather keeps up!!

 

Just a quick question on if any of you have heard what the customary "tip" would be for the WC??  She is the main contact and doing alot of work to organize our big event but Im not sure what is the norm for tipping for WCs??   Help!

 

Nadia

[wholowach]

Hi All Future Barcelo Brides,

I just wanted to give you all a heads up and warning about a serious problem that has happened with me and my March 8th wedding at the Barcelo, Los Cabos.

We have just found out that through almost all the tour operators that the resort has put a Stop Sell on the jr suite rooms, leaving guests to only book the higher end rooms at a higher cost

At this time I am working with my TA to try and get some answers.  It is so devasting to me that it is making me sick.  I have sent out 90 invites and only 6 guests have booked, leaving the remaining guests with no option at this time but to book a higher suite, if they are willing and can even afford those.... which was not what we anticipated them paying.  I have spoken to other brides that are getting married here and they have advised the same thing has happened to them...

My heart is so shattered over this and I feel like everything is coming crashing down. 

Our guests have till the end of Oct to recieve a group rate but who even knows if these rooms will be available again, oh and to top it off, the Tour Operator has told us if we want to switch resorts, we will all loose our deposits.

[linzappa]

Hi gals -

 

Well our wedding is November 15th ..3 wks from tomorrow...and we've been severely disappointed with the Barcelo.  Not sure if you guys heard, but Violeta up and quit about 3 wks.  I guess this explains why we were getting No responses to calls, emails, etc.  Her replacement, a woman by the name of Anna Maria, is nice but brand new and walking in to a big role.  I think she's there day and night but understandably, so has not been organized.  

We decided to take things to a higher level and have been in communique with the sales manager (Sandra).  She sounds pretty on top of things, but the prices they are quoting us are outrageous.  We have 80 guests coming, and for each additional hour of drinks (after the 3 hour allotment for the reception), they want to charge us $12 USD per person per hour.  Why charge so much when the drinks are free everywhere else on the resort? 

And I was surprised to hear that someone was offered a free wedding..we're paying $3500 in the strawberry package.   Sandra also said we'd pay $45 per person for the hour between the ceremony and reception when our guests would be drinking champagne.  Seriously! $45 per person for a glass or two?  

We've since had her lower this price for the champagne but we're continually disappointed at the gauging costs.  I will let you all know how things go and will not be shy to recommend that no one book here if we continue to feel taken advantage of.  

Ugh-

Lindsey

[Reenac]

hi we just got back from barcelo los cabos and have booked out wedding there for march.17/2011...we delt with ana perez the wedding coordinator..she is very friendly and helpful but they are very slow in getting answers to different things we need for the wedding and reception...since we have been back we have been emailing her to see if she has finalized our wedding pkg price but we have not heard back yet.  Beautiful reosrt though, very friendly staff.

[Neysa Berman]

Have you thought of hiring an independent wedding planner? There are some really good ones here in Cabo.