ILA Brides, what do you have planned so far for your big day?

[chela]

Hello ladies,

 

We bookeda section at the Steakhouse restaurant for our dinner instead of doing the private dinner. There is no charge for booking a section of the restaurant. We have about 60 people coming so figured that we will take up a large part of the restaurant anyways.

We opted to pay extra for the disco for 2 hours so we can have a bit of a private party with our guests.

[chevy14]

Barrierunner, we are on the same page, thisis exactly what I have been told:

 

From what I understood (and correct me if I am wrong) is that for the private dinner, it is 15CUC per person no matter what from 6:30-8. If you want lobster for the guests, it is an additional 18CUC per person, so for those guests requesting lobster, you will be paying 33CUC per person. Is this right?

 

Also, we have a junior suite booked too so I asked a lady on TripAdvisor who just got back form ILA and stayed in a junior suite what it was like and this is what she said:

 

The junior suite are huge ... bigger than the others juniors suites I stayed before. Two TV, two mini-bar, two bathrooms ... In fact, the room have two parts: A living room with couch, table for four person, TV… and the room, with bed, office, TV and bathroom. Bathroom is huge, with a big closet and a separate toilet. There are a glass shower and a separate bath too.

 

Try to have a room in building 11, third floor, you will have an amazing ocean view.

 

Sounds pretty amazing, I am so excited for 2 bathrooms!

[Tilly in the Sun]

FI and I were talking and we're both not too keen on the idea of paying for the disco, but we would like some private time with our guests.

 

I came up with this, but would love to hear if you guys think it sounds okay

 

Our ceremony is at 4pm so afterwards we could do cake and champaigne, followed by pictures. I figure that will take up a good two hours(ish)

Everyone could go freshen up, and meet in one of the bars for around 7, where we could all have a few drinks before dinner. We'd have a private dinner from 8:30 -10:00 and than we'd only have an hour to wait before the disco opens up at 11. We could do speeches during dinner, and than hopefully having a later dinner would help everyone to stay up for some dancing!!

 

Does anyone know if the charge is the same (15CUC per person, 18CUC for lobster) if we're having the private dinner at 8:30?

[Barrierunner]

Tilly in the sun, my fiance and I have been discussing the same thing. We feel that a 6:30 dinner might be too rushed after the 4pm ceremony, we want to leave enough time for photos. And you are right, a later dinner may force some to stay up and hit the disco...we were worried that people would bail after dinner if we had to wait three hours to go to the disco. My fiance also said that we could have our first dance to the band right after the ceremony while people are toasting champagne and having cake!

 

I've emailed Yahimara to find out if we have to pay for the dinner at 8:30. I was thinking that there shouldn't be the charge of the 15CUC/person but we would still have to pay the 18CUC/person for the lobster, which is fine by me.

 

Just curious if everyone is doing OOT bags and if so, when will you hand them out? Besides getting gifts for the wedding party, are you getting gifts for the parents? When will you give out the wedding party gifts?

 

Cheers everyone!

[Tilly in the Sun]

Barrierunner, that's a great idea about the first dance right after the ceremony. The more we think about having a later dinner, the more it makes sense...someone mentioned that the only downside is we may have some guests who are a lil tipsy at dinner, but who are we kidding - I think we all will be (and it should make for some hilarious speeches LOL).

 

I sent Yahimara an email as well about the later dinner, so if I hear anything I will keep you posted :-)

[RonNMel]

If they charge us for the dinner at 8:30, I'm eating at the buffet! LOL Seriously though, at the price they are charging for the entire wedding package, I would think that a not private dinner at one of the a la carte should just be included. I believe it is, but I'll wait for the response you guys get. :-)

 

Which restaurant are you choosing? We are having a hard time making a decision. At first we wanted the Steakhouse, but after reading so-so reviews on trip advisor, I'm not so sure anymore. Yahimara mentioned that the seating is different in each restaurant. I wonder if there is a way to see what the seating will be like before making our decision...

[PaulsGirl]

I have an update for everyone! Yahimara did a great job emailing me back and forth yesterday after I expressed my concerns.

 

Since I was quoted quite some time ago (last May/June by Maydelin), they are upholding my quote which is why its slightly different than the new quotes. Originally they were going to charge $150 per hour for a private dinner, but then changed it to $15 per person. Thankfully I'll still get the $150 per hour ($450 total) vs the per person which would have cost me $750!

 

This is what I found out from Yahimara:

 

Ceremony:

Chairs: Included in the wedding ceremony fee ($700CUC) - no extra rental fee

Chair Covers: Included in ceremony fee

 

Dinner:

*If you reserve the restaurant privately, they reserve you the whole restaurant*

Private Dinner from 6:30-8:30 = $15CUC per person

Private Dinner from 8:30-10:00 = Free of Charge

Lobster Charge = $18CUC per person

Music Stereo System Rental = Included with dinner cost

 

Private Party:

Disco rental from 9-11pm = $150CUC

Drinks @ Disco = $8CUC, per person, per hour (CRAZY!)

 

Extra Services:

Flowers: the price depends of the availability of the flower shop.? Price to consult at the hotel during the appointment with me after the arrival of the clients.

Hairdresser Service: 50.00 CUC

Photos: Around 3.00 CUC per picture.

Video: around 200.00 CU

[RonNMel]

You actually get a private dinner for free at 8:30pm? Wow! That's great! I thought I was going to have to share the restaurant with strangers!!

[PaulsGirl]

From the sounds of it, the private dinner at 8:30 is no extra charge because it's not prime dinner time. I would always suggest confirming this with Yahimara though to be safe! In some emails her english is great, but in others its slightly off so always best to be sure lol

[Tilly in the Sun]

I just asked Yahimara to clarify this for me because in the emails she has sent me in the past two days, for the private dinner at 8:30 there is still the 15CUC charge (18CUC for lobster).

 

It could be that there is a charge to just have the dinner at 6:30 (private or not), but there isn't one for the later time if it isn't private?

 

Maybe all the confusion is coming from them changing their prices? If they were quoting different people different things before than it's bound to cause a mix up.

 

Hopefully we can all get this figured out soon :-)