Excellence Riviera Cancun Brides?

[JenniferH114]

@@victoriasalv - We did a symbolic ceremony, but I'm sure they will give you a choice. If not, ask Jessica. She will make it happen. I'm sure it's common, though. Considering we went in not having any clue what would be said, we were more than pleased with the ceremony.

 

@@upstatekj - The steak and lobster is actually an option on the welcome/rehearsal dinner menus, but she said I could mix and match from any of the options (rehearsal or reception). It ended up being a lobster tail, too, which was a nice surprise. It was seriously delicious. Oh, and the cilantro avocado soup was amazing. Every person loved it. I kept wishing I'd see it on a menu at one of the restaurants, but we never did.

Edited June 11, 2015 by JenniferH114

[Sabes44]

@@Sabes44 and @@JenniferH114 - did your officiant stand in front of you at all times during the ceremony? Jessica told me they would stand in back so the photographer could get photos with the ocean in the back. How windy was it on the beach during the ceremony?

 

Also, how was your reception food? What choices did you go with?

 

Thank you!!

 

@@JenniferH114 - did you request lobster for your reception? That entree sounds different than what Jessica gave me. I have "GRILLED FILET OF BEEF TENDERLOIN GLAZED WITH ROASTED PUMPKIN SEED SAUCE AND SCALLOPS  WITH SERRANO CILANTRO BUTTER ON PAPAYA MANGO RELISH SERVED WITH HORSERADISH-INFUSED MASHED POTATOES AND FRESH SEASONAL VEGETABLES" as my choice, but yours sounds better Anyone else have different entrees?

That was our main course and it was awesome!! The filet was cooked perfect and I was very happy with it.

@@upstatekj - He stood on both sides at different points during the ceremony, which was nice. You can have a more religious ceremony or one focusing on love. We went with the "love' ceremony and it was perfect. The wind wasn't bad during the ceremony for us, but for pictures my veil was everywhere! We had to keep trying to tuck it under my arm to hold it in place. For the most part, all of the food we chose was awesome. I don't think there was anything that we regretted choosing, honestly.

 

 

 

 

 

@@JaimeCKL - I got my hair and make-up done at 12:30pm. It took a little over two hours total, but I have long hair. Our photog, Juan Navarro, came at 2:30pm, so I actually didn't get to the room until 2:45pm. We had plenty of time to get ready after that, but we were doing our first look before the ceremony, so we wanted to be ready for pics by 4:00pm.

The officiant did the same thing for our ceremony.  After our vows he stood in the back.  It was quite windy for us, but luckily my hair was all up and hair sprayed so much it didn't move.  The breeze was actually nice cause it kept everyone (including myself) cool!  

 

Like @@JenniferH114 the spa told me 2 hours for hair and makeup.  But I don't have a lot of hair so mine took about an hour and 15 min.  I think it all depends on your hair and what you want to do with it.  I think 2 hours is a safe beat either way.  We just had some extra downtime before the first look, which was fine.

[upstatekj]

How was the music during the ceremony? Was it loud enough for all to hear? What songs did you choose @@JenniferH114 and @@Sabes44?

 

Did you just have your songs on your phones and Jessica handled the transitions?

[Sabes44]

How was the music during the ceremony? Was it loud enough for all to hear? What songs did you choose @@JenniferH114 and @@Sabes44?

 

Did you just have your songs on your phones and Jessica handled the transitions?

The music was loud enough, not overly loud but perfect.  Honestly once I started to walk down towards the beach I didn't event hear the song anymore.  They placed the speaker on the concrete about 20 feet away, which worked out well so it wasn't overwhelming sound and everyone could hear our vows.  I walked down the aisle to a guitar version of "God bless the broken road" and we walked back up to "Come and get your love" we wanted something fun and peppy.  Jessica handled all of it.  I downloaded this app called Wedding DJ, which made it super simple to have all the playlists labeled and on one screen, much easier than just the playlists on the iphone.  

[upstatekj]

Did any of you do first looks? I'm going back and forth on that! If so, where on the property did you do it?

[JenniferH114]

@@upstatekj - I had Jessica handle the music for the ceremony. She had a few songs to choose from, but we went with Train's "Marry Me." I just didn't want to have to worry about it and it ended up being great. I thought the music was plenty loud. After walking in, everything was a blur - honest - so I have no idea if a song was played afterwards or not.

 

We did our first look before the ceremony. Juan took us to the back of the property where it's really lush with foliage and very private. There is not a lot of foot traffic back there. The pictures he let us glance at looked great. I thought it was a very nice setting.

[Sabes44]

We did a first look too.  I went back and forth for months on it, but I am really glad we did it.  My biggest "fear" is that it would take away from me walking down the aisle and seeing him for the first time, but it didn't at all!  Like @@JenniferH114 once the music started it was a total blur.  An amazing blur, but I had to watch the video to remember how everything went.  I think we did our first look in the same spot.  Our room at the end of the property so it was really easy to have me come down for the first look and then after that we went back to the room and had a quick tequila shot before the wedding!

[upstatekj]

We did a first look too.  I went back and forth for months on it, but I am really glad we did it.  My biggest "fear" is that it would take away from me walking down the aisle and seeing him for the first time, but it didn't at all!  Like @@JenniferH114 once the music started it was a total blur.  An amazing blur, but I had to watch the video to remember how everything went.  I think we did our first look in the same spot.  Our room at the end of the property so it was really easy to have me come down for the first look and then after that we went back to the room and had a quick tequila shot before the wedding!

Thank you @@Sabes44 and @@JenniferH114 - you've made my decision to have a first look easier! I am also concerned about it taking away from the walking down the aisle moment, but i also feel like i will be overwhelmed enough seeing all of my friends and family! Glad Juan knows of nice spots to take us. Did you guys take photos in the spa at all? I saw this one photo of a couple standing beside those VERY tall white curtains and it's beautiful. Just curious how much direction I need to give Juan in terms of locations for photos, or if he knows best where to go?

Edited June 16, 2015 by upstatekj

[Sabes44]

Thank you @@Sabes44 and @@JenniferH114 - you've made my decision to have a first look easier! I am also concerned about it taking away from the walking down the aisle moment, but i also feel like i will be overwhelmed enough seeing all of my friends and family! Glad Juan knows of nice spots to take us. Did you guys take photos in the spa at all? I saw this one photo of a couple standing beside those VERY tall white curtains and it's beautiful. Just curious how much direction I need to give Juan in terms of locations for photos, or if he knows best where to go?

We didn't take any pictures at the spa, but it is a very beautiful spot for pictures!  I gave him a lot of direction of what I wanted when I was first talking with Juan and trying to decide on a photographer.  I never followed up on much on pictures (besides family pictures I wanted). He took charge and kept taking pictures that I had told him I wanted 9 months before.  Which was great, because I forgot a lot of stuff I said I wanted and just got caught up in everything the last month leading up and that day.

[JenniferH114]

@@upstatekj - We did not take pictures at the spa. We didn't give Juan much direction at all because he was very familiar with the resort, and we felt like they were already really creative and taking pics all over with us. We booked six hours, but they ended up being with us for 7.5 hours, which was a nice surprise and certainly not expected but much appreciated.