Finest 2015/2016 Brides

[SusanMarie813]

My TA just got back from doing site visits.  She said she is going to send me photos this weekend that she took.

[SusanMarie813]

@@airsusie did you go to the hotel yet?

[airsusie]

@@SusanMarie813 am here now! It's really great and will post pix when I'm back. The resort and venues are all beautiful. We've made most of our decisions and can't wait to come back in two months!

[SusanMarie813]

GREAT!

[airsusie]

hi everyone - we just got back from a four night planning trip at the finest yesterday.  it was great ... the resort is beautiful.  we didn't want to leave! the food was good.  the service was fantastic.  we spent an entire afternoon w/ teresa doing a tasting and going over all our options.  she is wonderful.  we also met with the tour group operator who was helpful.  i would upload the pix, but there are a lot of files, so here's a picasa album w/ captions explaining the various venue sites. feel free to download the images for yourself.  

 

most of the pix are of outside venues.  teresa told us that the only inside venue for now is lizo.  las dunas is covered so you can still do cocktail/reception there if it rains.  our group booking deadline has passed and we will be closer to 80 (gulp!), so it's too big a group to do sky bar (although we are planning to do our welcome cocktail hour here on thurs).  sky bar is definitely a beautiful space.  we'll do ceremony on the beach, cocktail at las dunas, and dinner on the beach outside of las dunas.  lizo is going to be our rain backup for the ceremony and reception. what i really liked about the wedding gazebo and beach areas is that they are fairly private, especially once the sun goes down.  

 

i also got a hair/makeup trial.  the hair was fine and i will go with the spa for that.  i wasn't crazy about makeup, but she really tried.  i had to keep asking her to make little corrections, but i know it's difficult to do makeup on asian features if you're not famiiar with them.  i knew this was likely to be the case, so i'm asking a good friend to do my makeup instead.  

 

the restaurants were good - very solid for an all inclusive.  we didn't try all the restaurants, but obviously liked some better than others.  the wedding food was all very good too. the design and layout are just really nice and well done and thought out.  

[SusanMarie813]

Great review.

[airsusie]

just went back and read the posts to see if there was anything i forgot.  someone (i think @amandapanda) was asking about rehearsal dinner venues.  teresa said you could do this at any of the restaurants.  i think they charge you per person.  my fiance and i discussed at length and actually decided not to do a rehearsal/welcome dinner and use that money toward a 4 hour welcome snorkeling/sunset cruise (through seasons tour) and have them back on the resort in time for dinner instead. that way the guests get something "extra" and can still take advantage of the many restaurants that are included anyway.  

 

also, i will say about the beach is that the water is beautiful and turquoise (maybe not as much as further south in places like tulum, but still beautiful).  however, there are a lot of little sticks and pebbles in the sand.  it's not super smooth, fine sand.  in a way, it's nicer because the beach is rustic and more natural looking w/ shrubs etc, but just a heads up in case it was something you had your heart set on.  

[NE112015]

Hi everyone! It's been quite on this board lately! I'm still looking at options for our wedding and I think I'm gotten the decorations and flowers down however I am having a hard time deciding on what type of entertainment to pick for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding! Any recommendation? Has anyone had any contact or experience with the band or the DJ that is offered through the resort?

[SusanMarie813]

We are going with DJ Mannia for the reception, the music trio for cocktail, and a sound system for our welcome party. Trying to decide if I want to do a violin for the ceremony. My friend just did it in the Bahamas and it was lovely.

Decorations and flowers what are you doing?

[NE112015]

@@SusanMarie813 we are planning on having our reception on the sky bar deck and I am going to do Tiffany chairs and gold chargers and flower centerpiece (PC09 and PC29 from the resort catalogue). Also I am going to ask to add some string light bulbs over the dance floor. I wanted to do little tequila bottles as my escort cards however found out they are $11 per Blt based on the pricing from the company The resort works with. That's a little expensive since I am already doing welcome bags that's taking a big chunk of my budget. So I am going to have to find a different option. Do you mind sharing the price for the DJ and what's included? Are they the same ones working with the resort or is a vendor you are bringing in? I'm already bringing in my own photographer that I have to pay vendor fee for