Las Caletas Brides ~ Post HERE! (THREAD CLOSED)

[LCBride2007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nat4crim I'm sure this question has already been answered but I'm unsure so I will ask it again. I'm in the midst of looking at my photography options. At the moment I have reserved the photographer that Adventure weddings uses for Las Caletas. But I still want to explore my other options. Does any one know which photographer Adventure weddings use?

here is the list Nicole gave me at the time - i think that the top three have the same package prices that Adventure Weddings uses - http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...html#post15277

[Caletas_bridetobe]

I used franco gonzales and his work was good. he is more expensive than the others though. also, nicole said that they used to use carlos melnik but havent used him in a while due to some issues.

[Caletas_bridetobe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellibean well one of the girls got back to me about doing the vow renewal thing. so far i know i cant get a fire dancer and will have to do the night package which is seeing that night show. i emailed her to find out if i can come out earlier but i dont have a clue what is going to happen. i asked her about what time will my vow renewal begin? if its late then it is back to the drawing board because i am not down for a night ceremony im keeping my fingers cross in finding out the answer is what i hoping to hear.

I had the night ceremony and it wasnt "wack". It was really romantic actually. Depending on what time of year it would be, like June for example, the sun does not set until after 8pm. Hence your ceremony and pictures will be during the day. Im assuming the vow renewal would be the same as the intimate package where you get there by 7, have your ceremony at 730, and then pictures after that. Then you have a nice dinner under the stars with your hubby and time to sneak in a few dances and your off to spend more time crusing the coastline back home. I dont think because of the way that the shows are scheduled that you can get extra time w/o paying for the deluxe wedding all over again. But like I said, the evening ceremony was beautiful and I would not have traded it for the world. Just try and scedule it when the sunsets later and I think that you will be just fine. Good luck.

[starchild]

Yes I agree the night ceremonies are not "wack" LMAO!!! You also aren't getting blasted by the afternoon Caletas sun which I can't imagine having to do in a wedding dress.....it's warm enough in shorts.

 

Anyway, to each her own and both times make for beautiful pictures. Good luck with your decision making )

[MarlaB]

I know Franco Gonzalez and Roberto Aceves are the two that directly work with Las Caletas but there are obviously a ton of other choices to consider.

I am trying to keep it as simple as possible so as not to add extra stress and will probably choose one of those. I did get good quotes from Carlos Melnik but I guess there was some sort of fall out and I would hate to hire a photographer that may have bad relations with Nicole or Las Caletas. Anyone have details on what might have happened? Hate to be nosy but it may narrow down my choices or alter my decision making.

 

Oh, this is for Las Caletas brides (starchild, caletas bridetobe, Feb 14 bride, etc.) who used Franco or Roberto: Do they come with an assistant photographer to help with poses, lighting, etc. When do they get to the island? I understand they arrive before the bride begins getting ready so he can capture pictures of that. But how in the world does he get there with all his equipment? He must travel by the back road. It would be hard to travel with the equipment on a small boat. What time do they arrive?

 

Also for those who used Ipods/CDs: Which is better? Should I be prepared with both? How many hours of music will I need? I do plan on hiring the Trio as well for the pre-ceremony, ceremony (besides the Here Comes the Bride song unless they play that too!!), and after the ceremony while I am having my pictures taken. I guess I will just need to provide music for dinner and reception then. Can I categorize different types of music on an Ipod? For instance, can I put the cake cutting, father-daughter dance, bride-groom first dance, etc. in a separate category? If not, then there is a chance it might be played at the wrong time!!!

[MarlaB]

Just thought of one more thing: who typically makes toasts at weddings? I know the best man and father of the bride but are there other traditional toats? What about the bride, maid of honor, father of the groom, etc

It's been a while since I've been to a wedding and I guess I never pay attention!!

[LCBride2007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarlaB I know Franco Gonzalez and Roberto Aceves are the two that directly work with Las Caletas but there are obviously a ton of other choices to consider. I am trying to keep it as simple as possible so as not to add extra stress and will probably choose one of those. I did get good quotes from Carlos Melnik but I guess there was some sort of fall out and I would hate to hire a photographer that may have bad relations with Nicole or Las Caletas. Anyone have details on what might have happened? Hate to be nosy but it may narrow down my choices or alter my decision making. Oh, this is for Las Caletas brides (starchild, caletas bridetobe, Feb 14 bride, etc.) who used Franco or Roberto: Do they come with an assistant photographer to help with poses, lighting, etc. When do they get to the island? I understand they arrive before the bride begins getting ready so he can capture pictures of that. But how in the world does he get there with all his equipment? He must travel by the back road. It would be hard to travel with the equipment on a small boat. What time do they arrive? Also for those who used Ipods/CDs: Which is better? Should I be prepared with both? How many hours of music will I need? I do plan on hiring the Trio as well for the pre-ceremony, ceremony (besides the Here Comes the Bride song unless they play that too!!), and after the ceremony while I am having my pictures taken. I guess I will just need to provide music for dinner and reception then. Can I categorize different types of music on an Ipod? For instance, can I put the cake cutting, father-daughter dance, bride-groom first dance, etc. in a separate category? If not, then there is a chance it might be played at the wrong time!!!

I can't answer specific questions about these 2 photographers, but I did want to try to answer this general question. Leigh came over to Las Caletas with me in the morning, but I think typically the photographer shows up around 2-3, when the bride starts getting ready. Even though it's not actually an island, there is no way to get to LC by any other way than boat, so most vendors will take a smaller boat over to LC when they need to get there, and if they leave early (I believe the word is panga - but I could be wrong!). There really isn't THAT much equipment - Leigh carried just a medium size bag w/all of her stuff in it. Well, she also had a rolly-bag, but I think that was mostly because we had to change and get ready over at LC. So it's a lot less to bring than a typical bride would bring! lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarlaB Just thought of one more thing: who typically makes toasts at weddings? I know the best man and father of the bride but are there other traditional toats? What about the bride, maid of honor, father of the groom, etc It's been a while since I've been to a wedding and I guess I never pay attention!!

I think tradition is that the best man and maid/matron of honor give speaches. Then often the father of the bride, and maybe the groom too. Then the bride and groom often thank everyone, etc. But honestly - do what you want! We didn't have a wedding party, so we didn't have any speaches lined up, other than us thanking everyone. But a friend of Paul's said something, as did a couple girlfriends of mine. We kind of just left it open if people wanted to say something. But if you have a crazy, large group ... be careful, you don't want Open Mic Night!

[starchild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarlaB I know Franco Gonzalez and Roberto Aceves are the two that directly work with Las Caletas but there are obviously a ton of other choices to consider. I am trying to keep it as simple as possible so as not to add extra stress and will probably choose one of those. I did get good quotes from Carlos Melnik but I guess there was some sort of fall out and I would hate to hire a photographer that may have bad relations with Nicole or Las Caletas. Anyone have details on what might have happened? Hate to be nosy but it may narrow down my choices or alter my decision making. Oh, this is for Las Caletas brides (starchild, caletas bridetobe, Feb 14 bride, etc.) who used Franco or Roberto: Do they come with an assistant photographer to help with poses, lighting, etc. When do they get to the island? I understand they arrive before the bride begins getting ready so he can capture pictures of that. But how in the world does he get there with all his equipment? He must travel by the back road. It would be hard to travel with the equipment on a small boat. What time do they arrive? Also for those who used Ipods/CDs: Which is better? Should I be prepared with both? How many hours of music will I need? I do plan on hiring the Trio as well for the pre-ceremony, ceremony (besides the Here Comes the Bride song unless they play that too!!), and after the ceremony while I am having my pictures taken. I guess I will just need to provide music for dinner and reception then. Can I categorize different types of music on an Ipod? For instance, can I put the cake cutting, father-daughter dance, bride-groom first dance, etc. in a separate category? If not, then there is a chance it might be played at the wrong time!!!

Roberto came on the boat with the guests, photographed them on the boat, got to Las Caletas and came to meet me around 5:45 pm, photographed us in and outside of the casita. He came alone, no assistant. Just him. If he suddenly fell ill or something I don't think anyone is in place to take over. But he didn't and it worked for us.

I made separate cd's for everything . . . "cocktail hour", "dinner", "reception 1", reception 2", "first dance", etc. We only allowed my dad to make a toast. We told guests in advance and they understood. My MOH had a speech written anyway and we didn't let her read it.....our decision, we didn't want it to turn into 30 minutes of "when I met Jamy & Will" because that's always the most boring part of weddings to us. Plus time is limited there and we wanted to dance. Instead we had the videographer go to each person throughout the night and get their individual toasts. That way we get it all but it doesn't hold everything up.

Whatever you do or do not want to do, they will work it in to make your ceremony unique to you.

[nat4crim]

Marla

 

In response to your ipod question about categorizing music, you can totally do that. You create individual playlists and can load it to the ipod as seperate files. I'm sure you could even name the playlists, things like "dinner", frist dance/father-daughter ect.

 

For the speeches, I think we will have the Maid of Honor and Best Man make a speech followed by my Dad and his. We also want to thank our guests. The trick though is keeping the speeches short and sweet. We are struggling with the timeline provided and are worried that 20 minutes is not enough for speeches and the cake cut. We will probably extend our time by an hour. We are having speeches because I know for sure FH's parents would definately want to say something. I was going to skip the whole father-daughter, mother-son dance but my FMIL insists on having it.

 

As for photography, I really want pics of me getting ready so I hope I can have that option. I don't want the photographer to come over with the guests but earlier, even if it is a little bit. That way I can get pics of me getting ready as well as pics of the tables, decorations, ceremony site before everything gets started.

[starchild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nat4crim Marla As for photography, I really want pics of me getting ready so I hope I can have that option. I don't want the photographer to come over with the guests but earlier, even if it is a little bit. That way I can get pics of me getting ready as well as pics of the tables, decorations, ceremony site before everything gets started.

I think you can arrange to have their photographers come out earlier. In my case, maybe I was running late, but Roberto arrived when I was still in lingerie getting my hair and make-up done. He also got pics of everything undisturbed, but again maybe I was running late so he had extra time? They should be able to give you an adjusted quote for having the photographer come out way early if your using theirs, if you're bringing your own they can come early in the morning.