marteeca

Forgot to mention that we stored them in a very cold air conditioned room at the Villa we stayed at. We just placed them where ever they fit in this room; also, they lasted for quite awhile after we put them out...we were there 4 more days and they still looked nice after being in the heat both inside and out! I also brought back my bouquet and my family brought back several centerpieces; everyone will tell you that you can't bring back flowers from Mexico (including the airline, they told me this), but it's not true. As long as they are not planted and don't have roots it is okay.

LisaSB: Hi! Our wedding was on a Friday, and we ordered the flowers on Tuesday morning. They also had supplies, like oasis and trays. I brought down my own centerpiece holders since I found some I loved, but if you want just regular vases I think they sell them too. So the flowers actually arrived on Wed. PM, but we just had them delivered on Thursday AM. My husband's aunts used to be florists and we had about 3 more people helping out with the arrangements and bouquets. I wanted mine very formal so it took longer (4 hours for 6 centerpieces, 5 bouquets, and 14 corsages/boutonnieres)...if you wanted just informal arrangements I bet it would go faster. We had a lot of fun doing them but for me it was semi-stressful, only because it was the day before the wedding and too many things had gone wrong by that point so I ended up having to focus on some of those things. But, otherwise it was kind of relaxing. Depending on how you do your flowers don't forget you need something to cut them with! Luckily my husband's aunts brought their floral scissors and tape with. If you want to see some photos of our arrangements, you can go here: Martha Frisch Hernandez's Photos - The decore | Facebook Good luck!

We just got back from getting married! I wanted to share my experience with others and provide information on all of the awesome vendors we worked with. I will preface this review by saying that with the exception of the church and the Villa, everything I organized was via email and I never picked up the phone once. (I had bad luck with my original WC so I ended up doing it all myself..I won't go into that here.) We got married at Iglesia de Guadalupe. They were very easy and pleasant to work with, but a prior meeting with the priest would have helped... some elements of a traditional Mexican ceremony were left out, like the lazo...we are not sure what happened. At any rate, it was memorable and we'll never forget it and I wouldn't change a thing about it! For music, we used Ensemble Maestoso. they were BEAUTIFUL and I found him (Alejando) on the fiancee.com.mx website. He also has a website if you google it. We booked the music just 2 weeks before the wedding.. It was worth every penny-I should mention they are not included in the church fee-you must book them separately.) We made our own flower arrangements by ordering flowers from Floreria Frissia. We ordered over 400 roses, 100 calas, 100 gerberas, 10 bunches of daisies and oasis. I went there with photos of what I was planning to make and they helped me pick out the quantities. They are in the Mercado Palmar de Aramara behind Sam's Club (they do not have a website). Our flowers cost less than $400! We got our cake from Charme Reposteria. Our cake was BEAUTIFUL and VERY affordable. We had a fondant cake, simply decorated with two alternating flavors (chocolate and vanilla). We went there on Monday and paid for it. They delivered the cake for us on Friday, the day of the wedding. Everyone loved it! (they moved locations, they are not downtown anymore so beware if you can't find them they are closer to the airport) We stayed at Quinta Laura (Casa Carol Ann) and had our reception there as well. Quinta Laura is amazing and you cannot go wrong if you have your reception there (we had 55 adults and 3 kids at our wedding but they accommodate up to 125 I believe). Quinta Laura is expansive and beautiful, and the staff there are wonderful-it is in lower Conchas Chinas overlooking the ocean. We worked with Casa Bay Villas to rent Quinta Laura and everything was organized effortlessly. They were very attentive to our needs, very responsive, and we highly recommend working with them. For catering and table rentals, we worked with Vallarta Catering/Liana's Sazon. They are very reponsive and flexible, and yummy! We had a gourmet latin buffet with 3 main dishes...shrimp, chicken, and steak. The food was WONDERFUL and very tasty, everything was presented stylishly. We also had hand-passed appetizers prior to our meal. On top of the wonderful service that they provide, they also provided many personal touches like helping to order a cake to be delivered to the villa the day before the wedding (not the wedding cake), providing extra salsas and bread at the buffet, and even baking us some yummy cinnamon rolls. They sent decorators to do the decorating, which was very helpful and also provided recommendations for the flowers and other things prior to our arrival, and arranged for the table rentals (I had gotten a quote from Eventos del Pacifico and they were able to work with the same vendor for the rentals.) Vallarta Catering also arranged for a TACO CART for our reception! It was from Pepe's Tacos, which we specifically requested. The taco cart came at midnight at it was a hit with everyone. It stayed for several hours. If you are looking for a unique idea, this one got lots of raves and was a big hit. Lastly, we had a beach party at Epoca restaurant on Los Muertos beach the night before our wedding. This was also organized solely via email, and everything turned out perfect. They had everything set up with a Mexican theme right on the beach. We ordered a selection of appetizers and they were all amazing. The service and attention of the staff was great and made us feel so welcome. This was WAY longer than I meant, but I wanted everyone to know how wonderful all of the people we worked with were to help make our day so special. Please feel free to send me a PM with any questions!

Hi Jess! Thanks for the reviews, we spoke a bit via PM about the church before so appreciate that you posted a review! I was wondering what musicians you got for your ceremony, did you use the ones provided by the church or did the coordinators organize/find them for you? I would be interested to know more about them, if you indeed had any. Congratulations!

Just to clarify my question...looking for caterers who's dinner with or without appetizer options, start in the $20-$30 price range (NOT including rentals). I know this is possible in other parts of Mexico...of course PV is a tourist area, but just wondering if anyone knew of anyone. Thanks!

We are getting married here on May 14, 2010. At first the church was "wishy-washy" about letting us pick our date...at first, they said we had to have our marriage prep paperwork completed before we could pick a date! Then, after 2nd call they said they'd make an exception for us, and we told them we'd call back with our selected date. When we called to choose our date (3rd call), we got a different person than the first 2 times, and they then said that the Agenda was "closed" until a certain date, and to call back on that date. In the end, on the 4th try we spoke to the person we spoke to on the 3rd call and we had no problems picking date and time. She even said we could make the donation when we arrive. Regardless, we plan to go down for a visit shortly and will donate then, just in case! our wedding is "private", and it's a full hour, in Spanish. They gave us the opportunity to choose the date, time, and language of the mass. Even though it's private, I've been to a wedding there before and I would guess that there will probably be some people coming in and out of the church to take a look! so...I think it depends on who you speak to. I also know it's very common in some parts of Mexico to "close" the schedule...

It's so strange...I KNOW I've seen the posts with links to photos, but they seem to have been deleted, or else my searching is just not working I've seen the lovely pics on the DD site, and it's beautiful! I would love to speak to someone who's been there to see how the staff is, layout, access to beach, etc.

Hello! I am relatively new to this forum...I've read a lot of posts about caterers and some of the pricing...some posts says you can expect to pay $20-$30USD for a nice meal (but they were posted a while back), others quote much higher prices $80+. I've gotten quotes from some caterers, and I am starting to wonder if the $20-$30 price range actually exists?! The quotes I've received are well over $40-50, once you add in the taxes. Does anyone have any info or recommendations on this?

I am also curious about this...anyone have any contacts or vendors?

Hello! I am relatively new to this forum. I will be getting married in PV on May 14th, 2010! We are staying at Casa Carol Ann and plan to have our reception there as well. Is anyone else getting married there, or have any photos/information to share about the Villa? I think there used to be some other posts while back, but they seem to have disappeared. Thanks!

I am also looking for information regarding this caterer. Does anyone have any contact information? Thanks!

Thanks for replying! I understand everything that you've mentioned, and it makes perfect sense. I think the most important thing for us is to find someone who is flexible and will let us do some of the details ourselves (rather than have just a day-of coordinator). For example, some things we already have resources for include photographer (a friend of mine who will fly down) and florists (my fiancee is from Mexico, and his family used to have a florist shop in Mexico and now they have one in LA so they want to do the arrangements, as long as we can order or buy flowers). I definitely would like to have a coordinator... the one I thought would work with me in the end told me to do it myself, but that I would probably never find anyone to do the day-of coordinating. She said her vendors were reliable and to contact them directly if I wanted. I just want someone flexible enough to let us do some of it ourselves, and work with us on the rest. I do speak Spanish fluently (and of course my fiancee does as he is Mexican), and I know Puerto Vallarta very well so I feel very comfortable doing some things myself. Overall, we are both feeling a bit disappointed and regretting that we chose to get married in Puerto Vallarta! We feel like our wedding day should be the way we envision it, with participation from family and friends if that is what we want...not what others tell us we have to do. That said, I did find a few coordinators that seemed flexible, but I am looking for other recommendations for WCs that are not the kind that do everything for you. All recommendations welcome! Please post or PM me

Hello! I am looking for recommendations for a flexible, reasonably-priced WC in Puerto Vallarta. I have received some quotes, but a lot of the caterers/coordinators I wrote to never responded so I do not have a good way to compare or have an idea what is a good price. Our reception is at Casa Carol Ann so a coordinator would be very helpful, particularly a Day-of-Wedding coordinator. I also LOVE decorating and organizing...so I want to do a lot of the planning and decorating myself, which is another reason that I am looking for someone reasonably-priced and flexible...basically I need a Day-of-Wedding coordinator, and someone to help me with suggestions or negotiate prices with vendors. I am not looking for someone who will do everything for us. I originally found someone I thought I could work with...I thought I explained what I was looking for...now they say my budget is too low for them and will not work with me. They also told me it will be hard for me to find someone in PV who will be flexible, reasonbly-priced, and meet my needs at the same time. I can't believe this to be true...so, does anyone have any recommendations? THANKS!

When my fiancee spoke to them, he asked about that...they told me we definitely can do it the day before. There is another member, I believe her name is Silvia, who should have just gotten married there last week. She told me that she was having a rehearsal so maybe you could contact her with more details. Our experience with this church has been that the answers to your questions depend on who you ask:) Good luck!

I also received a similar quote, although the minimum was slightly lower. I did find another WC ,who said she could work with me then all of a sudden today she said my budget didn't fit. So now I am back to square one. All of the other places I've found charge a flat rate and no minimum though. I didn't contact too many because I thought I found someone...