Juliet1

The corporate planner sent me the master account bill (this has everything itemized and deposits applied) and the web address for the payment page to pay by credit card. You may want to call your credit card company ahead of time to let them know that there will be an international charge so there won't be a problem with the payment going through (this happened to me at first). I received the payment confirmation right away.

Just got back from our wedding (9/17)!!!! After the weeks (months?) of stress, all I can say is that it was PERFECT!!!!  I’ll try to keep my write-up fairly short (but detailed)…  We met with our wedding planner, Lili, on Tuesday and she was so on top of everything. We were even able to make changes at that late of a date – we had a couple of less people coming to the welcome party, so she credited that money right away to the reception centerpieces (this was the only item I hadn’t paid for up front). We also changed the menu for the cocktail hour, as we were having hot and cold hors d’oeuvres for the welcome party and Lili didn’t want our guests to have the same cold hors d’oeuvres 2 days in a row – she pulled out some old menus and told us to pick any 4 that we wanted. I was really glad/surprised she suggested this.  Our welcome party was Thursday evening and was supposed to be on the beach at the Gran Porto Real (we had a few guests staying there). The weather was horrible (rain storms all day), so Lili had already planned everything for a small ballroom inside. We had planned for a full open bar and hot and cold hors d’oeuvres (10 different types) – this was all great. They arranged for specialty margaritas to be given to people as they arrived and the food was really good.  On Friday (our wedding day) the weather was perfect! I was such a nervous wreck about this since the weather the 2 days before had not been good. I had my hair and make-up done at SpaZul (I did my trial there on Wednesday) and they did a really good job – I was very happy.  We had the luxury wedding package.  Ceremony at the wedding gazebo (3:00) – The gazebo was beautiful – white flowing fabric, white chair covers, turquoise chair bows. We had a solo guitarist instead of our own music and from what I remember, he did a good job (parts of the ceremony are a bit of a blur). He played different music while guests were being seated, when I walked down the aisle and then when we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife. The wedding planner asked us before if there was anything specific we wanted played, but we just told him he could play whatever. We had a symbolic ceremony and had any mention of religion or god removed. We also had the religious readings replaced with something about love and marriage. And a friend came up to perform the sand ceremony with us.  We did our pictures between the ceremony and cocktail hour.  Cocktail hour in the garden area (4:00) – We used our ipod with the sound system they provided.  Reception moved inside to the “crystal†ballroom (5:00). We were originally planning to have this in the garden area, but moved it inside that morning since we figured it would either be too hot or it would rain – it was really hot and our guests appreciated the AC (Lili had already reserved the ballroom since we were unsure about the weather – they needed 4 hours notice to change location). Specialty champagne cocktails were given as guests arrived. We had the mariachi trio play for the first hour – they were so much fun and everyone loved them. They moved the sound system inside from the cocktail hour and we used our ipod for the rest of the reception. The food was really good – better than what we had at the tasting a few months before. There was a lighted dance floor set up (it’s not that big, so some danced on the floor next to it). We actually ended up adding an extra half hour to the reception since everyone was having so much fun – we did this on the spot and just had it charged to our room.  We used Funever Photography (from the resort) and she seemed to do a really good job – she took a ton of pics and would grab me and my husband from the ballroom when the light was just right in the marble hallway or coming through the windows. I guess we’ll find out for sure in a few weeks.  Other thoughts….I found that it was easier to work with the onsite planner, through direct email – not basecamp. We didn’t have any problems paying with cash anywhere. There was a slight police presence – a few here and there carrying machine guns, but nothing scary or even that noticeable.  The one thing I can say is that I realized that a good part of the stress I felt, I put on myself. Everything went so smoothly and I feel a little silly for getting so worked up about things.  After it was over, my husband and I decided that there was absolutely nothing we would have changed – it really was perfect.  I’ll give one piece of advice – it all really happens so fast, so try to pick that one moment you want to remember forever and try to focus on that. For me, it was seeing my husband - at the first moment we made eye contact - waiting at the end of the aisle for me.  All of you ladies were so helpful during the planning process, so let me know if you have any questions I can help with!

Question.....is anyone planning on tipping the wedding coordinator? Are you going to wait until the wedding is over to see how it goes? Any thoughts on the $ amount?

Well...I finally spoke to someone in the wedding office (after being transferred 3 times)! I told her what I needed and she assured me that it wouldn't be a problem and that my coordinator would finalize everything at our meeting on Tuesday. I feel a little better, I guess, but not totally reassured. At least its just small things and all of the really important stuff is taken care of (still doesn't excuse the lack of responsiveness). Â Can't wait for the beach and that first pina colada! Â Thanks for all of the support ladies! I will let everyone know how it all turns out.

I had that box checked when I sent my messages - and still nothing! Part of me is so over the whole planning process, that I'm just laughing at it all...(its either that or start crying). Hopefully I'll hear something soon. Â

 My wedding is in 8 days and I'm having trouble getting in touch with my coordinator!!! She finally set me up on basecamp a few weeks ago and contacted me a couple of times - the last was to tell me that she would be on vacation until 9/13 - my wedding is on 9/17!! Not sure why they would assign me someone who would be gone during the last stretch of planning. She assured me that others in the office would help me, but my 4 posts on basecamp later.....nothing. Not in full-on panic mode just yet, but really really close!

I ordered my sand ceremony kit from foreverwed.com. I haven't received it yet, but it looks really nice - they seem to have a good number of options. Â I think we're planning to do the sand ceremony portion in the middle. We're doing a symbolic ceremony too (no-denominational). The officiant will give the welcome/introduction, we'll do our vows and then a close friend is going to come up front and do the sand ceremony speech and then we'll pour the sand. Then we'll have the officiant give a little closing speech and introduce us as husband and wife. Â We haven't quite figured out what we want everyone to say. Does anyone have the standard symbolic ceremony script? My WC sent me the one for the civil ceremony. Â

Congrats!!! Ours was Friday the 13th too! I don't think its really sunk in yet...

Here's my dress that I am so in love with! Only have pics of it on the model. I am going to remove the bow and replace with a thin crystal/silk trim.

I have the Luxury package (which includes the 3-hour private reception) and are doing the welcome party as an add-on the night before the wedding. My travel agent is double-checking with Maritza, the wedding coordinator....

These price differences based on which wc you have is ridiculous! I was quoted $60 pp for open bar and 3 course dinner! We thought that was way too high for the welcome party, so we're doing the open bar with hot & cold hors d'oeurves for $30 pp for only 2 hours.

I will definitely give a full report when we get back!

#1 - I'm planning on using SpaZul for hair and makeup. I'm going to my salon here at home for hair trials and will take pictures to bring with me. For make-up, Sephora now offers special occasion makeovers - you get about an hour with a makeup artist and you can try different looks (there is a $50 min. purchase). I'll take pictures and write down the colors and try to get SpaZul to match it. Still debating on whether I want to go through a trial with SpaZul a few days before the wedding... #2 - we're doing our welcome party on the beach at the Gran Porto (some of our guests are staying there). Its $30 per person for open bar and hot & cold hors d'oeuvres for 2 hours. We originally wanted to do a buffet on the beach, but we thought $50 per person was too much. I had to have my food selection in 45 days before (my wedding is 9/17) along with final payment.

That is really annoying!! More stress that you just don't need. I'm sure it will all work out.