Ali2420

Thanks so much for the detailed review! I'm leaving tomorrow, wedding on Saturday! We could not be more excited. Thanks to all of you in the forum for all the great advice and moral support. I'll be sure to share photos and a review upon return! Cheers, Ali

Nicole- Your koozies are awesome! Shower looks lovely too. We did koozies as well in our OOT bags - also did playing cards, lip balm, maracas, matches and an itinerary. I had this great plan to bring spaklers and place them at each place setting with the matches and ordered a big box of them. Then, my fiance reminded me that I would likely not be permitted to fly with fireworks! Haha! Guess we'll have a good 4th of July party next year. We literally have 3 weeks left! I keep looking at this pile of stuff that I'm bringing with a sense of dread. I just recently contacted Blue Lens. We did the Unforgettable Package, but will likely add photos. She said she would come to the room around 3:00 pm and take photos, through the ceremony and could do the cocktail party if we want her to. Are other people having them stay longer through the reception? She sent me this price list that was crazy and did not seem like it would be the prices for additions to the package that is already included. The reviews seem to indicate that they stayed all night and then after you decide what you want. Anyone have any input here? Ali

Nicole- Since we're getting married the same weekend...what color are your overlays? I'm wondering if we could share some decor? Also, did Ana or Veronica say anything to you about the open bar costs? I wasn't aware that there would be any additional cost for alcohol. Less than 90 days!! Ahhh! Ali

Nicole- Forgot to mention that Ana said if we had 45 people, we could do the patio. I'm at 41 right now and working on getting those extra 4 to make it too! Looking forward to talking with you in the next couple months as well! Everyone- here are some more pics - (1) beach wedding site (2) beach "aisle" (3) chapel (Plan (4) fountain patio

Hey JBean! The chapel is also gorgeous, but when we asked about it, Ana said it was only for a catholic ceremony. However, we were also told that it was our Plan B in event of rain. The gazebo is really nice, it's in a garden area. I think that the beach, chapel and gazebo are pretty much their main options for the ceremony. There are other options for the cocktail party if you choose the gazebo for the ceremony. There is this really elegant tea room (indoors), which is also our Plan B for the cocktail party in the event of rain. You could definitely do that after getting married in the gazebo. The biggest take-away was-- don't worry about it, they've got everything covered! Phew! Congrats to you! I'll be sure to post a full review when we return, which will hopefully be helpful for you since you're getting married a couple weeks after us. Below is a sort-of far away shot of the gazebo. Cheers!

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum. Getting married at Valentin Imperial Maya on October 22, 2011! I wanted to introduce myself to the group. My name is Ali and I'm from Atlanta. My fiance and I just got back from our site visit and everything exceeded our expectations. The only thing I was bummed about is that they would not comp. us a room even for one night. So, we hotwired a room in Cancun (so glad we're not getting married in Cancun). Veronica will be our coordinator, but we were given a tour by Ana. She answered every question that I had. The resort itself is gorgeous. Very traditional mexican hacienda style. The walkways and gardens make for an excellent setting. We chose the Unforgettable Package and are getting married on the beach, cocktail hour in the gazebo and our reception on the Mexican fountain patio. We've got 42 guests booked so far and am hoping to get to 45 to do the patio area. The beach is absolutely incredible and very private. It's quite a bit windy and Ana said they don't recommend a vail for the ceremony. I'm planning on having my hair done back with some flowers too, so that its not blowing in my face the whole time. You can pay extra for the wood structure thing to get married under, but the beach is beautiful enough in my opinion. The gazebo is also a lovely location. We decided to have our cocktail party there. The fountain patio is awesome. It's really set off from the rest of the resort and creates a lot of privacy. It's basically a circle with four pie pieces that have small fountains in them. They will turn off two of them, have six tables of seven or eight set up in one pie piece, and the other pie piece will have the dance floor and speakers. We are very particular about our music, so we decided to forgo the DJ in favor of a number of different playlists. The reception will be from 6-10. We are not doing a special rehearsal dinner, figuring we could all go to a restaurant the night before. Ana said that would be fine, but the best places to do that are the Mexican restaurant or the Indonesian place at either 6pm or 9pm to beat the crowds. The plan B in the event of rain is ceremony in the chapel, cocktail party in the tea room, and reception at the Mexican restaurant, which they will close for us the day of. It can be a game time decision the day of the ceremony. I was particularly impressed by this. Ana has been there for 2 years and does this every weekend, so we were comforted by her experience level. When I returned from my trip, Veronica emailed me a summary of all of the things Ana and I talked about and my selections. All in all, they were extremely professional and put my mind at ease. I definitely think that part of the reason for having a destination wedding is that you don't have to sweat all the details. I've heard some horror stories where people have said that is not true, but VIM really made me feel that that will definitely be the case. I appreciate all of your contributions-- they have been so helpful! I'll be keeping you all posted on the process. Message me if you want to see the pics from our site visit.