correak0723

Hi Kari, The wedding was amazing! Everyone said that the resort was gorgeous and the food was amazing (and we have quite a few foodies amongst us). I loved the pier for the ceremony but it was windy and our officiant had not stapled his papers. So it made for a few laughs trying not to get the papers to fly away. I personally loved the pier over the beach though. Everyone also raved about the food at the reception. We did buffet style and selected the Cancun buffet option. I would second a comment another girl made above - I created a spreadsheet with all the decisions for the Welcome Hour the night before and the wedding day, and it really helped. Our meeting with Gloria took 20 minutes to go through the details since we had the spreadsheet. Our guests loved that we had selected a time for pre-dinner and post-dinner cocktails. With 51 guests, everyone wanted to meet up and hang out with everyone else, so that was a great way to do it. We broke off into smaller groups for dinner based on who wanted to go where and when and then met back up later. Restaurants do not take tables of more than 6, except for Hibachi, for which you have to make reservations on the same day starting 5:30pm. These tables go fast so you want to be there by 5:10 to get in line for it. P.S.: There are no restaurants that do buffet style dinner; however every 2-3 nights, the resort threw a theme party where the theatre is and served buffet style dinner there.

Hi Kari, We're using Juan Navarro. I read reviews on this blog and Juan had great reviews. No one really complained about the in-house photographers on the blog but when I emailed both, I got a very friendly response from Juan while the emails from the in-house photographers were lackluster and lacking details. So I went with Juan as I felt more comfortable. Personally, I prefer to just have all the digital images versus the combo digital (150 - 200 only, I believe) and print the in-house photogs provide. Even though we are paying a vendor fee, the cost for using Juan for 5 hours was not that much more as compared to the in-house folks. And since we did not do engagement photos, we could justify the little extra Let me know if you have any additional questions! Karen

TealMarie, Did you get your wedding planner a gift? Not sure what the protocol is. Karen

KariJean, we are not setting up reservations. We'll just head to the restaurant with our group and figure it out.

Hi TealMarie, Thank you for the feedback, especially about the shows. It is really great feedback! Our crew of friends typically stays out by the pool/beach till close to sun down; hence we went with later times, but it is worth considering doing earlier cocktails and dinner, even if on alternate days. I could even see us going from cocktails straight to a show and munching our way through Our hope for dinner is the same as you describe - i.e., we hope to do dinner with a different group of friends every day (6-8 at most) and then meet up again after dinner. The front of our card tells people to feel free to join us or create their own adventures, so hopefully we don't have everyone wanting to do dinner with us on the same night. Did you book your own appointment with the spa and request Elias? I sent Gloria an email asking her whether she will or I need to schedule the spa appointment but I have not heard back. Thanks again for all your help! You are a life saver!

Hi TealMarie, Here's what we have planned: Tue, April 29th 7pm: Cocktails @ Martini 8pm: Dinner @ Agave 10pm: After dinner drinks @ Café Kafe Wednesday, April 30th 12pm: Main pool/beach 7:30 pm: Cocktails @ Martini 8:30 pm: Dinner @ The Grill 10:30 pm: After dinner drinks @ Stars Thursday, May 1st 12pm: Main pool/beach 6pm: Meet & greet @ Martini 7pm: Welcome reception @ XLounge 10pm: After dinner drinks @ Café Kafe Friday, May 2nd 11am: Main pool/beach 6pm: Get hitched 7pm: Dinner & Reception @ The Lobster House 12am: After-party @ Alegria Saturday, May 3rd 11am: Brunch @ Toscana 12:30pm: Main pool/beach 7:30pm: Cocktails @ Stars 8:30pm: Dinner @ Spice 10:30pm: After dinner drinks @ Café Kafe Sunday, May 4th 12pm: Main pool/beach 7:30pm: Cocktails @ Martini 8:30pm: Dinner @ Basmati 10:30pm: After dinner drinks @ Café Kafe * Subject to change due to last minute changes in restaurant schedule. Venue for dinner to be confirmed at pre-dinner cocktails. We had someone create a neat pocket-sized tri-fold for us with the schedule and a message from us. I know you mentioned that Martini may be tight for 50 people but we won't have that many people on other nights, Thursday being the exception. And since that's the first night everyone will be meeting everyone else, we liked the idea of being in a tight space and feeling like one big party. Any other thoughts on timing and locations based on your experience? P.S.: How much time prior to the ceremony did you get your hair and make-up done? I have to be ready by 4:30pm but am the only one getting my hair and make up done so I don't want to have my appointment at 10am. Did you also do a test run? I'm nervous about the make up more than the hair. Thank you for all your help!

KariJean, We are; however, we are creating our own music playlist and putting it on a hard drive for the DJ. We'll hand it over once we get there along with a list of key songs to play Chris is picky about his music and neither of us want the DJ going off on a tangent Karen

Hi TealMarie, Thank you for the information. This is very helpful! I may run my schedule by you, if you don't mind, once I have it put together. Also, great idea about using Whatsapp! It was my main means of communication when I lived in Mexico City for 2 months but didn't think of it for the wedding. We're definitely going to include that on our schedule for our guests. Karen HI KariJean, Gloria missed to mention Cafe Kafe so it was good to know that I have another option. I think I had read on this forum about being able to rent some things from them. I asked Gloria about vases in particular and she said I could rent them for $5 a vase. I had asked her for a catalog of decor options and she said they were working on one for 2014 but she asked me to ask her for prices for anything I had in mind and they would get back to me. For example, I was curious to see how much glowsticks would cost since I was nervous about them activating in my suitcase if I brought them with me. She said $3 per glowstick so we nixed that idea The bouquet I sent her was a picture I found on pinterest. I asked her if I could have something similar in the same price range as the flowers in the Silver package. I'm still waiting to hear back from Gloria. She's typically quick to respond but given all the information I had in the spreadsheet, I figured it is taking her longer to review, confirm and get back to me. We are getting married in court before we leave. Our friend is officiating our ceremony In Mexico and that will be our official weddding date. Please let me know if you need any more information. Regards, Karen P.S.: My understanding of the Gold package was that you get a bridal bouquet, a center piece for the ceremony and one for the reception. So if you moved your ceremony center piece to the reception, you would have two center pieces. If you want more flowers without having to pay $60-$70, you could rent vases and plop your bridal party's bouquets into those.

Hi TealMarie, Thank you for your response. For each day that we're there, we're letting our guests know where we will be for cocktails before dinner, dinner and then after dinner drinks. It is optional for our guests to join us but at least they know where to find us. Do you know if the Sports Bar is open late? I thought that Cafe Kafe closes early - around 6pm pr 7pm, is that correct? What are some fun bars to grab drinks before dinner, say around 6pm or 7pm? Karen

Hi Kari, We are doing the Silver package because we didn't need any of the extras of the Gold package. We're doing a Welcome cocktail hour the night before at the X lounge, the ceremony on the pier, and the reception at the Lobster House. We're not doing cocktail hour as there will only be a half hour between the ceremony end and the reception. We are doing a longer reception so we asked for the cocktail hour apps included in the package to be brought out later in the night and chose heavier apps for "munchies". Just last week, I sent Gloria an email confirming all of these details that she and I had discussed since we confirmed the ERC in March of last year. I am waiting on her to confirm all the details and will let you know if anything changes. We're not having a bridal party so it's just a bouquet for me. I sent Gloria a picture of something I liked and asked her if she could create something similar in the same price range as the bouquet choices I would have gotten with my package. All of this is in the one big spreadsheet of details, questions and prices I sent to her so she asked for a few days to go through it all and respond. I have not seen a catalog of bridal flowers from the ERC. Regarding centerpieces, I received a catalog of centerpieces to choose from. The Silver package has one centerpiece included. I am upgrading that one from the Silver menu to the Gold for $10-$15. I am using the centerpiece for the ceremony and then having them move it to our table for the reception. Centerpieces for the other tables were quoted as $60-$70 for the Silver and Gold ones respectively. To be honest, I'm not a big wedding person so instead of spending $60 per table (we have 6 not including ours), I'm renting one hurricane per table from them for $5 each. I am buying colored sand and seashells and am going to fill the hurricanes with sand at the bottom, the seashells and water and add a floating candle on top. After dinner, we're going down to three tables for guests so each table will have two hurricanes. We're also doing the DJ package with lights so I think we'll have sufficient ambience to make up for not having too much bling on the tables. Also, the advantage of the Lobster House is that you have a view of the ocean and light reflecting from the pool, so the venue does not need as much dressing up as say a ballroom would. Here's the website where I am buying the sand and shells. They have some great stuff for decorations: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/ so defintiely look through it for ideas. Hope this helps. Please let me know if you need additional information. P.S.: Could you do me a favor? Whenever you chat with Jessica next, can you inquire what bars are open between 8pm and 1am at night? I' ve gotten three different answers (from Gloria and twice from calling the 1800 #) and I need to confirm our pocket schedules soon.

Hello everyone, I am getting married at the Erc on May 2, 2014. We are creating a schedule for our guests since we have 50 and we want people to know where we will be in the evenings given that everyone is arriving and leaving on different dates. I'm having a tough time getting confirmation on what bars at open at night. So far, I have been told Martini (lobby bar), Stars (by the theatre) and Alegria are open until 1am. Is this accurate information? What about the Sports bar? I was trying to get similar information, i.e., days when restaurants are closed but was not able to get a response from them. Thank you in advance!