Brooke and Gen's Las Caletas Wedding...The Review!

[B&G]

We had the most magical, picture perfect wedding...and we couldn't have asked for anything more.

 

At about 9:00am on the day of our wedding, a group of us arrived at the marina to head over to Las Caletas. Kelly met us there and was immediately helpful. She grabbed our dresses out of our hands (ladies, imagine carrying not one dress but two!) and showed us to the right place to board our boat. The normal catamaran that takes everyone over in the morning had been reserved, so Vallarta Adventures reserved an inflatable speedboat to fly us to Caletas. Other than Brooke and myself, we were accompanied by our makeup artist and her partner, Brooke's sister and one of our very close friends. In addition to that, our photographer and his assistant were on board with Kelly. Kelly sat in the back and held on to our wedding dresses...And off we went!

 

Immediately upon arriving at Caletas, Kelly showed us up to the incredibly gorgeous bridal suite. Once we had situated our belongings, Brooke and I headed over to the spa where we both received hour long massages. Now ladies, Brooke and I both highly recommend getting a massage at Caletas on the morning of your wedding. Their massages? Simply amazing. We both feel that these massages were better than anything we'd ever had before. The amount of money that you'll spend on your massage at Caletas will most likely be some of the best money spent on your entire trip! Once we came out of our private little rooms and were walking like jello, we headed back over to the bridal suite where Kelly had met us with bottled water and a fresh fruit plate.

 

Let me briefly describe the bridal suite for you...Imagine this little sanctuary up in the jungle, with chocolate colored wood and plantation shutters on the windows. When you walk in, you are immediately met by a couch and table, which is directly next to the huge and squishy bed towards the back. The bathroom in the bridal suite is amazing, with a double head shower and a really cool sink...But don't forget two things: 1) The shower has no door and/or no curtain. So unless you're feeling especially "friendly" (as Kelly put it), know that you might want to shut the main bathroom door. 2) Make sure that you close the shutters on the bathroom window before you get in the shower. If you leave them open, anyone walking past the bridal suite can accidentally look in and potentially see you a wee bit naked. Across from the big, squishy bed in the back of the bridal suite is the vanity area - perfect for getting ready and right next to the back door of the suite which leads out to the giant hammock and hot tub.

 

Our makeup artist had the stressful job of getting two brides, a sister of the brides and herself ready...So we began getting ready at 12:00pm. By about 1:30pm, my hair was finally straightened, and we all headed down to the buffet for lunch. We sat with Kelly, which was a treat because she's hysterical, and ate the absolutely amazing food...

 

Then we headed back up to the bridal suite to finish getting ready. Our photographer, Cooper Carras, was in the bridal suite photographing us getting ready while his assistant was out grabbing photographs of the smaller details. Our getting ready process took quite some time, if you can only imagine, so we all sat around in the suite and hung out. While we were getting ready, Kelly and Nicole came up and brought our bouquets in a vase. Our bouquets were mini orange Calla Lilies and they looked EXACTLY like the photograph that we had sent to Nicole. They were stunning! The girls (Kelly and Nicole) left and Brooke and I were finished...Then, it was picture time.

 

Brooke and I decided that we were not going to wear any type of shoe while we were at Caletas. We had always wanted to get married in our bare feet, so we figured that we might as well not wear shoes while we were there at all. Once we had our dresses on and bouquets in hand, we headed down the paths and stairs towards the beach for photos...But there was one slight problem - we headed straight down to the beach where they set everything up. Whoops!

 

This is all I have to say: Nicole, Kelly and their team of professionals pull off quite a feat. They manage to get everything ready in split seconds, almost faster than you realize!

 

When we arrived down at the beach, a tiny bit of anxiety hit because things hadn't been setup yet. Cooper brought us down and took some bridal shots of us and by the time we were done (due to the heat and the fact that I was sweating like a chubby kid running after a piece of cake), they were setting up the chairs and the aisle. We found out that the buses had arrived late to pick up our guests at the resort (we had 70 guests) and therefore the boat was late...So being the nervous people that we are, we stood there and waited until we could see the boat approaching Caletas before we ran back up the stairs and hid in the utility shed.

 

That's where we stood: the utility shed. The pathway back up to the bridal suite had just been washed down with water...Which was not a good thing for two brides in two white dresses with partial trains. As we were walking up the stairs we saw the shed and figured that we might as well stand in there. All of the sudden, Nicole appeared - adorable as she is, she decided to wear a chocolate brown dress to match our wedding colors - and she brought us champagne and glasses. Because Brooke and I were about to vomit all over the place out of nervousness, we took one sip of our champagne and waited until we heard that everyone was seated.

 

Our processional music started ("The Book of Love" by Peter Gabriel) and our ring bearer and flower girl headed out...Then Brooke's parents...Then Brooke...Then my father and myself...Our guests were all standing, smiling at us, as we approached the Chuppah and saw our officiant standing there. The setting was amazing. They had lined the aisle with rose petals. The waves were crashing against the rocks behind Tete (our officiant). And Brooke and I were standing there, ready to get married.

 

Note: We had provided Nicole with a good amount of stuff for our wedding day. We handed her our programs and bamboo fans to place on the chairs at the ceremony...We gave her our place card holders...We gave her our place cards, which we had alphabetized before we arrived in Mexico to make it easier...We brought our napkin rings and our green glass rocks for the tables...And we brought all of our CD's for the DJ.

 

Our ceremony went off without a hitch and we were done. Time for some photos on the beach! When we went up to the terrace where dinner was being served, we were amazed at how gorgeous our tables looked. Everyone began to sit at their tables and Nicole brought us over to our head table...And guess what? Nicole brought us our dinner! I couldn't even believe it. She made plates for the both of us and brought them over, including our favorite pasta that they only serve during lunch at Caletas.

 

Everyone loved, loved, loved the food - it was incredible. Virtually all of our guests were talking about how the food at Caletas was better than the food at the resort! As we were walking around thanking everyone at all of our tables, I happened to grab Nicole and Kelly and asked them for a huge favor:

 

I said to them, "I'd like to sing to Brooke without her knowing. Does your DJ have Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie?"

 

A few minutes later, they came up to me and told me that they had downloaded the song and gave it to the DJ. We devised a plan to have them slip me the microphone when no one was paying attention, so I could sing to Brooke out of nowhere...The music started, I began singing, and it was fabulous. Nicole can do anything.

 

Next came speeches from the parents...And afterwards came our cake. The cake looked exactly like the photograph that we had sent to Nicole. Brooke was pretty stubborn about the cake having 3-tiers, so when she saw that it did she was a pretty happy camper. Neither one of us knew how to cut the cake or what to do, so it was great to have Nicole standing behind us and whispering instructions...The cake was great...Especially when Brooke smooshed it on my nose...And it was even better when I smooshed it back on her nose. They served us champagne with our cake as well!

 

And then...It was time for the reception. Now as everyone has mentioned before, the reception is setup on the beach where the ceremony was. They setup a dance floor which is covered by grass mats and surrounded by candles. We all danced and had a great time - including Nicole and Kelly who managed to come out during Salt N' Pepa's "Push It" and dance it up for a bit. The DJ was fantastic and didn't miss a beat - he played some of his music intermixed with music that we had provided for him. Our guests loved the dancing, the atmosphere and the bright blue plankton that washed up on the sand! The sky was perfectly clear and full of stars...So when you looked up, all you saw were the tops of palm trees and an overabundance of starlight!

 

The fire dancers ended up coming a bit late which proved to be a great thing for our guests...I don't even know where to begin or what to say other than the fact that they were absolutely incredible. If you're planning on getting married at Las Caletas, hire the fire dancers...Regardless of your religion or spiritual views, there's something purely magical about having them dance around you and bless you while you're standing there about to pee your pants (or dress, should I say). It's exhilarating, fun and beautiful.

 

And then, the boat ride home. The DJ kept the music going, our guests kept the drinks going, and a group of us continued to dance at the bow until we arrived back at the marina.

 

If I had to rate the entire day, it would get a 10 out of 10 - without question. Nicole is an amazing wedding coordinator who goes above and beyond to make sure that her brides are happy. She treats everyone with respect, she doesn't miss one single detail, and she's a fantastic woman who deserves big huge tips at the end of the night...Kelly? Although we met her the day of our wedding, she was incredible as well. She was there throughout the entire day to make sure that we were happy, she ran around like crazy to make sure that everything was setup properly, and she rode the boat home with us to make sure that everyone and everything was fine.

 

...Las Caletas is breathtaking and we couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous setting to get married. We're looking forward to some point next year when we can revisit Caletas and set foot on that soft sand, hear the familiar sounds of the waves crashing, and remember every single detail of our wedding day because it was nothing short of perfection.

[starfish kate]

Gen, are you a writer? I really enjoyed reading your review. I am so glad you had a "perfect 10" wedding!

[Heidi]

What a fabulous review! Sounds like the perfect day!!

[LCBride2007]

i am almost in tears reading this - i know every ounce of detail you talk about, and know how fabulous of an experience it is. congratulations, brooke and gen!

[Christine]

one question, was everyone crying when you sang? I bet Brooke was so happy!

It sounds like your day was perfect, I really hope to get out to Las Caletas some day it really sounds amazing.

[MsShelley]

So amazing!! I could almost picture it when you were describing it! I am so glad your day was perfect!

[CarrieRN]

Congratulations! Glad to hear that everything went perfectly!

[edna]

What an incredible review Gen, thank you for sharing!!! I am so glad everything went so perfect for both of you!!!

[B&G]

I am so excited for all of the upcoming Caletas brides. Reading about Caletas on the forums doesn't even compare to actually experiencing it!!! When we stepped off of the boat on the day of our walk through, I immediately began crying when I hit land.

 

..As for the singing? I'm not sure how many people were crying, but the whole thing is on video.

[LCBride2007]

I just checked my list ... Vanessa (chrisnessa) is next ... in January!