aventura spa palace

Hi ladies...please respond with any thoughts/advice on my plans so far...were getting married in November with about 50 people..Im thinking the ceremony at 4pm at the Chichen gazebo, arriving on the horse, not sure if I should hire the pianist or guitar player for that....cocktail hour from 5-6 at the Cove Terrace or Pandero Terrace and hire the mexican trio...reception from 6-10 at the Marraca Terrace or Solarium Mundaca Terrace and have the ipod sound system with technician...thinking Octavio Montes for photographer...ASP videographer...Im not going with a package, just putting together my own...not sure what im going to do for aisle decorations, bm bouquets and centerpieces yet...Im sending out my invitations in July with RSVP date of Sept 1st...thinking buying marrachas once we get there for favors..im doing OOT bags but not sure if I'll give them to my guests before we leave for Mexico or put them in their rooms for when they arrive..wow! and they say planning a destination wedding is easy! thanks..Nicole

Thats a great plan!!! Im planning basically the exact timeline. I havent really put much thought into the locations yet. Youre defintely ahead of schedule! Sending out invaitations in July is just fine. I was planning on sending mine out in June with an RSVP date in Aug because people are really slow with booking. Buying favors and decorations once you get down there is a good idea. A few posts above this Nam was telling me about the hassle of traveling with all that stuff. Ive read about a few brides buying everything once they got down to RM. I think youre doing great so far! And I totally agree, planning a DW isnt easy!!

Thats a great plan!!! Im planning basically the exact timeline. I havent really put much thought into the locations yet. Youre defintely ahead of schedule! Sending out invaitations in July is just fine. I was planning on sending mine out in June with an RSVP date in Aug because people are really slow with booking. Buying favors and decorations once you get down there is a good idea. A few posts above this Nam was telling me about the hassle of traveling with all that stuff. Ive read about a few brides buying everything once they got down to RM. I think youre doing great so far! And I totally agree, planning a DW isnt easy!!

*Ditto* We really appreciate all your help!! Im sure its not easy repeating the same answers over and over, but your kindness has truly helped us stay at ease! Thanks!!!

I am getting married at ASP in about 2 weeks! June 4th. I am getting down to the wire and very excited.

Yeahhhh! so excited for you! where are you having your cocktail hour and reception? and who is your photographer? Is there a million things to do as it gets closer

I know how frustrating that can be, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Unless there is something you REALLY need to pin down it really is so much easier to take care of it down there. When you get to the wedding office they have so many more options, pictures, choices than they could ever send you. As long as you have an idea of what you want they can do it for you. I think for the WC, because of the language barrier, it's easier for them to take care of things face to face because they write it all down and then you are sure they aren't making a mistake either. And none of the stuff goes to the baker, cooks, florist, etc until after that meeting anyway so I wouldn't take them not responding as they don't care because I PROMISE when you get down there they work so hard to make the day perfect. Dulce seriously went above and beyond to take care of ever detail.

They also have vases and holders, etc down there. Maybe if you had an idea of what you wanted your could bring some things that are easy to pack and then just use the resorts stuff for the rest.
Word of caution...i wanted a lot of candles....way too windy for that. You'd have to get special hurricane vases to block the wind.

That sounds great (and like mine hehe). 4 o'clock was a great time for the ceremony. If I could offer any advice however, take pictures before hand if you want to take a lot of pictures. After the ceremony we were literally running to take the pictures before the sun went down. I wish we would've had a bit more time.
Not sure about this but they might charge you to put bags in the rooms. We just left ours at the front desks and had them give them to people as they checked in (with a tasty cocktail, flower and hot towel...all provided by ASP!).
I would double check with the WC but I remember trying to get the cove terrace and I think it's too small for 50 people.

Here are some more pictures I dug up:

This is the Chicen Gazebo. It wasn't an option when we got married last November because there was too much hurricane damage to the roof. I think it's gorgeous though.

This picture was taken on the stairs leading to the gazebo. It might be hard to see but to the right is the Greco Restaurant. This would've been my hesitation with using this gazebo...it's the least private of the 3. It's literally right by the restaurant and the main pool off the lobby at ASP. This one is likely to draw a bigger crown than the other 2 but if that's not an issue to any of you I think it's a gorgeous choice!!

This is the pandero terrace during the day:

And this is how is way set up for our welcome cocktail the night before the wedding:

And this was the private bar with the cocktail hour:

It is set up just about where I'm standing pointing at the lizard.

Glad I can help and let me know if you have any more questions!!!

Bless you NaM and all the other ladies who help the rest of us stay sane on this forum! I'll try to relax and hope it all comes together once we are there.

Ugh! Im still stressing about the photographer I love the work of Del Sol, Victor Herrera and Elizabeth Medina...but they are out of my price range...Im thinking of using Octavio Montes but I havent been able to find enough of his work...any suggestions/recommendations? this has been my hardest decision so far!

Have you checked Sasha Gluck? Ruluca (she got married the same day as me) used him and her pics came out gorgeous!! I think he is much more affordable!

Here is the link to his blog, I tried to link it straigh ASP but if it's not on the homepage just look up the Nov. 2009 archieve and you'll see the ASP wedding.

Photographer for Cancun an Riviera Maya