aventura spa palace

Sorry I have been slacking on my full review, been so busy! But I promise it's coming. In the meantime if you have any specific questions feel free to ask

My daughters cake was fantastic also. We had the sapphire package and with that came the choice of one of three cakes. One was 2 tier blue fondant with sugar or fondant seashell decorations, one was 2 tier white fondant with blue and brown circles, and one was 3 tier white fondant with blue scrolls (all could be fondant or chantilly creme). We liked both the blue one with shells and the 3 tier with blue scrolls. My daughter choose the 3 tier fondant with blue scrolls, vanilla cake with fruit filling. It was amazing and everyone loved it. It not only looked pretty but tasted great.

Also, the dinner at ElGreco was fantastic with filet mignon and shrimp!

My daughters wedding was May 20th and we just got the check in the mail today , from Miami, for the complimentary nights. They take what you paid for one week and divide it by 7. That is what you get for 1 complimentary night. You simply multiply that by the # of complimentary nights you earned and that is how much the check is for. That you will receive. Nice!!
 

I have some pictures of the buffet food from my wedding dinner (private event menu) and the cake. If you can walk me through the steps of posting individual pictures I will post them for you

Also, the dinner at ElGreco was fantastic with filet mignon and shrimp!

Mmm, we had the Filet migneon and shrimp at Mundaca for our "Rehersal Dinner" the night before the wedding and almost everyone order it and loved it.

Jacki - How did you book if not with a group contract? I dont want to get hasseled about the promotions. Thats a huge reason I booked with this hotel. I think its BS how they are handling this with some girls...60 nights is 60 nights

We signed some contract I remember.

Also we booked 14 nights on Concierge level as well. I hope that counts in my night count. What else did you like about that level? Trying to decide if its worth it.

Hi Ladies!

Just got back from my ASP wedding yesterday and my new husband and I had a blast! As did our guests! Thought I'd pay it forward and give my review to help other brides like you all have helped me in the planning process - so here it goes:

- $1500 PROMO: When we went to use this promotion they said that we didn't qualify because 4 of our room nights were comp'ed due to our group contract. So they broke up our room reservation by 4 and 3 nights instead - therefore we only qualified for $750. We had to fight them on this, and they had to make some calls to the Miami office but eventually we got our $1500. The funny thing is after all this we barely used any of our points because we were so busy!

- CHECK IN: The only complaint people had was how long the airport transportation took to get to the resort because you have to stop at a bunch of other resorts until you get to ASP. It took anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours for some people. But then they arrive at ASP and are presented with a cold towel and fruity drink and all is forgiven.

- WRISTBAND: I took mine off for the wedding, but if you lose it they charge you $75 PER DAY to replace it. I lost mine. Don't lose yours.

- ROOM LIST: Make sure you ask for this when you check in. This group list with everyone's room numbers was worth its weight in gold to us when trying to find guests and figure out when people were checking in.

- WEDDING DAY: I literally had no idea what was going on until I was walking down the aisle. We had our ceremony at the Coba Gazebo at 5pm, Cocktail Hour @ Pandero Terrace at 5:30pm, and reception @ Maracas Terrace at 6:30pm. We were extremely happy with all of these locations. We went with the Mexican hor dourves for the Cocktail Hour and Cajun Buffet for reception. We also hired the Mexican Trio to perform for the Cocktail Hour and they were great. There was SO much food leftover I felt so guilty for letting it all go to waste. Everyone had stuffed themselves during Cocktail Hour they weren't even hungry for the reception, so if I could go back I'd just have guests go straight to the reception after the ceremony.

- CEREMONY: Make sure you know what the minister is going to say! Me and my husband are not religious at all, and were very surprised when our minister began delivering to us a religious ceremony.

- CAKE: We went with the complimentary cake with the Shells and Heart Shape design, strawberry inside. I'm not a big cake eater, so I only tasted the cake as it was shoved in my face by my new husband haha. But it was really beautiful and much bigger than I thought it would be from the pictures!

- SOUND & MUSIC: Originally we bought a Bose speaker dock to use for our reception, but once we were there we decided we might as well hire PSAV to hook up our iPod because we didn't think the sound would be enough for our 36 person reception with the wind and talking. The sound was great and it was nice to have microphones for the wedding party and our parents to give their toasts.

- ENTERTAINMENT: Around 8:30pm we headed to the Disco because it was really hot outside and all our guests were sweating, and because Tuesdays and Saturday nights are Karaoke night! This was so much fun! Our group took over the entire karaoke and disco and it was a perfect segway into dancing afterwards!

- WEATHER: Warning for other brides getting married in June/July/August - the weather was clear and beautiful, but extremely hot and humid this time of year! I had a very light dress and by the time we ended the ceremony and were taking pictures I was dripping sweat. My bridesmaids had to keep following me around with cold towels to cool me off haha. I was SO happy that I brought a second shorter dress to change into. Just a thought.

- HAIR & MAKEUP: I got my hair and makeup done at the ASP salon. I had Hugolina and she did a great job (despite her inability to speak much English). Definitely bring a picture of what you want, but they have books there also for you to look at. And some of the girls at the desk can translate what you are going for. Example I wanted up, simple and sleek. I was very happy with my decision to wear my hair up. Originally I wanted it down and curly, but it was so windy and humid I knew it wasn't going to work. My bridesmaids' hair just went flat and frizzy the second they stepped outside.

- PHOTOGRAPHY: We decided to use the resort photographer and we had Carlos. He got some pretty good shots, but the sunset lighting was so beautiful I wish he had used less flash and more natural light in his shots. Also I wished he had given us a little more direction sometimes, but overall we got some pretty good shots. I would recommend bringing a friend along who's vision you trust who can help art direct the photographer while you are posing. After looking at the photos there were a few things I wished we could have changed if I had been able to see what we were doing wrong. (if that makes any sense). Here's a link to our pics: Palace Resorts Wedding Photographer pictures by mc_wedding - Photobucket

- DINING: We decided to have a group dinner every night with all 36 of us at a different restaurant every night. They were very accommodating towards us when we would show up unannounced with that many people. Often splitting us up into tables of six, but it worked out really well.

- GUESTS: We arrived on Wednesday for our Saturday wedding. We pretty much didn't sleep from the time we arrived until Monday when everyone left. It's easy to get stretched too thin, because we were constantly running around trying to make sure all 36 of our guests got some personal attention and knew we were so grateful to have them there. Make the main pool bar the central meeting point for people upon arrival. It's much easier than waiting around the lobby all day trying to greet everyone. And make sure to schedule some alone time with your fiance! Whether it be a massage or breakfast in bed. We barely saw each other all due to all the commotion and excitement!

Anyways I hope this helped! Email me at [email protected] if you have any more questions! Good luck ladies - you're going to have a blast!

Missy! Thanks so much for the great review. Your wedding sounds wonderful. I am glad most things worked out for you. I am sorry they gave you such a hard time on the points.

Do you think that they will give you an English translated ceremony script? That does sound like a good idea. I am glad to hear that the group dinners went so well. I might do more of these now.

Also, it sounds like you didn't have a rehearsal ceremony run threw? I might request this now. I want to know whats going on! So glad things worked for you. I guess its good to hear you had to much food. Would have for it to be the other way.

Its reassuring that your experience went well at the spa. I have heard mixed reviews about it.

Congrats on being married. I am off to look at your pictures now!

Missy...

Your flowers are amazing. Did the resort to those or did you bring them? All of the girls and guys flowers are really beautiful. I love your dress btw, you look amazing. Congrats again!