Paradisus Riviera Brides - POST HERE!

Becks - Congratulations on booking that DJ - I know that's been an on-going issue!

Sorry I've been away, My NYC shower was this weekend and my LA shower was last weekend - I really feel like I'm getting married now.

WELCOME to all the new Paradisus brides!!! I haven't forgotten about posting all the pictures, I am now having a camera cord dilemma. Melissa we're expecting 80 people, I can't believe people are still booking their flights! My goodness.

Kim, I've heard and seen the same things mentioned above for honoring your parents. I also went to a wedding last year, where they had a table honoring all their lost loved ones with photos, it was really nice..

Since these are my final 2 weeks of prep I will be assembling the OOT bags this week, creating the programs, and place cards, Welcome Letter, and time line for the rest of the week. I decided against shipping anything, b/c EVERYTHING is so important I can't afford to not have anything go - So I'm splitting everything up between myself, FI, our parents, and MOH's. That reminds me, I actually need to start packing this weekend.

Thanks everyone for all your helpful posts.

The countdown is on LeShay - I cannot believe that people are still booking - that is crazy! Sometimes I think people just want to add to the stress!

Becks - Interesting that Swank was willing to negotiate - I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place - I didn't get a good vibe from Swank in the beginning - and Carlos was really nice - I wonder what type of leverage I could use with Swank...

How did your showers go LeShay? Get lots of nice goodies?

Whoa you guys have been busy today

Welcome to all the new Paradisus brides so excited for you all. We are all more than happy to help.

And congrats on the DJ front!! Great for you, certainly stuck through it and it payed out in the end. Hope the rest of you get a great deal as well with either Mannia or Swank backing off on their rates.

I guess Perla wasnt kidding when she said she would be busy with upcoming weddings. Im still waiting on the detail sheet she had said she would sent out asap 3 weeks ago. I guess I have to send a little reminder I want to see that as soon as possible.

Missy, as I was reading back through the posts, I noticed you were thinking about doing a site visit in September. If so, you should come on the weekend of the 21st and see our wedding!!

Have any of you guys decided on a photographer? After looking at all of the local photographers packages, I was unsure who to choose and then I found this awesome photographer on here Lynn Michelle Photography She is VERY reasonable and you get WAY MORE with her packages. If she does your wedding she can get your "Welcome Cocktail Party", Rehearsal Dinner, and the Day of the Wedding! I like the fact that she is not by the hour so you won't feel rushed if you are limited to 6 hours.

Becks, thanks a million for your progress with the DJ!! I was just going to deal with Swank, but I will definitely call Mannia now! Are you having a slide show as well?

No slide show - I think our photog may be arranging something - We're having Nathaniel Thompson (also of BDW) come down - he's great and I LOOOOVE his work! And very reasonable given that he's doing 3 hours of the welcome stuff, all day the day of and then a TTD session.

By the way, I'm loving Mannia more and more - Carlos has offered to come and meet us while we're down for the site visit in May to do some planning and like that. So exciting!!!

Glad to hear that you are getting good vibes from Mannia - I just hope that Swank doesn't give him a hard time - I keep picturing a bit of a turf war although Mannia seems like the best option and the nicest guy!

I did confirm in writing today that we wouldn't need to pay the $300 outside vendor fee if we used an outside DJ which is a good sign.

Curious BECKS - did you have to put down a deposit with the remainder due at the wedding?

Missy, showers were great - I forgot I registered for some of the stuff, and the lingerie! We have enough to keep ourselves occupies for a while.

Michele, I'm still waiting for a response to an e-mail I sent on March 28th - THAT'S IT! I'm calling Mexico tommorrow!

Gotta go back to creating the pre-welcome letter I'm sending to the guests tommorrow, with the cutest luggage tags I found on e-bay. Becks your site visit review was very helpful for it. I'll post it when I'm done. Oh, and Futuremrsjones, I'm shooting with Citlalli of Claudia Photo.

Yes, I gave him 50% down with 50% due at the wedding. We may actually have him do more than the 5 hours, so that we have him for the pre-ceremony cocktails right on thru to the dancing - we'll have a 2 hr break while we're having dinner, but whatever...

The contract, when you get it, is weird - clearly a bad translation. But I didn't want to make a big fuss. I checked with a few other brides - they all had the same contract - so I figured it wasn't a huge deal.

Good to know! I didn't realize that you know other brides that have used him - guessing they were rather pleased... I should probably confirm with him sooner than later - Interestingly enough Swank sent me a nice email today to tell me the prices for using another DJ - wondering if he is worried about losing business!

Did he send you the outside vendor contract? I'll attach it here in case anyone needs it. But, essentially on a Friday or Saturday evening it's $65 per hour with a minimum of 4 hours for the supervision costs, plus power supply which can range from $50 to $200.

I don't know anyone who has actually used him, but Stephanie (Lucy106) has booked him, and a couple of other people as well. Can't remember who off the top of my head.

SwankAVSolMelia-Production Manual for Outside Vendors.pdf