aventura spa palace

So I just checked Elizabeth Medina's blog in hopes of some pics...there's a wedding on there from the 14th so yours must be coming soon! I can't freakin wait...

I will start a new thread, I'm just being lazy and copying what I wrote to another bride who had questions.... =)

We had 25 people at our wedding. Our coordinator was Dulce. She's new, but she was great!

My brother played the guitar for the ceremony, he's amazing.... But the sound system was great. The Wedding was at Coba Gazebo, it was close to the people, but everyone was quiet, respectful and even had some randoms looking on from a distance. Everyone yells "Congratulations" When they see you in the dress =) They don't do anything halfway...They really are pros! I was so nervous!

We did a welcome dinner on Thursday night at La Ventanas. Its a buffet, but the food was great, and there was something for everyone. It wasn't really busy so even though it wasn't "private" we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Elizabeth Medina did our pictures, she's going to post one more wedding then ours! I CAN'T WAIT! She was amazing!!!!!

I did the whole horse drawn carriage thing, Loved it!!

The officiant's name was Jorge...but he spoke GREAT english! I was so excited about that! He did a wonderful ceremony!!! If we get our video soon I'll put it on YouTube so you can see it.

I had them take up the red carpet. It's just not my style. And It looked great without it! I didn't put anything in its place.

I thought about doing all of the private stuff but in the end I just ended up doing it simple. It ended up BEAUTIFUL! And everyone enjoyed that it was relaxed...Everyone is so chill down there and the whole place is beautiful, so you don't have to do many extra things, which is nice!

We did do a Cocktail Reception after the ceremony. The ceremony was at 4, the Reception was 5-6. It was in the Pandero Terrace and it was PERFECT at sunset! Right over the ocean, waves crashing as we did our first dance... =) Toasts, chilled, pictures, etc... We just brought computer speakers and our IPod and the sound was perfect. We just had a playlist set and let it go... There was TONS of food at the cocktail reception. And our strawberry wedding cake was so good!! I had read they were nasty, but ours was great! we got lots of compliments.

After that we went to La Hacienda for a dinner.... They set us off to ourselves, there was a trio there, and everyone really loved it. They make Mexican coffee at the tables, they do something crazy with coffee tequilla and fire...It's entertaining!

The restaurants were all good...La Hacienda was our favorite, the Italian place was really good too. Mundaca is the steak place and it was good, but pretty casual. Ventanas was good, there's a violinist, pasta bar, seafood, they custom make steaks...

My only main complaint was the beauty parlor....Goodness gratious. I showed a picture, but they didn't really speak english. They do your hair BIG and well...think early 90s prom! HAHAHA! I wanted to cry, but instead just laughed and told them...um...I can do my own makeup! My mom had her hair and makeup done and it was HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! So take lots of pictures if they do your hair, and maybe request someone who speaks good English...there are some! But don't be suprised if you look like a Golden Girl.

Um...that's all I can think of. They're very organized and it was a wonderful experience. I will put my pictures on snapfish soon, so let me know if you want me to email you the link. I didn't allow pics during the ceremony because we brought in an outside photographer and I didn't want pictures of people taking pictures...

Sorry this is kinda random...the spa rocks! Loved the massages, we had the middle package so they were included. I'll think of more things...let me know if you have questions!

Yay! Sounds fabulous...so glad you enjoyed yourself. I am also not into the red carpet thing so I'm glad you said it looks fnie without it...I have been trying to find my own aisle runner in white or something like that, but now I think I won't worry about it and maybe just use some petals down the aisle. The Pandero Terrace is exactly what we want for our cocktail hour too! I can't wait to see pictures of it...we actually asked if we could do our ceremony there too (I'm not really a gazebo person); they first said no, but when I asked again they said they would look into it...the more I think about it, maybe it wouldn't be right, and it's nice to change locations...the gazebo you were at was pretty close to the terrace right? Mundaca is where we were going to have our wedding dinner (it's close and we need to stay on that side of the resort since we have a child attending), but I'm nervous about the food/casualness? Is there another restaurant you would recommend on that side?

And now I'm REALLY nervous about my hair. I will probably do my own makeup anyway, but I was planning to have my hair done there...now I'm freakin out a little...I don't really want to be a Golden Girl! Haha...

I can't wait to see your pics, and I would LOVE the link to your snapfish if you don't mind...

Congrats again

These pictures aren't very good. Elizabeths will be MUCH BETTER!!! Not many people took pictures, everyone just enjoyed themselves... But here are some! I think if you take lots of pictures of how you want your hair done then you'll be OK! I only had 2 little ones...It wasn't awful, just not the natural beachy theme I was going for... Mundaca is a great place, they'll put you off by yourself, Its a big place, plus even though it says "casual" it's still really nice by most US restaurant standards! They wait on you hand and foot! La Hacienda is where we had our dinner, its on the same side, they were hesitant because its their busiest restaurant but we asked nicely. Either one would be great!! They go out of their way to make it special. I thought about bringing in my own aisle runner too, but it was pretty windy so I just didn't bother. And they forgot to take the carpet up, but my Groom was on top of it! So he reminded the wedding coordinator and she took care of it at 3:50 for our 4pm wedding! Thank goodness...I wouldn't have walked down the aisle otherwise, jk.

I wasn't into the gazebo either, but its nice because it blocks some of the wind and sounds from the resort. It worked out great. Will let you know when the pro pics are up but until then...

Snapfish: Share:Registration_Opt2

OMG Thank you! You looked gorgeous...and it's so helpful to see the Pandero set up for a cocktail hour...it looks great! I can't wait....

::incessantly checking for your pro pics::

Erin/Rach,

Is the Pandero that brown "gazebo" in Erin's pictures? Is that an option for the ceremony? I am getting married in April and I picked the sunset time which is 5 or 6 I think. I can't afford to hire an outside photographer so I am stuck with the resorts, which seems to do a nice job, but in all the gazebo pictures it seems dark no matter what time of day. So if I could have the ceremony at the open area I think the pictures would turn out better. What do you ladies suggest/think?

Yes, the Pandero is that brown open structure...I really wanted our ceremony there too (thought it would be nice to decorate with paper lanterns and such) and asked my WC about this. She initially said no...then I asked again and she said she would look into seeing if they would make an exception...but I haven't heard back yet. I'll let you know when I find out...

I really love the terrace but Yazmin told me that it was only for private events. And to hold a private dinner there for just me and my fiance was $800!!! So I guess I will have to give up on it for right now. Maybe if I ask again when we arrive and she sees how bad I want the ceremony there she will give in and work with me on it.

Hello..thank you ladies for posting all of this info--very useful.

I didn't even know about the Pandero terrace. I guess I would like to know what are all the options for reception place. I heard about one terrace but when I saw a pic it looked HUGE and I'm only having about 25-30 people attend.

Can anyone share a list of the best locations for receptions in Aventura?

Also, I prefer the Gazedo further away from the crowd, but someone mentioned that it had garbage cans and such next to it..that sounds a little odd. Can someone please explain who has been there?

A few other questions:

1) I know the North gazebo is pretty far away--any complaints if the reception was on the other end of the resort?

2)Did they manage to put all your people's room near each other?

3)I saw something about a sunset boat ride? Whoever did that--can you give more info? I also heard about a luau that you can get on the beach?

4)What is the latest time they will perform a wedding?

5)Did anyone get the Mexico quartet at the wedding? I wasn't sure if they were any good--but it might be nice to have a little bit of the Mexican culture at the wedding as well.

Thank you so much! sorry for all the questions! I'm getting married there in October 09 and just started planning;-(

We are getting married on the rooftop of Mundaca restuarant. If you give me your email I can email you a picture. I cant figure out how to post them on here. We are only having 21 total people but we wanted to have a private reception with music and everything. We are using the mexican trio for the wedding so I can give you that review later. Our wedding is Feb 6th. We did a room block so all of our rooms should be close. I think the latest they do is 6 or 8 at night. My wedding is at 4.