Catalonia Riviera Maya

Hello claire.cw.watson! I just joined this forum last night and I'm new to this so I have to say how nice it is to talk to other brides. I will be getting married the week before you at the CAT!! Did you go with a TA or did you book through the hotel? I booked through destinationweddings.com. Did you send your STD's out yet? I'm hoping to get mine out very soon! Good Luck on the planning!

What was the price difference between the P.C.O.B and the Lookea Bar? We're still trying to decide on what music we want. Is there anyway to hook up an IPOD to the DJ Equipment? Any thoughts you can send my way would be GREAT! Thanks!

I think the pure chill out bar is the lookea bar. It sounds like they changed the name.

Hi

Sent you a PM. Pleased to hear you are getting married at the CAT!

Do you guys think Im worrying about nothing... Im not getting married until Feb 2010 but I really want the hotel to confirm that I can have private area for the reception/night. Do you think I should keep asking them until they confirm, or sould I just wait a couple more months?

I'm sure it will be fine, i also want to hire the PCOB for a private reception but i was gonna wait til about 2 months before my wedding before i start emailing the WC with all my requirements.

Are you in touch with Cora the WP? I have her email address if you need it. I've been bouncing ideas back and forth with her. It does take her a while to respond but I figured they are more laid back down there which is good and bad at the same time. Especially if you are trying to plan a wedding!

So we finally got our date confirmed for May 29, 2010. Now we can get started on all the fun stuff. We are legally getting married here in the states before the ceremony as well. It seems to be easier and we can spend our time in Mexico planning the ceremony and spending time with family and friends. I can't wait. Happy planning to all of you.

cora is so nice. she is so overworked so it might take a while to hear back.

when i was planning my wedding, it was elena I emailed, but I met with cora once we got there. is cora doing emails now?

be sure to tip these women. They bust their butts & make so little for their jobs. I planned on giving elena $50, but I didn't realize we'd also be working with cora. So we gave them each $30. I wish we had more cash with us, but we were having a cash shortage after some ATM issues (my bank, not the hotel ATM).

I really wish we brought more cash for tipping. I just didn't know how many people would be involved in our day. Everyone was wonderful. I still can't get over how many people worked to make our wedding great and it only cost us $340 for the symbolic ceremony. Someone had to set up the tent, put out the chairs, serve champagne...they brought in flowers, a cake...seriously it's such an amazing value.

But, a big part of what makes it so incredibly cheap is that the staff at these hotels make about $7 a day. You don't ahve to tip at the restaurants, but we did. it felt so good. In the US, you are expected to leave about 15%, but you don't get a warm & fuzzy feeling when you do it. In mexico it felt great to leave $1 on the table or give someone $10.

Sorry, i'm going on & on. Just seeing Cora's name reminded me how much I liked her and how I wished I had more cash with me to tip her more.

Thank you! That makes me feel better. I will just wait until closer to the time.