TammyWright

yes, april (msmaze) used an IPOD during her ceremony and it was fine...only thing to consider...DJs are about $150-200 and hour so it may be easier to just go that route. there are a bunch of articles in the "music" wedding forum with articles on how to use IPOD for your reception...let me try to find http://bestdestinationwedding.com/f/...highlight=ipod

i second lazy gourmet...i have heard good things about them as well

Kate, you will be fine...i didn't start my wedding planning until sept. for a may wedding...almost 1/2 the time you have!

welcome!! first off...what resort are you planning to get married at? if it is a larger resort with its own onsite coordinator like Emeline at the Hilton or Mariana at Dreams, you may not need to hire a WC and it will save you some $$... if you are having your wedding at a smaller resort w/o WC or on a beach here are some i would consider using: Blanca who is a vendor on this forum got a great review recently (her info here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/f/...ghlight=blanca ) Lovely Wedding (Rosie) is being used by Tasha and was referred by Juan Carlos and they have great prices Maye C also has some really low prices. it all depends on what you need.

we just invited friends and family but felt it was ok not to invite co-workers that if you had a stay at home wedding you would've had to invite.

welcome suzy!! let's see... what side of the country are you on? how many people will attend? Jamaica is always a great place to get married. the one and only palmilla has the cutest chapel to get married.

welcome Maria!! march is a great time in cabo...where are you getting married?

Quote: Originally Posted by JENGONDA9 It turns out we can't use the vouchers for our group dinner Ah well, it was worth a try! I am thinking about buying some for other places as gifts for my bridal party. why won't they take them? that doesn't seem fair.

i heard denni's was REALLY good and the lobster was awesome! when i looked into a private villa this is who was recommended...a bride used them for their private villa reception and liked them alot

Great info Jackie!

today's winners are... Daily Jackie (RYJAX19)!! and for the weekly... Sarah (AQHARIDER)!!

Quote: Originally Posted by gkashmira This resort also was ranked #8 in all of Mexico for best resort! Just one below Cabo's One & Only Palmilla... so I bet it's AMAZING! i am actually planning a family/group trip for 2007 and that is our number 1 choice...we loved staying at dreams los cabos so this should be great...our group really liked the AI feature.

Quote: Originally Posted by jajaworski It is a very nice place. However they are totally unorganized!!! It was like pulling teeth to get a response from their wedding coordinator. She did finially respond to all my questions after a month-- we already booked coyaba. Some of these places act like they are doing you a favor by letting you have your wedding there!!!!!! unfortunately this is a common problem. i spoke to some wedding coordinators at the resorts and they get sooo many requests for information that it can take awhile to answer everyone back. i usually get a call-back response from resorts within 48 hours but that is because i call them.

welcome Melissa, Jackie has done a ton of research on RM... my top choices: secrets capri aventura palace el dorado royale

Hi Michelle, I got married at Dreams...please let me know if you have any questions!

http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=611

kash, go for something more casual and fun so your guests can get to know each other...our welcome dinner was a mexican/caribbean buffet then casino night...it really got everyone together...in fact the casino night group who were not very close before just acquantances of each other have all become great friends and we now have poker night every month with the same people.

Quote: Originally Posted by sunshine_ryka Hey there, I am new to this website and am looking forward to some feedback from other people in the same situation. I'm getting married in Puerto Vallarta at Dreams Resort in Nov 06 (ya, only a couple weeks away). I'm getting majorly stressed now, so I need as much help as I can get. Hi Ryka, congratulations and welcome to the forum...there are a few other PV brides here. what are you getting stressed about? what can we help you with?

Esperanza is an amazing resort! welcome to the board...there are tons of pics in the vbpicgallery and vbimagehost gallery for ideas. there is also a forum above with general wedding info like invitations, flowers, cake, etc.

this was on tripadvisors: Quote: Just got back from 9 days at Dreams on my honeymoon and it was nothing short of fabulous. I think I read over 2000 reviews of Dreams and every other resort on many websites, and concluded this was the best. I wasn't wrong. It is the best in PV, hands down. When we arrived, we were met with cold towels for your neck and a glass of champagne. Nice touch. Check in was a breeze and the front desk staff was helpful, friendly and respectful all week. Most staff, except for housekeeping, speaks English. We booked a jacuzzi suite in the Club tower with a king bed, and it was ready upon check-in. No problems. The only way in the resort is the gated entrance, so no worries about security. And each time you leave the property, they ask your room number. Same when you return, to make sure all guest return. Nice touch. The room was spacious, with an absolute KILLER view of the ocean. The patio door slide open, and you can sit out on the deck. Actually, the deck was more useful for drying your clothes than anything else. The beach is a better place to watch the sunset, and the jacuzzi is way too small for two people to do anything but soak. More on that later. There was a TV that got about 5 English speaking channels and 10 Spanish speaking channels. Thankfully ESPN was in English...YEA!! The minibar was always stocked with bottles of Corona, soda and bottled water. However, if you keep the patio doors closed all day, the room can smell musty. Just keep the A/C on with the doors open and you'll be fine. My pillows smelled nasty, very musty. Just ask for replacements. Room service was good, but the pizza sucked. Just get the American Club sandwich. Can't go wrong with that. The resort itself is beautiful, and best of all its private. The beach is also bigger and longer than most in PV. Its also groomed every morning, and for the most part is free of stones and rocks. That was HUGE for me, as I'm a little kid when it comes to the ocean. The waves were great and sometimes challenging due to hurricane Paul. Spent all week body surfing, but the waves settled down the last two days . If you like to jog on the beach, you're in luck. The beach is about 200 yards from tip to tip. Nice for romantic walks, too. And like I said, no rocks. I saw other beaches from the water and nothing compared to Dreams. There are a few beach vendors to deal with, but a polite "no gracias" sends them on their way. There are plenty of papalas to be had before noon. They provide great shade all day, and if you're dumb and get sunburned the first day like me, they come in handy if you want to stay outside. The staff was great. Very polite and eager to please. But they're like every human..treat them kindly and with respect, and that's what you'll get in return. But even more so in Mexico. Their culture is much warmer than ours in the States. We were always greeted with a smile and a kind word. Plus, they are the hardest workers I've ever seen. The resort has five restaurants, but we only liked two. We had a romantic beach-side dinner served from Oceana and it was horrible. We were not given a menu, but served surf and turf. That bothered me, given it was $120. The steak, which I asked for to be cooked medium, was way over done, like a hockey puck. No flavor. The grilled shrimp was ok, but I've had better from my grocery store. While disappointed in the food, I got to sip complementary champagne on the beach at sunset with my new bride, so all was good. The experience was great, just not the food. We just walked over to the buffet and ate something else. We did eat at Oceana our last night and the food was excellent, especially the clam chowder. Just order off the menu, and have your romantic beach dinner from the Sea Side Grill. The Sea Side grill was excellent every time out. Great seafood and steaks. Portafinos was the Italian restaurant and was excellent each time out too. Order the Mexican coffee. It's a show. Guys, you need to wear long pants here, so bring some chinos. The Mexican restaurant, El Patio, was ok. I've had better Mexican at our local joint, but the service and atmosphere was great. Watch out for the mandatory shot of tequila for dessert. The World Cafe is the buffet, and was very good. Ate breakfast there each day, with a good selection that did get a little old by the end of the week. But the quality was very good. No complaints. There's also a pool-side grill that starts serving burgers and dogs at 1:00pm. They also serve the world's best guacamole..I kid you not. It's that good. My wife was ready to leave me for that guac. The swim up bar at the main pool was great. The pool got crowded at noon, but always plenty of room to soak and enjoy a maragarita. Get there early and reserve a lounge chair. They're gone by 11. The bartenders at each of the bars were great, but the waiters that bring you drinks was hit and miss. You gotta tip them, or they won't be back. The sports bar was alright the one time we went there with a few other honeymooners at night, but it's below ground, and who wants to sit in a dark sports bar playing crappy music on your honeymoon in Mexico? Not me. I'd rather sit outside with the waves in the background. Drinks were good and strong. Top shelf is available for the asking. If you ask for a cerveza, you'll get a tap Corona. Too much of that stuff really got to my stomach. Do yourself a favor and order a "Pacifico." It's bottled, and twice as good a Corona. Here's a few tips: 1) TIMESHARE SHARKS: When you get through immigration at the airport, you'll go through a pair of frosted glass sliding doors and into the terminial. The first people you encounter will be the timeshare sharks. Ignore each and every one of these bastards. Don't look at them. Don't speak to them. Don't acknowledge them. Don't return their questions. They're going to ask you if you need a taxi. They will try to lead you away to get a taxi. They will hold up signs that say "Dreams" and every other resort. They're lying to you. They have no intention of taking you to your resort. They will take you to a timeshare presentation, period. Just look straight ahead and head for a HUGE sign that says "TAXI". It will be at the end of the terminal, against the back wall, between two exits. This is where you you buy a ticket for the white federal taxis to take you to the resort. It's $40 to Dreams. Buy the ticket and follow her instructions. Twenty minutes later you're at the Dreams front gate. Like most of you, I read all about the timeshare traps on Trip Advisor before we got down here. But it isn't until you get down here and listen to the horror stories of the people that didn't know about these people and fell for their lies, thinking they are getting into a taxi only to be taken to a timeshare presentation where they are kept for hours under heavy sales pressure. It really bothers me why the Mexican government allows these people first crack at their tourists. Also, when walking on the Melacon, timeshare people are everywhere. Every fifty feet some creep pops out of a small storefront and asks you if you want free tequila, a free breakfast, free this, free that, or try to engage you in conversation. I even had one guy say "I won't sell you anything. I promise!!" As a salesman myself, that had to be the dumbest thing I ever heard. My wife was suprised at my rudeness with these people. But when you know what they put people through, you don't owe these bastards the time of day. Be rude, and don't lose any sleep over it. These people are crooks. When they approach you, just keep walking. Completely ignore them, no matter what they say or ask you. And the rule of thumb is, if someone initiates conversation with you, its safe to assume they are a timeshare dork. Don't take anything for free, because it's not. 2) TIPPING: Even though tips are included in the price of your all-inclusive, they shouldn't be. It is my understanding most workers at these resort make less than $10 per day in pay, so tips make all the difference to them. So, I gave a dollar for each drink, tipped what I thought would have been 15-20% at meals, and $2 on the pillow for housekeeping each morning. And, before my trip I had planned to tip in Pesos, so they wouldn't have to go to the bank to exchange dollars. But the resort does not give 10 peso coins ($1) in change. Just 20 peso bills ($2). I really couldn't afford to tip 20 pesos for every drink, so it became necessary to tip in dollars. Never heard a complaint. But I ran out of dollar bills and the resort doesn't give change in U.S.singles. My advice...Get $120 in singles before you leave and bring them with you. Then you're set. 3) SHOPPING. My wife claims I'm not qualified to speak on this subject, and she's right. But for price-conscious folk like me, here's the deal. Shopping on the Malecon is expensive. Nothing's cheap and there's no haggling. There are department stores in the states that are cheaper than on the Malecon. But go three or four streets away from the ocean, or even better to the flea market, and now you can haggle and prices are much cheaper. Same cheap junk, though. But at least you're not paying $20 for a t-shirt. ATM's: There is an ATM at Dreams. It's in the aluminum utility building just in front to the gate, about 100 yard walk from the front desk. It pays out in pesos, and 1900 pesos is the limit, or $190. There's a $5 fee for every ATM transaction. There are other ATM's around the city, too. Try to buy everything in pesos to get the best exchange rate. Don't expect a vendor in the flea market to calculate exchange rates for your dollars. You'll get 10 to 1. 4) EXCURSIONS: Forget the "Rythmns of the Night" thing. We did it and it was dumb. The ride over and the ride back were the best parts of the whole thing. When you arrive at the spot, you're unloaded into a buffet dinner that wasn't that good. Then you've got to wait an hour for the show to start. Then you're herded into an ampitheater that is 15 degrees hotter than at the beach. I won't go into the show, just in case you're going. But we didn't care for it. We did however LOVE the snorkeling trip. WOW! How beautiful! We even saw a stingray. That was amazing. I'd do that again in a heartbeat. You also have to try parasailing. I'm freaked out by heights but it really was amazing. Not scared at all. It's so peaceful up there, you don't hear anything, and the view is unforgetable. It's $50 a pop from the beach, but it's so worth it. I wish I did it twice. We signed up to go on a canopy tour, but I got sick and couldn't go. Too bad. ACCOMODATIONS: Stay in the Club tower, and skip the jacuzzi. The beach is much nicer in front of the club tower, the rooms are newer and in better shape. And everything is geared toward the club tower. The only restaurant that's close to the old tower is Oceana. Everything else is by the club tower. And skip the jacuzzi. It's so small, you can't move. Trust me guys, you and the wife are not going to be mixing it up in one of these things. It's really just a small bath tub, and it cost me an extra $800 for the week. Bad decision. Try to get a patio without the jacuzzi, but if you can't, it wasn't worth $800. 5) FOOTBALL: Yes, NFL football can be seen in PV. Even though my Packer game was a regional game and not available that week, we did catch the Bears game (sorry, have to puke......I'm ok now) at a nice place on the Malecon called "The No Name Cafe." Just a $4 cab ride from Dreams, he'll drop you off right at the door if you want. Or, try El Torito, which is even closer. For Monday Night Football...actually guys, you'll want to sit down for this. Dreams pulls down a 15x15 foot sheet screen and projects the game right on the pool patio, and pumps the play-by-play audio through their music system. It's not the greatest picture, but you sit in lounge chairs and watch the game with a snack buffet, margarita and the ocean in the background. I was in heaven. My wife said I was drooling. That's about it. I'd highly recommend Dreams to anyone, and we plan to go back as soon as we can. We loved it, and you will too. It's clean, romantic, and...frankly....perfect. I'll answer any questions if you have em. Adios.

great information Jackie!

amy, ann, and jackie...a DW is a DW...when i first started looking and planning it was me and 3 other brides...so i started the cabo wedding forum. it was just started ONLY this year so is only about 7-8 months old but look how active it is...it can happen to other DW spots as well... you know we are here to help if we can!

Hi Amy, one of our brides recently got married in a private villa...here is her review: Quote: Hi all, Well I returned last Sunday from 10 wonderful days in Cabo. We had an absolutely wonderful time! So here is my review: We got to Cabo five days before any of our guests to relax and honeymoon before the big day. We stayed at the Pueblo Bonita Pacifica not to be confused with Pacifico which is Mexican Beer! On our way to the Hotel the Policia pulled us over for running a stop sign, which is a joke in downtown Cabo, if this happens to you Do not give them your drivers liceance and do not pay them more than 20 us dollars. Of couse we learned this later in the trip and paid to much while the guy was holding our drivers liceance hostage. Then we proceed to the hotel. The pacifica is a 5 star service hotel for a 3 star price. It was so relaxing with all the holistic music playing out by the pool, and the adults only atmosphere was just what we needed, (we have 3 kids). The restaurant was really good even though we had read otherwise. People talk about the pacific side being a no swim beach, but it is so beautiful. Also over by the Sheraton that same week they weren't letting you swim either, so don't let that rule your decision or you may be disappointed. Best meal was at La Freda in the Pueblo Bonita Sunset Beach. Great atmosphere and the food is very good. Day six and people begin showing up, we went aroung the night before dropping off gift bags and every hotel was very accomidating on the gifts bag deliveries. Our villa we rented was absolutly wonderful, we had ordered some of the food packages and that worked out well, we didn't have to do any shopping. The boys went fishing 1 day and did well, Checkmate fishing is who they used, they are great work real hard for you. Have # if anyone interested. We all ate at the Gondalrenna, (spelling is wrong) one night really fun place, great food and big quantities. Day of the wedding we had (against my better judgement) Suzanne Morels Company come in and give three massages and pedicues plus my hair. Omg, was i impressed and I am a nail tech by trade. They were so professional and gave an awsome massage. Did I say my hair looked awsome too!!! I would highly recomend them!!!! Plus I loved having that all done right before the wedding it kept me from getting nervouse or frantic about the small stuff. Next, we did the Ipod thing for music worked fine, Used Bradley Frazier for Photgrapher, he was wonderful, and handed me my Photo CD the very next day. The photos are great, lots of great shots, when you look at them you feel as if you were there in person. Highly recomend him too. Then we used Denni's Catering, they to far exceeded my expectations. They set up tables, flower arrangements, and their meal was so good, I can still taste the lobster. They did all clean up and poof were gone. Also had a great bartender with them, he was so friendly. Judge Carlos was pretty cute too. He just had a twinkle in his eye! Oh, my planner, this is my only sore spot, well that and the timeshare people and the Policia. She ended up being really nice and.... well she didn't do anything. Secure judge, bring my bouquet and have a blood person in her office for 5 min. Do paper work. If I had anything to do over it would be to get married in the states secretly and not deal with the planners in Cabo. Feels very rip offish. But , in the end it was my vision of what it would be like and it was wonderful. Sorry this is so long. If you have any question just ask me. Leigh (sorry about the spelling through out, very tired) __________________

Hi Amy, i replied to you on the other thread... here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/f/...3623#post13623

hi amy, welcome to the board...i would pass on bella brides...they are sucha rip off...a few of us brides started with them then ended up firing them... a few off the top of my head.. Maye Cortinas Lovely weddings Blanca (she is on here but i need to find her company) Sunset weddings you will be able to find their contact info here on this site. a few to stay away from: Weddings in Paradies (WIP) Bella Brides i'll try to think of some more