NATASHA

The food was very good at that restaurant. I wasn't a huge fan of the other nice restaurant at the Sheraton - I think I just wasn't in the mood for it. Oh - while you're there - there is a Mexican restaurant on the 4th floor of the condo section at the Sheraton that is great for breakfast.

I am! We're coming back to SD on Sunday and then flying there on Monday. It was cheaper (flying within Mexico is expensive and you have to connect through Mexico City). We travel a lot and it's usually adventure travel. I think that after entertaining so many people for 5 days, we are just going to want to veg by our private plunge pool (wish I had that at home!).

We're going here and I am SO excited. I scheduled a private yoga lesson on our patio. I would never get that opportunity otherwise! http://www.lacasaquecanta.com/ This is my dream honeymoon. After, we're going over to the Yucatan to rough it and explore ruins. Mostly, it's my dream because my FI is planning it so I don't have to do any coordination!

Hi Ann, I live in San Diego and LA (long story). We looked at San Diego and Laguna. Laguna is outrageously priced. The only venue that I like in San Diego is Estancia http://www.estancialajolla.com/ We hosted a New Year's party there last year and it was fabulous. The grounds are beautiful. The hotel is not in La Jolla proper and they haven't done a great job advertising it so you can get a swinging deal. Food is tasty. Another option is to get married in the park in Del Mar (very beautiful and it's overlooking the water). You would have to have the reception somewhere else. It's walking distance to our old utility company that's been turned into a (really nice) recreational center. It's RIGHT on the beach. My friends were married there and it was great. It's not expensive either. We chose Cabo. I'm happy with our choice and so are our guests. How many people are you expecting? Oh - just saw the dates you are planning. Southern California is great in January and into February. Then it's great in August through December. March to June is really unpredictable. We get fog on the coast. Plus, we don't get a lot of rain, but it's very hard to predict. Cabo has much more predictable weather and it's warmer.

We've finally picked. Yummy Tres Leches...

TammyM - have you thought about Esperanza? They have a restaurant that's over the water - it splashes up even. The food is great. If you want to have dancing, though, they make you go to a room that's off the dining area. It has its own patio, but they won't allow music outside. Here's a pick of the sheraton - you can see the lights in the trees - they light up the waves at night. It's really beautiful and it's so nice to hear the waves crashing down. The surround the ledge with candles at night. And, they already have a trio playing so you'll save money on music. This is just if you want dinner, though. If you want dancing, there's a patio above the restaurant where they would host that but then you get into needing a block of rooms to waive the set up fee, etc.

I'm glad we have two Pedregal beachers on the board. I've been trying to come up with ideas for TammyM but she's been an island on her "how to decorate the beach" topic.

We stayed at Fiesta Americana. It was nice. The rooms were good. It's a big property, but they'll take you to your room in a golf cart. Their breakfast is great but expensive. It's not a great venue for a wedding, but it's good for staying. Gotta say, though, I liked staying at the Sheraton and the Hilton a lot more.

I wouldn't try to stay at all three. That's too much moving around. At most, try two. When you do your site visits, they will show you the rooms. Eat at all the venues you are looking at and go back and have drinks as well so you can see what the vibe is like. You might want to allow a day to look at more than your original three. The place we ended up at was a "yeah - let's stop by" for us (I had an appointment, but it wasn't on our top list). We happend to see a wedding set up and from the moment we walked on the property we were both loving it. Alisa - one of the best things that you can do is go from place to place on Friday late afternoon and Saturday late afternoon. We killed ourselves to get to as many places as possible to "have a drink" so that we could see how the weddings looked set up. We had our appointments with the coordinators for during the week when we could spend more time with them. One of the places that we were looking at that looked really great on paper and as you walked the property TOTALLY flopped when there was an actual wedding set up (people had to walk right up next to it to get from one side of the hotel to the other - everyone was looking in on the wedding, and the space didn't flow well between cocktail hour to dinner). It would have never dawned on us.

Eating while working the way that you do is really tough. You might want to pack some veggie snacks so you get some more nutrients. My FI would get the baby carrots and the pre-cut mixed veggies and keep those on hand so that he could kick his balance bar habit. It worked, now he doesn't even like them. Also, I keep almonds around. I know those don't score well on WW, but I find that a small handful (less than 10) help me a lot when I'm traveling (I get hypoglycemic and I need to eat every two hours which is not easy on a plane).

I know! I need points.

I'm sourcing it through Maye. Oh - and Jenesis - I tried three times to reach fun and motivation and gave up! How frustrating.

I have a friend who lives there. Let me check with her.

Yep - [email protected]. Tell her I sent you over as you usually get someone else who preclears you before you meet with her. No need for that! I recommend eating there. They have a breakfast burrito that is SO good - I'm going to eat it for breakfast every day.

That's a great dress. We chose chiffon as well - it flows well on the beach.

Janet - did they have a minimum number of rooms that you needed to book to waive a site fee?

Welcome - and enjoy!

Oh - also - if you have a few guests who can't afford $230 a night, don't include them in your count for the block of rooms. There are condos on property that are much cheaper. We rented one for $225 a night and another for $185 a night. Both were recently remodeled and the owners were really easy to work with. There are also two bedroom condos that we rented for a few families for between $300 and $350.

Check out Casa del Mar. It's a really nice property just down the street from the Hilton. Their new coordinator, Claudia, is very responsive and helpful. We had a few bumps because they are redoing the rooms while we are scheduled to be there, but we worked it out with the hotel to everyone's satisfaction. The layout of the hotel is better for weddings than the Hilton in that it is totally separate from the hotel. You are on the beach and at the Beach Club - secluded from people walking in or near your wedding or looking out of their balcony's onto your wedding. The space is beautiful. The food, also, is really good. I negotiated $40 pp which really helped on the budget. Had I known better, I also would have negotiated beverage before we signed the agreement. We booked standard rooms (500 square feet and very nice) for $230 and suites (1000 square feet with a kitchen and separate living room) for $280. They will raise the rate since they are redoing the rooms. However, I found that they were very responsive when I told them the rate of the other two hotels we were looking at. They matched it. Hope that helps.

Check out Casa del Mar. It's a really nice property just down the street from the Hilton. Their new coordinator, Claudia, is very responsive and helpful. We had a few bumps because they are redoing the rooms while we are scheduled to be there, but we worked it out with the hotel to everyone's satisfaction. The layout of the hotel is better for weddings than the Hilton in that it is totally separate from the hotel. You are on the beach and at the Beach Club - secluded from people walking in or near your wedding or looking out of their balcony's onto your wedding. The space is beautiful. The food, also, is really good. I negotiated $40 pp which really helped on the budget. Had I known better, I also would have negotiated beverage before we signed the agreement. We booked standard rooms (500 square feet and very nice) for $230 and suites (1000 square feet with a kitchen and separate living room) for $280. They will raise the rate since they are redoing the rooms. However, I found that they were very responsive when I told them the rate of the other two hotels we were looking at. They matched it. Hope that helps.

The Riu is probably at KM 2 and the Sheraton is at KM7? Something like that? It's not very far. I have an idea for you but this isn't a private post so I'll send it separately.

It's easy to drive there. It's hard to get lost as there aren't really any turn-offs except for the streets that connect to the hotels. Very little traffic, too. When you're coming from the airport, you get right on the 1. The worst thing that can happen is you take the turn to San Jose. I know, that sounds scary, but it's not. San Jose is right there. You just get back on the freeway and head for the corridor. I recommend getting the insurance package once you are there. The cars are pretty beat up and the last thing you want to do is haggle with them when you are turning hte car in and trying to get to your flight.

This site has some really nice verbiage... http://www.unionoflove.com/vows/certificate.html

Tammy - I asked about the same thing. We don't know where my FIs father is and it asks for the address. I was told that you can't leave something blank and the recommendation was to make something up. OK - not really comfortable with that. How about this... Ask Cain's mother for his birth certificate as you will need to get it translated and notarized to get married legally in Mexico. Maybe it's on that?

Quote: Originally Posted by KAMEYER70 Sorry. I missed this last week. We live near the beach in Oceanside. You? We're in Carmel Valley.