NATASHA

We hosted a full welcome dinner at our hotel and it was great. I will say that the alcohol bill was A LOT less than we expected because our friends and family had been drinking at the pool all day. We also did a "we're all going to Don Emiliano's for dinner" night where people were expected to pay for themselves. It was a nightmare (not the dinner, the restaurant was great). It was really stressful as everyone expected us to coordinate them getting there, etc. and the meal with alcohol ended up being a lot more per person than we expected (and had told people to expect) so when it came time to collect the money from people - well, let's just say it took a long time and I felt a little embarrassed about having to ask everyone for more money than they expected. I REALLY don't recommend going this route. Hosting cocktails and apps (as people have recommended here) is a great option. Also, we were considering hosting a bonfire with dessert and marshmellow roasting which is another option. I recommend doing it at the hotel.

Kash - your body is going through a bit of withdrawl which you will get through quickly if you cut out sugar entirely and eat natural fats (like those that come from nuts and olive oil). You will find that once your cravings for sugar subside, you won't even want it. If you power through (drinking water will help), you'll be amazed. I know it seems hard to believe. Fats are a different story. Your body needs them to process food (unlike sugar, which doesn't really do much aside from get your body off kilter as it causes you to peak and spike). It's easier to stave off the sugar cravings if you make sure you're not hungry in the process. It will be better for you in the long run. Eat satisfying, healthy foods more often while you're going through this. Even if you go over your points just a bit per day for about a week, you'll get over the sugar craving and then you can go back to your point allocation. I think that this is one of the reasons why WW gives you as many veggies as you want to eat throughout the day. You stay filled up on things that your body can process and do something with so you're not processing empty calories and fats that leave you wanting more.

That was me. Here's the doc (hope it's formatted ok - it wasn't originally done in Word.

I do pilates with an instructor twice a week - so whenever you need advice - I have a connection. Here's what worked amazingly that you can do at home for very little money. Get a stabilizer disc and do push ups (much more effective than push ups alone). You can do them with your knees on the ground. Do it twice a week. You'll get results very quickly. The only way this works - you have to do them to the point of muscle fatigue. The "ugh - I can't do one more of these". That's the only way to slim and tone.

Have your dressmaker/alterations person/place you bought it from pack it in a bag that you can carry on. My dress was pretty big and it fit in a 22 inch bag just fine. I hung it up when I got there and it was totally fine - I didn't iron it, just had my MIL hang it in the bathroom while she showered. I had had it packed for over a week. Tip I learned from my amazing dressmaker - get a white (no dye) king size sheet that your dressmaker can wrap around it so it won't snag on the bag or its own beads.

Chiming in as well. Our professional photos as the sun was setting were absolutely beautiful. Our friends photos were nice - nowhere near the quality. Also, the sunrise sunset calendar quotes the time the sun has set - not when it starts to set. Our wedding was at 4. We might have been able to push it to 4:30 but our ceremony was only 10 minutes long (to give you an idea). Our wedding was in November and the sunset calendar said sunset was at 5:48. We had a bit of time to have drinks with our friends before we started shooting all the family and couple shots as the sunlight became optimal right before sunset. That worked out well. I never thought of this until we were actually talking to the photographer three days before our wedding. I thought 4:00 would be to early - SO glad that's the time we picked. It gave me the perfect amount of time to go for a walk with my husband in the morning, meet up for brunch with my BMs at around 10, get my hair done at 12, then my makeup at 1:30, have a quick bite, then change just in time to meet up with the photographer for a few pre-wedding photos. So, my advice, start the wedding an hour and a half before sunset.

We didn't do it, we don't miss it. I spent more to have the photographer for 6 hours instead. I'm happy with that decision because a lot of the fun stuff happened later in the evening and we captured it. Plus, we wrote our entire wedding ceremony, so I know exactly what was said. I kind of like the fact that my one really true memory from the ceremony is how I was totally fixated on my husband's eyes through the entire ceremony. I remember noting how totally engrossed I was in him and his expressions. I think that if I watched a video, I would remember all the elements (which is awesome) but not that one feeling. It's sort of hard for me to explain this, but that feeling is one of my favorite parts of the entire wedding and I'm glad that's my memory.

pictures at shawnandnatasha.phanfare.com pass cabo

CDM is a beautiful property. Our guests loved it. It only has 50 rooms so you basically get the hotel to yourself. My favorite part is that the area where you hold your wedding and reception is totally away from the other guests - very private, very fun, very beautiful. The hotel does not play nice with the condo people. So, if you have guests at the condo, they just need to know in advance. That being said, I made sure that the hotel knew who were my guests for the week that were staying at the hotel and pointed out that they would be spending money on their property and not to give them any hassle about using the pool, etc. They didn't - we had a lot of back and forth with the hotel over them not having enough rooms as contracted because they were updating them which is why I had some guests that had to stay in the condos to begin with so that may have helped. Just make sure the hotel isn't doing construction/room updates. You'll be fine. Don't let them say, "we'll be done by then" - have them say, "yes, we're complete." Our wedding was in November and they said that it would be done in August. They had barely started. Also, hire Maye if you can. She knows the hotel well and she can alleviate a lot of stress by you not having to coordinate with the hotel's coordinator. They work REALLY well together and, as I said in my review, the hotel coordinator did a great job the day of but was a PITA leading up. Coorespond with her via email. Send her an email summary of your calls when she insists on talking on the phone and have her confirm that your summary is accurate. If you have good records with her, you're fine. Don't verbally agree to anything.

Oh - and I TOTALLY recommend that you have the hotel put the umbrellas out for an October wedding. It will be warm and your guests will want shade. The hotel does not charge for it either.

Hello, Yes - Dino photographed my wedding. He was absolutely wonderful to work with and he knows Casa Del Mar and the lighting very well. I did not have a video done but I can highly recommend him for photography. As Kash said, I had my wedding at CDM. I did pink gerber daisies and did like how they blended with the plants around the hotel. You really don't need a lot of decorations or flowers. Here's my advice: -Do the cake via the hotel. They have a great tres leches and they replicated the cake style that I wanted. I had it included in the cost for dinner by removing a bunch of hte other dessert offerings (totally didn't need those). -If you can afford $675 - have firedancers. -See if you can get CDM to do your welcome dinner there for $40-50 per person. If you pay just a bit more, they'll decorate the area with very cool stuff (tell them you want their Mexican fiesta look). Plus, they'll include a bonfire and your guests can roast their own marshmellows. Here's a picture - we didn't pay extra for any of this nor did we have to involve ourselves in any decisions - they did it all. -Do pay per drink - it saved us A TON - especially for the welcome dinner as our guests were so liquered up by that time they didn't want anything else to drink. -You can get CDM to agree to a $40 pp menu and the food is really good. You can go to shawnandnatasha.phanefare.com password cabo. You can see all our pictures.

Hands down - chemicals are worse. Eat real food in the most natural state possible. Have you tried eating a handful of almonds (raw - not all the salt and stuff) to fill you up when you crave junk food? My FI did that when he was counting points. I have had a lot of health problems that are made significantly worse by chemicals in foods so I truly know and understand the long-term effects on your body. You might not notice it, but it really makes a difference. Plus - I'll throw this in - a short term impact is that they really mess up your skin.

We did a tres leches cake - it was wonderful. Much better than normal cake.

You have forever to make up your mind I like having the same last name as it helps relative to administrative things. Also, it kinda makes me feel a bit more family. However, I totally understand all of the issues above. I'm going to add to it: -It's a PITA! I'm still filling out forms. I have kept my name professionally - I do too much work in the press so I need to. There's nothing that says that you have to change your name right after you get married. You can at any time if you think it will be easier or something that you want to do. For now - no guilt - keep your own if that suits you.

I would like to highly recommend Don Emiliano in San Jose. It's the best food I've had in Cabo and is really not known to many tourists. I've eaten at Nick-san many times and like it. I prefer the one in the Palmilla shopping center vs. in downtown Cabo. Really liked Mi Casa - there are two. We ate at the one that is a bit further out in downtown Cabo. The breakfast buffet at Fiesta Americana (while expensive) has the MOST amazing cook-to-order breakfast burrito bar and great juice. Worth the money. If you get the opportunity and they'll let you on property (maybe for a "site visit"), eat lunch at Las Ventanas. YUMMY! Besides you totally have to see Las Ventanas.

Hello, My company has to track hurricanes. Yes, October is a spotty month. The hurricane season traditionally ends the end of November, but your risk decreases around the second week of November. If there is a big reason why it has to be in October, make it as late in the month as possible. Here is an article - this is relative to Florida, but you might want to check these out: Hurricane 2003: October is scariest month for hurricanes Hurricane timeline: 1990 to 2000: South Florida Sun-Sentinel Most important - the national hurricane center has a ton of information including this section that allows you to search activity by month. Here's 2006 activity, but they have it for decades back: 2006 Tropical Cyclone Monthly Summary Also, remember that it's not just hurricanes to consider but tropical storms as well. Should you decide to move forward with October, really go through your contracts and have them specify what they will/won't refund and what qualifies as a refundable occurrence (tropical storm of what magnitude). Also, have a rain contingency plan.

Yes, I gave them their gift after the wedding. None of them were expecting a gift and it would have been a pain to carry something there and back (aside from small jewlry, etc.). I wrote them all nice cards that I gave them at the wedding.

I would do the alterations there. You can negotiate things into the cost of the dress and they deal with wedding dresses all day every day so you are less likely to have problems. The costs are very small. $15 to have cups sewn in, etc. I negotiated a flat rate for the dress so I wouldn't have to worry if I had to do more alterations than expected (which I did, I had one extra fitting).

I loved Maye. She booked flowers, arch, table runners/chair bows, fire dancers, fireworks, DJ, and helped me with issues I had with the hotel. She worked seamlessly with the hotel coordinator, was awesome at working with me to find options to fit my budget, and has excellent taste. She even officiated our wedding. Yes, she charges a flat rate and her prices for flowers, etc. were totally in-line. Further, as I stated above, if her quote was higher than I wanted to pay for something, she'd provide other options to get in line with our budget.

Yep - why share with non-supportive people? No need to invite them into your choices. Talk about politics or the weather.

I bought the parents digital photo frames and loaded them with photos from the wedding. They are all VERY happy with them.

Eat at Don Emilianos - the chef is globally famous and her food is wonderful.

Quote: Originally Posted by Chicago80 I guess we are going to get legally married afterward because I think we have decided on the Aventura Spa Palace and in there FAQ section it says: Q. Can I get married in my country and still receive the Free Wedding Package? A. No. The Free Wedding Package can only be obtained if both bride and groom are getting married for the first time. (If you are already civilly married, please ask about our vow renewal packages). Caution - when we went to get married in California after our ceremony in Cabo, we happend to mention, "yeah, we just did this in Mexico" and the lady got a look of panic in her eyes and said, "You didn't have a legal ceremony did you?" which, of course, we hadn't. If the hotel/officiant is actually filing paperwork/performing a legal ceremony on your behalf in another country, it's a whole other ballgame and I have no idea what hoops you have to go through if you want your State's law to superseed the law of the country in which you were married, but she said it was a big deal.

I totally wear it. It was $2000. It's a luxury to put on an expensive dress and eat take out from the container while watching tv and drinking a glass of wine. I think it's silly to stick the dress in a preservation shield and look at it hanging in your closet. Forget it! Go buy yourself a tiara and make it that much more special.