Jackie

Hello Jess, Congrats, and welcome. If flight time was not a concern then I do believe Hawaii might just be one of the nicest DW's to have. Everyone around here is so helpfull. Jackie

Tammy, The book looks gorgous. I'm a sucker for that stuff though. SO PRETTY!!! Jackie

Quote: Originally Posted by TAMMYM OK girls, I think I found the perfect ring for Cain. What do you girls think? That is the nicest one so far. Very sharp. Jackie

You girls are right. I was just freaking out last night after reading all of the reviews over there. I'm just not going to read them anymore. Besides you could put Ryan and I anywhere and we'd figure out how to have fun. Jackie

I like the first one too. For some reason I think the color goes better with the Cabo/Mexican theme. When I think of Cabo I think of Orange/Red/Ivories. The gorgeous rouching (am I saying that right?) on the skirt goes with the whole Mexican girl skirt theories also. Ya know the tea length skirts that they wear with the flaring. But... both dresses are absolutely beautiful. What color scheme is your wedding? That might help you make a decision. The white dress would definitely look better with blues, greens, etc. While the champagne dress I see more with rusty colors. Just my opinion though and believe me I'm no expert. Jackie

I think I just need to delete tripadvisor out of my computer and my mind. It does me more harm then good anyway. Maybe its helpfull to other people but all it does for me is stress me out. A vacation is what you make of it right? I think those people need to just sit by the pool and have a nice big cocktail and stop looking in every nook and crany for something wrong. I am officially never going to that site again. Jackie

Every so often I go over to tripadvisor to read the lates review on both Dreams and Riu and they are always so awfull. It bums me out. I start thinking that maybe I should pick another location etc. After a little while I calm down and realize that there are horrible reviews on pretty much every resort in tripadvisor. But I still just dont understand why its like that. Are people really that misreable. There is no way that either of these two resorts can be as bad as how people are describing them. Ecspecially after reading what all the girls around here have to say. Hmmm. Maybe I should have put this one under JUST VENTING Jackie:

Stephanie, Beautiful dress, how exciting. Jackie

Quote: Originally Posted by Natalie M Well we are expecting around 50 people. I have been looking at Dreams. I want to keep the price between 10k-15k if possible. I just don't really know where to start at. I submitted a request to Dreams to see if either date was available, so we will see about that. I want to send out a letter to everyone who we are inviting to see who is interested in coming but I would like to have some prices for them on rooms and air fare. It is only 9 months away and I know I have alot to plan.Also, for the bridesmaids and groomsmen did you guys pay for a couple of nights for them or what did you do for them? I want a pretty simple wedding overall. Thanks for any input you might have. Natalie Hello Natalie, I'm planning on a May 2008 wedding and am also considering Dreams. It sounds like a great resort and it looks absolutly gorgeous. And many of the brides on this site had their wedding there, including the host Tammy who has pictures up in many places around here...and there buetiful pics. I havent hear a bad thing about it yet. Good Luck. Jackie

Welcome Maria, I'm sure youll find lots of help here. Good luck. Jackie

Welcome, When I first decided on a DW Mexico was a definite, I also decided Cancun was a definite NO. It all depends on what you want but Cancun seems to Spring Break crazy for me. And there are so many other places in Mexico that are still so much cheaper than certain spots in the Carribean Hawaii etc that are just as buetifull. However If your with a group that enjoys the Cancun atmosphere then go for it. Its all about what you want out of the spot you pick. Good Luck. Jackie

Quote: Originally Posted by NABUMBAH I love Isla Mujares. It's so quaint and beautiful. here are some great photos from a wedding there http://www.jcsphoto.com/client/feb4sneakpeek Wow, those are really buetiful pictures. I love the color everywhere. Jackie

Welcome - I haven't come to the conclusion of weather or not to hire a planner yet myself. But as I get to know this site better I'm starting to feel confident in doing most things myself. Maybe just hire a planner for the day of the wedding.

Quote: Originally Posted by host ive travelled quite a bit and already did europe....took eurorail through france, spain(got mugged in barcelona!), and italy.. think maldives or fiji or bali or capri...some island with awesome food and culture...i just love to travel and so does steve so we are lucky! Doesnt Fiji sound and look just wonderfull. Ive never been myself but its on my top 10 list of places to go. And it seems very homeymoon friendly i.e. romantic, buetiful, serene etc. Jackie

Wendy - I cant wait to hear all about your big day. How EXCITING!!!! Have Fun. Jackie

Quote: Originally Posted by gkashmira Jackie are you in RI? I grew up there Also I have to admit that for work I book travel with Expedia and Orbitz constantly. Honestly we have never had a problem with any of our flights or hotels or rental cars and we travel all over the world. One thing that I do think makes a difference however is when you're a frequent traveler you have accounts with all these airlines and hotels, and when you book online they get this information anyway. So the director I work with always get upgraded in the hotels and sometimes on the flights just because she travels with these guys so often. Anyway, I certianly believe people have had problems I just have had a really good experience over the years using these guys. They've even let me cancel penalty-free non-refundable airline tickets (but I booked them and then cancelled them in about 20 minutes...) Just a thought... However what I do often do is look stuff up on Orbitz and then go to the hotelairline directly to see if I can get a better price (sometimes you can and sometimes you can't) Kashmira - No I'm not from RI. I live on Cape Cod MA now, but grew up in the Milford MA area. I frequently vist Newport though. I love the town wether its for a romantic cliff walk with Ryan or a girls night out on the town. Jackie

Tammy, your pictures are gorgeous. The gazebo and the resort is buetiful and it looks like everyone had such a great day.

Welcome Lauren!!! I am also a new Cabo 2008 bride. I stumbled onto this site by accident surfing the web for reviews on weddings and I am so grateful I did. I just started to post etc. but before that I just spent a week or so surfing around and reading all the helpful hints and suggestions. Now I'm addicted.

We knew we were not going to have the wedding at home when my father passed away last April. I just didn't want to deal with the traditional walking down the aisle or father and daughter dance etc. I want to be excited about my wedding not sad that I am missing out on certain parts of it. Another big factor is $money$, we are trying to purchase a home in the next few months and after all the newlyweds I have talked to, they all say that there wedding day just flys by. These are couples that spent, on average I would say 35,000.00 on their wedding. Call me crazy but I don't have that kind of money to spend on one day. I'd be much happier spending 15-20k on 10 days of wedding/vaca with my friends/ honeymoon in CABO!

I thought something might have been fishy with destinationweddings.com when I came to this site and hadn't seen one person mention them. Thanks. Um... No way in HE#* do I want a bunch of people in bathing suits splashing around while my wedding is taking place. I guess I have some research to do. I cant wait to hear back from the newest Riu bride. I think that will tell me a lot. Thanks everyone - Jackie PS. I'm thinking the gazebo might just be a safer bet either at RIU or Dreams. They are still absolutely gorgeous and there has to be a reason why more people aren't doing poolside ceremony's.

Quote: Originally Posted by SPRKLZ224 Yes, I have heard the same.. but all of the girls said that MOST of the stuff is actually taken care of once you are there, and they were happy in the end. So if you can stay calm and not worry about every detail too far in advance, I'm sure you will be fine. **I'm trying the do the same** haha Sooo much easier said than done. I'm getting married in July 2008 *tentatively*, so we'll be on a similar timeline... if you do end up choosing the Riu we can help eachother and share bits and pieces we get from them! Good luck with your decision!! Yes, it sounds like we might become great sources of info for each other in the near future. I'm so glad I found this website. Their is so much useful information that I couldn't imagine finding anywhere else. Are you planning on using a coordinator? Destinationweddings.com says that they offer both the Bride/Groom and all their guests payment plans so that when they book they don't have to pay for the travel up front in one lump sum. I think that may be real helpful for a good number of my guests. The down side to them would be that they are not based directly in Cabo, and I haven't heard of any of the girls on this site using them, although I do have a friend that used them and was pleased with their work. Jackie

Quote: Originally Posted by SPRKLZ224 Just wanted to throw some advice in too... I agree with what Sarah said about Riu vs Dreams. They are both absolutely beautiful and I'm sure you will love either one. One of the reasons I chose the Riu is because of its proximity to town. It's a very short drive and only a $10 cab ride. This convienience was important to me so that people can feel free to get out and enjoy town too without it being too much of a hassel. Also, I liked the fact that the Riu is a little larger because it will give people a little more breathing room. While everyone is going to want to be together alot, a week is still a long time and I think people would appreciate being able to get "away" from everyone (especially when parents/olderish kids are involed) when they choose too. Just my 2 cents. I would highly reccommend visiting both though and getting a feel for yourself! Thanks Kristina, Ive been doing a lot of looking at both their website. And being close to Cabo Wabo and all the in town hot spots is definitely a plus. For some reason I've been leaning towards the Riu. They both seem great but RIU's look just appeals to me more. And the idea of a firepitt RD/Welcoming party for only 1500.00 bucks sounds like such a great idea. The only down side I can see is that Riu's wedding coordinator seems to be hard to get a hold of most the time. Jackie

Quote: Originally Posted by A10CALGAL Hi Jackie, You accrue points by viewing threads (1 pt), starting threads (15 pts) & replying to threads (5 pts). I think you can also get points by winning high scores in the Arcade. I'll donate some points to you so you can view attachments. Thank you, very much appreciated. This is my first time ever joining any type of forum group so Im a true New bee to all of this. Jax

I was trying to get the price and menu lists for the Baja Cantina and I get a page that tells me I dont have enough points. I'm not sure what points are but how so I obtain them. Maybe I should do some studying up on how to use this website, I sorta just jumped right into it and didnt really navigate through things to see what its all about. OOPS! Jackie

Quote: Originally Posted by AQHARIDER Why I picked Dreams over Riu: We were torn between these two AI resorts, but were leaning towards Dreams when we went for our site visit. We stayed and the Riu and LOVED it. We had tons of fun. However, this is a PARTY resort. Lots of loud music , lots of activities, lots of drinking, etc. Not that this is a bad thing if that's what you're in to- again, we had a blast while we were there last month. But, we loved the smaller, more laid-back atmosphere of Dreams when we went for a visit. Because it is a smaller property, there were just less people in general (read:less gawkers for our wedding!) and it just felt more intimate for our families. I think it just depends on what you want. I've been to both places, so if you have any other questions, just ask! Sarah, Thanks for the tip. We are a partying type of crowd, most of us in our late 20's to early 30's but it would definitly be nice to have a more laid back atmosphere for our family and older guests. oh boy, decisions decisions... Jackie