starchild

Good to hear you had a great time and Maggie found the perfect dress without a hassle. And great deal on those pashminas )

We had our bachelor/ette party at Nikki Beach a few nights before the wedding. Nikki Beach is located at the Westin Resort in PV. The place is beautiful. You walk up these stairs to get to the front door then walk down a grand staircase once you get inside. There is a restaurant inside but we walked straight outside. On the beach are a bunch of matresses and pillows. They also have these cool elevated canopy beds that are fun to lounge on. The #1 selling point about Nikki Beach is the pretty atmosphere. It's stunning. Everything is white on the beach and lit up at night, it's awesome. What we didn't find so awesome were the music and drinks. To be fair the music just wasn't our type. They play mainly Euro-techno music if that makes sense. We were able to make special requests and they played them, so the DJ has more music but at least on the night we went they mainly played one kind. After a few drinks though it was less annoying and at some point we danced to it. The drinks were about $9 each which is normal in the U.S. and a little high for PV, but we were at a Westin so it was to be expected. They weren't very strong, however, and the waiter that served us was not too friendly. One time we ordered a round of lemon drops and they gave us lime drops....they said they didn't have lemons. Okay, maybe they don't and it's nothing to cry about, but when you bring a $100 tray of drinks that we didn't exactly order it can bug you (like maybe the waiter could have said we have no lemons before the lime drinks were made and billed). There were also some sort of cirque-du-soliel type acrobats that did random performances. Nothing announced, but they would suddenly appear and start doing cool stuff then disappear, and so on. One of them crawled up behind me on a bed I was sitting on and scared me.....I didn't see him coming. It was pretty funny. Overall I say it's a great place to go, awesome if you like techno. Admission is free on Thursdays so it's a nice starting off point if you plan to club-hop. It was sweet to lay on the beach and look up at the stars while being at a club. I can't say enough about how pretty it was and that's reason enough to check it out.

Thanks for sharing! Kash you looked so beautiful.....I'm happy it went well for you!

They have 2 packages and the only settings they have (unless they changed this in the past few weeks) are on the sand, on the cliff overlooking the sand, and at the pyramid in the jungle. The pyramid can only be used for daytime weddings and there is no ocean view, although the reception would still be on the beach. We had the deluxe package as well, on the sand, starting at 6:15ish and we left shortly after 11 p.m. You can stay as late as you want to pay for.

We stayed at Dreams in June for our PV wedding which was held at Las Caletas. Here's a little review. The ride from PVR was about 30 minutes or so. When we arrived and got out of the cab we were greeted by a bellman with glasses of champagne. We gave him our travel documents and he told us to use the private check in located in the suites tower. That was a bonus because there was a bit of a line at the front desk. We walked down a long corridor past the spa and came to a desk with a lady who welcomed us, gave us cookies, and checked us in. It was very relaxed for us as we were tired and got to sit down for the whole check-in process. We were told our room had 2 full beds but someone could come push them together until the next day when a king bed room was available. Not ideal in our situation but our room was beautiful. You enter into a hallway with a dressing area and bathroom to the left, and a door in front of you. We opened the door to enter a large bedroom and sitting area. Neat and clean...then we opened the curtains and fell in love with the patio/view. It was a suite on the ground floor which I was against at first, but we were sold on the size of the patio. A lady came and spent 30 minutes meticulously adding mattress pads and sheets trying to make our 2 beds one. It was about 3 feet higher when she was done and despite her hard work, as soon as we laid down FI fell through the crack...lol. We were moved to the suite next door the next day and it was identical but with a king bed. The first two nights we were there they made a big screen and showed movies on the beach (Night at the Museum and Happy Feet). The food was all good. The only place I didn't eat was the Mexican restaurant because I eat so much in everyday life. My favorite was at Portofino. We had reservations for the night after our wedding and they decorated our table outside with roses, we had a really good bottle of champagne, it was so pretty. Food was really great and I'm fussy about Italian food but I loved it all. Room service was also very good and usually fast, although twice it took over an hour but that was at 1am when restaurants were closed. A bonus too is that Dreams serves top-shelf liquor whereas some AI's I've been to skimp on this aspect. There are many bars, all were good. My favorites were the one adjacent to the lobby with the huge pillar candles lit at night, and the one on the beach where they pull out the bean bag recliners at night. Those were super comfy. We saw a wedding on the beach one night while having drinks at a poolside bar. It was very pretty. I'm not sure where the reception was because we went out for the evening. The beach is one of the better ones in the area and they control the vendors so there are very few and they are non-agressive. The spa is pretty enough, I just think a little costly for what I had done. A manicure and pedicure was $60 which is about 3 times what it should be but it was nice to have since it was my wedding and all. After our wedding at Las Caletas we returned to our room and it was all decorated for us as honeymooners. There was a banner across our door that was so cute! We walked in and all the lights were off. There were dozens of votive candles EVERYWHERE!! From the entry way to the bathroom to the tables and floor in the bedroom. On the bed they had the towels shaped like hearts & a swan, with rose petals scattered all over the bed and floor. It was just beautiful. If you have guests staying outside of Dreams know that they cannot come meet you for drinks or anything at Dreams. My parents chose to stay at Velas Vallarta which was really nice, but they came to meet us at Dreams and called from the taxi at the gate saying they could not get in. I managed to allow the concierge to admit them but he said they could only sit in the lobby for 30 minutes max. Well they still made it to see our room but we were clear that they were not welcome. I think it's a good policy since there are no wristbands like many AI resorts. I have no serious complaints about Dreams. They did misplace/fail to give the traveling starfish back to Ann who was also there so that's the only thing I have problems with. The front desk could be more efficient I guess. Everyone was really nice across the board though, from wait staff to bellmen. When we came across staff many of them said "hello honeymooners" when they greeted us. That was nice because it is a fairly large place but they still remembered who we were when they saw us. It was a great start to our honeymoon. We were treated quite well and would go back there in a heartbeat.

Ugh...what a pita....glad you still made the bbq though!!

Yes I agree the night ceremonies are not "wack" LMAO!!! You also aren't getting blasted by the afternoon Caletas sun which I can't imagine having to do in a wedding dress.....it's warm enough in shorts. Anyway, to each her own and both times make for beautiful pictures. Good luck with your decision making )

If I'm not mistaken today is the big day. I'm sure everything will be just lovely. Take time to enjoy it. We wish you tons of fun and will be waiting to hear from you!!

Quote: Originally Posted by MarlaB Wow. What an amazing review of your wedding. I also couldn't see the pictures but the weirdest thing happened. I copied and pasted your review onto my word document and suddenly your pictures magically appeared! It was a strange, but nice surprise. You mentioned staying an extra 1/2 hour. Did you pay extra for that? I thought it was $10 per guest per hour extra charge. Also, what did you do for music? Did you have the Trio or a band or DJ, etc What were those gifts I see on everyone's plates? Was there some sort of "head table" or did you just sit with all the other guests at the long table I see in the picture? Did you host a welcome dinner somewhere? What hotel did you stay at? What was the temperature and were you able to stay cool in the bridal suite? Was it required to make a seating chart for the ceremony and reception? How did you choose your cake? Did Nicole send you sample pictures? Did you have children at the wedding? I am thinking of having an adults only wedding (aside from the ring bearer and flower girl). Sorry about the million questions!!! April 1 can't come quick enough. Nicole and I have begun communicating. I am now going to view the official pictures!! Thank you again. So sorry I missed this earlier... Yes, we paid extra for the 1/2 hour. We brought our own music and used their sound system which was loud and worked well. On the plates are our cd favors. We had a t-shape for the tables - our table for two was the head and there was a long one branching off of that. There was also a long table on the right side of us. We hosed the WD at Barcelona Tapas, see my separate review. We stayed at Dreams, love it. Still have to do that review darn it! It was warm the day of the wedding but we didn't really notice it. There is a fan in the suite. We had open seating, no chart other than bride & groom at head of table. The cake was a total surprise. I just told her white cake with flowers and I loved it, really yummy too. If you want options I'm sure she can send you pics. We had 2 children (ages 4 and 6) and they had a blast. I hope that answered everything & sorry I was so slow to respond.

Thanks Amy )

Beautiful country indeed! From the rain forest down to the sea, but especially the people. You'll l-o-v-e the Riu!

Quote: Originally Posted by mellibean i keep hearing about the bridal suite and seeing pics of it. is there a place for the groom to hang out? does anyone have pics of the groom's suite? There is an area above where the dinner is held that my groom & gms were taken to when they arrived so they could change. It's a covered, open-air area overlooking the beach with some chairs, hammocks, and a bathroom. If yours is going to be there all day though, I don't believe there is an enclosed area like the casita for them. But there are tons of places to get some quiet and relax, even when the day tour is there.

Here's a map, Huatulco is on the lower right:

It's a little over 2 hours by air, maybe almost 3 from PV? I was looking at the Gala and Barcelo but I'm also going to check out the ones Edna suggested. It looks really mellow out there!

Quote: Originally Posted by Nrvsbride Eeew I am not going to go off on a racial rant but I just wanted to say that I really cannot fathom how it is 2007 and people are still making comments about interacial couples. My FI is Irish (I'm Spanish) and I've had rude people in his neighborhood ask if I'm the nanny!! Who does that? Uggh I really feel for the brides on this forum that have people making snide or disparaging remarks, it is sooooo not acceptable! Okay Glenda how long do you wait before you sock them in the nose? J/K you know I'm anti-violence but come on. It's insanity. I've only experienced discrimination from police who have made some horrible assumptions about us, but that's another thread so I'll stop. I feel for everyone who experiences this.

Thanks Edna I'll check into that )

Anyone been to or know much about them? We're looking for a not-so-touristy town in Mexico to spend some time over winter holidays. Any other recommendations?

Yep I say Ann for all the reasons everyone stated. Even if she didn't pull off a starfish miracle I would have voted for her but she did....so big bonus )

Oh Kelly people really show their a@@es when things get crucial, don't they? I'm in an "interracial" marriage and never had to deal with either side having a problem but I know it happens and how freakin sick is that? Hate only begets more hate. That could be it's own thread! As for the flakey booking habits, I've been there. We gave people 9 months and a travel agent that for $150 down will reserve your trip and let you pay what you can when you can up until 30 days before you leave. We also presented packages that were like $600pp for a basic trip. These are all working adults. That means if they took $50 out of each paycheck they could pay it off in 6 months. They had 9. Now, 2 months before the wedding some of the slackers asked how they could get on the payment plan.....HELLO! Nevermind that if they had been participating they would see that the info is on our website or in the 2 mailings I sent them months in advance, but by then it was just plain too late to start a payment plan! WTF?? I say if they can't come it's sad for Everton but a blessing in disguise for you....keep those haters away from your wedding if at all possible. They have a problem with your skin tones? That's their loss and they can have that problem stateside where you won't be paying for them to eat and drink.....fu@kers!!

Quote: Originally Posted by beachbride I also just read on Stamps.com, that they are USPS approved Is this real postage? Yes, PhotoStamps from Stamps.com are valid U.S. Postage, based on a technology called PC Postage, which is what creates the bar code you see to the right of the image area on PhotoStamps. Only vendors that are licensed and approved to produce PC Postage may display the logo seen below: Stamps.com, the company behind PhotoStamps, has been a USPS-approved provider of PC postage since 1999, and is the industry leader. When the product first launched in 2004, PhotoStamps by Stamps.com was the first customized postage product ever to be offered in the United States. On May 11, 2006, Stamps.com was authorized by the USPS to print business logos, messages and images on PhotoStamps. Yep, they're legit. Hubby works for them and they pay our bills so ORDER FROM PHOTOSTAMPS.COM. J/K other places offer them and I think they are a little pricey across the board. We get the employee discount which saved us a lot of $$ and we had our monograms put on the invitation stamps. They end up getting thrown away with the envelope but people really think it is neat. We put one of our wedding pics on the thank you note stamps. It's just a unique extra thing to do if you have the time.

I have the same problem attaching photos and I don't understand it either. I've been able to post photos that have a URL but not photos saved on my computer. I also get the upload failed/invalid file message. It's strange because other people can do it.....I just keep trying and figure it will work for me one day )

Woohoo!! I'll take you up on that one day )

That sounds like a good idea!

Ditto! There's a wealth of info in the "las caletas brides post here" thread.

Very pretty! Your dress is perfect for a beach wedding and I love the alter/ceremony setup. Thanks for sharing )