TATrisha

Here is the inside of the Dolce Vita and then the place setting (and the centerpiece that you'll have for the wedding)

Don't worry, you don't really have to be very prepared. The wedding will be amazing no matter what! I will answer your questions as best I can.

Cheryl will be able to confirm, but when we asked her she said it was $80 for the cart and $65 for the clubs. It's very possible I have the numbers switched, but I'm pretty sure that's right. As for the rest of the questions... yeah, sorry!!

I just got back, and I took pictures for you! This is the view from the path that leads to the Tequila restaurant. It leads to the weddings sites first. On the left, the gazebo. On the right, you can see the beach site. yes, they are THAT close to each other. This is the view that your guests will have in their chairs of the gazebo, I literally pretended to sit in approx the fourth row and took a picture. Notice, you can't see the sea: This is your guests view from the beach location: Let me know if you'd like to see anything else!

Hello ladies!!!!!! I'm back!! The resort was amazing, Cheryl was a GORGEOUS bride (as was Kristi) and it was awesome! I toured all three resorts, I have pictures of ALMOST everything, including all restaurants and the place settings... well... almost. I might have missed one or two. The maracas are $2-3 in the hacienda (you can even see the price tags in the pictures). Here are the pictures of what they look like: These ones are $3 and bigger. They also have them in the colors below, but I wanted to show the variety of options. These are the small $2 ones The walking photo tour will be coming shortly, but if anyone wants to see something before i'm done just let me know. And i have a trash the dress teaser on my facebook page of the gorgeous cheryl!! Oh yeah, and if you're getting married there... bring one of those tiny foldable umbrellas. If you don't need it, great, if you do... it's better than running across the resort and getting soaked! Trust me, I know!

I hear the RIU is fantastic. Especially because it's closer to town. It really stunk that Dreams wasn't near and it cost a lot to go to and from town. That was the only stinky thing about Dreams.

Really?!?!?! It wasn't translated into English? But you gave blood and all that jazz right? That's really weird. I have never heard of a legal ceremony at the GBP not being in Spanish. Has anyone else had a legal ceremony in English only?

JillyBeans, those dresses are awesome! SO gorgeous!! For mens suits, we went with a linen suit from Men's Warehouse. We bought it during their buy one get one sale and so my dad actually was able to get one too and then him and my husband split the cost. It worked out great!

This really is a great thread! Come on recent brides, have an opinions on what you would or wouldn't do again?

Morning! I actually photographed a Cabo wedding in April for a couple from Australia. They had guests flying from all over the world, including Australia, Bahamas, and NY (ironically). The wedding was a Dreams Los Cabos and everyone LOVED it. They actually all flew to LAX and met there. They partied there for two days and then all flew to Cabo together. From what I heard, it really added to the experience for everyone.

Welcome to the forum!! Your post doesn't mention it, but I assume you're getting married at the Gran Bahia Principe? That's where I got married, and I'm photographing a destination wedding there this week actually! If you are booked in the Akumal section (good choice, by the way), you won't be able to get married at the Tulum Gazebo. You'll most likely get married at the Akumal Hammock Beach location. You will be able to dine at the other restaurants, but not for your wedding dinner. Here is a very informative thread that I put together that hopefully will help you out: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/75549/official-gran-bahia-principe-riviera-maya-thread

Welcome to the forum!! I too have photographed a wedding there and it was just gorgeous!!! Which wedding location area are you going with?

Hopefully we can meet up while you're there Jemma! I leave on Wednesday!

With all my camera gear I can't risk taking sand back with me (camera + sand = bad news!) but hopefully someone will be able to help out as I think it's a great idea!

There are a few differences that anyone who is familiar with Mexican weddings would notice, but I am not sure that most people would. 1, it will be in English instead of Spanish 2, you won't have to sign and ink the paperwork (although i believe the GBP will do this for you if you'd like) and then you don't have to arrive early and you don't have to get blood taken. My sister's cousin-in-law is getting married in Mexico and they are getting married the day after they arrived. I instantly knew it wasn't legal. So it really depends on your crowd, but to the normal non researching individual, it'll look legit.

Most likely if you weren't given the option, then another bride has taken that restaurant already. They do more than one wedding a day typically so it's very possible that's the problem. As for down hair, it was SUPER windy when we were there. I didn't even wear my veil! I think that's why you'll mostly see up dos.

Not a problem at all! I plan on taking a picture of all of the restaurants if I can swing it. That way nobody will have to question it anymore. As for the poolside reception for Akumal, that's what I had. It's directly outside the lobby just on the otherside of the pool. I'll try and get a wide angle picture so you get a better feel of it.

When I was at the Dolce Vita last (2008) it was glass hurricane vases with an oil lamp in the center. I will write this on my list to take pictures of next week for you. Anything else that you need?

brought along 16 yards of blue fabric and then we cut off some of it for the table runners, so I think I used about 12-14 yards. I wish it was a little longer though as you can see it didn't go to the ground. I also wish I had specifically asked to NOT use the white stuff, but oh well! The WC took my fabric during our meeting and set it up without a problem. I had to pay extra for the flowers though.

MrsMom, it's really not a good idea to ship anything to Mexico. It usually will get held up in customs, lost or stolen. And many of the resorts won't hold onto your property for a long period of time. So it's very risky to send the package at the last minute and then not have it arrive in time for the wedding. You're much better off packing what you'd like to bring. If you have family and friends coming with, I suggest asking if they'd mind taking little bits of it.

Welcome ktoby! I would HIGHLY suggest you get a BDW travel agent. They are amazing and they should be able to help you. There really isn't a minimum amount of people. For things like the poolside reception there is, but for the actual wedding there is not. You can have six people and have a legal wedding (you and your fiance and your four witnesses). So just book the package that you'd like. Or maybe ask if you can book the smallest package and upgrade at a later time. For invitations, we sent out a Save the Date in September for our April wedding (we got engaged in August). This allowed our guests a little bit of time to save. Then we sent out our wedding invitations with all the details. People who are having at home receptions typically put an additional invitation in with that. I didn't have one, so I can't really comment on the proper wording, but if you do a search in the invitations portion of this forum you're sure to find some good ideas. I brought down a lot of decorations. I brought down the blue fabric for the hammock site (which I must say I'm very excited to see everyone doing... makes me happy! You should all see the sketch that I drew so that she'd know what I wanted, now all you have to do is bring a picture! So much easier!). Then I brought down colored table runners and votive candles. The pool wasn't necessarily RIGHT by the dance floor (we had the dinner out there, so the buffet line blocked the pool) so I feel like floating decorations might not get as much notice as they should. I'd save your money and instead get table centerpieces with yellow and bring down yellow ribbon for around your cake or something along those lines.

You're very welcome Sadia! I'm glad you're finding it useful!

Morning! I have a PDF of my welcome brochure which I can share as well. Hopefully everyone has 150 posts so they can download it. The big thing was telling my guests about what to expect at the airport. A lot of them had never been to Cancun and things are done WAY differently than they are here in the states. Quote: Originally Posted by sjust Hi Everyone, Hope everyone has a had a great start to their New Year. My wedding is on March 13.... whoa! That's getting really close! I was hoping to create a letter or tips to give to my guests before they go... (We have 90 ish people going)... I thought about including the following information. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions that I can add. -bring lots of sunscreen (as it's expensive at the resorts) -bring mosquito repellant -febreeze (as I've heard the rooms are musty) -bring walkie talkies (has anyone done this? Does it work?) -pack bathing suit and essentials in carry on just in case airline loses luggage... -bring a mug to keep drinks cold -the safe is $5 a day -bring water shoes and snorkeling stuff if you want I'd also like to add a map... does anyone have one? And, some information about the trolleys and then the wedding day itself. Can you think of any other tips? Thanks, Sarah welc v2.pdf

Oh, and Kristi, sadly we won't get in until around 3 Boo!

Kristi, maybe instead you could go to Akumal and swim with the turtles or go snorkling in the cove? It's supposed to be amazing and there are some amazing bars and restaurants on that cove too.