MissyR

Welcome! It is totally overwhelming and frustrating... guaranteed the hardest part for most of us was actually choosing the resort. As a fellow Canadian with family in Ontario and Alberta - the most cost effective for our guests was riviera maya. We actually figured out what time of year we wanted to get married first and then started comparing Punta Cana, Los Cabos, Mayan etc.

Quote: Originally Posted by Christi What company do you use? I have a bunch of brochures from various carriers, but have yet to go through them. We use Presidents Choice Financial offered through Securican. They are great!

We have it for our dog and have had it for about three years. We pay about $400 a year for insurance (that's the premium package) and the annual deductible is $100 bucks. For us personally it's been great - the pup had some stomach/mild poisoning issues last month and the bill was $550 - basically we got our money's worth in premium's for the one visit..

Welcome to the forum and happy planning planning!

I think you should go back to your original plan of the white pants with the turqoise shirts. I like both pieces but not together - and I don't think a turquoise shirt is really any louder than what you posted.. What colour are your girls wearing? OOPS - should have read the first post more clearly - .. I think if the girls are wearing black then my original comment still holds!

Welcome to the forum and happy planning!

Welcome to the forum and happy planning!

In terms of the timing for planning - I think you are totally fine if you know sort of what you want. For things like cake, menu, decorations etc. you can basically just tell Perla a few months before (even a few weeks). We are using SWANK which is the in-house DJ service that the Paradisus provides. We met him when we were down there (his offices are right on Paradisus) and he was great. If you are thinking of a DJ you may want to consider booking sometime before the end of December as rates sometimes go up per calendar year - we booked in November 2007 for our wedding in November 2008 and I convinced him to honour the 2007 rates. Something to think about.. My ticker is getting shorter and shorter! WOWSER!

Happy Birthday Lady!

Sooo sorry to hear about your kitty. I know how hard it can be. 21 years of memories will always be there!

Welcome to the forum and happy planning!

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Sooo amazing becks - what a talented photog with of course a gorgeous couple!

The lighting was great when we were there - we are putting candles on each table (for the centrepieces) and then Perla is providing paper bag lanterns for around the outside. I actually found it to be perfect! As far as the breeze - there really wasn't a noticeable one when we were there either. I think as long as whatever you chose is somewhat covered you will be fine. They have some candle holders/vases but Perla wanted $50 per table so I said NO THANKS and took my own down for her to store when we went on our site visit. In terms of chairs - I wanted the Tiffany ones b/c they look nice and frankly I think FI was sick of me asking what he thought about every little detail

I had Perla arrange my hair trial - I would say3-4 weeks out is probably fine - remember there is only 1 wedding per day so you would take priority. In terms of make-up - one of my friends is a MAC make-up artist and she is travelling for the wedding so she will be doing my MOH and I's make-up - I think Becks had her make-up done at the salon and was happy with it. Perla can probably email you a copy of the spa services -I will go and see if I can find it!

Hey Gals! I am from Toronto - current live in High Park Area - The TA we used is based out of Calgary as that is where FI's family is... in terms of vendors - the only "Canadian" one we are using is our photog who is travelling with us... He is a member here too! Company is called "Visual Cravings" and they are awesome!

I hope your wedding day is everything you dream it to be! I know you will be a stunning bride!

We are doing different chairs for both so I will defer to Becks on this. We are paying for the Tiffany chairs for the reception and having the covers and bows for the ceremony..

Welcome to the forum and happy planning!

I hope the information is useful... please ask questions - honestly I know I had thousands when I first started planning. We are building off the WISH package (which is free when you book 7 nights) - it was significantly cheaper for us and we could pick everything exactly how we wanted it. The signature drink is no extra charge - and I think we are going to do two separate ones - one for the welcome dinner and one for the reception - the Mango Margeritas are amazing!

I agree with Becks. We just got back from a site visit and had three smaller boxes with us - they ran them through three times and then she wanted to open them - we convinced her (through a translator ) there was no need but I can certainly see how they could make you..

I am super excited! We have 54 confirmed right now - the sectioning off of the buffet is free of charge..

I am going to try and give you all a synopsis of our site visit – if you have specific questions just ask me and I can hopefully give you a detailed answer! I will start by saying that I am sooo happy and excited that we chose the Paradisus – bar none excellent food, service, great hotel and two wonderful wedding planners. I had been corresponding with Perla for a few weeks before and had arranged to meet with her and Daniela (the former WC at Dreams Cancun and now Perla’s assistant). We arrived on Friday around 1:00 – we rented a car from the airport and that was absolutely no trouble. Check in was great – quick, efficient and our room wasn’t ready so we went for lunch and just walked around the resort. At 2:30 we met with Perla and Daniela in their office – we spent the next two hours going over all the questions and information I brought. I basically gave them a binder with all the things we had discussed previously (with pictures and prices agreed on) and we went through all of those. I also had specific questions about everything – welcome dinner, ceremony, reception, food, decorations etc. and we spent a large chunk of the time going through these. They also have a few mock tables set up but I would suggest pictures always work best – we picked our linens and flowers. In terms of centrepieces, I took down three boxes with me and Perla is storing them in her office until November. She wanted $50 per table (and I got everything for 10 tables for $135 taxes included). I should also say that I had confirmed with Perla our menus for both dinner and cocktails weeks before we went (including prices). Perla suggested we do the tasting the following day (Saturday) which was fine with us. On Saturday everything was set up in the private banquet hall, including a table with the linens we had chosen the day before. We were able to try all our appetizers (melon and prosciutto, beef brochette, chicken satay, mini sopes, shrimp with pineapple, vegetable strudel and quesadillas), and all the courses for our dinner (soup, salad, and all three main options) as well as the dessert. Food was amazing, they had the banquet captain serving so we also got an opportunity taste the wines. We weren’t too excited about the red and you can bring in your own (with a corkage feee I am still waiting on the cost for this!) All in all we were super happy with the food. Perla had also arranged for me to have a hair trial with Leticia on Saturday – bring pictures as she doesn’t speak a word of English but she did a great job and pretty much followed the pics to a tee. On Sunday we chilled, Monday we went into Cancun to check out Costco and Walmart, and then met again with PErla on Tuesday to iron out all the last minute details. We also met with Victor from SWANK AUDIO; super nice, he is on Paradisus property and does the sound and music for all their functions etc. We also had a chance to eat at all the a la cartes – Everything was awesome – loved the Mediterrean but everything was really really good – buffet always had a nice variety and healthy options as well which was nice! We are having our welcome dinner in a private section of the buffet. Because of the time of year we are going - the resort is almost full, they would not close down one of the four a la cartes for our welcome dinner (which I totally understand) and there is no charge for the buffet - Perla is also setting up all my oot bags ahead of schedule and we will have a signature drink.. That’s my quick summary! Any questions fire away!

What a beautiful bride and groom! Your pics are just sooo fabulous!

SOOOO AMAZING! I just get soo excited for my wedding everytime I see more pictures - how gorgeous!

Welcome! I too am a Paradisus bride! Just returned from a fabulous, 5-day site visit with Perla and Daniela and am hoping to post a full review tomorrow... Any questions just ask away!