nylalany

Tammy, I realize your honeymoon was a few years ago, but I thought maybe I could ask you a few questions about your experience? You mentioned in your plans to go that your husband was planning on surfing while there. Did he manage to find any good waves? Did he bring his own board or were there any rentals available (lugging our boards is not our idea of fun)? On what islands did he surf? What level of skill was necessary? You mentioned you stayed in the garden bungalows at the Sheraton. Were these alright? I don't think I can splurge for too many nights for an OWB, so I'm trying to figure out where I should do a garden bungalow. I didn't see anything about beach bungalows on their site. You mentioned going on to a second island, that wasn't Bora Bora. Bora Bora is extremely expensive from what I'm reading, and the flight there is over $500 from Moorea, so I'm trying to decide whether I should try another island that is different in feel from Moorea - maybe with even better water? Did you like where you stayed, or did you wish you had planned differently? Was FP really worth the trip? We're thinking of flying to Hawaii to surf on Oahu and then continuing on to Tahiti since we're not sure if we can manage to find surf rentals there, so the whole round trip flight cost will be about $1650 a person - I'm just worried it won't feel worth it, but like you, I feel like we can always go to HI and MX, and many other places will be rainy season in September, when we plan on going (yes, last minute!).

lmk what you find out. I'm driving my hubby crazy trying to figure out where we're going and we're supposed to go sometime btwn now and end of Sept! We want to surf for a few days, but I'd also like luxury/exotic for a few days. Very hard to figure out, since most surfing in exotic places is "expert" and we're more of longboarder intermediates.

I think this was originally going to be the Azul Blue, correct? The photos look the same as the stock ones they provided me. I visited the hotel when it was still a construction site back in Nov '07. Can't wait to hear all your reviews!

Donaji told me that you can definitely do an a la carte personalized wedding (vs. their package) where you choose all your own vendors, as long as you hire their wedding coordination for 4 months. Donaji is super and resourceful and can definitely help out a lot planning a personalized wedding, so I think this would be worth it, but I guess it depends on your budget and choice of outside vendors. She came up with a personalized a la carte budget for me when I was trying to decide if the package was worth it (although the package policy has since changed), and the package did save us some $, but not so much that it would have been a make or break decision for us if we had to go a la carte.

Yes, I paid for a wedding package in addition to the food and beverage, which was a separate cost, so the only thing they changed is including the photographer and not allowing extra vendors (flowers were included in the package, but I also paid extra for an outside florist). It doesn't sound like they increased the costs much though - just enough to include a photographer I guess. You'll still end up having to pay extra for other things if you have a large wedding, btw. Still, weird policy. Well, we'll see how she responds to my email.

She is a tiny bit more reachable by phone.

Yeah, their taste in everything besides flowers was great. I wonder which photographers they plan to use - like maybe they'll use photographers such as Elizabeth and Sol & Matt since they've already shot there? And maybe they'll add Vanessa Jaimes and Euforia Florist as vendors that they'll work with since they've seen how great their work is? I'm going to write Donaji to clarify this and mention that the gals on the forum are upset about this- and maybe that'll help them see that limiting photographers and videographers is a bad idea?

Thanks for the photos Matt - it is neat to see another style wedding at the same place - there haven't been many posted here besides mine and itsme7396, but so far, all 3 feel somewhat unique! I like what you did with the palapa lighting - there isn't much lighting at Al Cielo and for a wedding that goes late into the night, that is an important consideration! We rented extra lighting and I still felt like we could have used a little more!

They are no longer accepting outside vendors What? I wonder if I caused problems - haha? Well, the only outside vendors I had were florist, photographer, and videographer. Everything else was arranged through Donaji. You might verify with them about those 3 vendors - maybe they've expanded their florist contacts, and you can work through them, and maybe you are still allowd to bring in your own photographer and videographer?

When I was there, hanging out in the courtyard one evening, I saw 2 brides in their wedding dresses. I'm not sure if they had a double wedding, or if they both happened to have weddings earlier and both weren't having a private reception? And this was on a weeknight.

Well, it wasn't exactly cheap to start with to be honest. Maybe they were just making the numbers more honest so that people could be prepared in advance, rather than surprised along the way?

Ok, here are the English menus. They are not in order of price, for some reason. Also, the creative spelling is not mine - it is direct from the resort. They are somewhat inflexible with their menu changes - although they came up with a new entree choice for me, it was definitely on their terms. Again, I'd say save your $ and take your guests to Playa del Carmen for a meal instead, or something - or if you do plan to have 2 events, try to get off property for one. You're bound to have better service that way, and better value in the long run. MENÙ No. 1 APPETTIZERS: Colds and hots ______________ ______________ Puerro and potato cream soup perfumed with coriander and crunchy chaya and fresh fruit kebab ______________ ______________ Shrimp carpaccio with tomato, baby onion and olive extra virgin oil ______________ ______________ Grill T Bone with salt and garlic Thousand leaves with cheese Potatoes and beans refried mashed Jamaica semi cold garnished with fruits salad and white chocolate cream ______________ ______________ $ 55 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 2 APPETTIZERS Colds and hots ______________ ______________ Tomato and panela cheese pastry with mango vinagrette and tousted piñon with tamarin and orange ______________ ______________ Duck Xochilt soup with crunchy vegetables, tomato and coriander ______________ ______________ Grouper fish supreme with veoulote, tropical papaya and spinach cream with sweet potato nuggets ______________ ______________ Three milk cakes with creamy caramel au tequila and meringue glass $ 40 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 3 APPETTIZERS Colds and hots ______________ ______________ Lima cream soup perfumed with Xtabentun and beet chips ______________ ______________ Avocado stuffed with shrimps, curry sauce, green tea and huitlacoche steam ______________ ______________ Pork loin with pastry leave, tropical fruit, carrot salted with bacon and dry chilli peppers ______________ ______________ Bella Elena little pears sautéed with tequila ______________ ______________ $ 35 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 4 APPETTIZERS Colds and hots ______________ ______________ Five nations salad with artichoke hearts, palmito, asparagus with caesar dressing and baby corn ______________ ______________ Panela cheese pastry with mushrooms mousse and pate with Mexican red wine syrup ______________ ______________ Duck confit with potatoes with steam perfumed au fresh rosemary ______________ ______________ Bavaroise with pistachio curies and wild zarzamora $ 38 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 5 APPETTIZERS: Colds and hots ______________ ______________ Tortilla soup garnished with avocado and tomato ______________ ______________ Salmon stuffed with cheeses over mushrooms cream and marinated with balsamic vinegar ______________ ______________ Grilled lamb ribs with epazote and vegetables ratatouille ______________ ______________ Chocolate fondan with ice cream ______________ ______________ $ 45 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 6 APPETTIZERS: Colds and hots ______________ ______________ Jumbo shrimp dressed with fine herbs and tomato cherry sauce ______________ ______________ Gazpacho Andaluz style with crotons, iberic ham and vegetables ______________ ______________ Smoked fish with garlic mouselina with sanfaina Meshed and fried turnip ______________ ______________ Pasion ice cream with dry fruits, tangerine and lichis coulis ______________ ______________ $ 48 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 7 APPETTIZERS: Colds and hots ______________ ______________ Hawaiian pineapple and Caribbean Mexican lobster carpaccio with marinated gulas in Jamaica vinaigrette ______________ ______________ Citrics sorbette with sparkling wine, green pepper and orange caramelized ______________ ______________ Beef fillet with grilled foie, oporto sauce Asparagus Mashed potatoes with olive oil and peppers mousse ______________ ______________ Fantasy ice cream with fruits sauce and perfumed with casis liquor ______________ ______________ $ 85 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 8 APPETTIZERS: Colds and hots ______________ ______________ z Watercress and pumpkin flower cream soup with potato, cream cheese perfumed au coriander, served with papaya kebab ______________ ______________ Quail salad with salted escarola, garlic chips and japanese mushrooms ______________ ______________ Pacific sol fish with meta, tomato and capers casse served with baked potato, baby coros and fried bacon ______________ ______________ Black and white duo with coriander and anis seed crunchy ______________ ______________ $ 60 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 9 APPETTIZERS: Colds and hot ______________ ______________ Seafood cream soup dressing with dry fruits and pernod cream ______________ ______________ Shrimp ceviche caribbean style with spanish serrano ham, fruits marinated with ______________ ______________ Salmon with vegetables and eneldo sauce perfumed with tequila, green tallarin salted with porto bello mushrooms ______________ ______________ Cheese cake with cookies, butter, banana chips and raspberry sauce ______________ ______________ $ 62 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour MENÙ No. 10 APPETTIZERS: Colds and hot ______________ ______________ Asparagus cream soup with spinach dressind with manchego cheese ______________ ______________ Bread tostada with antipasta ______________ ______________ Grilled deer loin with mushrooms and wild raspberries sauce ______________ ______________ Castaña Meshed and caramelized mandarine ______________ ______________ Creppes with sweet milk and vanilla ice cream served with peach and orange sauce ______________ ______________ $ 74 USD per person Price includes National Open Bar 1 hour

riviera - Donaji finally wrote me back with the names of the DJ and Band. I'll edit my original review with the info, but here it is too: Jazz Band - Chivo Azul DJ - Acoustic Project Cake was from Walter Lubcke ( not open to public) - but very good, just too much of it!

Private event meals cost between $35 and $85 per person, depending on the menu choice. I can post the menus here if people are interested? Open National Bar is included in the first hour. You can upgrade to International for another $5 per person. Additional hours cost $15 per person for National and $20 per person for International per hour.) Please heed my review about only having wine served despite having International Open Bar during my private event in a conference room. Here are the service prices I received, but didn't use, because I was only having a private event. Live Caribbean Trio……………………………………US$350.00 per45 min. Mariachi………………………………………………US$700.00 per 45 min DJ Service…………………………………………….US$600.00 per 45 min Video Coverage Ceremony only…………………………US$500.00 Private Beach Party …………………………………..US$60.00 per person +15% service Additional Bouquets…………………………………...US$45.00 each Additional Boutonnieres……………………………… US$15.00 each Additional Corsages……………………………………US$25.00 each Basket of Petals……………………………………… US$30.00 each Center Pieces………………………………………….US$50.00 each Wedding Cake and Toast Time…………………………….US$14.00 per person Canapés………………………………………………….US$ 12.00 per person/hour Open bar with Internationals drinks ………………………….US$ 20.00 per person/hour Open Bar With National drinks...........................................U S$15.00 per person/hour

Wow - petals has an interesting assortment!

Alyssa, Ha ha thanks - I feel very lucky to have parents who placed a high importance on leisure and cultural travel vacations as I grew up (they valued travel and education over fancy cars, etc.). I also feel lucky to continue to have the opportunity to travel as an adult. I'd recommend taking advantage of any chance you get - it is never too late! My husband had only been out of the US 2x (Canada and Mexico) before he met me - so I'm excited for him to see some more of the world that I've already seen, as well as explore new places with him too.

Ooh, a fun way to procrastinate at work! Alphabetically, as far as I can remember right now: 1 Australia 2 Bahamas (Eleuthera) 3 Belize 4 Canada 5 Croatia 6 Costa Rica 7 Dominican Republic 8 Egypt (only Dahab though) 9 England 10 Fiji 11 France 12 French West Indies (Guadeloupe and St. Martin) 13 Greece 14 Guatemala 15 Israel 16 Italy 17 Jordan 18 Mexico 19 Netherlands Antilles (Aruba and Bonaire) 20 New Zealand 21 Peru 22 Spain 23 St. Lucia 24 Switzerland 25 Turkey 26 Turks & Caicos 27 USA 28 US Virgin Islands (St. John) 29 West Bank Even though I got back from my wedding in Mexico less than a month ago, I am so ready for another trip!

SunBride - We probably spent at the lower range of what a beach wedding of a similar caliber and size would have cost us in Los Angeles, which is significantly more than average wedding in the US costs, and even a lot more than the average wedding in Los Angeles, but beach weddings in SoCal can get pricey. So in that respect, we felt that we got our money's worth in Mexico. I'd say my photographer and videographer choices didn't help my budget much either, but those, in addition to things like our attire and so forth, wouldn't have been much different whether I had it here or in Mexico! I have a breakdown - Al Cielo's wedding package, extra Sunday site fees and service charges, open bar, food, cake, extra rentals, music, flowers, photographer, videographer, transportation, extra wedding stuff (placecards, programs, pashminas), hair/makeup, wedding dress, shoes, earrings, groom's suit, bridesmaid & groomsmen outfits (we bought these for them), ketubah, and wedding rings, in addition to the other stuff, such as welcome out of town bags, rehearsal dinner, group outing, travel/hotel costs, and invitations, if you are interested - PM with what you want to know and I'll provide more details. Read your review too btw, nice details! We considered Dreams actually, but wanted a sit-down dinner on the beach, which they wouldn't offer for our size group, and the room prices were a little high for some of our guests. Riviera (Anna) - I haven't heard back from Donaji either - odd!

I didn't mean to say it wasn't what I wanted - it was - it is just that by the time I'm having my 1st dance, it is almost all down, and by the end of the night, it was all down - that is why I reviewed the salon harshly. I liked it the way it was during the ceremony the best . Thank you though!

Thank you all!

Thanks Alyssa! They are red peonies as far as I know! I love how they photographed - they were more of a raspberry-pinkish red in real life, but turned out more deep red in the photos, which I like a lot more. I was supposed to have red amaryllis but the growing season ended early - and so Hector upgraded my bouquet flowers - lucky me!

Yes she did! I should add that Elizabeth had her assistant Lindsey, and a guest photographer, Grace Kim, shooting with her (as I mentioned in my review).

Hi - I don't want to double post, but since my wedding was in Riviera Maya and I spent a lot of time in this section of the BDW forum, and since some of the Riviera Maya brides seem to post photos and reviews here, I thought I'd just let you guys know that I posted my pro photo slideshow by Elizabeth Medina, as well as my non-professional photos and extensive reviews in the relevant sub-forums of "Share your wedding/engagement photo story!", as well as adding them to my siggy. I hope they are helpful and/or entertaining!

I can't wait to see your photos and read your review!

I meant to title this "Nylalany's Al Cielo Wedding - Elizabeth Medina Pro Slideshow" - not sure how to fix that .