MelanieS

Quote: Originally Posted by beth This is good to know. I was planning on bringing votives for my EDR wedding in February to put on my reception tables, but may not now. We are getting married at Gazebo 55 and having our reception at the White Gazebo on the beach. Do you know if the tikki torches will stay lit on the beach? I saw tikki torches at various places on the beach and at the bars - I don't think you'll have any problems with them at all.

I know we've been all over Mexico, the Caribbean and Nicaragua and have never gotten sick like we did at EDR. We had MAJOR diarrhea for 11 days, along with chills and fever at times. It got to the point where I could eat a banana (or anything else for that matter) and it would be completely through me in 9 minutes flat. I know, TMI, but it was unbelieveable. Talk about a colon cleanse, Colonix had nothing on this!

Check out this thread: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t19909 At my daughter's wedding at EDR the reception was outside at the Health Bar and it was extremely windy even though they pulled down shades to block the wind. We didn't even try to use votives, but we had larger candles floating in the pool covered by lanterns and they would not stay lit.

So glad you're back and had such a wonderful time. We're anxiously awaiting all the details.

Welcome home, Morgan! What a wonderful way to start married life!

Welcome, Samantha! You have definitely found the right place to help you plan your DW!

Glad you found BDW; it's a great resource for destination brides.

What an awesome place to get married. Congratulations!

Yes, right before we left, Valeria put on Mandy's spreadsheet the $5 per person setup charge to bring the candles, placecards, etc. I just emailed her back with her quote where she advised that we bring these items ourselves and that took care of it. Future brides just need to be aware that the days of bringing your own stuff with no charge is probably over. Another item we really should reiterate over and over - MEN MUST HAVE CLOSED-TOED SHOES for the nicer restaurants (El Cocotal, D'Italia, Fuentes, Kampai). Nice leather sandals (even ones that cover the toes) are NOT ALLOWED. They must be real shoes. They are very strict about this policy, so you should let everyone in your party know about it. I've even heard about them turning away grooms from their wedding dinner if they didn't have the proper shoes. One of our men only had the nice leather sandals, but luckily all of our party hadn't traveled to Mexico yet, and they were able to bring a pair for him. He just went to La Isla, JoJo's, and La Fondue until his shoes arrived. What bothered me is they let women in with flip flops (not beachy ones, but nice ones) and turned the men away.

Attached is a copy of the symbolic ceremony for EDR that we'd gotten from another forum member. It's not exactly word-for-word like what was used for Mandy, but it's fairly close. Everyone thought the minister did an outstanding job, and we were very pleased as we weren't sure what to expect. Attachment 2143 ED Religous Sermon.doc

Quote: Originally Posted by nolaroy724 I've experienced sort of the same thing. Monica told me they can only move decorations and/or centerpieces one time. I had to choose to have the hanging bouquets either moved to the dinner or to the reception at another location. Sounds like Shannon lucked out!! I would advise that if they won't take them from the dinner to the reception, that you designate a couple of people to take them for you. They are so very pretty, and it's a shame not to use them. They weren't going to take ours to the reception, but I talked to them after the dinner and requested they be taken. We also had people take the large seashell candles that we'd brought as I didn't want them just thrown in the trash. You should have someone that is very familiar with what your vision is for the dinner and reception. I was that person for Mandy. Of course we arrived before they did, and I was able to see that the flowers weren't there, plus we had requested a special gluten-free menu for one of our guests. The waiters didn't know anything about it, but I was able to take care of all these little things before the newlyweds arrived and they weren't even aware that some of this was going on.

Wow, Shannon, we had requested that both the medallions from the gazebo be brought to Mandy's dinner at Fuentes, but when we got there they had only brought one. When I asked about it, they said they only bring one, period, no going to get the other one. I had to argue to get them to go bring the other one, and told them we were assured that they would be brought to the dinner to be used as centerpieces. Then, we had paid extra to have the medallions cut into two pieces and floated in the pool at the Health Bar (this was Raphaela's idea along with floating lanterns). Again, they only did the one. I didn't bother arguing this time, but I did go in the next morning and got my money back for the extra lantern I had paid for that wasn't used. So our experience was totally the opposite of yours as to their willingness to decorate using items we had already purchased. We were told if we didn't take the medallions with us at the end of the night they would go into the trash can, so we took them back to our rooms for the rest of the week.

You can hardly see the presidential gazebo from gazebo 55 at all. It is set quite a bit back from the road, so it is really private. It would definitely be my second choice after gazebo 55.

How fun are those photos? It made me smile just looking at them. Congratulations Morgan & Mike!

Best wishes for a wonderful wedding!

Great pics and review! I love your dress and neckace. The fire dancers looked like a lot of fun.

Congratulations and best wishes for a wonderful wedding!

Yay, Morgan! This is the day you've been planning for and dreaming about - may it be everything you had hoped!

I was hoping to see some wedding pics! But, I did enjoy the resort pictures. We were in PV 2 years ago and stayed at the Paradise Village condos up the beach from where you were. That whole beach area is gorgeous; you can walk for miles. Also, the sunsets are beautiful. We had issues with the taxi drivers when we were there also. First of all, at the airport we were told it would be a certain amount to take us to the condo, then when we had gone a short way, he told us it would be more. We argued, but got nowhere with them. The taxi drivers are like vultures, waiting and harrassing the tourists. We started taking the bus everywhere we went - it was cheap, fun, and just about as quick. On a side note, we did an AWESOME trip with Vallarta Adventures. It included ziplines and rappelling down some waterfalls. Really, really fun tour!

Ann, it's probably a bit out of your way, but we live in Springfield, Missouri, and you are welcome to stay at our house if you need a place to stay.

Congratulations on your beautiful wedding. All your guests looked like they were having a wonderful time, and you looked absolutely radiant!

Make sure to schedule the meet up for a time when I'm down there visiting Mandy!

I hoped it might answer some questions regarding the baggage issues, especially for our brides who've already booked their flights.

Welcome Jessica! You've found a great place for your first forum. There are a couple other Kauai brides on here - one has had only 4 months from her engagement until her wedding, so you've got lots of time to get some great ideas.

Quote: Originally Posted by kacie3344 No, no one has bought tickets yet, thank goodness. The thing is that I have a very large immediate family, and my FI wants to have like 7 groomsmen (+guest) and 8 more of his best friends (+guest). All of these guys WILL come. I can guarantee that. And my mom is wanting me to invite all 4 of her sisters, their husbands, their kids... which means I would have to do the same thing with my dads side of the family. And that would leave me no room for my friends (+guest). ARGH!!!! We have a very large family on both sides also, but only 18 ended up going to the wedding. We had 300 at the AHR, though. Unfortunately, I can guarantee that all those guys (groomsmen and friends) and your mom's sisters won't come. You'll be lucky if half go. When they see the prices of the resort plus airfare, they will start to backpeddle. The ones we were most sure would come (and could definitely could afford it) were the ones with the lamest excuses for not coming.