jodylynn007

Quote: Originally Posted by meli122 Can anyone tell me about how long it takes for a response from Cecilia. I know the WC is very busy but I just want to have this wedding booked already. I may end up booking else where if I do not get a response : ( Meli122, it usually takes a few days. Also, email her more than once putting "URGENT" in the subject line (assuming it is) and you'll be more likely to get a response quicker. Ladies new to this thread, check out my wedding review (link below). I was married at SMB on Nov 5/08 and have posted details and photos for you. If you have chosen SMB, it was a wise decision! Lovely resort... even more amazing beach! I can't wait to head back for my one year anniversary in November of 09.

Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar The World Cafe is more of a "buffet" setting...more casual... Still nice, but just more casual...people get up and get the food themselves...though there are servers bringing drinks to the tables... There are lots of different food choices -- which is good if your group all wants something different to eat :-) Also, it's quite big in there (it's where the breakfast buffet is in the mornings)...so easier to fit a big group... Another thought about the World Cafe that I had (which is where I held my welcome dinner), is that they have a little separate room off to the right side when you enter that you could reserve tables in. The staff are very accommodating in World Cafe for welcome dinners. That way if you chose the Cafe, you'd still have a bit of privacy for your group. You'd have to check with Cecilia exactly how many people would fit in that room but I think it'd be perfect and the easiest.

Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar Hey Jody -- that would be fun:) Just have to find time between writing thank you cards and work I'm pretty sure she got married at Secrets Capri, not Secrets Maroma :-) Ahhhh bummer... I was all excited to see other BDW brides using my starfish that I had to smuggle into Mexico (lol). Well, let me know when your schedule clears up some, at least getting around is easier now with the snow gone!

Quote: Originally Posted by JUSTUSTWO We did the Western Caribb itinerary too on RC. Went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios & one other place. We loved our short time in Ocho Rios so much that thats how we decided to have our DW in Jamaica. Hi there!! My hubby and I booked a cruise (the same itinerary you were on) for March of 09. We have booked shore excursions for all ports except Ocho Rios... was wondering what you did there that made you love it? We are thinking a trip to Dunn's River Falls but another thought was when I was a teenager my family went to Jamaica on a cruise as well and my brother and I went horseback riding on the beach. I LOVED my day in Jamaica and was leaning towards that again however my hubby didn't like it when he was there (nothing planned) and would like to see the sights. Any recommendations?

Quote: Originally Posted by arhoyaltres Great review...sorry I'm just getting around to reading it. I hate that you experienced so many problems along the way (like we did), but I'm glad your day turned out great in the end!! Everything looked really good even if you had to harass the WC to get things that way Hey!!! It looks like from your photo that you are another bride who was able to use my starfish!!! lol. It looks like the resort is using them a lot to line the aisles... funny that isn't how I used them (tied them to chair bows) but it looks great!

Quote: Originally Posted by BachataBride I think because I'm in Canada though I don't have access to it online (it won't let me watch! booo!) - I will definitely check the guide to see if it comes on later this week! I'll let everyone know what I find out - and if anyone hears what date &/or time please let me know!! Thanks!! Although I am pretty sure it'll be on again (almost certain I saw it advertised for a re-airing within a week), it won't be long before it'll pop up on uTube and even in Canada (as I am as well) you will be able to watch it. It just usually takes a bit of time for the techie people to get it done. They don't disappoint though as whenever my PVR messes up a recording, I always find it eventually on the net.

I looooooooooove Jason, he's super cute and a sweetheart to boot! Seattle is a cool town (close to where I live) and his son is amazingly gorgeous! I thought it was just the cutest thing in the world how Ty blinks so much. Maybe he's trying to wink? When he was wishing Jason "good luck!". As for the ladies, I think Shannon is too stalkerish... even if she did look him up (which I think is good strategy), she shouldn't have told him! Duh... she should totally be blonde (and I can say that because I am - LOL). The Dallas Cowboys lady is gorgeous and cute as a button but I think he needs someone more mature. That being said, since I am from Canada, the lady from Alberta (which in her interview and video she said she's from Vancouver, B.C. and it was shot in B.C. - huh?) anyway, she is my favorite! Her hotdog theory is weird but whatever... I guess we all have our quirks! Anyhow, for those of you that missed it, I know I saw a preview for a re-air later in the week, check your local listings. Also, lots of shows are available on the internet! Google it and you'll probably find it. I have done this for all of my favorite shows when I miss an episode.

Beaaaautiful pictures Callie, it looks like the resort photographer did a wonderful job for you. Both you and your husband look terrific and what a beautiful backdrop!

Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar For us, we didn't have much of a choice for where to have our cocktail party, and other girls may have this issue as well... B/c we had a band playing during our ceremony and cocktail hour, we didn't want to make them pack up their gear and move it somewhere else for the cocktail hour...so we kept it on the beach... But HOPEFULLY, this inconsistency in service will be worked out... I don't see why they CAN'T have good service on the beach?! Whoa... interesting! I must have read it wrong, didn't realize you had great service for the bonfire, freakin' crazy! Inconsistency is certainly an issue there... definitely the major thing that needs work. I think in time they will be good but since they have been open for 4 months now already, you'd have figured they'd be getting the swing of things by now! Doh!! Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar Really?? I LOVED being in an ocean-front room!!! We didn't hang out on our balcony very much, BUT I loved waking up in the morning, and opening the shutter-doors and being able to see and hear the ocean... It was also really nice to look out at the ocean at night... But maybe that's just me :-) Also, having access to the preferred club lounge is pretty sweet! We were in a third-floor room... The swim-outs are on the first/ground floor... So, if you get one of these in the ocean-front buildings there are advantages and disadvantages... A plus is that you have your own area to swim and float around (especially if you're trying to avoid certain family members, haha :-))... As well, the swim-outs in the ocean-front buildings are more private than the ones at the rest of the resort... A negative is that you b/c you're on the ground floor, you don't have a view... Yep I agree, it would have been nice to see the ocean specifically from our room however having booked and expected an ocean front room and then being downgraded to just a swim up ocean view, we were not disappointed at all. I was just suggesting that in my opinion it wasn't worth the price difference and likely we will just book ocean view for our return trip in a year. As for the private pool, we did have that and I only went in once. I found it easy to get a chair or two at the main pool and there you have bar/food service whereas in the room it takes 35 minutes for food delivery. My parents had the other room with a pool on the deck and they actually didn't go in once because they said that when they ran the tub itself, the water didn't get very warm. I suppose it would be OK for a cool bath but again, not really worth the price increase. Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar BTW, Jody -- what the heck is with all this snow in Vancouver?? :-) REALLY makes me wish I was back in Mexico :-) No doubt eh?! You just have to do what hubby and I have done, plan a Spring vacay! (We're heading out on a Carribean cruse mid-March). Have something to look forward to post-wedding and after the rush of Christmas is over. I live in New Westminster and thankfully we have a 4x4 with all the hills here! Simistar, hope you're enjoying your first bit at home as a married lady!! Let me know if you'd like to meet up for coffee and share some Mexico vs. Vancouver stories!

Quote: Originally Posted by Kits55 Hey Simistar! Thanks for the amazing review! I loved reading through it and hearing your stories and recommendations. Thanks for letting us know about the spa; I will say that I've been worrying about that already. What day did you arrive at the resort? And your wedding was on Sunday, yes? Our wedding is on a Saturday and we're arriving most likely on Tuesday or Tuesday night because we're having a legal ceremony. Do you think that if I got a mani and pedi on Tuesday morning that it could still look good for a Saturday wedding? I might also mention to my girls to get their nails done before going to Mexico. My favorite tip was the location of the beach arch and pool gazebo so I know which building to request for our room. We are also staying in an Ocean Front room upon request of my FI. Do you have recommendations for which buildings to stay and not to stay in for the rest of our guests? I think they're all staying in ocean view rooms. You mentioned that the s'mores were not actually s'mores, what were they like instead? Do you think I gave them the ingredients that they would make the real ones? I'm sorry to hear about the poor service during the cocktail hour...i'm definitely delegating chores to our wedding party! I'm glad to have a recommendation from Juan Navarro's company, Edgar it is! I'm thinking about renting lounge furniture...would you recommend for the cocktail hour or the beach bonfire? I love the pictures I've seen of beach lounge furniture but am not sure when to rent it for. What time did your beach bonfire start? How long did it last? Sorry for so many questions :) Hi again ladies!! I just wanted to elaborate on some of the problems Simistar had for her wedding at Secrets and hopefully the differences between hers and mine will help some of you out in the future. As for the spa, I had my pedicure and manicure (gel nails) put on at home before I left. Mainly I did this because I am super picky about how I wanted my nails to look in photos, so I found this took the stress away. In fact, I had my pedicure done the day before I left. As for the other spa services, I had a wrap, massage, and facial (Welcome to Secrets package), and a couples massage, and all of those were amazing. I couldn't say enough good things about the spa based on those specific services. As for the hair/make-up... again similar problems. I fixed up my make-up and hair after returning to my room but because I was looking for a curled half up, half down do... it worked to have the lady in the spa do all the leg work with the curling. As for the make-up, even with my touch-up in the room after, my cousin who is a hairstylist did a better job on my make-up the following day for my TTD session. It is sad that none of us have had fantastic experiences with our wedding day looks however with regard to the other spa services, definitely would recommend having your girls get together as long as they can accommodate everyone. With regard to the cocktail hour, I think that the problems Simistar may have had was due to her location of it. I had mine on the terrace just off to one side of the main building and because it was close to the kitchen and bar, I believe this is why we had no problems at all. They brought us tray after tray of appies (I only had 17 guests), any drinks people wanted as well as my signature drink (the mango tango) mostly before anyone had to ask. I think that perhaps the beach was too far for them to make too much of an effort. I even found this in sitting at the pool, the side closer to the bar got faster and better service vs. the side closest to the World Cafe Restaurant. Interesting... As for recommendations on which buildings guests should stay in, although this question was posed to Simistar I figured I'd offer some thoughts also. I'd recommend that you don't pay for an upgrade to ocean front (unless you are the wedding couple which of course you should then, tee hee) and don't pay more for a swim up or a higher floor "ocean view" as all the rooms are the same and you really don't spend much time in the swim up pool or on the deck of your room. Because the resort, even if booked quite full like it was when I was there (overbooked), there is still lots of nicer places to be like by the pool or the ocean AND every single room is identical inside. Last but not least, since I had a good wedding coordinator (Landy from Dreams Tulum) and Cecilia seems to be overwhelmed, I think for sure 100% it is a fantastic idea that if it is within the budget to hire someone extra to help, that way all the hiccups we all experienced can be lessened and dealt with by someone else other than us on our Big Day. OK finally, THANKS Simistar for posting your detailed review, as long as all of us work together and help each other out, we can have the best wedding possible! For those interested, I have also done a long detailed review of SMB (Nov 5/08 symbolic wedding) so feel free to click on my username to see threads started by me to have a read so you can compare the experiences. Happy Wedding all future SMB brides!!! PS. Would love to hear of some ladies that are going to be at SMB next year in early November (09) as I will be visiting once again to use my hubby and I's free 3 day/night stay due to the overbooking of our rooms. I'd love to see some other weddings and see if they've improved during that year's time.

Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar The set-up on the beach includes (i.e. you don’t have to pay extra!) a decorated arch/gazebo. They decorate it with white tulle and it truly does look beautiful! They also line the aisle with big starfish, no extra cost. Whooo hoooo!!! It sounds like the starfish I left from my wedding at Secrets on Nov. 5th were used for your wedding!! I am happy that a fellow Vancouverite was able to use them as I left them with instructions that they were for future brides (as they didn't have any for my wedding and I bought them off eBay) Still reading the rest of your review... I am sooooo sorry to hear of the problems you had though, it sounds like Cecilia really dropped the ball on many things. I suppose I was lucky that the Wedding Coordinator from Dreams Tulum handled my wedding as she did such a great job. The pictures look beautiful so far though and I am so jealous that you got an ocean front room! We had booked ocean front, but they were overbooked when we checked in (again problems because they were so new) so they gave us ocean view with a swim up and a 3 day credit to return in the future, so I guess they made up for it.

Congrats on your wedding, it's nice to hear that DT is up and running again! I look forward to seeing your pictures!!

Quote: Originally Posted by KellyPrincess Oh my gosh that gazebo is gorgeous and I love the little starfish on the table, that's a nice touch! Thanks!! I ordered the starfish online for about $1 each and the blue tulle as well ($40US for all of it, gazebo and chairs), had to bring it all down with me. However, they decorate the gazebo in all white tulle normally and it looks beautiful as is. I just wanted to incorporate my wedding colour into the decorations.

Wow... everyone is saying keep it... I am leaning more in the direction of keep looking! I think that if you look a bit more and still don't find "the one" then at least you have one that fits you perfectly to wear on your Big Day. However, if you find one you like better, it will have been worth the hassle. For myself, I bought one dress, had the alterations which made it even prettier (they added a tie back) and then I decided that I just didn't "love" it enough and I went looking again. I then found THE ONE and after being married in THE ONE, my hubby says that he liked the 2nd one much better than the 1st (which I sold on Craigslist for a profit so it wasn't a big deal)... also, knowing you are in THE ONE is the best feeling for a Bride. I loved the first dress, it looked lovely, but when I found the 2nd one, there was no doubt in my mind. I hope you can feel that way on your Big Day whichever you choose.

Quote: Originally Posted by kisskissmd JodyLynn, your day looked just gorgeous!! Can I ask where you got the sandals for your TTD? They are so beautiful. Seeing the pics made me so excited!! I got them at an Aldo Factory Outlet store here in Vancouver. Unfortunately they were the last pair (display) and one was dirtier than the other (leaving the right foot to try on)... so I couldn't get another pair. They were however marked down to $75 so I was pretty happy regardless. Thanks everyone, the day was beautiful. Secrets is a beautiful backdrop to any wedding so if you end up choosing it, you will be happy with the scenery in your photos.