Jessica&Adam

I am *hopefully* getting married on Sunday, May 24, 2009 at the Hilton Cancun Resort. I'm just waiting on my WC to send me my contract! Did it take you ladies a while to get your contracts after you asked for them? I've been waiting on it for 2.5 weeks, and I'm starting to get nervous about it....

Thanks, kimdelc! Opice, How exciting about your site visit - do you have any pics you could share?? What kind of meetings did you attend? Which florists did you meet with, and what flowers have you decided on? Sorry for all the questions, but I'd love to hear how it went and what you decided on! I need to see if I need to have a planning site visit...that is, if I can afford it with the way gas prices/flight prices have been idk if it is in the budget... I'm also glad to hear that Fernanda is swamped, kind of - haha, so we finally know that she isn't just blowing us off (not that I ever though she was, but you know what I mean). Indy, OMG have a wonderful time we're all sooo excited for you! Have a blast and don't sweat the small stuff!

Thanks Opice, that made me feel better! However, I sent her an email about a week back asking her to verify that my date and locations were still available, and I never heard back. And, as of today it has been 2 WEEKS since I asked her for my contract (and she knew I wanted it before that even)! I seriously need to finish and then send out my STDs, and I can't really do that until she gets me the contract!! What kind of verbage did you use to communicate to your guests how to make their reservations for rooms, and what to do as far as flights go? (For example, what website do they go to to do it, do they do it over the phone, etc.) If I can get this info from you ladies, maybe I can finalize my STDs and have them just ready to send by the time she gets me the contract - if that ever happens.

Ok Ladies... Has Fernanda told anyone else that she is leaving the country for a meeting and wont be back until Thursday? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm kind of freaking out. I asked her for a contract over a week ago, and then today I got this email saying this: "I am workinf on the contract, unfortunatelly I had to fly out of the country for a last minute meeting that I must attend. I will be back in the office in Thursday. As soon as I have it ready I will send it to you. Thank you for your comprenhension." And a friend of mine told me it should take no longer than 24 hours to get a contract back after I originally asked for it...and its been over a week! So I'm worried maybe she has another (and bigger) tentative booking for my date, and she's just waiting to see if they will book, and if so then I'm screwed!? Am I crazy? Has she told anyone else about this out-of-town meeting??

Quote: Originally Posted by wclark5179 Have you color balanced your screen? I dont even know what that means or how to do it!? It's a work computer, so maybe, or maybe not!

Help!! I am trying to "test" print my boarding pass STDs on my color copier/printer at work. However, on my Word document on my computer screen the colors look great (aqua and coral-ish), but when it prints its usually darker, the coral looks like red, etc. I just can't get it right - when I lighten the colors its too light! What do I do? I just want it to print the same color that is on my computer screen!! When it comes time to actually print the real ones I will probably go to Kinkos or something...but will their printers print different shades of the colors I want too? Is there a way I can find more colors to use than what Word provides? I'm not a big DIY'er so this is all very confusing and hard for me!

Speaking of the menu...I had a question. We're having a plated meal at Mitachi for our reception...and I was just going to have the same meal for everyone b/c its filet mignon and salmon, which I thought would please everyone (fish eaters and red meat eaters), but then I was reading somewhere that if you get a plated reception, you should give your guests a few options!? What are y'all doing? Opinions? Quote: Originally Posted by Opice34 I received an email from her two days ago. But I still haven't received a response to an email I sent her over a week ago. Two days ago I sent her an emergency question and she responded the same day at like 11pm. I feel badly for her! I have no idea how she manages all of these emails from us! I thought I emailed her a lot, but now hearing how much you guys email her too....and I'm sure there are other brides we don't even know about. That is a lot of emails! I would not want that job! Indy - how early are you heading down there? I'm sad I'm going to miss you! We're going down there the weekend of the 20th with our parents to do a menu tasting and whatnot. I'm hoping there will be a wedding set-up so we can show them...how crazy if it would have been yours! We just missed you by a week! How many guests are you expecting? Are you going to post a planning thread? I'd love to see your stuff! I'm also curious to what all of the Hilton brides are choosing for their menus...

I haven't heard from her in at least a week. I asked her to send me a contract, and I'm still waiting on that...how long did it take her to get you guys your contracts back after you requested them?? It seems like I'm always just waiting, waiting, waiting! But I guess I am a lil impatient since this is such a big deal! Courtney, I have the same exact pattern with her. She emails me, I immediately respond, and don't hear from her for another week minimum. And then the cycle repeats. I guess I'm not the only one! Quote: Originally Posted by indypitty Sooooo.... Has anyone heard from Fernanda in the last week or so? I have two e-mails I am waiting on responses from. One was sent last Monday and the other last Tuesday. I sent them both again this morning. This seems to be the pattern: I e-mail her, she responds about a week later, I e-mail her back pretty much immediately, she responds about a week later, etc... I am a pretty patient person, but my wedding is in about two weeks and I still need to iron out some details!

wow, what an awesome to-do list, thanks!!

Quote: Originally Posted by indypitty Jessica, What she told you does seem confusing! And it's weird that she told you something different... We are pretty much done with all the planning! We need to make some final choices on food and music, and I need to hear back from Fernanda before I can do that. The communication has definitely been the hardest part. She has been really inconsistent, and I thought she would get better as my wedding got closer. Maybe 3 weeks still isn't that close in her opinion, as she probably has many wedding before mine. Courtney, I know how stressful that is! And especially since your wedding is so near! I would seriously just keep re-sending the same email every few days until I got a response. That seems to work pretty well, hehe. Let me know what you decide to do as far as a DJ/Band, I would love to hear what you end up doing!

Indypitty, I guess so!? When I asked her a while back, she had mentioned something really confusing about making a deposit of $1000, then making a 33% (of my grand total) payment 180 days prior to the wedding, then another 33% payment 90 days prior to, then the third 33% payment 30 days prior to, or something like that. But I would probably prefer to just pay it all at once, once in Cancun. And it sounds like I can do that, so thats good... Your wedding is coming up so soon! Are you still planning, or pretty much done!?

Oh ok! AhHHH I wish I could just get the contract from Fernanda and get to analyzing it, and then signing it...but I still haven't seen anything yet! Congrats, kelcrooks, on getting your date, that is sooo exciting! Does anyone know how the payment schedule works? Fernanda explained it to me on my site visit, but I didn't quite understand what she was talking about...

Is anyone using a Travel Agent for their wedding? If so, who? I am trying to decide if I should use one or not!

Do I need a travel agent? Here's my situation: Wedding is 1 year away (Memorial Day Weekend 2009) at the Hilton Cancun Resort Plan on booking a room block through my hotel, I believe the rates will be about $170 per night for single occupancy Guests (roughly 40, but we'll see how many actually book...) will be coming from all over the US (Texas, Kansas, Michigan, Washington, etc) I'm just trying to think of ways to save myself and my guests $$, with rising gas prices and everything. Any suggestions - I'm not sure if it would be worth it for me to us a TA or not, and I'm not even sure how a TA can really help!?

I finally heard back from her this weekend (it had literally been 2 weeks!)! She said she has been very busy, which I don't doubt. And I'm soooo excited because she gave me the most awesome news - I can have the Mitachi restaurant *exclusively* for my reception - I am soo happy that it worked out the way I wanted it to!! Now just got to figure out the details. I'm trying to figure out this whole room block situation thing - I'm not really sure how it works though. Like will the room block guarantee that all your guests rooms are near each other or near yours? What happens, for example, if I block off 15 rooms but don't end up being able to fill them all?

Opice, Thank you! If you could take a ton of pics, especially of the terraces and pool decks, that would probably be really helpful. If I coud find a really good band, I would rather do a band than a DJ but I just can't seem to find one that meets my high expectations. I have also heard goood things about DJ - Cancun Mannia, so if I have to use a DJ I will probably try to use them. Soo, it has been exactly 13 days, and I still haven't heard back from Fernanda!! I resent my original email yesterday, and still nothing. Anyone else having this same problem? Oh and does anyone know what the "bridal carpet" is that comes with the Wedding Packages?? Is anyone even using the Wedding Packages (Lily or Orchid)?

You're welcome! Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help! I LOVE Cancun!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Opice34 JESSICA! What did you end up deciding? Are you going to stay at the Hilton or pick another location? Well...I don't know what to do! I thought about what you said, and it made sense. I guess I was having a little "bridezilla" moment! But I am still unsure of what I want to do. I sent Fernanda an email the day she told me the bad news...and that was a week ago today, and she still hasn't responded. I don't know if I should resend the email, or what. I talked to Adam and he said that if we don't get the restaurant it would be fine and we would have a great reception at one of the other locations - probably either the Caribe terrace or Miramar garden. I'm not sure how I would want the Caribe set up if we did it there, and the Miramar garden seems way too big for our small group of about 40. And then I was thinking maybe the pool deck? But I haven't really seen any pics of receptions held on the pool deck so I don't know how that would look. So it looks like most likely we will try to stay with Hilton..but now I need to decide where I want the reception and I'm not really sure right now - which makes it hard to sign a contract! I know everything will get sooo much easier once we get all this figured out, but it seems like we'll never get to that point (especially at this slow, once a week email rate that Fernanda is going at).

Ok, so I need to vent and right now this is seeming to be the best place to do it. I am SO upset right now! I was very excited because Fernanda emailed me a few minutes ago, and let me know that I could have tne venue I wanted for my reception (Mitachi) on the day I wanted! But then I read on and it says: "We will divide it so you can have the private event in one side of the restaurant and still have some space open for the individual clients." - which is completely unacceptable to me! I work in a hotel and I know that we block off our event areas for groups all the time - should a wedding be any different? NO! The reception is one of the most important parts of the night and there is no way in hell I am going to share it with random strangers! I'm kind of offended she would even suggest that for MY WEDDING RECEPTION! My original vision was to have part of the restaurant set up for the reception dinner, have the area where those couches are for a 'lounge area', the bar to obviously used for my open bar, and the elevated area up near the bar for my DJ to be set up and dancing! I just don't understand why they cannot block it off for just one night, and a Sunday night at that, for my reception! I mean I really had my heart set on it and for what I want, I really just don't know if any of the other Hilton reception sites will work. I might have to go to my number two choice now (the Westin), which I was not mentally prepared to do either. Its just like why can I not have exactly what I want for my wedding reception? And I feel like its such a huge life event that I should not have to compromise on this!!!! AHHH. Well...sorry for the rant, I am just really dissapointed right now, and I guess its back to the drawing board. Again. Anyone have any suggestions of what I should do??

Ok. So I think Memorial Day might be a really good option. Now I just have to decide between Saturday (May 23rd) or Sunday (may 24). I'm kind of leaning towards Sunday because that way people will really only have to take one day off work: Friday. Then the rehearsal will be Saturday, the wedding Sunday, and people will fly back on Memorial Day Monday. Now I'm just waiting to hear back if I can get the venue I want on either of those days!!

Soo...I got a response from Fernanda last night and it looks like we might get the date and venue we want! But she is not sure yet...but as soon as we find out, I want to sign a contract...I'm sooo excited, and I really hope she emails me back soon with good news. So now I have a few questions: 1. Opice, did she ever get back to you with band recommendations? When she does, could you post what she told you? I am in need of some good band ideas too! 2. Should I make sure that my reception location is stated in the contract? I'm just paranoid about her saying that I can have it and then something happens and I can't. Is it too much to ask that it be put in writing in our contract? Or is it supposed to be in there? 3. What else should I look out for in the contract? And what things should I make sure that is in the contract? 4. How did y'all go about negotiating the contract - phone or email? 5. How did you get the insurance clause out of the contract - what is the best way to go about negotiating it? 6. How much are everyone's group rates for double occupancy? (If you don't mind me asking!) Muchas gracias!

I met with Petra during our site visits in Cancun...she has an accent, but it is a British accent, and its soo cute! She is very very easy to understand (I saw her officiating a ceremony at CasaMagna), and her voice is very soothing sounding. I would say she is the ONLY way to go! You will not regret it...and don't we get her for free with the Hilton package?? And about Fernanda...I've got her emails down to a science now. It is always exactly a week before she will get back to me on my emails I send her (regardless of importance). Which is getting kind of frustrating, to be honest. I'm not even booked with her yet, but I would LOVE to be if she would just get me the info I need! I mean I know she is busy with many other things, but doesn't she need to book future business too? I mean my window of time to make a decision is quickly closing and I'm scared about not getting the date I want (since they only do one wedding a day)!! I'm starting to get stressed out about it but I don't want to be rude and email her multiple times! And I had nooo idea we were supposed to tip Fernanda so I'm glad you all said something! And about the contract...how exactly do you go about "negotiating" the insurance clause out of it? I have no idea how to do that sort of thing, and sometimes I'm not very assertive so do y'all have any pointers about how to get it out of the contract?

I love La Distileria (mexican) and Lorenzillos (seafood). Those are my 2 favorite restaurants that I've tried there, and both would be great for a rehearsal or welcome dinner!

I am having the hardest time deciding on a date, and am now considering Memorial Day weekend 2009. Since flights aren't available for then yet, I can't tell how much they hike up the prices from the US to Cancun over busy holiday weekends like Memorial Day. Does anyone know if its really that much more expensive to travel then? Do room rates in Cancun go up then too? Its such a toss up because if we do it over Memorial Day weekend then everyone has an extra day off to stay, but then again if flights are a lot more expensive, it may not be worth it. Are Mexican hotels/resorts as busy as American ones during Memorial Day weekend? Any ideas or advice?? Thanks!

I haven't heard from Fernanda in over a week! I'm so anxious, haha! She must be very busy. On my site visit she did mention that she has been getting a ton of emails/inquiries about weddings and site visits lately, so maybe she's been busy with that. As far as bonfires go, I asked her about it a little while back and she said that she wasn't sure if they were still aloud to do bonfires or not due to changing regulations (other hotels have told me that all of Cancun resorts/hotels are forbidden from doing bonfires on the beach). They definitely do fireworks though...and their DJ/Special Events company handles that and will quote that for you. As far as the a la carte menu goes, I don't think she has a specific price list for that...you just have to ask her how much each thing will be and she will tell you. Kimdelc, you mentioned you had run into some issues that your WP was able to take care of for you. Would you mind sharing what the problems were, so the rest of us can try to avoid similar ones? OK...so below is the site review for Hilton that I posted on another thread as well: Hilton: A The Hilton was my other favorite hotel (besides the Westin). This makes my decision very hard to make. We did a property tour, a food tasting, met with the florists and the DJ/Special Events company. We got a lot done on this site visit! Pros: Fernanda (WC) is awesome! On top of it, very organized, helpful, etc. even though she has not been a WC for very long! 7 Awesome cascading and infinity pools HUGE and AWESOME beach! The food (tasting) was SOOO good. I mean it was amazing! I like their menu for the reception better than Westin’s. They can do a morning after brunch in a private setting – Pizza and Pasta restaurant (that is usually closed for breakfast) – we could use this for our private brunch Spices, their 3 meal restaurant, looks nice/warm/welcoming They have a Happy Hour with a Mariachi trio a few days a week in the lobby; good idea to use for welcome drinks Very nice back-up site for ceremony/reception: Miramar ballroom – it’s the only ballroom in Cancun with ocean views! It was really nice! Good cocktail hour location: Miramar Terrace or Caribe Terrace Mitachi Grill – seaside restaurant open for lunch and dinner I think – awesome views, great décor and ambiance…a very nice place! If they will close this off for me to have my reception in I would sign w/ Hilton immediately! (Fernanda is checking on it…keeping my fingers crossed)! Very family friendly In a better part of the Hotel Zone than Westin Hilton is the only hotel that does only 1 wedding a day – very important, in my opinion All their vendors that I met with I was impressed with. The florists were great and impressed me by creating for me a table centerpiece that was beautiful! They seem like they would be great to work with. Rated well on TripAdvisor, and there are brides on BWDF that have good things to say about Hilton Cons: Not as many reception location options as Westin Spa is nice, but not as big as Westin’s, and its more expensive More expensive than Westin in general Fernanda is sometimes a little bit hard to get in touch with (via email)