pribrzl

My dear fellow brides, I'm posting from the airport, waiting on my connection, on my way down. Cannot tell you how fast the last two weeks went by, so all the little thing you think you can do at the last minute, well start working on them now! 110 guests, 49 rooms booked and a lot of anxiety on my gut! Ill try to post when I get down there and will try to take as many pic I can of areas, restaurants and decor. Can't believe its finally here! Good luck with the rest of your planning(swine flu free - cdc just raised the travel warning, things are back on track, thank god!). More to come... Priscila

Ladies, I just want to say that we are warriors!!! Talk about bride sisterhood?? I just can't believe all of this is happening, but we are moving forward! It seems to be slowing down (or at least the media has found something else to talk about it). We are three weeks away and have got a lot of emails and calls....so far only the people coming with kids are on the fence but everyone else has been really supportive and not panicking! We have 120 people confirmed and will probably loose a few...oh well, i am trying to focus on the last planning I have to do and praying that this thing will be small by the next couple weeks. Keep forward my fellow brides!!!! P.

Quote: Originally Posted by Blkatz we are down here now, and we are thinking about bagging it. All of our guests have canceled I am SO SORRY to hear that! I cannot imagine how upsetting this may be, however, you are there with the most important person in your life, so why not go forward with it? No having your family and friends there does suck, but I think you should make the best out of the situation...after all, you are marrying each other and that's what counts! Good luck, Pribrzl

Ladies, I am also freaking out!!!! I have heard form a few guests at a shower I had this past weekend and I starting to worry that we may loose a few people, which will opt for not coming.....I was just reading that they raised the epidemic alert and it's just shy of a emergency situation, where all trips to Mexico could be cancelled.... I do think that things in Riviera will be fine, but it is so hard to make people relax.....with all the bad publicity about the drugs and violence, I fell like this is just the last drop of people's concerns about going down.... HELP!!!! ( Pribrzl

Hi Ladies. Less than a month away and I am freaking out!!!! All this talk about the epidemic in MX and the potential of a stop on traveling is ruining my final stretch of planning.....I don't know what to do. Anyone has any good words to share? Also, just want you guys to know that I am a bit frustrated with the resort, as they are not willing to negotiate the group rate with me. I signed the contract back in September for the room block at $110 per person, double occupancy. Some of my guests (I also saw it after checking it) a cheaper rate directly at BBGE web site. I have been back and forth with Talina (new Wedding Manager) and also Roberto Citron, Director of Sales. They are not going to lower my rate, even though we have a pretty big group (over 120 people)!!! Hi response was that he was going to ask his webmaster to change the price in the web site - what kind of customer service is that? I saw a few weeks ago a rate of $160 per couple for the garden suite....Considering all the bad publicity about the drug war and now the swine flu epidemic, I just think they should work on working with the clients they have.....just very disappointed and worry of what could happen... Ladies, anyone has any positive thinking to share ( I know some of you had questions about cake and flowers the resort has....Jojo, thanks for posting the info. Things have been really crazy since I started this thread - thank you so much for keeping it up! Did you find the photographer yet? Anyone needing pics, I have some, please email me so I can reply - [email protected] Happy Planning everyone! Priscila

Quote: Originally Posted by cdt_seattle Do you mind me asking what the price was? It's been difficult to get any pricing info on things other than $25/person for a private dinner and I'm not even sure how long that is for. I would be quite interested in knowing the details on cocktails or appetizers, etc. Thanks! Chris The price for the cocktail hour is about $10 per person, for a 100 guests list. They have options that are $10 and $15 per person, including the open bar. We are doing 2hrs, since I thought one was going to go too fast. We are doing at the lounge area (outside area by the italian restaurant, really modern looking) and are paying for the Ipod system - we are bringing our own music. Actually, for those of you that are talking about music and options, doing the Ipod system could be something to look into it 0 it costs $100 and they provide the system and speakers - can't get any cheaper than that! We are using this for the rehearsal and also for the ceremony, in between the band breaks...

Ladies, If you asked me for the sushi restaurant pics, I just sent the emails - let me know if you don't get it. AMc83 - could you please send me the images you have from the steakhouse? What did Candy told you about the outside area on this restaurant? Does it have a beach view? Thank you!

forgot to mention, the price for round trip with Transportation Tours is about $30-40 per person, depending on how many people are getting there at the same time. They will not stop at other resorts, this would be an exclusive service for our wedding....

Heather, AMc83 - I'll email you guys the pics I have of the sushi place and also a great area outside the italian rest - which is where we are having our rehearsal cocktail (not having a formal dinner, just a couple hours of cocktail and apps for the rehearsal night). As far as the band, I tried the one Candy sent me but after receiving their DVD, it wasn't really what we wanted. We are going with La Mata (they play at the Senor Frog in PLaya). They have a page on My Space, you can google them and see some videos. Their song list is pretty good, the contact is Robert Lira and the email is [email protected] I spoke to Candy about the room rate and she is having the group rate person contact me. Candy is away for 2 weeks, so I may call the resort and try to find the person myself. I also talked to her about the whole drug stuff and she said that Playa is much calmer than Cancun and things are fine (although I think her opinion is a bit biased - really, what is she supposed to say to me?). Brides, also, if you haven't thought about it, we organized the transportation bet. the airport and hotel with a shuttle company - parasidetours.info, the contact is Stuart. e is pretty good and set up a page on his web site for our guests. No need to send their credit card, just the flight info. He is taking care of the whole thing, we didn;t have to do anything.... Heather, yours is right before mine, I'm hoping you will have the chance to post some feddback before I leave... )

Ladies, I have a call schedule with Candy next eek and will try negotiate a better rate with them. Amc83, I had to put a lot of money down with the resort as well, so I guess it's all the same. If guests book on their own, do you think the resort will still count as part of our block? I am trying to have everyone in the same buidlings.... On another note ladies, did you hear about all the bad stuff happening in Cancun? i knew the West Coast of Mexico was really bad with the drug cartels, but this week, I just saw it on Good Morning America about Cancun - they were encouraging people not to go there....really sucks! I am hoping that since it's all inclusive, people will decide to stay at the resort and chill......

Hey guys, Just wanted to let you know that we need to do something about the prices being quoted for rooms. I just found on hotels.com rooms for 2 adults, at the weekend of my wedding (May 23rd) for $149 for two people - that's $60 less than the quote I got and I am bringing 110 people to the resort! I cannot believe it! I am planning on calling Candy this weekend to discuss and also Dario, the reservation manager. Cecilia originally gave me the prices for the rooms, but she is no longer there. Also, I'm SO SORRY for all of you that have been asking for pics from the hotel - I have some and tried a few times to post them but was unable to. I PROMISE to email you them this weekend (at a business trip this week). In the meantime, you can check out Our Story - this is someone that I know that got married there. There are quite a few pictures of the ceremony and reception. Amc83 - there are many different areas you can use for the reception and rehearsal. We arte doing a cocktail hour for the rehearsal, so we don't have to pay again for the private dinner party. The two hours of cocktail ended up being less expensive than a private dinner and everyone can have dinner afterwards. We are doing ours in an area right outside the italian restaurant - SUPER nice, with contemporary furniture - it's great!!! As far as putside areas, you can do it on the beach (an area wright outside the buffet restaurant), by the pool (but can only serve buffet style dinner - they can't do a formal dinner there because there is no kitchen around it), or in the sushi restaurant, which is where I am doing mine, it's an open type of restaurant, next to the pool. Candy had sent me some pics also, I will make sure to include all of them on my email this weekend. I'm asking again, does anyone know how to post pictures directly here, on the thread?

Candy just mentioned to me this week that Cecilia left, so she is doing everything on her own - there will probably be more inconsistencies, as I am sure she is swamped! Did you get the information from her on an email? I am planning on printing all the emails we have had back and forth and bring them with me, so there is no confusion and they won't be able to change it.....(I think or I hope for).

Nurse, Have you started to get down to the details with Candy - things like table arrangements, etc? i have been trying to get a hold of her but as everyone, it has been tough. I got a few images from her on the flowers and am looking for something similar to what she sent - I am wondering how many changes or decisions we are expected to make on site, upon arrrival. I heard from other resorts that you should be there at least 3 days before the wedding and considering the lack of communication, I am thinking the sooner we get there the better. A friend of mine that got married there said that they brought a bunch of stuff themselves such as place cards, a few arrangements, etc. I also know that there is a Wallmart around there that you can get last minute things (i.e. votive candles, etc). I'm just really trying to think of anything/any detail and make sure it's addressed in advance.... Let me know P.

ops...here is the correct web site for the photographer - 100% Original. 100% McLellan Style. I also checked with a few local places and honestly, the prices are pretty comparable - most of them start around $4,500 - for the kind of photo-jornalism pictures we want. You can probably get it cheaper if you are looking for normal pictures.

Photographer, I am using someone from the US - www.mcllellanstudio.com . As far as the payment, Nurse is correct, you put 50% of the package you choose down and then for the room block, you also need to pay the first night of every room on your block - for exmaple, if you have 10 rooms in the block, you multiply it by two the rate per person they gave you (for double occupancy). This money will be transferred to your "tab" (additionals), so I'm assuming that once everyone is there, they will credit your account with the reservations and hopefully you won't have a balance. Please keep in mind that most of the pakcages will require you to include something, since there is no switching. The packages are also for a certain amount of people, so if you have a larger party, there will be incrementals anyway. Another area that will "require your budget" is a rehearsal event. We opt for a rehearsal cocktail instead of a formal dinner - the pricing is better and everyone will have dinner on their all inclusive anyway....we are doing ours at a great area, outside the French restaurant. It's really pretty. I believe our pricing was along the lines of $1,500 per hour, for drinks and appetizers, for 100 people. Jojo, I'll email you the photos. P.