Kits55

i don't know, but you can contact the email address listed in the post to find out. I received it sometime in late April I think.

Quote: Originally Posted by mlynnea You'd think that after doing soo many weddings, Cecilia would have things running more smoothly since Simistars wedding last winter. Guess I'll have to try to go with the flow once I get down to the details with her. We'll see how well I can do that!! ;-) Thanks for the advice about airfare and accomodations. I talked to a Travel Agent who was trying to setup group rates for us, but they ended up being really expensive. I'll probably end up booking through Travelocity or Orbitz myself. Oh, and we are getting 2009 wedding package pricing! Which is nice. New York, curious, which package are you doing? and are if you are doing the Ultimate, which Mexican Trio music option are you choosing? Did Cecilia provide you with any music samples? Speaking of vendors....Does Cecilia provide samples of any of the vendors that come with the packages? I've seen the bouquets, but what about music, photography, videography? Thanks~Lynnea Lynnea: my husband and I bought the Ultimate package in April of this year. We were not told the name of the Mexican trio that they used but our guests really liked them. I will say that one funny thing is that we could see each guy's cell phone through the pockets on their white tops. We didn't care because they kept everyone entertained which was nice. I did not receive any samples of the vendors but the videographer is fantastic. His name (I think we actually got an associate of his but I'm not positive) is Miguel Angel Cantarell. I do not have our video uploaded online yet but you can see some examples on his website. He is actually the videographer that I would have booked for our wedding had he not been included in the Ultimate package. For photography SMB uses Juan Navarro and assc. I'm not a huge fan of their work but they did do some that DH and I are still happy to have. Post #9 are some examples of the pictures his associate did at our reception. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t32681 The bottom line on the photographer is; if pictures are a very top priority go elsewhere if you like the high quality look of other bride's photos but if you don't have the budget or don't care that much about pictures then you'll be happy with Juan. This is only my opinion but for me photos were our very top priority so we hired an outside photographer. HTH

I think it depends on if they'd find out from other people. I had this problem happen but in regards to our AHR reception. In the end I just did not invite the person BUT i also knew that her chances of finding out were slim to none. IMHO if there is almost no way for them to find out that you sent reminders then don't send a reminder. BUT if they could find out that you reminded everyone else except for them you're stuck. Even if you said you "forgot" most likely they would not believe you and you'd end up looking like the bad guy.

your slideshow is fantastic (the song is perfect!). I love your dress, what a beautiful bride. Your photographer did an awesome job!

You guys look so genuinely happy! He did a good job capturing moments as they happened. They backdrop was beautiful too.

Kris, your babies adorable. Pebbles is the same coloring as one of our babies. Do the kitties get along well with Hendrix?

Wowza! You look fabulous!! My favorites are #4, #5, the last one in the teal (or black) lingerie. I LOVE the ones in the white outfit with the bright lipstick. SOOO sexy! You look gorgeous and I'd never be able to tell that you were nervous.

oh! hahaha, I was totally confused!

Quote: Originally Posted by MegaShay There is already a thread on this topic. Don't forget to do a search before starting a new thread! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ive+guest+book the link you put is the link to this exact thread. Maybe you meant to post your comment somewhere else?

Dear Moderator: could you please take this thread down? I am moving to South Africa in three days and have gotten rid of everything that I needed to. Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by GoCubs! Dana - I love the idea of personalized decks of cards - my friends and family all LOVE euchre. What website did you purchase them from? Hi GoCubs: I personally made personalized decks of playing cards for my OOT bags as well. I looked having each individual card personalized but it was more money than I wanted to spend. I think the lowest price per deck I could find was like $9.95. I will say that I was only looking for 15 decks so I didn't get any bulk pricing. I just googled looking for those. I made a sticker that was personalized to our wedding and stuck it on the card box. I used mariesam's template and just made it my own. I used my own colors and made it fix my card box. I got my cards at Michael's for $1 each and they were cute. They had a travel theme to them. Here is the thread the template is at: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t39885 Quote: Originally Posted by aqua32marine Hi Ashley, I looked for the raffia fans and couldn't find them . Just to be clear, OTC = Oriental Trading Company? Thanks, Tina Hi Tina:Yes, it is the Oriental Trading Company but they don't show up with you search "raffia" or "raffia fan" for some reason. You have to search for "refreshing fans". weird, I know. Here's the direct link: Refreshing Fans

Quote: Originally Posted by ebeth Kits55 - I'm glad everything worked out for you! I'm getting married legally at Secrets Maroma in less than a month and I'm having the same concerns! What paperwork did they end up needing to make the Mexico ceremony legal? Also, when did you receive the marriage certificate? When you were in Mexico - or - was it mailed to you months later? Hi Ebeth: Congratulations to you! SMB is a gorgeous place to have a wedding, that's for sure! In order to make our ceremony legal all we needed was our passports! They made copies of our passports and that's it. We had to have four witnesses but luckily my family (parents, sister, and her fiance) came down 3 full business days early as well so they were our witnesses. If you use the people at the resort you have to pay $20 for each person and you have to have four witnesses to make it legal. We still have not received our official, legal marriage certificate yet. They told us 1-3 months and it's already been about 6 weeks and no sign of it yet. I'm assuming it's going to take 3 months because everything else moves so slowly down there. We did receive a copy in Spanish right after the ceremony BUT that is not legal in the US unless you pay to have it translated and notarized in the US. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me, for some reason I'm not getting daily notification of all of the threads I subscribe to.

O M G!!! OK girl....I just got around to reading your review (thank you SO much for the email by the way!! I would have hated to miss out on this...I did wonder why there wasn't much mention of your photog in the review but figured I'd ask later!). Honestly, I think I laughed most of the way through all 9 pages on this thread...but I think I was laughing so that I wouldn't cry for you! I cannot believe he is such a !! I truly think I am speechless right now! Your posts are hilarious. That's awesome that some of the members on here have offered and actually helped fix some of your photos in Photoshop. If the saying about polishing a turd goes for people too...I think Cancun Wedding Photography, Michael Maurus, and his assistant are all perma-turds! They just can't be polished! Your side by side comparisons totally rock...that was crazy what a difference there was! And so NICE that he actually cropped and zoomed a photo that he gave the small one of to you! If he wants to prove that you're wrong then maybe he needs to post the ring pictures too! That really heats me up thinking about how he TOOK your rings and now claims that you have all of the pictures on a CD!!! What a bunch of non-polishable turds! Good thing too that he told you not to tell him how to do his job...it sounds like he needs some guidance AND he's supposed to do whatever the h*@l YOU want! At least you got some nice pool pics at SMB... (oh wait, that IS you guys behind the pool in the far distance...I think!) Now I'm all riled up! LOL I'm totally making DH read this thread because I talk about you all the time! Only good things of course and everything I told him about SMB was because I got the info from you. He probably thinks he knows you by now. LOL

I am disappointed to hear the way things worked out for you and your fiance, or rather, didn't work out for you. I am kind of appalled at him writing an apology that he wanted YOU to post on here. I am turned off by his lack of communication and unwillingness to further work you and come to a compromise. I think in this situation you've done the right thing; you've tried repeated contact, in a professional, straight forward manner and if that doesn't elicit a response then you can only review what you know about his business practices. He is definitely a talented photographer from what I see on his website. Thank you for posting the inside scoop!

I just found this thread now Yolanda. OMG I can't even imagine how upset I'd be if the same thing happened to mine (and you've seen mine!) . What a dork asking you if there were naked pictures in there! lol I think your hug must have turned him on! At least he was nice enough to go and check the building next door. Kind of odd the lady wanted to wait to give it back to him...we received a package the other day for the wrong apartment number so I made my husband take it to the correct apartment on his way back to work. He wanted to just give it back to the UPS guy the next time. LOL As for presenting the album to your husband I'm rather stumped on this one. i was definitely not original. what if you left it underneath something, like a blanket, nightie with the edge peeking out? Would he be curious enough to check and see what it was? Other than that I'm at a loss.

Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar Awww...thanks Beach2009! :-) I'm just seeing this thread for the first time! We hired an outside photographer as well, but b/c we had the resort photog included in our package and SMB wouldn't do a substition, we had him shoot our reception. (* by the way, I think SMB DOES do subsitutions now! I know of one BDW bride who's getting married at SMB who said they agreed to give her a violinist (I think) instead of using the resort photog...) Anywaaay, as Kits55 said, it would likely be one of Juan's associates that does your pics...I think Juan would probably only do it if you were getting a full day of coverage or some such...I think if you're just getting an hour or two, you'd get an associate. Daaaaang!! I really wanted a pianist (knew that one wasn't possible) but a violinist was second on my list!! I never even thought to ask since every time I asked her a question about getting something "extra" i never got straight answers. She always just wrote, "yes, is possible" so then I'd have to ask how much, blah blah blah. Quote: Originally Posted by Simistar Hey Kits55 -- who was the associate you got...? I think the name of the one who shot our reception was...Edward...? I know I wrote his name in my review (link above) but can't think of it right now Anyway, as I said in my review, his pictures weren't the same quality as some of the top photogs on this forum, but they were pretty good! We were actually quite impressed with them. And he definitely didn't use a flash all the time! Assuming it was NOT Edward that Kits55 got, I'd suggest requesting for him to be your photog if you choose to use the resort photog at Secrets Maroma... Of course, if it WAS Edward that Kits55 got...then maybe he's very inconsistent:-) And, of course, if anyone wants to see more of Edward's pics (Juan's associate), pls PM me! I'll send you the link to our photoshare site that has about 160 pics he took so you can get an idea... HTH!:-) Oh, and yes, absolutely agree with Kits55...if GREAT pics are a priority for you...hire an outside photog...you'll just get better photos in general:-) Well, I'm super embarrassed but I have no idea what our associate's name. He said it so fast and quietly that I couldn't understand what he was saying. He was pretty young, he looked like he was in his mid twenties I thought and he was skinny. I can't find his name on our CD or anything. I just looked on Juan's website but the section for the associates is still under construction. I'll have to check back later and see what my guy's name was. Here's a link to the website: principal

Your BM dresses were awesome! I love the above the knee look combined with the guy's suits. Your thank you card looks great!

so gorgeous! man, the more I hang out on the forum the more I wish I wasn't married yet so i could use even more ideas for my wedding.

Thanks everyone for the compliments...I had a lot of inspiration from other super sexy brides on here! I LOVE this forum! So many fantastic ideas, and SO little time!

Quote: Originally Posted by JOSIE I can't believe I just found this thread!!! I am SO excited, I LOVE animals. Here is a pic of my kitty Radar (We call him RAY)....named that because his ears were so much bigger than his body. I rescued him at 3.5 weeks (WAY TOO YOUNG) and had to bottle feed him! Kitty Pic: Current Pic: he's adorable! I never had a soft spot for brown tabby's until I fostered two last year and now I can't stop looking at them! lol

I found a couple more things while I was going through wedding stuff: I have four un-opened packets of the flip flops and one package that has already been opened but all of the pieces are still together. There is one set of pink, green, blue, purple, and yellow in every package. They are actually buttons for scrapbooking but my husband was going to cut the back part of the button off (there's a tool out there that you can use to take the back loops off) but we ran out of time. I thought they would be cute on invites, OOT welcome books, menus, place cards, table numbers, etc. They have a lot of glitter too so they look cool! I am asking $1.50 for each package plus shipping (it won't be much since they don't weigh much and I'll stick them in an envelope). I also found the fuchsia dupioni silk that I used for belly bands for my invites...I bought two yards to use "just in case" but only needed less than about a half a yard. I am selling what I have left for $20 plus shipping (it will probably only be a few dollars because I'll put it in a padded envelope most likely). Price: $20 plus shipping (i'll throw in a bottle of Fray Check if I can find it!)

Quote: Originally Posted by FoxyBride I will take the fans if they are still available. they are still available...PM me your zip code and i'll get a quote for shipping for you

great idea...i wasn't a big fan of putting my video on youtube, hopefully i can make it really private on vimeo

Quote: Originally Posted by MartynKennyinMX Hello July SMB brides! I'm getting married there on the 18th of July. Super excited! Can't believe it is literally right around the corner. We have 42 guests attending! My colors are Fuschia and Orange. Things I already have and done: DRESS- Still getting altered, no biggie small alterations FLIP FLOPS- Bought them online at AdvantageBridal.com, they have very cute stuff Bling Bling Platform Flip Flop in Ivory, White, Black, Brown - Bridal Flip Flops - Bride Sandals - Wedding Flip Flops VEIL- Bought a cathedral length one from online on eBay, way cheaper than the store. Should look beautiful on the beach and for the pictures especially if the wind is blowing. Plain and perfect! BRIDESMAIDS- Ordered their dresses from David's bridal. cute, empire waste, strapless, perfect for beach! GROOM- Bought his linen suit at Macy's- got the best deal! Wow, great sale. Brand is Cubavera, neutral color, got it for a total $60, I saved over $120. You can also find them online. GROOMSMEN ATTIRE- They ordered their guayabera shirts from penners.com, the best store located in San Antonio, TX and you can order their shirts online. Perfect shirts for the beach, fits the Mexico beach theme. They got Poly-Cotton, color Orange. The bought their linen pants at Macy's same brand as my FI suit, very cheap too. They are drawstring. The shirt and the pants will fit perfect! They will need some brown flip-flops. INVITATIONS- went out last Friday! Yah Found a photographer, he is actually an aquaintance from back home in TX, his first cousin is one of my good friends and she is going to my wedding. he lives in San Miguel De Allende in MX, you should check out his site! Amazing photos. index DJ- Using DJ Doremixx. Was a better deal than DJ Mannia, I have him for 5 hours and he will be bringing an additional speaker and Mic for the ceremony on the beach. Now I need to work on: My welcome bags, and I will be shipping many things over to the resort ahead of time. I have glass centerpieces that I will be shipping to MX. It is a big bowl, and inside I will put a pillar candle, sand, and shells around and a ribbon around the base of bowl. If any brides that are getting married after me are interested in seeing them and want to buy them from me, let me know! I can leave them there for you to use. I am taking a bunch of tulle for my chairs to be decorated my colors for both ceremony and reception. Alright! Talk to you ladies later! -Marty Wow! It sounds like you're almost totally ready, congrats! I don't want to rain on your parade but if you ship your stuff down there PLEASE get a tracking number and insurance because even though SMB is a nearly 5 star resort that's not how they treated my stuff! I was going to also ship ALL of my centerpiece stuff down to the resort ahead of time but I was advised by different brides and friends and family that that might be a bad idea. So instead I dragged it all down there (we were going to give some to our families to bring but I was so far behind in preparations that we missed our chance since they live in other states). Just make sure you get tracking with your packages and MAKE SURE you stay in CONSTANT contact with Cecilia once your stuff is down there. I let them clean up my stuff after the reception (to bring my room the next day) and they put it in a locked storage locker ON the resort. They never got it to me in my last four days there and now all of a sudden it is "lost"...I don't know how when Cecilia didn't even have the code to the locker so I'm in a dispute with them right now. So, maybe try get her to sign an electronic contract saying that your stuff will be SECURED until you get there or else you'll be giving them your receipts and they can pay you for the cost you're out. Just make sure that you're protected! They also double charged us but that's an issue for my review as soon as i finish it.

Quote: Originally Posted by lauraereed For our ceremony we rented speakers (they were having a "sale" for $80 plus the 10% tax. We hooked up our Ipod and there was a guy (i think from the resort) that played the songs at the appropriate times. He actually did a great job and even took my requests afterward. Kits55 - Did you rent the speakers from the resort or from an outside vendor? Congratulations. Hi Lauraereed- we also rented the speakers from SMB as they were "on sale" for the same cost. We did get kind of hosed because it was a red flag day (really rough surf and terrible wind). We had our ceremony on the beach still but it was too windy to have the cocktail hour and reception on the beach as planned. We used the speakers for the ceremony but if we had moved the speakers to World Cafe where our reception ended up being then we would have had to pay TWICE for the speakers. We decided we didn't care about music at the reception that much. It was a good thing because all of our guests went to bed by about 10 pm and our reception started around 6:30/7pm. Congratulations to you too!