~*~Margie~*~

YAY!!! My first official picture post and it worked. This is the photo sample Jacy sent of the resort photographer. I was able to use my cellphone to forward the email I had sent Rory so I could have the image on my work computer since I am so bad at getting on the comp at home as Rory can attest to So I figured I'd put it up for everyone!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by mimosa123 How costly is to bring your own photographer? I spoke with a photographer today and said he travels with his with which would mean I would have to pay for her hotel and flight!! Do they usually ask to stay longer than two days? It all depends on the photographer. Some of them do travel with an assistant which means travel fees for both. My photog's assistant is her husband, so I am paying travel for both. However, that is all I am paying. When I was searching I found photographers that charged the cost of their package plus all fees and I was getting quotes upwards of $5000 which was way out of my budget. I kept looking and found a wonderful photographer who would go for just the costs. I typically found most photogs requested a 3day/2night stay, which is what she originally asked for, but on my budget I was able to offer her a 4 day 3 night. She will be doing my whole wedding day through the end of the reception and then a TTD the next day, so about 10-12 hours of coverage and I get all the images on CD. And the cost of her trip is the same as what I was going to pay for a photographer in Mexico for 4 hours of wedding day coverage and a 1 hour TTD. Just do your research and you will find someone you love that will fit your budget.

Quote: Originally Posted by RoryS Does anyone have any info on the resort photographer? Any samples of their work? SOOOOOOO sorry for the delay. I sent you the file. Please forgive me for taking so long, just a busy time of year! Hope it helps.

So, I decided to check out Trip Advisor since the resort has been open for a month now. It seems the reviews are pretty evenly split, 50/50, some were happy and some would never go back. I am sure that most of the issues that are mentioned; long waits at restaurants, slow food service, daily constuction, etc., will clear up or atleast improve prior to my wedding in May, but I would be lying if I said it didn't make me atleast a little nervous.

We are using wording similar to the second one and sending them out at the end of February for a May wedding, June AHR. Figure that is plenty of time for RSVP to plan AHR and a "reminder" about the wedding for anyone that may want to book last minute. We are doing a backyard party, lining the driveway into the yard with tiki torches, renting a tiki bar and just gonna have fun. Still going to do some typical reception type things and going to wear my dress again, but for the most part we just want a huge relaxed party atmosphere.

Quote: Originally Posted by RoryS Does anyone have an update on the photographer at PA? Can you use the photographer included with the package and also bring your own? Hey Rory, I didn't make it to my house last night, due to weather I stayed with family closer to work. I will get you that PDF as soon as possible. I was told that you can use the package photographer and bring your own, however, they told me that you must use the package photographer on the day of the wedding, it cannot be used for anything else. I am getting the "middle" package, and asked if I can use the videographer in place of the photographer since I am bringing my own photographer and Jacy agreed to that, so that may be an option so that you can have your own photographer and not feel like you are losing out on something you are paying for in the package. Has anyone been getting emails back since they opened? I have not been getting responses now and the one email that I sent prior to opening never got answered either. I am still waiting for a response on how much it costs to offer the extra entree. Anyone hear anything? I know Bianca was asking this too.

Quote: Originally Posted by bcbride Thank you Bianca for sharing the pics! The resort looks beautiful! I emailed DPA wanting some sample work of their "own" photographer and she sent me a pdf attachment, unfortunately the file is too big to post on here and she didn't give me the photographer's name. Let me know and I can email the file to you. Does anyone else know re: outdoor reception, how they would set up for a dance floor? Or if I wanted dancing, is my only option indoors? I have been looking at diff. travel sites and each ones gives a diff. "star"-rating for DPA. Is it a concern when it's rated 3 stars? Jacy sent me the same file of photos I think, it looks like a collage. It came to me as a zip file and I had to convert it to see it. The name of the photographer that she gave me is Missele Morona (or something like that) its on one of the pages earlier in this thread. I googled him and couldn't find anything. She said he was the photog when they where Sunscape but they might change when they opened as Dreams, i haven't asked if they changed cause I decided to bring my own photographer now. From what I have heard about the beach reception area there is like a deck area next to it for dancing but I haven't confirmed that, but I asked Jacy for a picture of the beach reception area, if I get it, I will post it.

Those pictures are great, I am so excited, but they definitely leave me wanting more, I can't wait for others to start rolling in!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by aaronsgirl Hi Ladies! We decided last night on Dreams PA for sure! I am so excited. Is anyone else getting married there the last week of June or 1st week of July 2009? I can't wait to see pictures of the renovations!! Congrats on becoming a DPA bride. WELCOME!!! I am so excited to see pictures of all the renovations too!!!!! Its great that someone is going down so soon! I have been waiting for an email from Jacy with a picture of the beach reception area but have yet to receive it. Can I put that in as my one request for a picture please

Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca Actually I just remembered that in the wedding guide it says that you can make changes to the (symbolic) ceremony as you wish. Guess I missed that part

I am doing a symbolic ceremony, but like all other things, I just want to have in writing that I can use my own so there are no surprises when I get down there. The Mexican Trio and the Caribbean Trio are the same, I read that in someone's review of another Dreams resort. You just have to let the WC know which you want them to "be" on your day.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca I am doing the Silver menu with the beef and chicken also... I need to get back to Jacy about that! I already booked my photographer and I believe the Ultimate package comes with a videographer. It would be great if they could give me more with with the videographer since I won't be using the resort photographer or maybe I will use the resort photographer for the welcome dinner or something. Maybe I will just do the Dreams of Love (middle package?) instead... I do want that Mexican Trio tho!!! I decided on the Dreams of Love since Natalia told me I could not use the Silver Menu with the Ultimate Package, but Jacy seems a willing to allow moderate substitutions. The music aspect of the package doesn't much matter to me and I didn't feel like I would be losing out on much by just going with the middle package. How much is it to just add the trio if you decide to go with the Dreams of Love? I am going to pay the $150 for the sound system and just bring my I-pod with playlists. I am just happy that they are allowing the videography substitution. Make sure you ask Jacy about the use of the photography, Natalia had told me that the photography could be used on the wedding day only..maybe Jacy will be more accomodating. Quote: Originally Posted by AlliMay RBB, you are seriously making me feel like a slacker! Good for you being so productive!! I'll be curious to see what the beach reception area looks like... On another note, is everyone doing a ceremony rehearsal? If so, when? The day before or the morning of? I am not sure that we will need a rehearsal, but curious what the rest of you all think...Hmmm... I decided that it time to start being productive, I feel like I have slacked till this point. I know a lot can be done once I am down there but I want to have as much worked out in advance and have everything in writing from them. At this point, I don't think we are doing a rehearsal. As of right now, we don't have a wedding party, its just going to be my dad walking me down the aisle, other than that its just us and we should be able to figure it out without a rehearsal. But that reminds me, I have to write to Jacy about customizing the ceremony, I had a slow day at work one day and wrote a whole ceremony so I want to make sure I can use it.

So...after much stress over photography issues I have decided to bring a photographer with me to my wedding. She is coming as a guest for 4 days 3 nights. My resort has comfirmed that as long as she is booked as a guest they will not require anything else. However, I wanted to know if the Mexican government requires anything. So, to all those who brought photographers with them, or to photographers who have traveled into Mexico, were any forms or fees required to allow you to shoot while a guest in the country?

Well, I heard back from Jacy, I still didn't get a specific quote on the entree selection. It looks like they don't want to quote a flat rate, she wanted to know which menu I wanted to chose from and which entrees I wanted to offer. So I told her the silver menu and that I wanted to offer the chicken and the steak entrees so she is going to let me know based on that. I finally nailed down a photographer, I am bringing a wonderful photographer from Texas. Jacy confirmed that as long as she is booked as a guest there will be nothing else required. I just have to find out if the Mexican government requires anything. And...I also got it in writing that since I have my own photographer, they will supply videography for me in place of the photography offered in the package. So...all good news. I am just waiting for the specific cost of the meals and I asked her to send me a picture of the beach reception area. I'll keep you all posted.

I absolutely love everything you did and am definitly going to refer to this thread for inspiration when my time comes. I hope I can muster the creativity to be as detailed, every aspect of your trip and wedding is going to be amazing. Would you mind sharing how you did the notebooks? They are AWESOME!

Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca So Jacy said she is working with the F&B (Food & Beverage?) manager to be me the cost of offering the additional entree to my guests... I will let you guys know when I hear back from her. I asked the same thing in an email I sent a few days ago and she asked me to give her few days to get me the costs. So, I'll keep everyone posted too.

Quote: Originally Posted by suntansam I wanted a private reception but do you ladies know if it is for sure possible to maybe go for the best pkg but downgrade the meal to silver so that silver menu price for people over 20 can be used? ? I know that sounds kinda like im being cheap but Im expecting a pretty good turnout and im on a budget.... I have an email from Natalia, back when I was dealing with her saying that if I went with the Ultimate Package, I could not use the Silver Menu. She said they do not allow for change/substitutions to the packages.

I think I have posted on any thread with a similar subject because I can totally relate. We got engaged the first week of June '08. 2 weeks later we decided to have a DW and planned it for May 2009. We told everyone that we felt was the most important to have there in person and via email immediately so they had 11 months to plan. In July I sent out STD/Invites to everyone else, so 10 months to plan. Well, FI parents immediately said they could not go due to money. The mention of saving never came up. I stressed to my TA that we needed the BEST possible prices to be reasonable and fair to our guests and I feel we got that. I don't believe it is beyond the realm of possibilty to save up $1800-$2000 in 11 months for something you truly want to do but thats just me I guess. Meanwhile, FI brother also started throwing around the money issue and brings it up nearly every time the wedding comes up. I understand that times are hard, I truly truly do, but this is FAMILY. I have a son, and when he gets married, no matter where it is, I would move heaven and earth to be there and I feel the same way about my brother when he gets married, so it is hard for me to fathom family acting like this I guess. Anyway, now that my long rant is over , do what is going to make you and your FI happy. If FI is having doubts now you may have to find a middle ground somewhere. Don't let others get in the way of what will make you both happy.

These are GORGEOUS! You are totally photogenic, you look beautiful. I feel the same way about myself sometimes, so if my photos turn out as beautiful as yours I will be thrilled!

That is such a great story!!!! It great that something so wonderful could come from something that I am sure must have been so difficult to go through. My story is really nothing to out of the ordinary. My FI and I had been dating for 5 years and I too felt like he was taking his good old time, but he told me that every time I mentioned it, I just pushed it off further. He wanted to surprise me and if I was talking about it all the time he felt I'd be expecting it. I had also dropped hints on how I wanted him to propose and he vowed to never do it "my way" and plan his own way. In March 2008 my parents invited me, my FI and our son to go on vacation with them to Disney World in June. We were able to get the time off and officially booked the trip in April. As soon as the trip was officially booked, he went and spoke to my parents and told them that he wanted their blessing to propose while on vacation. I had always wanted it to happen at Cinderella's Castle and he figured since he vowed to never do it my way, that I would never be expecting it, and he was right. He kept my parents very involved in the whole process, including ring selection and when he asked me to marry him on June 6, my mom and dad, my brother and my son where all there with me and it made it that much more special. So thats my story.

Disregard my previous post, something must be wrong with my home computer cause I tried again to open at work and it worked fine so I was smart enough to save it this time. I knew I had enough points, darn screwy computer!!

AlliMay - Could you possibly send me that wedding guide via email? I ended up giving in and opening it at work without saving it and now when I try to open it again at home it is saying I don't have enough points. I need to email it to my TA cause she was asking about it. Thanks. [email protected]

I am definitely buying and bring a lot of my own stuff so I am just nervous about being able to get it down there, but the idea of spreading it out and having other people bring stuff is a good one. There are also things I might look into getting when we get there since I have seen lots of postings about a Costco and Walmart down there. I know it sounds crazy but I would LOVE to find my own tiki torches down there because paying $150 to have them at the reception is ridiculous. I bought tikis for my AHR for a $1.50 a piece at an end of season sale at Michaels.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca Its not necessarily that they are nickle and diming me... but they act as if there is no room for customization. It does bother me a bit that the chair covers in the Ultimate package are only for the ceremony... but besides that! I'm not sure how much they charge for chair covers, but you can buy them for about $2 a piece. The package only includes one entree. What wedding only gives one option? I want to offer two. Additional charge. Any changes to the menu. Additional charge. Chair covers for the reception. Additional charge. Then the thing about where the reception can be... Something about groups larger than 8 can't be in the restaurants? Idunno... I just feel like some requests I have made like 2 entree selections and the chair covers at the reception, shouldn't be a big deal. I know they weren't at another resort (DT) and maybe I was spoiled. In the end, its my wedding day and I'm going to get what I want and its going to be perfect. I'm just going to stop thinking about the cost... Bianca - Did Jacy say specifically how much it would be to have two entree choices? And is anyone but me a little confused on wording? The menus say "buffet style is allowed for groups up to 50 people. So does that mean you can chose buffet style if you have 0-50 guests or have to have a minimum of 50 guests? I myself am a picky eater and I have other picky eaters attending. I want the Silver Menu and my personal choice would be the flank steak but I have people coming that don't eat red meat, etc. I would love to be able to customize but at this point it I don't know what to do. I am looking at this wedding guide and it just seems like no matter what route I go I will not really save any money since there is so little room for flexibility. I noted that the guide mentioned shipping things to the resort in advance, is anyone thinking of doing this?

We are getting married at home first just doing the symbolic ceremony down there as well. I agree with AlliMay, where I get the paper doesn't really matter. For us it was more of a matter of having to do the blood work not so much the cost. I am a chicken when it comes to needles and unless forced I prefer not to give blood so I will avoid it at all costs So now that DT is open, maybe Natalia will be back at DPA And...up date on the photographer issue...I found a photographer from the U.S. that is going with us. Now I just have to REconfirm that her being a guest is the only requirement and no extra fees will be associated.