gemstone

Delmarbride- Thanks so much Our pics are from the gazebo on the Del Mar/Beach side. Gail- A few of our guests stayed on the Lindo/Maya side and we visited them. I thought the Maya rooms were nicer. I liked the decor better and they were bigger.

OMG. It worked:) YAH!!!! K. That was a generic pic from the WC. Here are a couple from my wedding so you get the idea.

Hi Leah, Trying this for the first time. If it doesn't work, I'll e-mail you some pics of the gazebo:)

Beautiful Kristy. Loved your dress. I have the link to my pics on Pictage of the pre-ceremony, ceremony, reception, and TTD. If you would like the link, pls PM me and I will send to you. Otherwise, I'll post a couple pics in a few days on the forum. Lisa, I'm so glad your day is almost here. Sometimes it feels like "Will it ever come" and then next thing you know it's "OMG. It's already here".

Oh Stina, I'm sooo glad your wedding went well. It is really beautiful at the gazebo. We upgraded to the Grand too for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it!!! They bend over backwards for you there. Really awesome food and decor too. We're going to go back there for our anniversary. As for Ivan, I'm sooo glad to hear that someone has the same opinion of him as me. I started to think I was being unreasonable or crazy but now I know I'm not. He is a total A-@#@$. This guy should not be in Public Relations at all. I've already sent an e-mail to the resort and head office. (gorls, this has nothing to do with the wedding...just an incident that happened on another night) The WC's at the Beach are awesome once you get there, Reyna and Yanin. So nice and accommadating. Loved them!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Stina. I'm so glad everything went well on your wedding at the Iberostar. Reyna and Yanin did a great job of mine when I was there in April. And I totally agree with you..... I think the media is sensationalizing the Swine Flu so much that people are not traveling and Mexican workers are losing their jobs and livliehood. It is so sad.... I was on the World Health's website and they have in no way recommended people not to travel. They advised there is no statistics to prove that travel will decrease the spread of a virus or disease. They are correct. There are more cases of Swine Flu from where I live then in the Mayan Riviera. .....I think I would be safer there..Darn...If I had the money, I'd be back in a flash. My girlfriend returned from Cancun 3 days ago and she said the same as you, no worries of Swine Flu there. It's all just hyped right now on the news. Future Brides, hang in there. It feels like things are starting to die down. Hopefully all will be well soon. Gen

Hi Jennifer, I think tables of 6 people would be the most comfortable. I think if your limited though then you can probably get 8 pp to a table. Do you have the pic of the Tropical with the tables all set-up? The pic is showing 7 chairs around the table and they look just about right. You probably don't want your guests too crowded. If Gabriela or Reyna never sent you the pic, PM me your e-mail addrees and I'll send you the PDF image. Gen

The most important thing I wanted in a dress was something that would be light and not too much material. I really wanted a dress with an open back as well. We got married in April in Mexico and it is hot, hot, hot that time of year. After trying on 4 DW dresses, I found the perfect one. It was slim fitting, light, and in my budget, $425 after tax. I found it at the 2nd Bridal store I went to. I was sooo happy to find something so quick and that I liked so much. Just remember to find something comfortable. You will be in the dress for much of the day and want to also feel relaxed and comfortable on your special day. Good luck!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding Lori. Having a great beach is always nice when on vacation. Like most others comments, Dominican has had the best beaches I've seen to date; and Ouha of course:) I recently planned my DW and if the beach was the most important and only aspect I considered, I would have chosen that the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, the other aspects that were important to us, Dominican did not meet our standards. We also wanted our guests to be at a place that offered excursions and many activities off the resort. For this, nothing compares to Riviera Maya. There is so much to see and do in this area. As well, the food quality has always been better at the resorts we've stayed at in Riviera Maya compared to the food at the resorts we've been to in Dominican. Unfortunately many of the travelers we were with on our Dominican vacations became quite sick. It's funny....everytime we go away, we all end up hanging out at the pool all the time anyway:) The beach in Riviera Maya and Domincan tend to be quite windy so we spend our time lounging in the pool and at the swim-up bar where it is more comfortable. In Riviera Maya, we've been to Dreams Tulum, Grand Palladium, and NH Riviera and needed water shoes at all these locations due to the rocks. We recently returned from our DW at Iberostar Paraiso in Riviera Maya and were quite surprised and pleased that we did not need water shoes here. It was very sandy and not rocky. I hear Anguilla and St.Maarten have wonderful beaches too. Not sure how many AI options they have though. Hope all goes well.

Gail, I agree with everyone. I think you should wait it out. With so many precautions now and awareness, the Swine flu numbers and spread should be reducing. If you are concerned about your and FI health, then move the location. Your wedding day is an important and magical day and week and you shouldn't be stressing about such things. I wouldn't move wedding locations though because you fear some guests may cancel due to this flu. Last I heard, there were still no reported cases of the Swine flu in Quintana Roo. If it were me getting married in June, I would sit tight. I was married at Iberostar Beach on April 15th and same as you, married at the gazebo and had a private reception at the Tropical. It was a fabulous. Beautiful, fun, and the resort did an awesome job. If guests cannot make the trip to Mexico and cancel, you have picked a wonderful photographer who will be capturing your day on film. Maybe if many guests cancel, hire a videographer too so you can share this with guests that could not make it. Your wedding day is about you though so I would make your decisions based on your needs and wants. Maybe talk to a few of your close guests (your MOH, BM, and family) and see how their feeling. They'll probably be very supportative and do whatever you decide. I think you should start distracting yourself a bit from all this swine flu media frenzy. You'll drive yourself crazy soon Maybe work on some last minute details of the wedding (newsletter, gifts, decorations, etc). Even just for a few days so you can get your mind off everything. I have a feeling you are going to have a wonderful wedding day wherever you decide. The moment you and FI are in front of the judge and you look into each others eyes and realize in a few moments you are united and will forever be together, is priceless. At that moment, it could have been -30 degrees and been in the middle of a cow pasture and I still would have been happy:) Hope all goes well. Gen

Hey Gail, Not sure if I can help, but let me know if you think I can. I was just married at Iberostar Beach on April 15th. Though I met with Gabriella at the start of the week, I didn't see her again for the rest of our trip. Only saw and sw Reyna and her assistant Yanin after that. Not sure, but Gabriella may now be gone. Reyna must be swamped. Not really sure how they do it. Even though they only have one wedding a day, it seemed like Reyna and Yanin were on top of everything and were everywhere to make sure everything was great. Not sure how they ever found time to reply to all my e-mails They really should be keeping on top of it though as it can be frustrating for future brides. Really though, Reyna is so sweet and lovely once you meet her, you will love her. If there's anything I can help with let me know. Will be posting review in Review forum in next few days with some pics. Gen

Unfortunately what I learned from my DW planning is that the better rates/prices came when we got closer to our wedding date. We were married April/09 in RM and the prices we were quoted back in April/May 2008 from various travel agents from different tour operators were a bit high. We waited a little longer and got our group rates around Sept/Oct 2008 and they came down and there were more incentives. I think booking too far in advance you will pay more because the tour operators are assuming they will sell out and want to get top dollar. When the dates get closer and they still have a lot of vacancy, then they start to drop the prices. The only risky thing with this is that we needed to secure our wedding date at the actual resort about a year out to make sure we had a spot. Catch 22 If you want some quotes nad pricing, let me know. We were married at Iberostar Paraiso Beach and got quotes for Edmonton, CAlgary, Vancouver, and Toronto departures for April for Iberostar Beach and Maya. With the economy the way it is now, hard to say what is to come for pricing. Especially given the current Conquest situation. If you pick a location/resort you like, reserve the date with the WC at the resort and then wait a few months till Winter brochures/specials at least come out and then call a few TA's to see what pricing is like. Will probably make a difference. Hope all goes well. Gen Happy planning.

Hey All, A slideshow of a few pics of our wedding and TTD are now on Lincoln and Lori's website. It's the Iberostar Paraiso Beach link. We just got the link to the Pictage website and I'm just trying to figure out how to send it to all our friends and family and then I'll need to figure out how to post the link here in the forum. Probably have it figured out by tomorrow:) Oh..and Denise and edssbride09...Great pics. You were both very beautiful brides. It's neat to see all these different Mayan resort locations too. They all seem unique. G

Sorry.....Just got back yesterday and I'm still in vacation mode so just posting a quickie. Lincoln and Lori we're fabulous. All my guests thought they were terrific and a lot of fun. They were very professional and took tons of pics. We booked them all day so I will have pics prior to the ceremony, the ceremony, and the reception. We also booked and shot our TTD with them the following day. It was a blast! It will take a few weeks for the wedding website. I will post the link as soon as they're ready so you can check out the pics. Gen

We have 31 guests for our April/09 wedding and have rented the Tropical restaurant for our private reception. Gabriella didn't make it seem like it was an exception. As long as you are paying the $800 extra, I don't see them minding what your guests numbers are at.