amandalsu

The pictures were great. I still don't think I would use her for my actual wedding based on some of the wedding photos I saw (she is not as good with action shots, and prefers posed photos) and I would have gone nuts waiting on my wedding photos that long without any communication. I had a at home reception late august and would have been very upset not to have my professional wedding photos back. I was extremely happy with elizabeth lloyd. They package prices are almost the same but Elizabeth provides way more photos, on time, and with plenty of communication. She is much better at the action shots and just catching everyone enjoying the party, rather than posing for pictures. Â I think Paulina did a great job with the trash the dress as she is very creative and good with posed photos. I am very happy with the end result but very shocked that I never had any response to my multiple inquiries since the wedding.

For those curious about a full set of photos, here is a link to the photos I uploaded in Kodak Gallery. The quality is very close to what is on the disks (better than facebook shows).  http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=585631156905%3A1135045324&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee  Note we only did the trash the dress shoot with her.

I never heard back from her but my discs FINALLY came in the mail today with the photos and a slide show. The only correspondence was the copyright release. Very strange to not have any communication what so ever after the photo session. Â I am out of town so I have only seen the photos my husband loaded into my facebook account. I want to see them directly from the CD before I comment on quality. I really like some of the pictures that I have seen through facebook. He said he really liked the slide show and she was able to use a hard to find song on it. Â I hope everyone waiting on actual wedding photos will get them in very soon!

No word of mine either. I tried a facebook post but haven't received a response. Note they have responded to other post though!

http://puertovallartatours.net/airport-transfers.htm Â

 I hope the wait is worth it. She told me during the photo shoot it would be 4 weeks. It has now been over 3 months. I would be much more patient if she just responded to any communication I have sent her. My WC's have been trying to contact her daily with no luck as well. I am just very thankful they aren't my actual wedding photos. Â

Here is the contact I have for Elizabeth Lloyd: Â Elizabeth Lloyd Photography http://www.elfoto.org U.S. cell 917-783-5016 Mexico cell 011-52-322-152-4273 Fax 347-823-2605 Email: elizabeth lloyd [[email protected]], Â I don't have a price list anymore but she is very responsive so you shouldn't have a problem getting one. Note she lives in part time in Mexico (Bucerias) and part time in New York so is only available certain months of the year. I can send you the link and password to my full photos if you would like to see a full set of her work. She will grant you access to some as well if you request it.

We booked the 90 person catamaran with about 50 people. It was a lot of fun. We went with the open bar option and there was a ton of liquor. They even gave us snacks even though we didn't choose the food option. You can ask them for a price quote for open bar only option. Â The waves in the bay get worse as the day goes on. We had a few people get sea sick and on the way back from Los Arcos it was pretty hard to sit or walk around the top deck. Those of us not prone to sea sicknes and a little tipsy from the open bar had a blast up there. Others not so much. Â I would not bother with the snorkeling though. They don't give you fins or snorkels, just masks. It is a more like a marathon swim in a current to the rocks, through the opening of the rock, into the shallow water where there are some fish and then a long swim back to the boat against the current. Not at all what I expected. A good laugh though and great pictures of everyone in old fashioned masks and life jackets around their waist. Â We did this the same day as our welcome dinner and everyone was exhausted for the dinner that night. I highly recommend you plan only one activity per day. Â Here is the link to the group I used: http://puertovallartatours.net/private-catamaran-charter-groups.htm

FYI Peanuty468 - San Pancho or San Francisco is probably a lot further than 45 minutes north of PV. They like to seriously under estimate the travel time everywhere. It is north of Sayulita which is at least 45 minutes north of PV. I have been told it is a quaint fishing village (aka very small town). It will be perfect if that is what you want. If you or your guest will want a town with lots of clubs, resturants, and other amenities this may not be the best location. I don't want to scare you off because I have heard great things about San Pancho and really want to visit there on my next trip to the PV area. Â Also, if your wedding is in the hot season May-Oct, you might want to consider finding some place with air conditioning. Trade winds can not be guaranteed to be constant and it gets awfully warm during those months even directly on the coast. It is not pleasant getting ready for your wedding while dripping in sweat. The door to my bathroom was closed the day of my wedding so my bathroom was very warm even though it was ocean front. We had a problem with our a/c one night and I don't think I could have spent another night without a/c. I would have had to go find a hotel room. It was miserable.

Some of our group used the Puerto Vallarta Tours airport transfers. They were great. Picked up on time with friendly and fairly priced service.

I used Elizabeth Lloyd and really loved working with her. Here is her website: http://www.elfoto.org/ My wedding can be found on the second page of the weddings (Amanda and Micah). She only live in PV half the year during the peak wedding season. Â I used Paulina Ulloa for my trash the dress and I have yet to receive any photos or any response to the multiple emails I have sent asking about the status of the photo. My wedding was in May and I was told it would take 1 month to get the photos back. I know several other brides are in the same boat but used her for the actual wedding.

Still no word from her. My coordinator has been trying to contact her regarding both me and another bride they did a wedding for. I saw she posted some new photos on facebook but hasn't responded to any of my emails. Now I know she isn't dead or seriously injured, just ingoring us. I am so sorry yours are your wedding photos. I would be going nuts if I didn't have those back. I am extremely frustrated and mine are just the trash the dress photos. I am glad she was too slow to respond when booking and I went with Elizabeth Lloyd. Her photos turned out great and she was a pleasure to work with.

Just to let y'all know. I am still waiting on my trash the dress photos from 5/17/10. I have sent several emails to her asking about these as she said they would be ready in a month. She has not replied to a single email I have sent. I know another bride that worked with dazzling details is also still waiting on her wedding photos and I saw another bride on here waiting on hers as well. They have tried contacting her as well but haven't had much luck. Â I have seen mixed work from her and this lack of contact is really unacceptable. I would be devastated if it were my wedding photos rather than the trash the dress. I went with Elizabeth Lloyd for the wedding and could not be happier with the results. She was a pleasure to work with as well and kept in contact with me through the entire process of getting the photos back to me. Their prices are almost identical and you get so many more photos from Elizabeth. Per feedback I received from those that worked with either or both. Elizabeth is very good with action/in the moment photos, where as Paulina is better with posed/artsy photos. I thought Elizabeth took some very creative posed photos of us and I was glad to have party photos she took of people not posed through out the event. Â I was waiting until I got the photos back from Paulina to post a review and comparison of the two photogs but I am so frustrated with Paulina I wanted to give all of you a heads up. Plus at this rate I may never see my photos from her!

The Dazzling Details were my wedding coordinators (absolutely amazing). Here is their website where you can find their contact information: The Dazzling Details Hope this helps. Everyone loved our fire dancer.

Quote: Originally Posted by punnypunda That's bad news for me if your session was 15 days before mine Also at the mark of the 5th week I started getting a little crazy and contacted a girl that I saw was a fan on Paulina's Facebook page and asked how long it took her to get her pictures. She said it took about 8 weeks, double the time she was told, but very well worth the wait. How many times have you tried to contact her? I have only tried twice. I am about to contact my wedding coordinators to get in touch with her. Her lack of contact is exactly why I didn't choose her for my actual wedding photos. I am so sorry you are still waiting on those! How did you find her facebook page? I have looked for it. The told me to friend her so I could see teaser pictures but I have not been able to find her.

You should check with your county website. In Texas the "ceremony" had to be performed in Travis County where we applied for the license. We had our friend officiate the ceremony in Mexico and then just went out to dinner with him and his wife when we got back and had him sign the license there at the restuarant. Our legal date and wedding date don't match but we don't care. I would be hesitant about saying my wedding date in Mexico occurred in Texas when my passport says otherwise. I would hate for insurance or someone else to find out, call my marriage license a fraud, and cause some major issues down the line.

I am with you. My wedding was May 15th. I only did the trash the dress session with her luckily. I used Elizabeth Lloyd for the wedding and Paulina for the TTD. I have my wedding photos back but no sign of the TTD. I enjoyed working with her even though I don't speak Spanish. I am okay waiting on them but I am not okay with not responding to my emails. How many attempts have you made to contact her?

There are a few hotels near Dreams. One is Playa Conchas Chinas Hotel and another is a time share with rentals called Lindo Mar. The time share only rents for 7 days. Playa Conchas Chinas hotel is very budget friendly. There is a 3 bedroom with a private pool that would be affordable for 3 couples to share. These are right off Conchas Chinas beach. There are no vendors on this beach but also not chairs, bars, or restuarants. This is a local beach surrounded by villas and a condo complex (with one rental I know of but I can't remember the name of the condo). Connected to Lindo Mar is a condo with multiple units called Villas Patricia. These are nice multi bedroom units that are very affordable. Lindo Mar also has a great restuarant that is very well priced. We all ate there multiple times during our stay. We stayed at Villa Celeste for our wedding and had some guests stay at Villas Patricia and they loved it. Most of our guests rented villas around the conchas chinas area. We only had one guest at Dreams and he spent most of the time with us so he didn't get his money's worth with regards to the all inclusive package. PV has amazing restuarants so we recommended our guests not go with an all inclusive. We had a few guests at Barcelo in Mislamoya and they didn't like being that far from town or the food at the hotel. A group of us did go visit Mislamoya beach one day to hang out with them (not on the barcelo property but on the beach nearby). Mislamoya is a really nice beach but the vendors are terrible there. It is a good option if you plan on taking water taxi's to Caletas or Yelapa a few times while you are there. Vallarta Adventures is a great tour group. We did the outdoor challenge with them and it was amazing. If you are really looking for affordability you might consider Bucerias. It is abour 45 minutes north of PV (it is north of Nuevo Vallarta). It is a small town with plenty of resturants, an outdoor market, and town square. I am not really sure about the night life but there are several bars there. We honeymooned there and loved it. As much as we love PV we will probably stay there from now on and just venture into PV for a day or two during the trip. The beaches are better (less rocks in the sand and longer beaches), it is less crowded, and more affordable.

I have heard of some people using a Palapa in Bucerias via Karen's Place resturant. I haven't seen it, nor do I know prices but I have heard going to Bucerias, Sayulita, or San Francisco (aka San Pancho) can be cheaper. They all have smaller hotels and more villas and condos. We honeymooned in Bucerias and took a day trip to Sayulita. We loved both and will likely stay there next time we go to PV. I looked at Terra Noble spa when I went down for a site visit. It is set up in the hills and overlooks downtown and the bay. I would guess it doesn't have the 11pm restriction on amplified music because it is so high up and by itself. By the way, you can apply for a permit to extend the amplified music past 11 if you choose to use a villa.

There is a great hotel right on the beach called Villa Amor or Casa Amor. It looked really nice (both the rooms and the grounds) but I think it is a little pricy.

Okay I got my first wax (and a Brazilian at that!) right before I left for my wedding. I also did the armpits. I got it on a Saturday and left on Sunday for Mexico, the wedding was the following Saturday. It did the blue wax. It was horrible. It basically left bloody holes that stayed for several days down there. The armpits weren't too irritated. Then it started growing back within about 5 days. I had to shave under my arms by Thursday and down there by Wednesday. I had more than 10 days growth under the arms and WAAAAY more down there. When it started growing back in I had terrible ingrown hairs. I am very prone to these anyway but having them in your bikini line and having them EVERYWHERE is very different. I did everything they told me, exfoliate, use a calming lotion...... I used pumice cleanser, glycolic acid, hydrocortisone cream, neosporin, bikini zone. Basically everything I could find. I was so embarassed by the mess below I didn't even want to consumate the marriage on the honeymoon! A good friend of mine said she always had problems with ingrown hairs when waxing so now she gets laser hair removal. Way more painful process but no irritation after. Moral of the story, don't try it right before your wedding and if you are prone to irritation and ingrown hairs, waxing is not going to improve that. And if you are a hairy sascquach like me, don't expect it to last weeks or even one week.

Congrats. The pictures are amazing! So you are the reason I couldn't get into Playa Fiesta on the 16th! We looked into that hotel for the night after our wedding before heading up the coast to Bucerias but it was booked for a wedding.

I went the iPod route. It allowed me to hire fire dancers. Our WC assigned one of their employees to manage it and he changed through the playlist and key songs for us. He also faded out songs that were too long for things like cake cutting and first dances. There was a little delay between some songs when dancing that I wish we would have had time to fix (you can correct that within iTunes) but everyone raved about how much they liked the music. We went more with music that really meant something to us, we really liked, and knew our guest liked rather than just wedding appropriate music. It was a great choice for us.

Everyone's photos are so great. I still don't have teaser pics and I used two different photogs (one for the wedding and another for the TTD). Both said at least a month before I saw them. Oh well. We aren't planning the AHR until August anyway. I think we are going to do something pretty casual like a pool party but may pick up fajitas from one of the local Mexican joints. So a cross between catered and do it your self. I can't wait to see photos from your AHRs for inspiration.

Sephora has a kit for fake lashes. It has this clip/holder thing that will securly hold the lashes in the correct half moon shape to apply the glue (use the Sephora or Make up forever glue and just get cheap lashes at the drug store or beauty supply store) and to apply to your lash line. It also has the wooden sticks that help you move it in place if slightly off. And it comes with small sissors to cut the lashes down in lenth of eye or length of lash (some are way too long both ways and look odd if not trimmed). These items really help make the process easier. Another tip is to use the pointed end of the wooden stick to apply more glue to the corner of applied lashes if they aren't sticking well (the inside corner never sticks well for me). You can carefully add more glue to the underside of the end sticking up without getting it everywhere. If you get some black eyeshadow (looks better if matte) you should use that along the lash line after applying to cover any glue and small gaps you may have between your real lash line and fake lash line (it happens occassionally but can't even tell if you color in the gap). It just looks like eyeliner if applied in a thin line. Eyelash extensions - I was told by a company here that you should not swim in them (pool or ocean) or where mascara with them or they will start falling out pretty quickly. You also have to be very careful about the cleanser you use on your face. I was in Mexico for a week before the wedding so this was not an option for me.