LyssaB80

Thanks for the responses! Yes, I had several different contacts who had been very responsive during the process and after our wedding but none of the emails work nor do the phone numbers. I have tried our previous contact (Julie Peterson) as well as emailing Michael Maurus at the email provided when I try to access our online site. Just a little concerned that I haven't heard back and was hoping someone might have more accurate contact info. "The "alyssa-andrew" event has expired. It can be re-launched by clicking on the button below. For further details, the photographer's contact information is below. " Cancun Wedding Photography Michael Maurus Calle Manzamitla 296 Los Angeles, OC 77533 [email protected] Wedding Photographer for Cancun, Riviera Maya

Hi there! I am sorry to post a new thread if this has already been addressed but I am freaking out a little and was hoping someone on this site might be able to help (this entire site saved my sanity when I was planning my wedding!) I was married on November 2008 and used Cancun Wedding Photography for my photographer. Things got a little hectic and I ended up not submitting the picture order until November 2009 (yes, and ENTIRE year later). I received all of my loose pictures in about 4 weeks but never got my photo album. I went to email them, and the email bounced back. Went to their website (expired) and called the phone numbers (out of order). So now I am freaking out because I am concerned that I am never going to get my album which I have already paid for. I know that I should have placed my order earlier but they were clearly still in business when I DID place the order since they sent me the loose pics and I just don't know what to do. Does anyone have any contact information for them?? Any info? Thanks SO MUCH for your help!

Michelle - Thank you!! Once we moved to the Lindo on Sunday I was on the lookout for people with your wedding - but didn't find anyone - haha. Glad to hear you had a good time! As far as the questions regarding the cigar roller and Catamaran: Cigar Roller: Our coordinator set this up for us, and they got the same person who sits in the lobby at night to roll cigars. The cost was $7 per cigar, and he told us the total at the end of the night ($230) we gave him $280 to include tip and he ended up giving us the extra cigars he had made (like 10 of them!!) for no charge. Our guests really liked having him there, even the people that don't smoke enjoyed watching him as something else to do during the cocktail hour. Catamaran: I used Akumel, they do have smaller catamarans that are less expensive but the one we rented was $2,000 for 3 hours and could accommodate 100 people. The transportation was $8 per person and open bar and appetizers were $17 per person so we paid about $3,000 total. All of our guests ended up going on the boat and even the people that were nervous about it or get seasick on other boats had an awesome time (no one got sick either!). Please feel free to ask any questions - I know that reading other people's reviews was SO helpful for me, it is hard planning a DW when you can't see everything in advance!

Hi everyone - I wanted to post my review of our wedding on November 8th at the Del Mar for you - I know how helpful other reviews were to me while I was planning!! This got a little long and I still feel like I left a lot out so feel free to let me know if you have any questions! Let me just start with saying that my expectations were exceeded in every way and I am so happy I went with the del mar! We had 43 people, most of which arrived on Thursday, 11/6 and departed Monday, 11/10 or Tuesday so we had several days together. The resort is HUGE, but we spent every night at the lobby bar (though we spent a fair amount of late nights at the disco too!) so we were able to greet people as they arrived, and told them what pool we were spending time at during the day so they had the option of either joining the group or going off on their own. The hotel also let me leave notes for people that hadn’t checked in so I could tell our guests where to find us once they arrived at the hotel. Gabriella was our coordinator and she was fantastic. We brought down our out of town bags, favors etc and dropped them all off with her the day after we arrived when we met to coordinate all of the details we had been discussing on email. Everyone received their bags with no issues. We also requested that all guests be blocked in building 15 or 16 and she was able to accommodate that request as well. We chartered a catamaran through Akumel Tours for a sunset cruise for our group on Friday. They were fantastic and I highly recommend them. The catamaran we rented was large enough for 100 people, so with 43 there was plenty of room. They crew had snacks, music, LOTS of drinks (they actually poured a shot for us all to start the trip), and they also provided a very nice bus to get us all to and from the marina. We were picked up at 3pm, had 3.5-4 hour cruise and were back at the hotel with 30-40 minutes to spare before dinner which gave those that needed to change plenty of time to do so. Rehearsal Dinner was at the del mar (well, the beach side, actually) in the Japanese restaurant. We took up 2 teppanyaki tables, they had a fixed menu but it included a sushi course, vegetables tempura and then the main course had chicken, beef, shrimp and veggies so there was definitely something for everyone in the group. We asked our coordinators for the reservation a few months ago and there were absolutely no issues. Again – the staff was amazing! Our group was definitely made up of drinkers, and at the end of dinner the staff came around to each seat, made a hat out of a cloth napkin, put it on the head of someone in our group and fed them a tequila shot – it was pretty funny. On Saturday, the day of the wedding, Gabriella had a golf cart pick my mom, sister and I up from my room and bring us to the spa – who did a wonderful job on our manicures, pedicures and hair. I had heard from other reviews that the spa tends to run longer than you expect so I built in a little extra time which worked out well as we ended up leaving the spa about 30 minutes after we had been scheduled to be done. Gabriella met us at the spa with our flowers to bring us back to the room – the flowers turned out just how I wanted – they looked fantastic and I will put pictures up as soon as I can! The wedding was in the gazebo of the del mar, it is a great location in a secluded area in a garden with a water fountain. The gazebo itself is large enough for 20-22 chairs inside, and the rest are set outside of the gazebo but everyone said they were able to see no matter where they sat. The paint and detail in the gazebo is really pretty (Michelle – I was thinking of you when I arrived at the Lindo and saw the pyramid ceiling!). We did not meet with the minister before the wedding, but he used all of the information we had sent the coordinator and the ceremony was more personalized than I had expected for a destination wedding. After the ceremony, all of our guests were handed champagne and we walked to the beach for pictures (maybe a 5-7 minute walk). We don’t have our professional pics yet but our guests got some awesome pictures on the beach right at sunset so I am looking forward to seeing them! The reception was at the tropical restaurant (this is the snack bar during the day, next to the guestroom building 11 and VERY close to the beach). Cocktail hour was outside of the restaurant, we had the appetizers and drinks for $12pp, the mariachi trio (who were very fun, people loved that!) and we hired the cigar roller for our cocktail hour which all of our guests really liked. We did hire a DJ but had a playlist on our ipod of songs we wanted to dance to, he added some of his own in but it worked out really well and the dance floor was full non-stop for the entire night. We bought sets of maraca’s for each guest and tied a ribbon with their name and table number on it so it worked for placecard and favor – we gave these to Gabriella during our initial meeting and she had them all set up for us for the start of the reception. Our reception ended at 11pm and one of our guests arranged with Gabriella to have the trolley waiting for us outside of the reception to take us all dancing at the disco. The staff did decorate our guestroom, when we got back they had flower petals around the room, a bottle of champagne, towel swans kissing and the extra flowers from our ceremony. I am sure I am missing some details so feel free to post if you have any questions but I would absolutely do this again and recommend the del mar to anyone – everything was really stress free and fun and all of our guests had an absolute blast. The one thing I cannot emphasize enough is how great the staff was, absolutely every single person we encountered went above and beyond to make sure we were having a great time – I work for a major hotel company in the states and have worked at over 8 hotels but I can tell you that the staff at the Iberostar was one of the most impressive I have ever seen – I would recommend this hotel for a wedding to anyone. Please let me know if you have questions and I will post pics soon!

Ours is right around $20,000 for EVERYTHING, dress, shoes, alterations, oot bags, honeymoon, photos, catamaran, etc. We have 43pp going to the RM in Mexico so your budget seems about right! You could definitely cut some things out if you needed to stick to the $12k (our catamaran is $3,000 and we are in Mexico for 2 weeks etc, extra for photographer, etc)

Quote: Originally Posted by MARIOLA Hi Everyone ! So....I originally planned on having my wedding at the Moon Palace. When I got prices from my TA for round-trip group adult rate pp, I was sticker- shocked I went over these prices with some of my closest friends & family, and it seemed they were really disappointed that it was so expensive, but they said they would be there no matter what. I'm expecting about 60 ppl. I just feel like I can't put a financial burden on everyone like that, and NOW I am starting from the beginning. I want to be in RM. And talking to my TA, she said IB resorts are awesome. (and hopefully affordable for everyone, still waiting on prices from her) I want to make sure that not only is my wedding a great time but accomodations for everyone are filled. This is definitely a priority, for me anyway. So my question would be...How did you guys go about choosing which IB it is that you want to be married at ? I'm researching, but I'm confused, and I read this whole thread...but still have questions. I will HAVE to get married outside of the resort because no matter what, I have to go Catholic... But other than that, I'm really confused on why one bride chose Lindo & another chose Del Mar ? Any reason ? I know there is a wave pool & lazy river...being that there are over 10 kids & teenagers at the wedding, do they have access to this if they stay at ANY of the IB ? From top to bottom: which one is the most expensive and which one is the least ? ok, lots of ?'s....please help. Hey there!! I was stressed out about making the choice too, and really loved the additional restaurant choices and lazy river/wave pool options at the Lindo. When we priced it out, it was a couple hundred dollars more person to stay at the Lindo vs the Del Mar so it really depends on what price your guests feel most comfortable with. We opted to go to the Del Mar, but let our guests know that if they wanted to stay at the Lindo/Maya or Grand, they would pay a bit more but would have the extra options and would be able to visit everyone else at our hotel very easily whenever they wanted to - ultimately, everyone has ended up at the del mar. Another thing to know if that all of the IB hotels have kids programs which according to the reviews I have read are really good and do a lot to keep the kids occupied with games and such. Good luck with your choice and definitely let us know if you have questions!! Alyssa

Quote: Originally Posted by Stina168 I'm trying to figure out if we should do an activity for the guests. I'd like to do something like a sunset cruise, but it's hard to plan since I have no idea when people are planning on coming in. It's still pretty far away, but I'd like to include the activity info on our website and invitations. Maybe we should just scrap the activity all together so our guests can have more free time like your guests? I have to say the activities are more expensive than I originally anticipated! Stina - I had been thinking of the sunset cruise idea all along because I thought it was generic enough that everyone would like it - but I only booked it about a month ago because I hadn't been sure if we could afford it!! We sent our our invites around the same time and did the passport invite you see all over this site, so we put a page in there about the catamaran, and added a line to our RSVP for guests to check if they wanted to attend - so far we have 100% going and everyone just thought it was a great suprise. I can give you the info if you want it. Michelle & Carla - thanks for the tips! I am wondering if the Iberostar has a way to do a group phone message to our guests that day to let them know where we will be for the welcome reception? I don't want to print it out in advance because I want to scope out the bars before deciding - haha. I work for a hotel here and we can do that so I am guessing they might be able to....I am sure I will figure it out - thanks for the tips! Michelle - are you guys staying at the lindo for your honeymoon?

We are getting married at the del mar next month - most of our guests arrive on Thursday and while we have events Friday and the wedding Saturday, I hadn't thought of doing a welcome reception - awesome idea!! Are you just telling people that you will be at the bar at a specific time in case they want to meet or doing a private event?

Quote: Originally Posted by jwalkowiak I really like these Maracas! Do you plan to give each person a set or each couple a set? Is your plan to just attached the a name tag to each? I am planning to give one set to each person, I am going to "attempt" to write each person's name and table number on a ribbon and use the ribbon to tie the two maraca's together...wish me luck!! Michelle - I ordered 4 Dozen sets of maracas (so 96 individual maraca's - for some reason those numbers always confuse me) and according to UPS, the maracas and box they were shipped in weighed 23lbs. hope that helps! God only knows how many suitcases it is going to take in order to get all of us and our stuff down there!! Just got our luggage tags in and are sending them and the invites out in the mail on Friday!!

Hey Michelle - we are actually doing Maracas for the place settings as well - I found some here 7'' GENUINE MEXICAN MARACAS from Windy City Novelties I liked these because they were fairly inexpensive but didn't look as cheap as most of the ones I have seen.....not sure if this is what you are looking for but I know I like to have as many options as possible!!

I say go with the 2nd as well - since you know that your BM's will be spending at least a day or 2 with you in their bathing suits in Mexico, and tan lines are going to be tough to avoid. PLUS you don't want to be stressed and/or worried about their tan lines when you should just be able to relax with your friends. And FINALLY if they are comfortable in the dress they are going to have way more fun which will make your day even better!

We are doing one bag per room, but double on some of the items (drink cups, advil and that sort of stuff). We are also putting rafts for the pool in the oot bags but I think we are only going to do 1 per room because they are too heavy to bring 40 down to mexico plus we figure people will share with friends if needed.

Thank you!! I just emailed them to see fi they could accommodate 40 people, hope it works out!

Hello! I saw a thread a few weeks ago about private charters out of Cancun but haven't seen any information about the RM. I would like to charter a catamaran for a sunset cruise for our guests before our rehearsal dinner - approx 40 people but am a little hesitant to do this "blind" Anyone have any suggestions?

Quote: Originally Posted by LyssaB80 WARNING – this will be a long post, so you might regret asking! ha! We sent message in a bottle save the dates in January to everyone we invited and instead of sending invites to all invited, I am thinking of using the DIY passport invite that I have seen on this board, and including information about activities and a packing list and that sort of thing to just the people that are going. I (hopefully) will be sending that out in another 3 weeks (haven’t started them yet!!)– so it will be there just 8 weeks before the wedding. We also ordered custom luggage tags that I am sending out pre-filled with the guests names and addresses. People have been booking in spurts since January but we still have 5-10 people that have told us they are coming in the past month or two but haven’t booked so that is getting a little stressful. We have spent a ridiculous amount of time on the oot bags and just finalizing the order for drink cups and need to pick up some small things at the dollar store but those are about done – just need to work on the welcome letter to put in them. Finally – we need to figure out the ceremony and readings and make a final decision about whether to do a sunset cruise prior to rehearsal dinner at the resort, or host a dinner cruise for everyone in lieu of being at the resort. I have been super laid back about the planning of this entire event but now that we are getting so close I am feeling like I might have been TOO laid back and will have a stressful next few weeks  Sorry - I forgot to answer about the drink cups we got them from discount mugs and these are the ones we went with: Discountmugs.com Shopping Cart The last time I was on vaca I bought a cup like this and it was sooo much better than having to keep getting up for refills. I went back and forth about insulated vs non-insulated but I really liked the idea of a straw for frozen drinks etc. do you think this is ok??