thomalm

Sheraton Hacienda del Mar - I had never been to Cabo and so I took a huge risk by deciding to have my destination wedding where I had never been. Cabo has tons of resorts to choose from and I did a lot of research. I honestly picked the absolute best resort in Cabo. The Hacienda del Mar rocked! Seriously, I am reasonably well traveled and I have never been to a more beautiful resort. The resort is not one giant building with a million hotel rooms but instead it is laid out like a community. I guess you could compare it to an apartment complex layout but with only like 2 streets and no parking spots blocking the view. The theme of the buildings is like mexican hacienda style. I just LOVE it! So much more character than a normal giant rectangle hotel. The grounds were the most beautifully landscaped I have ever seen. Every inch had cactus, tropical flowers and my personal favorite palm trees galore. I'm not just talking one kind of palm tree. Probably 100 different varieties of palm trees and they all make me smile. Is that the most amazing shade of tree flower or what! The hotel has pools all along the ocean front and a few hidden in the resort. There are has 10 places to eat (although during the day 4 of the places have the same menu). From the ugly number on the scale after the trip I clearly liked the food. Tomatoes full breakfast buffet is amazing (all you can drink mimosas and bloody marys). The golf club house has a great Sunday brunch (steak, lobster, all you can drink) but we did not know about it until after Sunday so I can’t really vouch for it. The 5-star diamond restaurant Pitahayas was actually a little disappointing. The food was very bland. I’m from Texas, I like lots of flavor. Maybe it was just too fancy for me. DeCortez was so good we went there twice. Both Pitahayas and DeCortez have the most amazing views. The Mexican restaurant, not listed on the Hacienda website, is called Girasoles. They have an awesome breakfast every day. Its all you can eat/drink off the menu (like $15 per person). The dinner was pretty good, but again, I like lots of spice and real Mexican is more bland. The sushi bar opens at 4pm and I ate there 3 times. If your whole group does not want sushi they will give you the Tomatoes menu to order from. Tomatoes food is comparable to Chilis. Not complicated food, fantastic pizzas, they have something for everyone. Although the Hacienda does not have much nightlife they certainly have good drinks. Every day the happy hour rotates bars and for 1 hour its 2-for-1 drinks. If you get frozen drinks go ahead and ask for an extra shot, it will be worth it. The wine menu is very extensive expecially at Pitahayas. If you thinking about the Hacienda for a destination wedding, do it! The food was great, the decoration/setting was amazing. They had another wedding the day of mine but we never saw the other group. One of our guests spoke to the brother of the other bride and said she toured every hotel in Cabo and choose the Hacienda for her wedding; that’s how wonderful the place is. We had both and ocean front and a ocean view room and honestly the property is so amazing you would be fine with even a garden view. The Hacienda has a internet area with like 15 laptops for anyone to use and you get like 90minutes free. The spa is beautiful and reasonably priced. I dont play golf but the course is beautiful. It is about a 10 minute cab ride from the Hacienda to Cabo and 15-20 to San Jose. Obviously, I am a huge Hacienda del Mar fan and I will absolutely be staying there again. Ceremony - Our ceremony was on Tortuga beach and it could not have been more perfect and beautiful. Everything was set up exactly as I expected. Reception - Palapa Fiesta - Such a fun location for a reception. I had 37 people and there was room for tons more. The setup of cocktail area and dinner area was perfect. Bonfire - Personally, I think this was the best way to end the evening. I hate cake and love smores so having them at my wedding was super fun. All of the guests, especially the 5 little kids really loved it. We officially ended at 10:30 but people were sitting around the bonfire until at least midnight. Rehearsal Dinner - Baja Cantina Beach - I thought this was the perfect place for a casual low key rehearsal dinner. Tables were set up right on the beach and we all ate with our toes in the sand. The mexican buffet was way yummy! They had the best tamale I have ever had. They offered a ton of variety of food, more than we expected. We only paid for beer and sodas but they gave everyone a complimentary margarita that I hear was way potent. Wedding Planner - April, Baja Wedding - I had no idea what to expect when I hired a wedding planner but I was pleasantly surprised. In my head a destination wedding is suppose to be relatively stress free but had I not chosen to get a planner I would have been very stressed. I honestly really wanted to elope but the fiancé convinced me that friends and family would be offended if we did not include them. We compromised by having a destination wedding and I was quickly overwhelmed by the planning process. Once April joined the cause I was stress free. I would only need to make one decision per week and I had freedom to change my mind about anything up until just a few weeks before the wedding. I could pick from the options she provided or I was free to find something on my own and just send her pictures. It was really easy and my fiancé said my being stress free was worth every penny. Hair and makeup - Suzanne Morel Face and body. Although at first, I was shocked by how much make up I was wearing I did love the way I looked. It was so hot that I did get shiny after a while but other than that I had no make up issues. My hair was exactly what I wanted at the start of the evening but the heat and wind caused the curl to fall. Fortunately I had a hair tie so I just pulled it back. If I could do it again I would still wear my hair down but I would have taken 5 min to go freshen up. Its my own fault that I looked a little disheveled by the end of the evening. Photographer - The great Dino Gomez Home - Dino Gomez. Wedding Photographer in Los Cabos, Mexico Wedding Photographers! Really and truly I love my pictures. I was fortunate enough to not only have Dino for the wedding but we also did a TTD shoot (technically 2). Both Mike and I were completely comfortable around Dino and totally trusted his direction. An added bonus, we had a CD of our photos before we left Cabo and they were posted on Pictage for our family within 8 days of the wedding! I love so many of my pictures it will be very tough deciding which get displayed in my house. I may need to rotate so all my favorites time in the spotlight. Dino is also making the video of the wedding and I haven't seen that yet (wedding was only June 13). I will be sure to update the review once I see the video. Flowers - I actually don't know what company did the flowers but they were AMAZING! Random hotel guest were asking April (the WP) where they came from. Because I did not do a site visit I just picked the flowers from a photo and they could not have been more beautiful. Chuppa - I stole the design for the chuppa from wedding pictures I saw on BDW site. I love the chuppa and I am very sad they took it down so fast. DJ -Pacific Sound - I don't dance, music was not important to me. The DJ was there and he played the correct songs for bouquet toss, cake cutting, etc. No guest commented on DJ.

I was concerned about my veil flying around in the wind on the beach so I did a google search and found this information and thought you all might find it useful as well. Attach tiny weights to your veil. Buy the weights at any fishing & game store or walmart! you want them to be really small so there east to attach and not so notice able! Buy one for every 6-8 inches on the bottom of your veil. Then buy finger nail polish the color of your dress (with a high gloss). Paint weights. Buy Clear thread (you can find at most craft stores) and thread weights. Place weights on the inside of veil and sew on as you would a bead, then knot it and cut thread close as possible to veil (with out cutting veil). Remeber to try on veil after you sew on few weights! you dont want it to heavey and pulling at your hair! I placed them at each corner and then added as needed. I stood infront of a fan to test it!

Casablanca 1900 yes! good eye!

Finally the dress came in and I had my first fitting. I hadnt seen it since December and I was seriously concerned that I would hate it BUT I love it. I was so excited to see the dress, with the jewelry and shoes. 28 days until I get to play dress up!

Thank you to everyone who repsponded. I am 100% confident that down is the way to go. Yea!

I have more bikinis for the honeymoon than lingerie. Yikes!

I have long hair and I really hate the way updos look on me. Have any of you regretted wearing your hair down? Major wind blown hair picture problems?

I got mine from Unique Wedding Invitations by My Personal Artist Custom Wedding Stationery. $500 for invites, RSVP, STD (75).

Our real wedding in Cabo is only technically a symbolic ceremony. So I am wondering about the legal day. Do we just go to some office building and sign something? Is it like how Carrie and Big get married in Sex and the City? Do we say vows? Should we have guests? Should i wear white? Im in DFW so any specific info (or general) would be appreciated. Thank you!

PM me your email and I can send you the packet of options/pictures my WP gave me.

Barefoot on the beach for ceremony and awesome heals for reception

17 lbs in 2 months is fantastic. I started WW today and I can only hope for results like yours.

Congratulations on your engagement. I am getting married on June 13, 2009 on Tortuga beach and reception at Palapa Fiesta. I am working with April from baja weddings (Cabo San Lucas Weddings | Baja Weddings) and so far she is worth every penny. The main reason I hired a planner is because the hotel coordinator may have 2 or 3 weddings at one time but a planner is dedicated to my wedding alone. I figure I am spending tons of money on this short 5 hours that I want the best quality possible.

My wedding is at the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar for 40 people will cost around 20k. The Sheraton is not an AI and that is my one big regret. I should have saved myself money and booked an AI.

On Manuels website it list Daniel Jireh as his junior photographer. Daniels website also has amazing photos and he charged $500 per hour. I havent used him but he is on my short list. Daniel Jireh Wedding Photographer