munnjeni

Congratulations! You will love Las Caletas! Let me know if you have any questions...we were married on May 2, there!

Congratulations! You will love Las Caletas!

Quote: Originally Posted by verh0016 Ladies - Maybe a silly question, but I still have to ask - when you say cash - did you tip USD or pesos? I like the idea of giving the tips to the best man, but I worry about bringing so much cash with me. Maybe my best bet will be to get pesos when we arrive and then give it to the best man at that time. Jenn - We just booked Nate Cordova (our original photographer from Mpls. is now pregnant and cannot travel in Nov.) I'm curious about your review - but wow the teasers look great. I can't wait to see more photos of your day on his blog. Britt - Hurry. Can't wait to see you photos!! We did pay in USD same reason Andi did...the conversion rate is better but I think thye appreciate whatever you can give so whatever you feel more comfortable with. Todd & I brought money with us and kept it on us until we got to the hotel and kept it locked in the safe the entire time until the wedding. My parents also brought part of the money down too so we didn't travel with all of it. Again, it is totally up to you. Having the best man take care of the tips was great! We gave him everything the day before the wedding so on the day of we did not have to worry about a thing. One less item on our plate. As for Nate Cordova...he was an amazing photographer. He has so much energy and has such a great time shooting weddings. He lays in the sand, jumps up on counters runs and slides on one knee just to make sure he gets every photo. You can tell he has such a passion for photography. He arrived around 2pm and starting taking photos of Las Caletas, us getting our hair done and my flower girl (9 years old) loves to be in front of the camera so I think she hijaked him for about 30 minutes to take photos of her and tried to help him decide which photos to take. I have only seen the pictures that are on the blog but I can't wait to see the rest. Based on what I have seen so far and how much fun we had with him that night, I would highly recommend Nate! One note though...Nate took a check for the deposit so when I showed up to Las Caletas, I brought my checkbook with me to pay him the rest. Apparently he does not have an account in Mexico so we had to meet up with him the next day to pay him in cash. Just prearrange whether he wants you to send a check to his US address for final payment before the wedding so hopefully it is that much less cash you have to bring or figure out other payment arrangements.

Hey ladies....we tipped Brad and Nicole. Kelly was with us the day of but that was the first time I met her so I did not tip Kelly. We actually did bring cash with us down to Mexico for all of the tips. We labeled envelopes and gave them to the best man to distribute so we did not have to worry about handing them out. He gave the first one to Nicole and she offered to distribute the rest so even our best man didn't have to worry about it. I have a couple of teaser pics on license to Still which is Nate Cordova's blog. He is supposed to be posting more but you can see the lighting was amazing...Jamie...it should be perfect right after the ceremony for you!

Quote: Originally Posted by Andi WELCOME BACK! hey did you have the civil ceremony? did it turn out great? The only reason I ask is that I talked to Nicole on Friday (5/1) and she mentioned that she had to drive somewhere to get papers or something for the wedding on sat....i am guessing that was yours?! awesome can't wait to hear about it! Also on another note...yes everyone I am a SLACKER! we have been back since saturday and I don't have any pics yet! I am hoping to get some loaded tonight...also my review too...it is started but is SOOOO long and i need to cut it down a bit because I dont want to bore you guys! so should have it all tonight! Hey Andi, Yes...I did have the civil ceremony down there. We actually had it at the boat dock in Nuevo Vallarta and we held the "mini ceremony" on the upperdeck over the dolphin pool. When we were announced husband and wife officially they had two dolphins jump up in the air! I did feel bad that Nicole & Kelly had to run around. Because of this darn swine flu madness the government told Nicole that they will not perform any civil ceremonies over the weekend. Nicole was not satisfied with that answer so Kelly was given rights to perform the ceremony with Brad there. So Kelly performed the whole thing, Brad blew bubbles while the dolphins jumped...not so bad. It was very simple and I like having the civil & spiritual documents with the same date. After the civil ceremony Todd went back to the hotel & the girls and I went out to Las Caletas to enjoy. So that is why Nicole was running around...I felt bad that she had to go through all of that but she made sure that it all worked out!

We just got back from Mexico and the wedding at Las Caletas was absolutely amazing! I will post pictures and my review soon. We did have four people cancel due to the "swine flu" craziness but I have to tell you....there is nothing to worry about!

Andi, Congratulations!!! I can't wait to see the pictures. I take off tomorrow to Nuevo Vallarta so I am so glad to hear that everything was great! Congrats again! Jen

Hey Ladies, I know there are a couple of you quickly coming up and I want to wish you the very best. Mine is also coming up on May 2 and feeling a little stressed...my body decided to get sick on me which isn't helping! Anyway, I know I have not participated in the blogs as much but I have been keeping up with them. I can't wait to see how everyone's turns out! I will be sure to post mine as soon as I return. Best of luck ladies and enjoy every moment! Jen

Hey Ladies, I know you were looking at booking your own vs. working with the group sales coordinator. I actually used to work in the tourism industry so I thought I would share some thoughts: 1. Working with the group sales coordinator at most hotels in Mexico is a bit challenging because they typically want everyone to arrive and depart on the same dates. I personally would not waste your time. 2. You or your guests booking on there own is fine. Typically you can find good deals and can compare. 3. I am working with a travel agent for our wedding. It does not cost you anything to work with a travel agent because they make commission from the booking so there is no out of pocket costs. There are also tour operators (companies that pull together packages like Apple Vacations or Go Go Tours) who typically prefer or may only book through a travel agent which gives you more pricing options. Go Go Tours has guranteed that they will price match anything we find online and beat the prices by $10 per person (not a huge savings but still a savings). Typically the tour packages booked through a travel agent include transportation to and from the airport which you can do through expedia or travelocity as well. If you have any travel challenges, you can typically call your travel agent and they can work through any issues on your behalf so you do not have to sit on the phone making any unexpected arrangements. Finally, being the bride, the travel agent gives me a full list of everyone's travel schedule so I don't have to contact each person. I know I am a little biased and no, I am not a travel agent, I just have been in the industry for a while and am a little familiar with the bonuses that travel agents give you. On our invitations I did give my guests the travel agent information as well as the hotel information and on our site we do state that the travel agent is there however if they prefer to book on their own then feel free to. I don't know if this helps but I thought I would input. Jen

Julia, I wanted to say thank you for all of the information you have provided...I didn't get a chance to respond on my earlier requests so thank you again...you have been so helpful!

Congratulations! The wedding looked wonderful!

Thank you so much. It really is beautiful! I do have another question...was it extra to have the tequila sampling station? I really like that idea!

Julia, I just loved your slide show and all of the information you put on the site. It really is helpful. I have a question about your dress...where did you get that and who is the designer? I actually ordered two dresses and was debating between them but I absolutely love yours too. I'm so confused! Thanks. Jen

We are looking to book our honeymoon at the Sandals Antigua. I was wondering if anyone has been there and can give advice on what part to stay in (I guess there is a Mediterranian Village and another part)? Was the experience good? Is it worth the money? Any tips on what to do when we are there? Thanks for any help!

Hello Ladies! I have been reading all of the fabulous information that you have been sharing and I am becoming more and more excited about getting married in Las Caletas. We are set for May 2, 2009! I do have a couple of questions: 1. Has anyone worked with Nate Cordova the photographer? He is usually a second photographer with Beth & Elizabeth Lloyd but neither of them are available on that date so they recommended Nate. His work looks great but wondered if anyone had experience with him? 2. We are staying in Nuevo Vallarta and I am looking for a fun little place up there for a rehersal dinner. Any suggestions? I am sure I will have more. Thanks for any input you can provide. I look forward to sharing more info!