Married_In_Maui

Mike, As far as paying for the bridal parties travel arrangements, that's hard for me to really give advice on b/c the budget for my sister's wedding is really tight. That being said, it never even crossed our minds to cover the travel arrangements for the bridal party. My sister has her two sisters & our cousin as her bridesmaids (& it never would have crossed our minds to have her pay for our trips.) The groom has his brother & cousin, but also his best friend as his groomsmen. Everyone that's coming to the wedding is also using the trip as a vacation, so we didn't feel compelled to have to offer to pay for their vacations. I guess everyone may have a different opinion on this, but in my opinion, it isn't necessary to have to pay for the travel arrangements of the bridal party. Hope that helps; good luck!! -KIM-

Laine, Welcome to the forum; there is a wealth of knowledge here about weddings in Mexico. I have spent hours & hours researching this site & many others, looking for information on Cancun resorts, photographers, florist, etc, so if you have any questions I would love to try to help. Good luck & congratulations!! -KIM-

Hello Jami, Welcome to the forum; there is a wealth of knowledge here about weddings in Mexico. I am actually the sister of the bride that somehow got stuck planning my sister's Cancun wedding. I don't remember being this stressed about planning my own wedding Anyway, I have done hours upon hours of research about resorts, photographers, florists, etc in Cancun, so if you have any questions, I would love to try to help. Good luck with your planning & congratulations!! -Kim- p.s. I grew up & lived in Cincinnati for most of my life, I then got married & moved to Indiana (right outside of Oxford)

Shelly, Welcome to the forum; there is a wealth of information on this site about DW's in Mexico. If you are considering Cancun at all, I would be happy to try to answer any questions you may have, as I have done hours upon hours of research on Cancun resorts, photographers, florists, etc. Good luck with your planning & congratulations!! -KIM-

Hello! Good to know I'm not the only sister of the bride that is doing the destination wedding planning. My sister is getting married on May 28th, 2009 in Cancun. I've spent hours upon hours on this site & various others researching resorts, photographers, florists, etc, so if I can answer any questions about Cancun for you I would love to help. Good Luck & tell your sister congratulations!! -KIM-

Hi Kim, Welcome to the forum; there is a wealth of knowledge here about destination weddings. Don't worry about being a bridezilla, they call me the maid of honorzilla (b/c somehow I got stuck planning my sister's wedding in Cancun.) I don't think I was this stressed planning my own wedding If you are considering Cancun at all, I think that Dreams Cancun is so beautiful & they seem to have the most complete wedding packages that are reasonably priced. They have a wedding gazebo overlooking the ocean & they are kid friendly. They didn't have our date, so we ended up booking rooms at the Great Parnassus (to save money) & booking the wedding/reception at the Casa Magna. If you have any questions about Cancun, I would be happy to try to help. Good luck with your planning!! -KIM-

Hi Lindsay, I am not the bride (my sister is), but I've been the one in charge of planning her wedding in Cancun (how I got suckered into that I'm not sure:) I don't know if you're considering Cancun, but if you are, I would be happy to answer any questions that I can. Congratulations & good luck with your planning!

Hello Mike, Welcome to the forum; there is a wealth of information here about DW's. I'm actually the sister of the bride (that got stuck planning the entire wedding), but I am more than willing to share any information that I can about Cancun if you would be interested. The cost of a DW really depends on what you want & how many guests will be attending. We are having 25 guests & for everything (food, open bar, site, judge, papers, bloodwork, photography, cake, flowers, etc) we are paying close to $5000. Most of the resorts offer a free wedding coordinator when you book your wedding with them. My favorite resorts in Cancun to host a wedding would be Dreams Cancun, JW Marriott & Casa Magna. Dreams Cancun, I think offers the most complete wedding packages at the best prices, but they didn't have our date. If I can be of any help to you, please let me know. Have a great day & good luck! KIM

Amber, Welcome to the forum!! This site is so great; it has been a huge help in helping me plan my sister's Cancun wedding (I know its crazy for the maid of honor to plan the wedding, but my sister has left it all in my hands - lucky me I suppose I hope you find this site to be as helpful as I have & if you have any Cancun questions, I'll do my best to help. KIM

Thanks guys for all the warm welcomes & suggestions. This site is just so great, it has been such a huge help. Thanks so much!!

Hi Paula, I'm not the bride (I'm the big sis of the bride that got stuck doing all the planning , but I am planning my sisters wedding for May 28th, 2009 at the Casa Magna. Where did you decide to do your reception? That's what has me stumped at this point. I can't decide if we should do it in the carribbean fountain area, which is nice b/c it's shaded but still open, or to do it in the garden area. We don't have a huge group going (only 25), so I don't want to use a huge space. Did you do a site visit? Glad to hear that someone else choose the Casa Magna too; it looks beautiful. Sounds like you may be done with your planning, so if you have any suggestions, I'll take what I can get KIM

Hello Everyone! I'm just wondering if anyone has gotten their hair & or makeup done at the Casa Magna in Cancun. I know the spa/salon @ JW next door is rated within the top 50 resort spa/salons, so it must be nice, but I haven't heard anything about the Casa Magna. Any info woud be very much appreciated (pics would be great too.)

I apologize, I'm new here & I didn't realize there were other posts about Lidya. Is there a way that I can delete my thread so others don't get upset??

I apologize, I'm new here & I didn't realize there were other posts about Lidya. Is there a way that I can delete my thread so others don't get upset??

I would first like to say how very helpful this site has been to me. I am actually not the bride, but my sister has left all of her destination wedding planning in my hands. You have all been a godsend in helping me try to plan this wedding. We currently have reservations at the Great Parnassus, but I'm having trouble with the wedding coordinator returning my emails. She was great until I asked her to coordinate a private reception instead of a dinner reservation & now she just won't answer ANY of my emails. My thought is to start looking for other sites for the wedding/reception. We would like to keep our hotel reservations at the Great Parnassus though b/c we are already booked & paid. So, does anyone have any suggestions for sites (where you don't have to be a guest of the hotel) where we could have the wedding/reception for about 30 people (must allow children.) Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

I highly recommend Cancuncatamarans.com. They do private charters on a super nice sailboat. My sister & I went on this excursion (not the private charter) last year & it was so great. The staff was a blast & the snorkeling was awesome. Good luck!!

Has anyone used Lidya Solemidt as a photographer in Cancun?? She is super nice & answers my emails very quickly, but I haven't heard much about her. If anyone has used her, can you post some of your pics. Thanks so much!!

Nathaniel, That's what big sisters are for I suppose. The wedding coordinator started out answering all of our questions very promptly, but now I seemed to have stumped her (asking about a private reception vs. a priority dinner reservation at one of the rest.) Oh well, hopefully I will find a better location anyway (sister really didn't want to have to drag her dress through the sand anyway.) Have a great day!!!

Hello everyone, I just wanted to say how grateful I am to all of you for all your help. I am actually not the bride, but my sister has left all of her destination wedding (Cancun) planning in my hands. This site has been so very helpful to me, so thank you all. Her date is May 28th, 2009. We have reservations at the Great Parnassus, but are having trouble getting responses from the wedding coordinator. We have just started looking this week into having the actual ceremony & reception at another site. Suggestions would be great. I have contacted JW Marriott/Casa Magna, but haven't gotten a response for the date. Thanks again guys!!