allyson779

I am not sure if anyone is using Mexicana for their airline, but just found out today that they canceled almost all direct flights from LAX (Los Angeles) to PVR. All our guests (including us) were re-booked on new flights, but the new flight leaves crazy early in the morning and now instead of taking 3 hours to get there it will take 7 hours with the extra stop and layover!

Quote: Originally Posted by StephyD My fiancé wants to use 'Have I told you lately - Rod Stewart'. His parents are huge Stewart's fans! I'm thinking of having my fiancé and my mom join us during the last minute of our father|daughter dance.... and I would join my fiancé and his mom during the last minute with his dad. What do you think? So funny my FI's parents are huge Rod Stewart fan too! We were going to do "Have I told you lately" but FI is not too close to his mom so we picked "Forever Young" instead.

So this is very random... But we are having a cigar roller and I thought it would be a cute little touch to have personalized matches/matchbooks... but in reality how would I get them to PV with all the heightened security? Did any past brides have matchbooks/matchboxes? If so how did you get them there?

I looked into so many planners from VWP to Dazzling Details.... and after crunching numbers, reviewing emails and looking at various websites... I went with Mishka Designs. I can not tell you how enjoyable, fun and easy my planning process has been so far. She has fabulous communication skills, very creative, respects your budget, and most importantly gets to know you and your FI so your wedding will be unique! (not just how many guests are you having, what's your favorite color and flower, but really gets to know you) For that specific reason is why I was kind of turned off by VWP when they emailed me a price estimate without even knowing my situation or what I wanted. They just assumed a simple wedding with 80 guests. Ck her out .... through her posts on BDW and at... Mishka Designs' Blog Puerto Vallarta Wedding Planners :: Bodas en Puerto Vallarta If you have questions let me know

Quote: Originally Posted by gowiththeflow Hi ladies! This forum has been a little quiet lately, so I thought I would add something! Well, we booked our room today, so hopefully our deposit will be charged soon. We are so excited and it feels a lot more real now. We have been going back and forth about sending STDs. We were thinking this: it seems from other brides, a lot of people start booking once they get the STDs. So why send both? Why not send just an invite (with a ton of info) earlier than usual. We do have a website and were thinking we could direct people there as well. Plus we just don't know when to start sending everything. I looked at the thread that discusses it, but everyone has a different opinion, so who knows? Our date is April 9, 2011. Any opinions or suggestions? Also, we are not using a TA. We have found that rates we find online are cheaper. Plus the room block rate Dreams gave us is still a few hundred more than what we have found. Our one problem: I was looking for rates for for my future SILs. They both have babies that will be 1 and 2. Every online search engine says infants are not allowed in the old tower. I know this is not true. I emailed dreams, but no response. They would want a deluxe room to save $$. I wonder if they could just book one and then add on the infant on arrival? Ok, I guess that's enought for now! Hope everyone's planning is going good. You might want to reconsider using a TA... Originally we were going to direct our guests to expedia, orbitz, and other online travel websites, but we changed our minds based on the following reasons: * Most TA's will help you with price matching and TA's are affiliated with the online sites. For example we found the cheapest price through apple vacations and our TA was able to lock in those rates for us. * You can earn credits for example... for every "x" amount of rooms booked you will receive "x" amount of rooms free and "x" amount of free upgrades. * Your TA will be able to negotiate transfers to and from the airport and resort usually at no additional cost.... Which your guests will really appreciate. * In most cases... Your guest will only have to pay a deposit to hold the room verses paying for everything all at once. (this is also helpful and applies when purchasing airfare) * They will submit the listing to Dreams to make sure that those guest rooms are assigned to your wedding party so you will not be charged extra for day passes or for the dinner etc. Also when available they can try and put your party somewhat together like on the same floor. * TA will also provide a listing to you with regards to who has booked,arrival/departure dates, and what type room .... which might not sound important, but when you have OOT bags to deliver and events to plan it comes in handy. * Your TA will address any concerns or requests your guests might have on a one on one basis. (you will not believe all requests and questions you will get... everything from can you put me on the first floor to passports and vaccinations to crime in Mexico) * And most importantly... if something goes wrong you have a specific person to raise hell with. I don't need to worry or stress about calling a 1-800 number or calling between certain hours. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions.

Welcome Michelle- It sounds great and bonfires are always a lot of fun! So just another idea..... Have you looked into any of the wedding packages the resort offers? Some of the packages include everything from the flowers to cocktail hour and reception for a pretty reasonable price and you can have it right on the beach. (not sure how many guests are included- I think like 20) It might be more economical than buying everything individually. You can ck it out at: Dreams Puerto Vallarta Resorts & Spas: Plan Your Wedding and click on "view our wedding guide"

both nice... but love #1!

"The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson.... This is a cute You Tube video of the song: YouTube - Ingrid Michaelson- The Way I Am (hope the links works)

They have a great thread....under "Etiquette,traditions,to do" (hope the link works) http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-script-21660/ It will blow your mind how many great ceremony scripts are listed under the thread and you can get some great ideas...

We got our resort confirmation code from our TA who received it from Apple Vacations. (Apple is the whole seller the TA went through to secure the room block). When I gave the info to dreams... I clearly stated the confirmation code and it was part of a group booking through Apple Vacations. (I swear I feel you.... because I went through the same thing... so frustrating!) We decided that we were going to do a symbolic ceremony... The legal ceremony seemed too complicated for us. (Too many rules/regulations to follow). So we are actually getting married at the court house the day before we leave to PV. Also, we are doing our own ceremony script and having a close friend marry us. I know it sounds weird, but I wanted to know the person who was going to perform the ceremony. That way he can add his little stories and two cents. The actual vows will be traditional, but we will be writing our own ceremony script. (I can email it to you once we write it.) Oh and I don't think anyone will be mad... they will not even ask or know that the legal ceremony already took place. Trust me everyone will be so happy and celebrating...it will not even cross their minds.

Quote: Originally Posted by m1984 Thanks for the input guys. We actually booked flights and hotels at the end of May and the reservation code was sent in June so it's been over a month and they still haven't taken the deposit. I sent one more email to Samantha asking her to please put the charge through. If I don't get a response and a charge on my credit card within a week, I'm going to call Rebecca directly and stop dealing with Samantha. This is silly, I'm trying to give them money but they won't take it... So we were thinking the same thing... how it was so silly because we are trying to give them money and they wont process it! In the end...it was our fault! (I was super embarrassed) I kept giving the confirmation number from our package deal (that our TA uses) and not the confirmation number for the actual resort. So long story short they could not find us in the system....you might want to double check that you are giving the confirmation number issued by the resort.

I have seen... Two of a kind or Lucky in Love

Quote: Originally Posted by m1984 Can you let me know how soon the charge goes through on your credit card? I sent my Charge Authorization Form in weeks ago to Samantha, not Rebecca and she keeps saying that my date is booked even if the deposit doesn't go through. I'm supposedly booked for May 24, 2011 but I don't feel like it's 100% secured until the deposit is taken. If yours goes through soon, then that means that Samantha has no clue what she's doing.. Can anyone else comment as to how soon their deposit was taken after they gave them their info? We had a similar situation...Email your confirmation or reservation number o to the WC at Dreams and include the dates that you are arriving and departing. They will look for you in "their system" and once they can ID you as staying at the resort than they will deposit or run the credit card pretty soon after that. I think they processed our credit card information within that week.

We are having our wedding on the beach in front of Oceana and we rented out the restaurant for the reception. We are using Mishka for our wedding... she is fabulous and was super helpful in the decision making process...for example the video she made for us on her FB page. (We were torn between having it at Oceana or on the beach and renting a tent) At the end of the day we went with Oceana for the following reasons.... - we are getting married in October and didn't want to worry about the chance of rain - wanted something a little bit more private - Las Palmas was too small for the amount of guests we will be having - Renting a tent is super crazy expensive (plus you need to also rent a dance floor $$) The information provided by rus is a little bit different than the information/process that we went through. ....we went directly to Dreams in order to rent Oceana.(Rebecca) The rental agreement is between us and Dreams. We did pay a deposit in order to reserve the space for that night. We also needed to pay a separate deposit to reserve the actual wedding date and for the ultimate package. (So the rental fee for Oceana does not include any packages) Also, in order to lock in the date and reserve Oceana we needed to provide our booking/reservation number showing we were booked at the hotel. Until we provided the confirmation number we were able to "hold" the date, but the resort would not process the deposit until they received the confirmation.

My dress is Style 2117....it is super heavy and I will be so hot, but I was in love the moment I saw it! We also got Style 7041 in charcoal for BM and Style 6615 in pink for the flower girls. On a complete side note...we even got our invitations there.... they give sick discounts once your buy your dress... I think it was around 40% or so.

Mishka..... love the flower design and great colors. So Fresh!

Thanks Lauren... Super helpful as always! I think we are going to defiantly go with the trio after reading all the great reviews... Plus it is one less hour to rely on the DJ. Also good point about the tours... probably won't save anything and we can get a better feel for what we want to do.

Thanks so much Karen for all your info.. it was so helpful!! Now I'm just worried about the DJ and how the heck I am going to get everything down to Mexico and through customs. =)

Karen...Your review was amazing!!! Thank you so much for all the info and pictures. Here comes some of my random questions for you (hope you don't mind and other past bride feel free to jump in....) For your private dinner at Portofino did you make reservations a head of time with Rebeca or with Portofino directly? Was it the same menu for dinner or was it a special menu? Bonfire... Did you have to pay extra for the waiter or was that included in the fee? (I think Rebeca told me like $250 or $300 for the bonfire) Ceremony.... was it really hard to walk on the sand/bamboo path? I am so worried I am going to fall on my face! Was it just a bamboo mat or was there something else underneath? Also did you use a microphone for your ceremony....I Cocktail Hour... OK so I am debating on even having the Mexican trio (even though it comes with the package)... How long did they play for- I think they said it comes with one set.. but how long is a set? Also did your cocktail hour last the whole hour or was it actually shorter... Excursions... did you book everything before hand or did you do it through the company that provided the transfers when you got there? Do you remember roughly how much the fishing trip was? Thanks again for all your help..... what would I do without the forum ... =)

Karen... Reading through your review confirms that we made the best decision to have our wedding at dreams!!!! Thank you so much for an amazing review with great tips, ideas, and of course tons of pics. Speaking of pics... wow everything looked amazing and perfect! You were glowing from start to finish.. (and probably still glowing)

Autumn... just went on your Etsy and FB page... so adorable. I am going to contact you about ordering some stuff...=)

Quote: Originally Posted by m1984 Hi guys, I have searched this thread already regarding deposits but for all the girls who have confirmed their wedding dates with Dreams PV, did they already charge you the $500 deposit to secure the date? I'm dealing with Samantha, whose name I have not seen at all in this forum and she said that my date was booked but that she won't charge the deposit until we arrive... That makes no sense to me.... I forwarded her my credit card info and we filled out the initial paperwork (expected number of guests, when, where etc,) but she hasn't charged the deposit to us. I know others have mentioned something about not charging it until the next year's rates come out (my date is supposed to be May 24, 2011) but is this right? I'm about to get invites printed out but all of a sudden, I'm not 100% sure that our date has been officially confirmed... Can anyone that has booked shed some light? I think I'm just going to ask Rebecca to take over.. because I feel like Samantha is giving me false information... The way I understand it is they will only charge the $500 once you are a "confirmed guest" at the resort. So once you send the WC your reservation number/confirmation number they can charge your credit card and lock in the date. (They were pretty strict about not booking the wedding until we were confirmed as a guest)

This might help (hope the link works) Welcome to Facebook I am using Mishka as our planner and she took a great video of where we're having our ceremony and reception .....on the beach and Oceana restaurant. If the link doesn't work you can look her up on facebook...under "Mishka Designs" to view the video. Also I know past brides have posted reviews with great pictures of their weddings. Ck out Lauren's, Jess, and Autumn's Review....(just to name a few) they are so helpful!!!!

Thanks so much for sharing.... Love the look and layout you used.

Hi Autumn... Yea that was me on fb- totally excited for Mishka to be planning my wedding. She has been awesome to work with.