Ethan's Mommy

Wow, your pictures are stunning. You both looked so beautiful. Congratulations!!

Congratulations Lisa, I agree with Vdaybride your smile says it all. Thanks for such a great review!!

Hi Kristen I just kept buying things as I came across them for the bags. I had bought the bags back in the summer, and they are pretty large. So I wanted to fill them as much as possible, I think they turned out pretty good. My one aunt was happy with the bag itself, she is going to use it for her carry on and then once we are down there she will use it as her beach bag. We are definately on the same flight, we have 27 that will be flying down with us on Thrusday and then two more will be flying in on the day of the wedding. I bought fabric at fabricland to use for the chair sashes, it is an organaza material, it just looks nice for the beach. I originally was going to go with their sashes but after I saw Carly's pictures of her wedding I just loved the look of the organza on the beach and I went and bought it. The rest of the wedding stuff I am not really stressing about, it will be on a beach and that is what we had planned so many years ago. I have my son all packed and ready to go, my husband is pretty much all packed, I on the other hand do not even know where to start. Hopefully I can get it all done tonight. We are heading to Toronto tomorrow night and spending the night at the Doubletree. We have family and friends flying in so we thought it would be nice to be there to spend some time with them. See you at the airport!! Melissa

Hi Brooke I can not believe we leave on Thursday. The time has come so fast, especially with the holidays, the month of December just flew by. I did not hear from Nelly until late November. I actually sent her an e-mail just to touch base, then she sent me a large e-mail of all the information. She needed us to pick and choose what we were wanting for the wedding. I have not been in touch with her to much through this whole process, but I am hoping that when we get down there this week and have a sit down meeting with her that we can get everything sorted out. Most of my oot bag items are more for the women then the men, but I hope they all enjoy them. Each bags consists of: A bar of Dove Soap Dove facial cleanser for the girls Some axe body spray for the guys Sunscreen Lip balm A crossword book A deck of cards sample packs of advil, immodium, pepto fish body luffa (bought this in buffalo, so cute) first aid kits scope & toothpaste (travel size) calculators (my husbands idea, he felt that this would be good for guests trying to figure out the daily exchange. His one and only idea for the bags, gotta love him) Magnets from vista print with our names and wedding dates on them Our welcome letters Gum Water bottles( I bought them at Canadian Tire the week before Christmas. The were $12.99 on for $3.99 a bottle) I think this is it. I am hoping they all enjoy them. I am actually giving them to everyone this week. I wanted to bring them down with us, but they would have weighed to much. Since we are only allowed a bag that weighs 44lbs, this is going to be hard enough to do without the bags. I will post a review as soon as I can when we get back. All the best with your planning Melissa

Hi Kristen Yes, now that Christmas is over my attention is all on the Wedding, and we are all getting so excited. I also still have a lot to get done, I have bought all of my OTT bag items but I have to put them all together. And I also have to get my music down loaded onto my ipod. I have bought all of my material for my chair sashes, but I need to get it all cut and ready to go. It will be a great flight down if we are all on the same flight. We have 29 people coming down with us, this includes our 3 year old son and my 10 year old nephew. Hope you have a very safe and Happy New Year, see you soon

Hi QueenDiva I have done medifast and if you stick to the 5 meals a day and one lean and green it does work. I lost 30lbs in less then 3 months and it is very easy to follow. I have gained 10lbs back but that is because I have just gotten off track and started to fall back into the same old bad habits. I am actually going to start it up again on Sunday and hopefully I can drop these 10lbs before my wedding in January. Goodluck with the program. I would suggest to use their online support, it is a great tool.

Wow Jess, you pictures turned out beautiful, congratulations!!

Hi brooke You will have to use the hotel photographer, as of September 29th this year the hotel now has a contract with Mango Productions and they are no longer allowing outside photographers on site for weddings. Unless they have changed this in the last month. Good luck with the planning.

Hi Kristen So happy to hear that Nelly has been in touch. I have been pondering the English Patio as well, I just want to make sure we are able to have our first dance together as husband and wife, and a couple of other dances for the family. We actually went down to Panama a few years ago for my friends wedding and they just did their first dance and a couple of other dances right in the restaurant so to save some money we might just do it this way as well. We are just going with the free wedding package, the only thing that I really wanted was a good photographer, so we decided to go with Alec & T, and I am so excited, they take beautiful pictures and I can not wait to work with them. I to am getting very excited for the wedding, now that we are in the planning stages. This forum is so great, it is so nice to have people to talk to who are going through the same things.

Hi Kristen We did change our wedding date, we wanted a late afternoon ceramony, but the only time for us on the 11th was 2:00pm, so we decided to change to the 12th. Nelly just sent me an e-mail today. I know most of the planning will take place when we get down there but I just wanted to make sure we were able to get the steakhouse reserved for our reception dinner. I do not have a phone numer for her but I am sure she will be in touch soon. Our flight on January 7th is leaving Toronto in the afternoon, I believe around 2:00pm. What time is your wedding scheduled for on the 11th? Do you have a big group going down with you? We have 30 people, this is including our son and nephew. If you do not here from Nelly in the next couple of days I can try to send her an e-mail for you.

Carly, your pictures are stunning. You looked beautiful, I loved your dress, just perfect for a destination wedding. I would like to thank you for such a great review. It looks like everyone had a great time, espically you and your husband. I would also like to thank you for leaving your blue tulle, I will be asking Nelly if we could use it for our wedding. I am not to found of the colors they have to offer. I might just order a bit more for the rest of the chairs, we have 30 people coming down for our wedding in January. Then I will leave the rest of it down their for future brides. I just have a question about when you were contacted by Nelly about the planning. Our wedding is scheduled for January 12/2010 and I have not heard from her as of yet. I know they are extremely busy but should I be contacting her soon, or should I just wait to hear from her. Thanks Again for such a great review!!! Congratualtions on the wedding

Hi Kristenb23 I am also getting married January 2010, the day after you on the 12th at 4:00pm on the beach. I am also wondering about the reception after, I have not yet been in touch with Nelly, but hope to be in the next couple of weeks. I believe that it costs around $500 to do a private reception, but then I believe it costs extra for the dinners. If you take a look at previous posts here for the Riu Santa Fe I believe the cost to rent the disco is also on here. When are you and your wedding party heading to Los Cabos? We all leave on January 7th from Toronto. Hopefully we will get to meet at some point through this whole process. Good Luck with the planning!! Melissa

I just got my confirmation this morning as well. I am sooooo happy that they have decided to honour our previous contracts. I was freaking out a little these past couple of weeks!!

Just sent you a private message. I will take the shoes.

Hi JCruz I have only been in contact with Paola Flores at this time, the wedding coordinator from the Riu Santa Fe has not yet been in touch with me regarding our wedding in January. Paola told me I would hear from her closer to the actual wedding date. Paola also got back to me again after her first initial e-mail and told me that she would let me know by Monday what was happening with this issue. It sounds like they are trying their best to honor couples who have already booked. Again lets keep our fingers crossed for some good news. I will post as soon as I hear any information.