cathleen10

Hi Trisha - I had about 13 people attend and still went with the gold package. The reason had to do with hair/makeup/pictures, etc. When I priced everything out it was easier and more cost effective to get the gold package. The staff was also great about accommodating larger groups for dinner at the various restaurants. You are going to absolutely low your wedding. I was married a year ago and reading these posts makes me miss it so much. Cat

One more thing in regard to service/tipping. We had a group of 11 with us for 3 nights (in addition to the wedding). Each night we had no problem obtaining a table large enough to accommodate us at one of the restaurants. We would ask around during the day and then show up about 20 minutes before we wanted to eat to ask for a table. I'm not sure if this is always the case, but with us it was no problem. On those nights we tipped the wait staff as well (about 20 dollars). Pedro is the captain (not sure if that's the correct term down there) and was fabulous. He really did a good job of taking care of our larger group. If you're planning on getting spa services tipping is strongly recommended, as it is in the states.

Quote: Originally Posted by Snickers Congrats Cathleen. Thanks for a quick review. The more people post in here the more I am at ease. Did you do your pictures first then have your cocktail reception in the XLounge or did you go for your pictures then join everybody else already in progess eating the canapes? I am trying to figure out my timeline for this and don't want to miss out on the goodies. Could you also maybe give me a breakdown of who you tipped on the wedding day as I am still trying to figure that one out in my head? Good Luck to you Thope and I hope you have beautiful weather and a great wedding day this Saturday!!! We didn't take pictures for that long (maybe 20 minutes), but Yamina actually guided on this point as well. We finished the vows, went down to the beach and took pictures with the group. They then headed over the X Longue to start appetizers. We finished pictures and joined them. Yamina had advised us to delay the music about 15 minutes after appetizers started so that we would be sure to hear the music (which was a good idea). She really does think of everything and handles so many weddings that she will give you options of what other people have done and how it worked out for them. As soon as appetizers were over we headed up to dinner. Dinner was a slow and wonderful 5 course meal. It was wonderful to have great conversation with our friends and family and not feel rushed. We tipped our servers during dinner on the wedding day. We had already been there for a week by the day of the wedding so we had tipped people prior to that. We tend to be good tippers, but when you're at a place like this my personal belief is that you don't need to tip every time you come in contact with someone (you would constantly be handing out money, and IMO the beauty of an AI is that you don't have to carry money around). We had tipped 5 to 10 dollars at the beginning of our stay for those that had really gone above and beyond and then we went around and tipped again at the end for those we had missed, and some that had really done a great job. We tipped a dollar here and there for other services. I have sent Yamina a small thank you gift as a token of our appreciation for her outstanding service.

Quote: Originally Posted by thope Cathleen thanks so much for the review!! We are headed out tomorrow to get hitched I'm so excited/wired I'm online at 11pm .. You look so pretty in your pictures I'm using Juan as well glad they came out good. BTW we go to Temecula all the time for wine tasting..love it up there! Congrats and thank you. I'm sure that you will love the resort and your wedding will be beautiful. We love Temecula!! South Coast, Ponte and Leonesse are some of my favorites.

Quote: Originally Posted by anandres Thanks for the review Cat! I'm getting so excited - less than 3 months now! I'm using the "house" photographer too so I was glad to hear that you were pleased. Amy, I hope that you have a wonderful wedding. It was by far one of the best vacations we'd ever had. All of guests loved it and are still kind of on vacation. The house photographer was very pleasant to work with and spoke pretty good English. In our experience everything that wasn't directly with the resort was negotiable. It seemed like he expected us to barter with him a bit over the cost of pictures, etc. Both the videographer and photographer emailed me about 2 weeks before the wedding to see if we had any special requests. If you'd like to communicate with them prior to that I'm sure Yamina could put you in contact with them.

Quote: Originally Posted by MSG518 I had a question about the suit pressing. My fiance's suit is linen and so are the pants that all the groomsmen will be wearing. Do any of you know if they have a professional steamer on hand at the resort because I believe you're not supposed to iron linen or it will be ruined. Yamina had told me the same thing. My dress had organza (sp?) and considerable detail/beading and it came out perfect.

Hello all - I just returned May 13, 2010 from my wedding at Excellence Play Mujeres (we were married in a legal ceremony on May 8, 2010). I'm going to try and be succinct, but figured I'd post a review on here to help ease the minds of some of you that may be as stressed, or more stressed than I was. Please feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions or would like to see pictures. Planning We arrived on Monday night, so we had a full week before the wedding. That was helpful for us. I had had some interaction with Yamina prior to the wedding, but for the most part we did everything once we arrived. We had a total of 11 people and chose the gold wedding package. Yamina was absolutely wonderful - we wanted to take her home with us. She met with us briefly on our arrival and we made an appointment to meet with her on Tuesday morning. We spent about 2 hours going over details and that was it. We didn't bring in any outside photographers, etc. so it was pretty simple. The photographer and video person they arrange was very good (at least in my opinion) and we had such a small group we didn't do a DJ or anything like that. We did bring down the iPod dock from our room and play music we wanted during dinner (Yamina took care of all of that). We did our blood test on Wednesday. This was a little nerve racking for me, but it was over quickly and the doctor was very nice. That leads me to my first piece of advice...bring lots of cash!!! The blood test is $200 and must be paid directly to the doctor in cash. The photographer will also bargain with you more if you have cash. They have an ATM in the lobby, but you will end up paying several hundred dollars in fees if you take out a sizable amount. We made appointments for hair, nails, etc. all on Tuesday and the spa had no problem with having times available. We had originally wanted to have the wedding on the beach, but given the heat, etc. we decided to move it to the gazebo. This was not an issue at all and Yamina handled it like a champ. We were the only wedding that day so we had her full attention. It seems like they try and stick to 1 or 2 weddings a day. The gazebo was absolutely beautiful and I'm glad we moved it. We opted to have cocktail in the X Lounge and to have dinner on the Terrace. The three piece guitar band played for us and the music was wonderful. The Wedding The day before the wedding they took my dress and his suit for pressing (did an excellent job and my dress had lots of detailed beading - no damage, which I was a little concerned about). The dress and suit were delivered in plenty of time on the wedding day. I was nervous about having my hair and make-up done by someone I'd never met before. I have lots of hair and it's a bit hard to manage, but Mayra did a fabulous job. She gave me lots of pictures and was able to tell me what would work best with the humidity, etc. My make-up was exactly as I'd imagined. Our wedding was at 5 and she was done with me around 2. Even with that much time in between my hair stayed perfect and there were no issues with make-up. The only thing I touched up before the wedding was my lip gloss. Yamina came and picked me up before the wedding and walked me over to the gazebo. The ceremony was beautiful and everything went exactly as planned. It was a wonderful day that I will never forget. All of our guests agreed that a destination wedding was a great way to go (most of us have been to lots of weddings before, so this was a nice change). I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the vacation or wedding. The staff went above and beyond to meet every need and request. I know that I was a bit nervous about things going well as I hadn't been to the resort beforehand, etc. but Yamina is wonderful and will do anything in her power to make you feel comfortable. She actually went into town and purchased a CD for us that contained music we had heard at the resort and really wanted to play at dinner. We bought beach bags (3 bucks on Amazon) and filled them with the following for all of our guests: Sarongs (women) Cigar (men) first aid kit sunscreen chapstick disposable waterproof camera (big hit) shout wipes tums Everyone loved the bags and it was nice to do something for our guests. I am writing a more detailed review of the resort for trip advisor, so I'll post that here as well when I'm done. Please let me know if you have any questions. Cat

I'm not sure if this will help anyone, but here is the letter that we sent out with the save the date magnet. weddingletter.pdf

I HAVE spend hours looking through this site:) I am going to order one of the tropical type bags they had for less than a dollar. It may end up being not very god, but I'll see once I get a sample and then post a review.

Thanks for the suggestions. Depending on how many people come we are also planning on putting an iPod shuffle in the bag with some of our favorite songs (we'll have to see when we get closer what the budget looks like). I know the room provides an iPod player. Does anyone know if it will play a shuffle?? Thanks!

I just recently found this site and am pretty stoked about the inexpensive bags and other goodies. Wholesale Party Giveaways Incentive Gifts and Home Party Supplies For Beauty Consultants

We decided that we do not need or want anything and that our guests presence is enough. We used the line 'your presence is our gift' in both the save the dates and the invitation. We are having a reception when we return and on those invitations we have provided charity options if people feel compelled to give a gift.

Judy - sarongs are such a great idea. I am trying to think of fun and practical things to put in the OOT bags!

Greetings fellow EPM brides! My fiancee and I are planning on getting married there May 8, 2010. Reading through all of the posts has been very helpful. It has made me feel both reassured and stressed:) There are many things I had not considered, but it seems like it is a fairly stress-free experience. Thank you all for posting your experiences. Does anyone know of somewhere I can look for ideas on OOT bags? Thanks, Cat

Thank you everyone for your warm welcome. Mesita, your review and posts makes me sooooo excited for the wedding. We are starting to get more serious about planning. I am a little curious as to how you picked where you had the reception, etc.? Was that something you handled when you got there or did you do it before. We've been in contact with the resort, but there hasn't really been much planning yet. That could also be because we don't know how many people are coming yet:) Thanks, Cat