aprilmay

I would try to spread some of the breakable stuff out with other guest's carry-ons (ie-parents, wedding party etc). That way you don't have to worry about it breaking and won't go over the size/weight allowance. I had 13 gift bags packed in an extra suitcase with all my OOT stuff and we had our luggage searched in Mex. There was noooo problem at all. She just asked me what the all were and I said they were gifts for my guests with candles, etc (I had my wedding dress in my arms) and she just nodded and didn't care at all.

I'd also recommend Bianca, three of us had our hair done and all LOVED it. A friend of mine did my make-up so can't really comment on that. They gave my mom 15% off just for being mother-of-the-bride. Just a heads up, if you book through email before you go (which I would) you pretty much can't cancel because they say they need a weeks notice! My friend decided she wanted to cancel the day before but couldn't but ended up loving it. If you book at the resort once you get there you only have to give 24hrs notice. But I'm sure if you bitched enough they wouldn't charge you! Also, we had our reception at Las Palmas and they kicked us out at 9:30. I wasn't impressed. Friggin party was just getting started! Even the hotel entertainment goes later than that!

I'd like to encourage other brides who have issues the day of their wedding to complain and ask for discounts. We had similar little errors but just paid the bill and didn't bother with it but after reading Dreams2011 review I realized we could have saved some money! We had the wrong appies brought and never did get dessert because we were so far behind schedule. The photog (Chris) was great but was missing a ton of important shots that we know she captured..... but we never complained! I just received my album from the resort and it's just ok. They don't even do simple editing like brightening pics that are a little dark. Just a heads up. I ended up making my own album.

Three of my girlfriends had massages outside and they were all by female staff.... not sure what happened with you guys! Sounds pretty weird, especially the men in the shower area part. Could you recommend another resort that you found better? We're planning a honeymoon and could use some ideas!

Yes, the WC would set up the bonfire for you and I'm sure you'd be able to have the mariachi band for it. They're like $600 an hour though. We had the "mexican trio" for $350 and they were perfect.

You could definitely just meet at the lobby bar or the sports bar. The sports bar kinda sucks though. Lobby bar is nice and there's tons of room. We pulled tables together & no one ever cared and then we had a lot of people standing and mingling. It was one of our favorite places to meet at the resort. They have bands in there a few times a week and although there's not a lot of room to dance, people still did!

Quote: Originally Posted by gowiththeflow Aprilmay - so you don't think the Bose will work for the reception at las Palmas? That was our idea. Not sure where you had your reception. We just can't decide what to do!! I'm also glad that Lucy was able to just read what you brought. Do you think it was obvious it was not legal (to your guests I mean). Did you still do vows and stuff? Were you able to contact her before you arrived? Thanks! We used the Bose for me to walk down to as well as for the cocktail hour because you only get 3 hours out of the speaker rental. It was good for those two things because we didn't need the music super loud. But to create a party/dancing atmosphere I would definitely rent the speakers. There was a wedding the night before ours on the terrace with no music at all and it looked ridiculously boring! We actually returned the Bose to future shop when we got back (!) because we *barely* even used it and already have a sweet surround system in our house as well as a cheaper portable one. It wasn't obvious that the vows weren't legal, but by the end of our trip, most of the guests knew anyways but no one cared. They knew we considered it our actual wedding day. Don't worry about emailing your vows, I just brought a printed set with me and gave it to the WC the day before who forwarded it to Lucy. I probably won't post a review, I pretty much said everything here! Aaaand I have no idea how to post pics!

I thought I should mention a few things; I had Bianca do my hair at the salon and I used the resort photographer. Bianca did an AWESOME job of my hair as well as my mom's and one other bridesmaid. She was great and super fast! The photographer's name was Chrissy or something like that and she took some REALLY awesome shots of me and Shane. However, there were important shots that I know she took (we even have pictures of her TAKING the pictures) but they were missing when I went to pick out my 36 (we had the middle package). She didn't have any of me and my dad walking down or any of just me and my sister. I could understand if a few didn't turn out but she was snapping a lot! I picked my 36 and they gave me a CD with those pics on them, then they mail you an album..... haven't got mine yet but it's only been about 3 weeks. It's like $600 to get the CD of ALL your pics. A couple other things: Me and Shane did the symbolic ceremony and I brought my entire script. Lucy was great and had no problem reading it. We signed a certificate after and totally forgot to grab it. Would have been a nice keepsake. We bought a Bose sound system for $450 to use for the reception and ceremony but when we tested it the night before, it was not nearly loud enough with the waves crashing in the background. We rented the sound system for $300 or $350 whatever it was. We did use the Bose for the song I walked down to though which saved us from renting a second set of speakers for $170. We didn't have a mic but and had 33 guests so I'm pretty sure people at the back couldn't hear anything. Now that I look back we could have had people way closer to us; the chairs started quiet a ways back. That might have solved it. Went to the sports bar after and had to wait like 20 minutes til they started music but we had a blast. They wouldn't play our iPod but they played good music. I actually think another bride beat me to the iPod thing. There was another wedding the same night on the beach but there were only about 5 of them in the sports bar as compared to 35 of us. That's all I can think of for now!

Her email is at the top of this page. Post 1361.

Everything WILL be fine and seriously, don't worry about it. Are you there a couple days before the wedding? What questions do you have? Anything we can help you with?

I still haven't gotten replies to emails I sent to both those email addresses last week. I resent them yesterday as well. Not a biggie tho, we ended up buying a Bose system yesterday to bring with us so no longer have to worry about getting an answer about speakers! This thing pumps man!!! I love it!!!!

I got an email from Rebeca on Oct 28th and that was the last one. I've sent about 3 more emails since, one to the groups coordinator, trying to get a few more questions answered before we leave ON SATURDAY and no one is responding to me. The annoying thing is that we're trying to figure out specific costs to know if its worth buying a Bose sound system to use or if it's better (with what we plan to do) to rent their equipment. It's also annoying that the package we're paying for includes "wedding organization and personalization by our wedding coordinator." And now, no it does not. On a side note - does anyone know if the old tower rooms have hair dryers? It says on the website they do but I want to be certain. I'd rather not lug mine down there.

I'm sure Samantha will be fine, we might end up paying a little more for a few things that we had previously worked out with Rebeca but nothing to get stressed about. The only thing I'm worried about is setting a slideshow up. We were originally renting the speakers, projector and screen and bringing a laptop to play the DVD through but now are thinking we might just buy a Bose portable system since then we can keep it after instead of throwing $300 away for 3 hours. So I'm just not sure how it will all get set up.... we'll figure it out soon! 5 days! I ended up ordering some table number holders which came in last week, they'll do the trick. Does Samantha have a separate email? You'd think if Rebeca was gone and Samantha taking over she would respond to my emails.

Oooook really? We leave in a week!! The last email I received from Rebeca was Oct 29th, she hasn't responded yet to one I sent 2 days ago. This might make things interesting!