KRama

Portofino is SO good! We had our wedding dinner there and everyone was saying it was the best wedding dinner they've ever had. They have a large appetizer and salad buffet and we had a choice between salmon or stuffed chicken. Both were amazing! The Arrecife Jacuzzi bar, where the poolside reception is held, is literally 10 steps down the path from the Portofino. Since we were all staying at Coba everyone's rooms were super close so quite a few guests changed into more comfortable dancing attire before the party got started.

I had my reception poolside at Coba. It was awesome! There's a bar hut at the pool already. Our WC didn't ask what level of bar we wanted when we met with her and we didn't think to ask. We ended up having a full bar and I don't think we paid any extra for it. Don't take my word for it though...that might have been a fluke!

Ok, let's see if I can answer some of your questions: Quote: Originally Posted by fraggle42 hi, could you please tell me what involement the witnesses have i.e do they stand at the front during the ceremony or sit with the other guests? We had a bridal party of 4 bridesmaids and 4 groomsmen so they stood at the front with us like a traditional ceremony. I would imagine if you have one witness for both sides they would stand at the front with you as well or if you would prefer them to sit with the guests you could do that too. Anything goes! Hope that helps! Anything else, just ask!

I had the symbolic ceremony. It's all in English and the signing part only took about 2 minutes (bride, groom, 2 witnesses signing one "certificate") so I only needed one song.

If you were quoted $400 just let them know and they'll honor that price. That's what they did for us anyways!

I would recommend putting a bunch of extra songs on your CD for when the guests are seated...just in case! I was nearly 20 minutes late for our ceremony but I had about 8 extra songs on my CD so I don't think our guests heard the same song twice or (gasp!) the ceremony songs!

Thanks! The Etsy seller was called Maddie's Attic. She said she's done lots of chair covers as bridesmaid gifts. I got married a year ago now (time flies!!) so I've been back for awhile. Check out my siggy for a link to my review and photos!

We used Jacquie Hoare (she's a family friend) for our JP. She came to our house, performed a quick humorous "ceremony" for us and our best friends as our witnesses and we toasted with champagne afterwards. We all wore jeans and it was completely unromantic. Exactly what we wanted. Here's her website: http://www.lifecelebrant.ca/Site/WELCOME.html

Hi there, I tried to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge but I had my wedding there a year ago now (time flies!) so some things may have changed... Hope that helps!

Hi Sunshine, I brought my own photographer from Calgary, who is a very good friend of mine, and I got married at the same resort! Best decision ever. The photogs there are amazing but yes, they are pricey! Here's the link to Julie's blog: http://j2bailey.blogspot.com/ My pics are in the June 2010 archive if you want to check them out. Another friend of mine, Carla, has done a number of destination weddings (they're her favorite!). Here's her website:http://www.shiphotography.com/index2.php Just about all her pics are of my friends! She gives you ALL the photos on a CD so you can do whatever you like with them. Hope that helps!

Just had our one year anniversary yesterday! I can't believe how fast a year has gone! We're throwing an anniversary reunion party tomorrow and inviting everyone that came to Mexico with us. It's too bad we couldn't have a reunion at the resort! We had so much fun!

Thanks girls! I'll look into these for sure!

Kind of a random question...can anyone recommend a good waxing place in the NW??

The symbolic ceremony was exactly like a legal ceremony. Many of our guests didn't know we were legally married at home before we left and no one noticed a difference. You still say vows, they still pronounce you "man and wife", you and your witnesses still sign a certificate and it still feels just as special as a legal ceremony would. The only thing was that it was very short (6 minutes!) which was fine for us since our guests were sitting in the hot sun and we were eager to get on with the party! If you'd like any special readings or vows make sure you bring them with you and give them to your WC to be included in the ceremony. We paid for everything upon checkout. I had made a list of everything that I expected to be charged for so I had an idea of what the total should be and the total they provided was pretty close to that so we didn't bother to ask for an itemized bill. Keep in mind that they give you the total in pesos so be ready for a quick conversion (generally 10 pesos per dollar). Hope that helps!

Sunshine - I just replied to your post on the GBP page so I guess you can disregard my question of who you're flying with! I used Air Canada Vacations and I'm SO glad I did. My travel agent recommended them because they actually own and operate their airline and very rarely change/cancel flights compared to a carrier like Sunwing that will cancel flights that are not full and transfer passengers to another flight (sometimes resulting in changed dates). This was important to us since we were booking 8 months out and the idea of having flight times or dates change last minute for 35 guests stressed me out. They had the best prices and when booking as a group, for every 20 people booked, you got a free flight so one of us got a free trip! Myself and hubby got a free upgrade to first class and we received excellent service as did our guests in coach. They also have a price guarantee so if the price of your trip drops 60 day prior to departure, they'll honour the new price. I know it totally depends on your own personal experience but I've flown with Air Canada many many times for business and pleasure and have never had an issue! I would highly recommend them!

I wouldn't worry about it Sunshine. Certain tour operators have contracts with certain sections of the resort. It sounds like First Choice (for the UK folks) has a new contract and only offer Akumal now. I think this is rare and you shouldn't have a problem with this. Who are you booked through? I had booked through Air Canada Vacations, they have different price points for Coba, Akumal and Tulum and we chose Coba. There was no issue regarding switching sections at all.

I had my ceremony music on a CD and the DJ played some songs off my ipod during the reception that he didn't have in his own collection. Our ceremony was at the gazebo and they aisle was quite long so I think it took at least a minute or two to walk down it. I don't think I used the entire song but they just fade it out when you reach the end of the aisle and the ceremony is about to begin. Honestly, you won't even notice the music! You'll be focused on your groom at the end of the aisle (and not tripping over your dress). I picked out a bunch of fun, beachy, love songs to play while the guests were seated. Off the top of my head I remember "It's now or never" by Elvis (I thought that was hilarious), "Come fly with me" by Micheal Buble and "For once in my life" but Stevie Wonder. I can't believe it's almost been a year! I want to do it all over again!

Stunning photos Natalie!! I love your bridesmaid's dresses!

Thought I'd check in and see if any of the May 2010 brides are still around! It's almost First Anniversary time!! Any plans? We're throwing a "Mexico Reunion" party to get everyone together again! We'll have plenty of margaritas and chips and salsa on hand!

Thanks traceysteve! They were a huge hit!

I believe the $1000 for a max of 50 people was for the "beach party" reception which included a private dinner, bar and dance on the beach.

I think there is only the one spa...we didn't really explore the Tulum or Akumal properties so I'm not positive. I would recommend the spa salon for sure. For make up, I had a consultation and make up application at home with a MAC consultant and brought along my friend that's really into make up. The consultant taught her how to apply everything and then my friend replicated it in Mexico. PS. June 11th is my birthday.

My bridesmaids and I all had a real flower in our hair. We kept them in the mini-fridge until just before the ceremony and then put them in. They didn't survive too long in the humidity and I took it out just after dinner because it was limp and browning. I loved it for our ceremony pictures though and I think it was only $3-5 per flower, totally worth it. Here's how it looked shortly after the ceremony, already starting to wilt:

Ok, let's see if I can help: DJ - I would recommend getting the resort DJ and giving him a play list of the songs you like. The Bose system could also work but the DJ had a great system, he provided a microphone for speeches and had lights for the dance floor as well. Our group gave him requests all night and he played them all. We had an absolute blast and didn't want it to end! Flowers - the photos they have to choose from at the resort are dated (think puffy shoulder dresses!). I brought photos of flowers that I really liked and Karla browsed through them and let me know which ones they could do that would still be included with the package. I picked one and my bouquet turned out exactly like the pic. Very pleased! I recommend sending your WC your ideas or bringing pics of your own. Hair - I booked my appointment about 2 weeks in advance for myself, my mom and my sis to have our hair done the day of the wedding. Karla gave me the email address for the spa to book the appointment - [email protected]. Once we arrived at the resort, Karla told me to stop by the spa to confirm my appointment and my mom also booked herself in for a mani/pedi. Tropicalbride - I would recommend booking your wedding day appointments and your group mani/pedi session ahead of time so they'll know to have enough staff on site to accommodate you. dfranklin - my mom and my sis had Jasmin do their hair and it was lovely! I would highly recommend her if she's still around. I did my own make up so I can't help much there. You do NOT get a discount on wedding day appointments like hair and make up however you do get discounts on other spa services. I paid $85 US to have my hair done. Mom and sis were $65-ish. For you soon-to-be brides: DO NOT FRET! Bring copies of your emails from the WC's to your meeting when you arrive at the resort. Karla had a few details wrong when we met with her two days before our wedding but we confirmed what we wanted and she had everything arranged for us. I know it's frustrating when you don't have constant communication with your WC and you want your wedding to be #1 priority, I felt the same way. These ladies do two wedding almost every day so it's not like they're sitting in front of their computer often. This resort knows how to do weddings. I didn't even bother to go see the ceremony or reception locations until I showed up that day in my big white dress and everything was SO PERFECT!

The photographer will come and take shots of you getting ready, heading for the ceremony, the ceremony itself and photos after. They did group shots for us since we also had a friend who was our photographer. Just tell them you want lots of group shots and they'll do that for you.