TropicLover

@Archilly & Andecker, our reception was at the Creperie. It took my wedding coordinator/travel agent a lot of negotiating back and forth with Ana and the Food & Beverage manager to get that spot. I know another past bride had her's there, but they stayed outside by the pool. I think a lot of it has to do with the restaurants schedules as everyday one of them closes. Our wedding was on a Friday. @kleenotes, Our dinner was served around 7:30ish and we were served dessert after dinner and then straight after they put out petit fours (mini cakes and pastries). With all of that we opted to serve wedding cake around 10:30pm just so people would have a breather before more food. Honestly even at that point I had no room for food. Actually I think I was caught up in all the excitement and could barely eat anything. For us the iPod was controlled by our DJ even though we only paid for 4 hours of his time at the reception. We just handed it to Ana during the day of the wedding.

@kleenotes, I didn't mean to forget about you ;-) Glad you liked the pictures! We're happy with them and can't wait until we get to see all of them! For the cake we asked Ana if we could do Red Velvet. It took her a while to get back to us because she had to check with the Chef Manager or something. Anyway they did do and from what I've heard it was really good. If you can believe it I actually didn't have any. Actually most of the younger people were too busy dancing and didn't have any either. Thinking of it now it probably would have been a good idea to provide cake boxes so our guests could bring it back to their room for a late night snack.

@Josie Fiorda, thanks so much! Sascha’s great, such a nice man, you’ll really like him. Yes my hair was done at the salon. Be sure to request for Litzy, she’s the best! @QueenBennett, thanks for the nice compliments! Our photographer was Sascha Gluck from Cancun photos. http://www.cancunphotos.net/ The only other outside vendor we used was Planner1 for chairs and lights. @Leahbecker, the Villa Marina is quite large. You’d have to have at least +70 guests to occupy the entire restaurant. I remember Ana saying you could do your reception dinner there, however they wouldn’t close the restaurant so you’d be seated amongst other hotel guests. Also I don’t think they would allow a dj or anything there because other people would be having your dinner. The Terrace is really nice and it’s way more private than the Villa Marina.

Thanks ChocoTaco! I've been a blog stalker for the past year so I totally know what you mean ;-) The bm dresses are the Jasmine B2 brand. Honestly I never heard of it before. We found it at my bridal store (Lisa's Bridal) and the cut was perfect for the ladies. They were a big long (in-between a tea length and the knee) so we had them shortened to 1 inch above the knee when the came in. The sample colour was a charcol grey which was nice, but not what I was looking for. We ended up selecting the green from a tiny fabric swatch. It was pretty scary not knowing how the whole thing would turn out, but in the end I was happy. I've included the web link below, however the particular dress we picked isn't online. http://www.belsoie.com/

Ladies! I just recieved a sneak peak of our wedding photos! Sooooooooo excited! Here's the link: http://cancunphotosblog.com/carolyn-tysen-ocean-turquesa/

Hiya! Coming from a Canadian I think it's all bs. In my opinion a lot of American news is just a scare tactic. Everything will be fine, the Mayan Riviera is safe and you're going to have a fantastic wedding!

Hey Kleenotes! We used a travel agent for our booking and everyone was relatively close to another, but still some were split between buildings. Most people were in building 3 & 4...my parents are divorced so they ensured they were in separate buildings, lol my dad was in building 11 or something. Bride and groom were in building 8 upgraded to an Ocean View room (everyone else was garden view). As long as everyone is on the same side of the resort (i.e. Coral or Turquesa) you'll all be relatively close to everyone and will bump into people throughout the day. My aunt booked on her own and they put her in building 21 which is waaaaaaaay over on the Turquesa side right by the kiddie pool. I'm not sure how much pull Ana has on the room situation, but you can always try. When your guests booked with Expedia was there a group code they had to use? Hope that helps :-)

Wohoo! Congrats AnaS!

We booked all of our excursions through the hotel at the TraficTours desk. I also emailed them ahead of time to get an idea on pricing, etc....they were very quick to respond. Here's the contact info: Antonio Herrero or Mario Pirez. TOUR DESK H10 Ocean Turquesa E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (998) 287-2100 Ext. 3525 www.trafictours.com

Hey Sandy, Planner1 wasn't considered an outside vendor for us and we weren't charged the fee, however we had to pay a one time delivery fee of $90 (we ordered chairs, pillars and lights). Good luck

Aww thank you! That's so nice!

@Sandy, thanks so much!

Thanks Leahbecker! They were totally tea lights in white paper bags! Lol it sounds cheap, but it looked really pretty. The dress actually wasn't that bad. When I stepped off the plane I seriously thought I was going to die, but found it bearable after a day or two. We were at the resort 5 days before the wedding so maybe I was more acclimatized? I was sweaty underneath and used those oil blotting squares for my face, but I think the breeze help keep me cooler during the day. Who knows maybe it was the wedding day bliss, haha

I really wish I had better pictures of our Reception. Once I receive Sascha's I'll post away. Anyway below is the best picture I could find that shows the "sandbags". Lol I don't really know how else to describe them. Our reception was at the Creperie and the "dancefloor" was outside of it by the pool. This is us during our first dance Okay so since that's not the greatest pic, here's one of us during cocktail hour Lastly here's me and my maid of honor :-)

Glad to help! I'll go through my files and see what I can dig up. I don't have any of my professional pictures yet (4 - 6 weeks) and the ones I do have are just from my friends taking random pictures of us or themselves and I didn't want to bore you guys with pictures of me, lol. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing some of our venue shots because I feel like I'm forgetting. Lol the only part of the ceremony I remember is looking at my husband...the flowers, aisle runner and chairs are all a blur. Believe me when I get some pics I'll post away!

Hey Toritrad! I totally understand your frustration. Literally anything outside of the package is an extra....you'll find that anywhere (here or Mexico, the OCT or Dreams) and once you tag the word "wedding" onto what you're looking for and the price is increased. Don't forget that most of the price negotiating works best when you meet Ana/Karen at the resort. I've added a few comments below that might help you. Good luck with everything

@JCP62212, I think you could do that and just say they are a guest. If the hotel knows they are a pro photographer in the area they will most likely charge you. I would check with the photographer to see what they feel comfortable with. Most of them are familiar with the hotels so I would think they wouldn't want to jeopardize that relationship (in case they get banned or something). Also most of the photographers live in the area so they don't require a room, but I see where you're coming from on the cost savings aspect.

@Danitree, there are a lot of great photographers in the Cancun area, it just takes a bit research to find one that matches whar you're looking for. Take a scroll through the review section of BDW to see what other brides had to say about certain photographers. I used Sascha Gluck (Cancun Photos) and although I haven't seen any of my photos yet, I'm confident they will be great! Sascha's such a nice man, totally professional and made us feel comfortable throughout the 8 hours we had him. Once I receive my pictures I'll be posting a review. In the meantime I must confess I'm a blog-stalker of his (lol) and he just posted another wedding he did earlier this month at the OCT. Check it out: http://cancunphotosblog.com/ I'm not sure if the bride is on this forum, but she does look lovely, congratulations. With that all said the hotel is fairly reasonable when it comes to outside photographers. To be safe I suggest to tell Ana/Karen (the wedding coordinators) that you already have one booked. Like most hotels you will need to pay a $300 Vendor Fee, plus an $80 day pass per person (so $460 for the photographer and his assistant). Trust me it's worth it! Factor it into your photog budget early....also remember this price is negotiable ;-) Happy Planning!

Regarding the photographer, I totally agree with Sandy. If you go with the resort you're literally getting Iguana Man to take your photo (i.e. the guy that runs around the resort putting an iguana on your shoulder and then takes your picture).

Thanks Ladies! The weather was hot hot hot! BUT I loved it! My now husband was sweating like an animal, but I was suprisingly okay. Under my dress was sticky, but I wasn't pouring sweat out of every pore like I thought I would be. I think it's because I expected the very worst so the reality was a pleasant surprise....just be sure to drink plenty of water. Weather wise we got an amazing week, it was clear sunny skies everyday. We stayed an extra 3 days (so 10 in total) and the weather said thunderstorms for those last 3 days. We saw a little rain one of the mornings for about 1 hour and then it was a combo of sunshine and slightly overcast skies. I wouldn't really worry too much because when it does rain it's only for a short period of time.

Ladies I'm back! Omg it was aaaaaaaaaamazing! The wedding was amazing, Ana is amazing, the staff is amazing, the resort is amazing and we're SUPER happy with the way it turned out. Amazing amazing amazing! Haha. I will be writing a review in a few weeks, I just want to wait until I receive my professional pictures (I always find it nicer to read a review that includes pics ). In the meantime if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. You ladies have chosen a really great resort and your wedding will be beautiful!

Well ladies I leave tomorrow morning at 7am to the OCT! I can't believe the time has come! I've barely slept the last two nights because I've been finishing up all the last minute details. And with our flight leaving so early tomorrow morning I doubt I'll sleep very much tonight. Forecast is sunny and HOT HOT HOT all week! I'll post a review after the wedding as well as our pro-pictures. JBandDJ, love your photos and you look fabulous! I'm now more confident in the salon stylists ;-) I have my hair trial and make-up on Monday so if all goes good I'll be set for the big day. Thanks so much to all of you who have helped answer many questions. See you in 10 days!