beachykeen

As promised, I'm back with some of my photographers teaser pictures. There are some good ones of the buffet and reception set up---which we didn't pay anything extra for. We had a buffet and it was on the pool terrace.

Yes the lanterns were included. And we had 40 people and had leftover cake. I think a lot of people ate the desserts from the buffet instead. I would find out the cost of a 2 tier cake and decide if you think the cost is worth it. When I asked Magdalena how much it would be for a larger 1 tier that would feed 40 she said the included cake would feed 20 and then it would be $4 per person after that plus 11% tax and 15% service fee.

Found a better one of the chairs---VERY plain.

We had our reception at the Pool Area and it worked out perfectly. The pools are closed so your reception is the only thing going on around the pool. And no one else was around. The dance floor area was a square of concrete that jutted out into the pool. Our set up worked out really nicely for our group and I'm still waiting on my professional pictures---I'll post reception decor photos for everyone. It seems like a lot of the girls went with the pool deck though so if you're interested in it I would book it fast. We brought an IPOD and used the sound sytem and it was loud enough and worked out great. The only complaint I had was that the music tech didn't speak English so I had to go up to him and literally show him each playlist that I made (ex. Dinner, First Dance, Dance music) and he still mixed in some of his own music.

If you look to the left of the picture I just posted you can see the back of the chairs included at the reception. They're really plain but sashes would really add a lot to them.

I didn't give them any preference for the cake besides the tres leches flavor. It was delicious and the cake was simple and pretty. Here's the best picture I have of it. I have heard that they're pretty good at replicating pictures of cakes that you show them though. You can see the lanterns above the buffet in the background too!

Quote:Originally Posted by brookeh68 Does anyone know if paper lanterns come with the reception decor or do we have to rent them? They were included at our wedding. Still waiting for my pro pics and I'll post pictures of our reception set up which we didn't pay anything extra for.

Lily---Your pictures are GORGEOUS!!! Congrats!!

That's great! It sounds like you're getting everything togehter! EW Cancun is amazing! They did my ceremony set up and I only wish I would've booked them for the reception decor too. You might want to ask Rafaelle at EW if he has any ideas for the reception tables. He can send you pictures of different set ups and then you wouldn't have to worry about it getting done. What are your colors? I still have a ton of inspiration photos saved. We did the music tech and he played our dinner music so I'm sure the DJ would do that too. For the cocktail hour, I think it depends on the time of the wedding and reception. If you have a big gap in time between the ceremony and reception I would do the cocktail hour right after the ceremony while you're getting pictures. That way your guests won't be starving by the time of the reception.

The lobby bar is huge and has lots of areas where you could separate yourselves into a group. Desires has a terrace with a lot of seating you could use for a toast and speeches/giving out gifts. I would check out both of those places as soon as you get there and decide which one you like best.

Right after the ceremony, a waiter served champagne to everyone and we got some pictures with the wedding party and the whole group. Then we all went to the swing bar on the beach and had drinks and mingled. Some people layed under the palapas and talked and had a few drinks. We got cigars for the guys after the ceremony too. Everyone stayed there while we got the rest of our pictures and until it was time for the reception. It really worked out well. These pictures are in the palapas right next to the swing bar.

When we got there we had a group of about 20 for our rehearsal dinner and they said they couldn't reserve anything unless we booked it privately for $30 per person. My Father in Law went up to the manager at Portofino and paid him $100 and they seated us all at one long table together and put rose petals on the table for us. It was really nice but we wouldn't have had any options other than the private dinner if we wouldn't have gone to the restaurant manager with money. However, we had a group of 7 get seated all together at Bordeaux, the French restaurant, a few nights after the wedding just for dinner and they didn't have any problems seating us together. It was my favorite and the service and atmosphere were really romantic. We also had a group of 7 get seated together at El Patio with no problems or waiting around. I really don't think you will have a problem getting seated togehter at any of the restaurants if you just show up early for dinner.

I'll get back to you with pictures as soon as I can.

Quote:Originally Posted by sunkisseddreams Great review beachykeen! You mentioned that the buffet had pretty paper lanterns strung above it. Did the resort provide the paper lanterns or did you bring them? How many were there and approximately what were the sizes? Do you happen to have a pictures of it? or any of your reception set up for that matter? Sorry for all the questions but we're thinking about having our reception on the pool terrace too Thanks for taking the time to share with us! It really helps ease the stress... especially when it takes forever to hear back from the coordinators... who I haven't heard from since August! AlHow many were t The resort provided the lanterns and it was a string of maybe 6 of them. Not sure on the sizes but I'll see if I can find any pictures. Once I get my professional pics back they will probably have one of the buffet and reception set up as a whole. Hope I can help more! My guests did comment that the set up was perfect and they loved seeing the resort lit up all around us. I would bring lots if bug spray too. The Mosquitos were pretty bad. We had little bug repellant wipes for everyone and it helped a lot.

I used EW Cancun for the ceremony decor and they required a deposit when I booked them. They have a U.S. partner in New York that I was able to send a check to and I paid the rest of it a few weeks before the wedding the same way. We used Playa Weddings for photography and they actually had paypal so I paid a deposit when I booked them through my credit card on paypal and the rest of it the same way a few weeks before the wedding. Both of these places would take the balance up to the day of the wedding but I wanted to have those things paid for before we got down there. You can probably ask them ahead of time what they accept for payment too. Hope this helps!