amywuts

Quote: Originally Posted by lilbuddha Hi Amy, Thanks for such a a great review! Would you mind sending your pics to me as well? My email is [email protected]. I was just wondering if you felt like you had enough time to go over everything with your WC prior to the wedding or if you felt rushed in anyway? How scheduled was your day overall? Was there a timeline of some sort? Thanks ~M I sent you a link to see my pics! We had gone over all of it with our TA before the wedding, so I knew what to expect and what else needed to be done. I didn't feel rushed with Yazmin; she wrote down everything we wanted (although, most of that didn't happen anyway...so what was the point of the meeting again) I felt rushed through the photos for sure! We used the resort photographer. He was really nice though about taking extra shots when we asked. I thought I had my timeline figured out. I made my hair appointment for noon (my wedding was at 5pm) and I knew it would take them 2 hours. So, I thought 2-4:30 would be plenty of time. It wasn't!! My sister was helping me with my makeup and we ordered room service. Between makeup, eating (maybe 5 minutes?), not being able to drink my glass of wine, and getting dressed I was really rushed! Time flew by so fast, I don't even know what happened. I got ready in a whirlwind! Yes, give yourself plenty of time! I thought I had... Besides the ceremony and your dinner, the way you schedule your day is up to you! I originally thought the same thing you did. I thought your WC would help you set up your hair appointment and anything else you wanted done. Your WC will tell you what time she'll be picking you up at your room. Everyone for our wedding was to be at the gazebo by 4:40pm. I told everyone 4:30pm. Yazmin came to my room at 4:50pm and from there we went!

I finally have the professional pics!! They look great! I have hundereds of photos, so if you would like to see some send me your email and give me an idea of what you would like to see.

Quote: Originally Posted by nicdeb928 Hi Amy! Congratulations on your wedding..thank you so much for the review..its so helpful to read suggestions/advice from other brides...Im getting married at ASP this November, I decided to not go with a package and just add what specifically i want..so im definitely going to go with the horse and carriage...a question..i read that the gazebo on the north side that you got married in, isnt as nice bc the view of the water isnt as good and the fence that lines it is not attractive...did you feel that way or were you happy with that gazebo? thanks for the advice of having someone check over the decorations to make sure it looks the way you want it to... We thought the gazebo was gorgeous. We walked around and looked at all the other ones, and by far that was our favorite. The other thing we liked about it is that it seemed a little more secluded. We had no on-lookers watching our wedding, so it made our ceremony feel more exclusive. Whereas, all the other gazebos are centrally located and I'm sure you'll have random people watching. Also, the carriage can drive right up to the gazebo and you'll have a grand entrance! In all of the photos I've seen so far the fence isn't in any of them and it wasn't that noticeable in any case. It's white and blends in with the gazebo. No worries, I didn't see any trash cans, I looked! The photographer had us go behind the gazebo over on the rocks for many of the pics and he caught some beautiful shots with the waves crashing in on the rocks. Some of our guests snapped photos while he was taking shots...so that is all I have to go on right now till we get our professional pics. Also, my husband and I were discussing again the flowers on the judges table and indeed they were fake also. The package states that they are real, but they are not.

My husband and I were just married in Mexico and he usually has a really hard time with people finding his veins when they take his blood. We requested someone more experienced and for the first time in his life the guy doing it got it on the first try!! Doing a legal ceremony in Mexico isn't anymore of a hassle than doing it in the states. In fact, it was all done for you and all you have to do is show up! I can see the hesitation in doing a legal ceremony in Mexico, believe me I thought about it! But, so many people do it and almost all the resorts are so used it also, that it's now second nature for them to get the paperwork and have the right documents ready for your big day. My advice is if you are still considering whether or not you are going to do a civil ceremony in Mexico is to not worry about it and just do what your instincts are telling you to do.

Quote: Originally Posted by angelov321 Thanks for the review! It really puts things into perspective. You really dont think about the little things going wrong and usually thats were the problems lay. Im happy you had an overall great experience! Do you have any pictures to show us? Where did you have your reception? Did you do cocktail hour? Did you use the resort photog? Sorry so many questions at once. Thanks! They are sending us our photos and CD in the mail; we weren't there long enough after the wedding to get it before we left. We didn't have an official reception. Yazmin said we would have to pay for space if we wanted them to set something up. So, instead we borrowed an ipod dock from one of our friends and took over a little space in the lobby/lounge area in ASP. It was good enough for us. Unfortunately, we booked our trip through a TA, so we were not eligible for any "free" extras. We tried to get a cocktail hour, but they wouldn't budge. We did use the resort photographer and I'm anxious to see them!

I've started a new thread posted Aventura Spa Palace Wedding Review. Let me know if I can help with any questions!

Hi ladies My husband and I were just married at ASP on June 4th. We had an amazing time! All of our guests were so pleased with the resort and no on can wait to go back for another trip. Our wedding was with the Ruby package. My bouquet was beautiful. I told them I didn't want any roses, but any other red flower would do, and I asked for lilies to be added in it. It was more than I could ask for...no roses and a gorgeous assortment of tropical flowers. The flowers that were included in the ceremony were okay. The flower vases they display next to the chairs is exactly what you see in the photos. But, the flowers they place on the "judges table" is nothing like what you see on the palace website. Basically they were 3 or 4 carnation like flowers in a vase. It looked bare and minimal. On the website it shows a lovely bouquet of roses, but don't expect that. I asked to have the red carpet laid out for the ceremony and it didn't happen. I was a little disappointed in that. I couldn't change it because I didn't know it wasn't there until I was walking down the aisle. My advice? Have a close friend check out your ceremony decor and make sure everything you wanted is there! The fireworks were great. I liked the addition of that! The carriage was also a huge hit. There was not a dry eye in sight when I got off of the carriage and started walking down the aisle. I highly recommend the carriage. We got married in the white gazebo on the end of the resort, so it was able to drive right up to the gazebo. I got my hair done at the resort. I think my hairdressers name was Claudia, she did a good job. I wanted my hair half up and half down. It was windy and during the ceremony and while we were doing the photos I was paranoid that my hair was all over my face or flying wildly behind me. If I had to do it over again I would probably do an up do. But, from the photos I've seen so far my hair isn't nearly as wild as it felt during the time. Also, the curls were killed by the humidity...only the loose ones that hung down my neck. They whisked us off immediately after the ceremony for our photos literally after they just handed us all a glass of champagne. I thought that was tacky. Not much time for a toast. So, he had us all gather for a group photo with glasses in our hands! I made him re-do a bunch of family photos without the champagne glasses. We were also squinting a lot because the sun was right in our eyes...I also had him re-do some in the shade where we weren't squinting. I haven't seen the professional pics yet; they are in the mail. FYI: We walked over rocks for the photos...so just keep that in mind. I wish I would have brought my fancy flip flops so I wasn't precariously walking over the rocks with my heels. My husband accidentally stepped on my train too, so I fell gently with all the arms that jumped out to grab me! Also, I had no time to re-apply any make-up or lipstick before the pics--I had no idea what happened to my purse. Again, if I did it over I would have stopped everything to find my lipstick. I just felt so rushed throughout all the photos. My cake was great! We opted to have a 3 tier cake instead of the cupcakes. They made it exactly the way I wanted it. One minor thing though. I asked to have fresh flowers that matched my bouquet to be on the cake and there were none. We tried to get it remedied before they brought it out, but I don't think there was anything they could do at that point. The wedding office closes at 5pm or something...so basically there is no way to get a hold of anyone after your wedding. Yazmin stayed during the ceremony, but after that she was gone. It still looked good, but that was important to me. It tasted great though! We provided our own music for the ceremony and it seemed that there player was a little out of sync. Our "song" sounded a little marbled and slower than usual. Again, a minor detail, but a little annoying. Also, we asked them to keep playing down the list of songs while we signed our papers, but they kept playing the same song over and over. Again, I was disappointed. Our Judge was awesome! We weren't expecting much from the judge, but he gave a beautiful speech. It wasn't "religious", (at least I don't remember it being that way). He quoted a couple of Mexican poets/philosophers, and gave a lovely speech relating to the quotes he gave. It was very nice and perfect. We couldn't have asked for anything better. For the most part we felt that we got our money's worth out of the package. However, because of what was not there (as I have mentioned all earlier), that made us feel a bit unhappy with it. Many of the reviews I've read no one seemed to experience any of that. Not sure if I should recommend the packages or not...I guess I wouldn't buy it again and would do everything a la carte. But, I did enjoy the carriage and fireworks, and that is something I would not have gotten if we wouldn't have done the package. There lies the conundrum. Looking at the whole wedding retrospectively all the "extras" really were not all that important and I realized I would have been just as happy without all of it. Important people in our lives were there, we were there together and I had a beautiful dress! Overall we had a beautiful wedding. It was definitely an experience of a life time and one all of our guests thoroughly enjoyed. The beach was beautiful, there was no rain, the sun was out, and we were happy.

At ASP the lagoon was awesome. I did not miss the beach for one second. You can snorkel and swim without having waves crash over you. Also, you could use a floaty and bask in the sun without blowing away. If you want a beach, there is one 5 minutes away from the resort, but all of our guests didn't miss it anymore than we did. The activities went on around the main pool, so the lagoon was more of a relaxation area.

Quote: Originally Posted by nicdeb928 Yeahhhh! so excited for you! where are you having your cocktail hour and reception? and who is your photographer? Is there a million things to do as it gets closer I am not sure if I will get a cocktail hour and I don't know what time the dinner will be so I'm not sure about the reception either. I am not stressed about it, I've known since the beginning that they like to plan these things when you get there, so I decided I'd rather do that and see the place to decide how I wanted things done. We are using the photographer onsite...it is way less of a hassle and I know they will turn out great. I figure this is a high-end resort for Mexico and they treat their employees really well, therefore the photographer must be one of the best also. I wouldn't mind a gig like that! I have a lot to do still! Finishing up last minute projects that I've left till now...

I am getting married at ASP in about 2 weeks! June 4th. I am getting down to the wire and very excited.

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow I am in the same boat as you. I have spent about 12k on the wedding / resort so I really dont want to spend anymore on hair and makeup. I think I am going to go with the salon that is their. It is included in the price of the package I bought. I will bring photos of exactly I what I want, but I am also going to bring all my own stuff incase I have to touch it up to get more of the look that I want. I use bobby brown makeup. I have the waterproof type. it lasts all day no problems. I might even have them use some of my makeup to get the right colors. I am very touchy on what I put on my face. I dont want to end of with some cakey powery makeup. As far as hair goes. I think I am going to extentsion and curling them. I will supply them. All they need to do is apply them and curl them. I will be babysiting the process to a T. You said that the salon is included in your package? It's not included in mine, so that is why I'm asking.

About the makeup: I went to MAC and had them apply a look on me and I loved it. So, I bought all the eye makeup to re-create that look. They did an amazing job and have a lot of helpful hints on what products you should use in Mexico. Another friend of mine went to ULTA...never bought makeup there before.

Check out this website for the video and photography by ASP. Palace Weedings Photography Many people have said it's worth it, and my FI and I plan on getting the DVD with our wedding. Someone suggested giving them a CD of songs you would like on it...so we will be doing that too.

I remembered reading this in a message from tinkatude awhile back and thought I would re-post what she said. "I also told them to KICK up the cake taste up a notch...I picked a menu and changed things around...took things out and added things in...things that were in the restaurants that I liked to eat...also I had a three tier cake chocolate with chocolate mousse...(the bottom tier) the middle tier was pineapple cheesecake and the top was vanilla with vanilla pudding...my least favorite." I would love to hear of more experiences from other ASP brides!

Southern Sweetie All it said was "Cake included/Flavor: Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, Fruit, Lemon, or Cheese." I am a pastry chef, so my expectations are a lot higher than the average joe, so I hear you on being a dessert snob. It looks like they included the cake flavors and fillings in one sentence, otherwise I'm going to be really nervous about what to expect! I just want it to taste good. So far, tres leches is my first choice, but it's not listed. But, I was really curious to see what other brides have/had chosen for fillings. I don't want to bring my own filling; it's too much of a hassle, thanks for the tip though. I know I would be disappointed too because I would want it freshly made and not out of a container.