ktrant

Ok ladies, I have put together some photos that our guests have sent us. I'm still waiting on our professional ones but these should give you an idea of what to expect. Just send me your email if you would like to view the photos. Thanks, Mrs. Vargas! [email protected]

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow Sent you a facebook invite...Your profile pic is beautiful! Palace Resorts should use it on there wedding page =) I accepted. Thank you!

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow Did you see any mugs in Playa? I dont want to travel with them =) No I didn't, that's why I opted not to do the mugs. I didn't want to have to tote all the goods to Tulum. I had a friend in Playa buy my things for me and had him deliver it to the resort once I arrived. They do have a wal-mart in Playa that you can buy goods from but if they are american products they are expensive.

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow Is it true they only do two weddings a day or is there more? I am not sure where I want to have my receiption. I would prefer to wait and decide once I am down there. But if it fills up I dont want to be stuck in a indoor conferance room or something =) I'm not sure, I know I didn't run into any other brides on my day but that doesn't mean anything (I also had mine on a Friday). Now, on Saturday I do recall seeing 3 different bridal parties. I would have your WC put you down for a specific location and then change it once you get there if you don't like it. Honestly, all the set-ups were nice.

Quote: Originally Posted by nicdeb928 Thank you for the great review Kim..im getting married there in November with about 50 people so this helps alot with my planning..i cant wait to see your pics..a few questions..i know the welcome dinner is included bc of the free private functions..was alcohol included to for the two hours and what menu did you choose for that? Also what time was your ceremony the day of your wedding and what time did you have your hair/makeup done? im trying to figure out when i should schedule mine...i read that you missed your cocktail hour my fiance and i really want to be a part of ours so were scheduling our ceremony at 3 and our cocktail hour not till 4:30..do you think this will give us enough time to take our pics? and last question...where did you get the marraccas from? thanks so much and Congratulations! Nicole Glad I can help!! Alcohol is included because it is an all-inclusive resort. Now, if you are paying a la carte, the food is a separate charge. My husband chose all the food and if I’m not mistaken, it was the Caribbean buffet for the welcome dinner. Some of the seafood didn’t look appealing, but it was delicious! Our ceremony took place at 4 and the cocktail was schedule from 4:30-6 (most guest arrived at 5 though because we were all taking photos). Our photo session with the resort photographer took about an hour and then I hired my own personal photographer and we spent an additional 30+ minutes with him. You should have plenty of time. Allocate some time to freshen up after the cocktail party. You will be sweaty Betty! Luckily my make-up artist had his touch-up items with him and it only took a quick minute. Cameras will be flashing as you enter the reception and you want to look refreshed. A good idea would be to delegate one of your friends to carry some items in her purse for you. I started my day off with a 9 o’clock massage (took an hour) and then headed up to the suite to get ready. I started make-up (airbrush) at 11:30 then started with my hair. My hair is long and thick so it took about an hour and fifteen minutes to complete. Make-up took about 30-45 minutes. My make-up artist did all of our make-up (myself, 2 MOH’s and my mom). My hairstylist did everyone’s hair too. We finished with about 20 minutes to spare. This was mainly bc I had 2 people doing 4 people each. So if you have them scheduled with different people you should be fine. I would recommend pre-ordering food, champagne or whatever else you want in your room when you’re getting ready. Room service took an hour and half to bring up our food. We were starving! Make sure you eat something! You will need the energy!! I had a friend from Mexico make them for me. They were pretty cool! If anything, they have markets in Playa and Tulum that you could go to and buy some. The Tulum market was definitely cheaper than the Playa one. He used a silver metallic marker to write our names on them which looked great. I also learned that you can’t sweat the small stuff. If something doesn’t go the way you planned, you have to just let it go. This night goes by so fast that you don’t want to waste time on the small stuff. Make sure you sit back every once in awhile and savor the moments! My husband and I bought a journal while we were at the market once we were on our honeymoon and started to jot down memories that we had about the whole weekend. He had some totally different stories than I did and it was great to reminisce. We didn’t want the weekend to end!! Thank you!! Kimberly

Also for info about the vacation dollars, go to the thread PALACE VACATION DOLLARS.

Ok ladies...about the vacation dollars!! If your guest stay 3-4 nights $750 credit, 5 or more $1500 credit. Once your guest check in, the credit will appear and they will briefly discribe the choices you have. Your guest will have the option to upgrade their rooms (which most of mine did), use towards tours (which my guest loved!!), spa (a must!!) and/or they can use all of it for golf (only one person golfed and he loved it). The room upgrade just comes with a room on the 2nd or 3rd floor depending on what they originally booked. The higher the floor the "better" the liquor and wine list. The room size did not change. All the rooms are pretty much the same. Guest loved the fact that tours were free. One of the favorites was swimming w/dolphins. One park that I would recommend that is not included in package is the Xcaret or the Xplor. AWESOME!!! It's a whole day thing, but well worth it. The XPLOR is all-inclusive too. Spa was awesome! Go an hour early and you get to do the hydro therapy which is a treat! For the bride and groom, you can use the $$ for the above or you can apply the WHOLE amount to your package. You can't break up the dollars. I think this covers it. We were guiney pigs for this promotion so it took longer for us to get answers to questions we had asked. I'm sure all the kinks will be worked out by the time your wedding arrives. Kimberly

Quote: Originally Posted by amywuts 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. I would love to see your photos! [email protected]

Ladies, I just got back from my honeymoon at this resort and it is absolutely gorgeous! We had a 2 story room with ocean and pool view. Highly recommend it! I don’t think there was a room with a bad view but if you can do it, splurge and do the 2-story suite! It comes with your own personal pool on the second deck which is wonderful at night! The grounds of this resort were beautiful. Our toughest decisions everyday was to go to the beach or the pool. The staff was amazing and the little perks you get are nice too. Your weddings will be absolutely GORGEOUS!! Kimberly

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow Did anyone ask if you could go and pick up flowers from Playa the day of instead? It would only be half outside vendor if you picked them up I suppose =) I tried this and it is not allowed. Since I was having such an issue with prices on flowers, I mentioned that I could go get them myself and was told by Dulce that they wouldn't be allowed on their property. So...I had to pay the prices they were offering. Kimberly

Quote: Originally Posted by nicdeb928 Hi ladies! Ive been looking at these luminary paper bags, where you put the battery operated tealights in them and they glow at night...was thinking about having a bunch of them around the area where our reception will be...just wondering if anyone thinks it will be too windy in Mexico in November for these...will they just blow away? what if i put some sand in the bottom of them? thanks for any input...nicole Nicole, it is windy and unless you fill the back about 1/4 full of sand and maybe throw some rocks in there, they will get blown away. My vases at the ceremony had to be moved because they kept blowing over. They were glass vases. Kimberly

Quote: Originally Posted by nicdeb928 so a few questions for past brides...were beach balls allowed in the pool area? thinking about putting some in our OOT bags...Can you bring your own hanging paper lanterns for decorations and is there anywhere for them to hang them? im still wondering if you think its to windy for the paper luminary bags too....also ive heard alot of people mention putting insulated mugs in the OOT bags...does Aventura spa allow them? do they fill them for the guests and what size would you recommend? thanks so much...Nicole Yes, beach balls are allowed. I’m sure you could bring lanterns; it just depends on the location of your events. None of my locations had a place for lanterns to be hung. I believe one of the inlets does have post, but it is windy! They wouldn’t hang straight; they would be blowing sideways in the wind. Yes, the bartenders will fill up the insulated mugs. The drinks come with little ice and because it is so hot, if you don’t drink your drink fast enough it will get watered down. So mugs are a great idea! Remember that most guests are 2 to a room so you will need to put 2 in each bag. The bell man are used to simplicity, so if you have different bags (say some bags have 2 mugs and some have 3, or 4) that need to go to certain rooms, it makes it difficult for them to understand what to do. We had guest that brought their huge Bubba Mugs which were pretty awesome. Don’t forget…you have to travel with all this stuff. Hope this helps! Kimberly

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow Your review did worry me a tad, but as long as the problems were between you and the resort and the guests loved it, I am ok with that. I am glad you added that! I have my wedding booked their for next Feb. atleast I know what to except. I am not sure what to do with the flowers at this point. I saw some in Palace photo's I really like, however none of those were included in the picture book PDF they sent me. Probably cause the where done by an outside source and are expensive. I will only be having 4-5 tables tho. Probably a little less costly then 11 tables. I dont mind fake flowers at all. I almost rather have them so I dont feel like they are waisted on one night. However....I better not be paying full price then!...thats something I might work out ahead of time now....thanks for the heads up! We booked palace resorts because of the free events as well. Plus this resorts looks really natury from the photos. Is it? Thats a big deal to us. I loved all the waterfalls in the pictures. Sorry to worry you! The issues were behind the scenes and we made sure to keep it between us. The staff there is wonderful!! I suggest emailing that photo to your coordinator and having her check on a price. I did that for my centerpieces and ending up being cheaper than some of the photos Dulce had sent me. I pulled my photo from the immaculate package at the Moon Palace (I think). I even pulled photos from other sites and emailed them to see how much it would cost to duplicate. I wouldn’t have minded fake flowers either but I was told they were real. So that is what bothered me. If I purchased real flowers, I want real flowers. I didn’t know they were fake until the next day when my mother-in-law mentioned it to my husband. So it wasn’t a big deal the day of the wedding. The resort is definitely a part of nature. You will see spider monkeys as you enter the resort and iguanas near the pool and lagoon areas. At first, I thought my guests would be bummed that there was no beach, but it didn’t faze them. We hung out by the lagoon and when we were done, we went to the pool. The pictures I have seen so far are gorgeous! You’ll love it! My wedding was on a Friday so that our guests who were checking out on Sunday could enjoy their Saturday to themselves or with us at the resort. This worked out great because some of our guests went to the Palace Resort in Playa for the day (which has a gorgeous beach) the shuttle there, restaurants and bars there are also included in your package so they were able to eat and drink for free there too! It’s a 20 minute cab ride from ASP. Hope this answers your questions! Kimberly

Quote: Originally Posted by lilbuddha Fabulous review! I am still trying to decide between Aventura, Iberostar Paradiso Maya and Rui....so this is a big help since Aventura at this point is our front runner! Thanks for all the details we are expecting around 80-100 next year so I am so happy to hear that they were accomadating. Can I ask did they charge extra for the pool party or the welcome dinner at all? Did you do a site inspection before hand? Any suggestions/questions we should ask? We are doing one next week.... This has been so helpful! Thank you! ~M My guest loved this place because there were 2 sides (adult/children)! Both are really nice. We did have some issues with room keys not working once our guest got to their rooms but I think that was it. The rooms were a bit small but little time was spent in the room. All of my guests are still raving about how great of a time they had. The issues I had were between me and the resort and I made sure not to let my guest know what was going on. Since I had over 25 rooms booked, all the private functions were free. The pool party was something I created on my own. I just added it to my itinerary which I provided all of my guests with. Basically I just told them Pool Party, Cove Palace Pool. I had no idea the pool had a DJ so this was a bonus. They even had a person (in costume) that worked the pool area and was able to get a volleyball game going. Really ended up being a great idea. The welcome dinner was included in the unlimited private functions so I paid nothing extra. HIGHLY recommend doing a welcome dinner! This was a highlight of the weekend for my hubby. Also we had 5 people including myself who had birthdays that weekend so had a cake and sang happy birthday. It was also a great place for guest to give toast so that they wouldn’t take away time at the reception the night of the wedding. Our schedules were so hectic that we couldn’t do an inspection beforehand. I would make sure to take a notebook and ask every single question or concern you might have. Make sure to ask if the flowers are real/fake. If you have ideas about floral arrangements take pictures and ask the cost upfront. Flowers were one of our biggest issues. If I think of any more questions you should ask, I will send them to you. Have a blast!! Kimberly

Quote: Originally Posted by Afaybik Great review! My daughter is trying to decide between Adventura Palace, Moon Palace, beach Palace and Dreams Resorts. This may help alot. Can I ask you how much it was for the dinner and everything else just to get a ballpark figure since I think my daughter might be having between 80 and 100 people. Did you pick a certain package? Did they charge you extra for the private functions? Where did you get married and where did you have your reception. She does not want to get married on the beach. Also she wants her reception to be private and preferably indoors in case it rains. Any help you can be would be greatly appreciated. Congratulations on your marriage. Thanks, Arlene (mother of the bride) Arlene, because we knew that we were expecting between 75-100 people, we had called around to Dreams Resort (my first choice) and Aventura Spa Palace and our date was only available at ASP. They had also said they would work with us since we had such a large group. We purchased the Diamond Package because I wanted all white décor and because of the unlimited private functions. The package is $2395 (or close to that). I did opt to change the flowers because they were just plain ugly! I paid $160 for two tall calla lily vases for ceremony and $660 for 11 centerpieces for reception. The package does come with the bouquet for the bride and boutonnière for the groom. I paid $120 for 4 other boutonnieres (2 groomsmen and 2 fathers). I also paid $160 (might be a little more) for 2 bouquets for my bridesmaids. I also paid $120 for 3 orchid flowers for our hair. They do not budge when it comes to negotiating. I had originally wanted orchids for everything (centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres) but they were outrageously priced. My husband tried to speak to Lorena (Dulce’s superior) about coming down on some of the floral cost and she went into this spill about how the flowers are all imported and blah blah blah. The costs were much higher than what we would pay here in the US and I wasn’t going to pay that amount. I do have to say that dealing with flowers was one of my biggest headaches. The pictures they sent me of the centerpieces I could chose from were just awful. So I went with the basic calla lilies centerpieces, which ended up being FAKE! Grrrr! The DJ was extra too; the package comes with the basic system, which wouldn’t have worked for us. I want to say we paid $1350 and had him for our welcome dinner (7-9, but he stayed till 10:30) and we used him for our reception (6-10:30). My husband hooked his laptop up to the equipment and the DJ played what was on our playlist. My husband’s family is known for throwing great parties and having great music so we didn’t want to cut cost when it came to the sound system. The lights that they provided added character to our party and our guests literally danced the whole night away! I would recommend having a DJ if you have that many people. I didn’t want to get married on the beach either so we chose the Coba Gazebo. I had 3 kids (14yrs old) so we had to get married on the Cove Palace side, which was perfect. I didn’t care for the Gazebo at the Spa Palace. It looked wimpy (if that makes sense). Our reception was on the Solarium Mundaca which was huge! This overlooks the lagoon which was a perfect backdrop! They do have ballrooms at this resort but I didn’t chose a ballroom because I could do that back home. The weather was absolutely perfect! The sites I had looked at before I went said thunderstorms and it rained twice the whole 5 days we were there. Once in the morning around 6 (lasted 20 minutes and really helped cool things off) and at 10:30 the night of my wedding (which no one cared because we were leaving anyways). We just moved the party into the club. Our guest loved the fact that the wedding was outside and the scenery made for great photos. Yes, it was hot at times but you get over it pretty quickly because it is windy. If you book over 25 rooms or 75 nights, you are able to have an unlimited amount of private functions. So no extra cost for the welcome dinner, cocktail hour, reception, etc. That was one of the main costs when we tried doing it a la carte. So the packaged deal worked best for us. We had 40 rooms and over 140 nights booked at this resort and they did absolutely NOTHING extra for us. We brought them over $44,800 and you think they would throw in some extra things for the bride and groom. Ummm NOPE! We were told that we would be upgraded to the Presidential Suite and this never happened. We ended up just staying in the concierge level. Which was nothing special. The rooms are small and we wouldn’t have had room to get hair and make-up for myself, bridesmaids and mom so my husband had asked to move us into a bigger suite. Well…after putting up a fight, we finally were able to move into a bigger suite but were immediately kicked out as soon as I walked out the door to get in the carriage. We were rushing to throw all of our goods in bags so that the bell man could take them to my room. A bit aggravating. We also received 7 nights complementary for booking over 25 rooms and have not received our refund yet. We stayed at the ASP from 9th – 14th then transferred to the Cozumel Palace from 14th-16th (which was SO much nicer). We had originally planned to do our honeymoon within the Palace Resorts but because of the way we were treated, we decided to cancel our extra 7 days with the Palace and go to the Excellence Playa Mujeres. This place was INCREDIBLE!! More expensive but worth every penny!!! I will never spend another penny with any Palace Resort. Hope this helps! Kimberly

June 11th 2010 was our wedding date and it was absolutely beautiful! Our total head count was 89 people and we were told that this was the by far the largest wedding that ASP had ever had. Here we go…I have so much to say…Wedding first then I will complain…haha There are events that lead up to this Thursday night welcome dinner and I will get to those at the end of the review. Thursday June 10, 2010 Pool Party - Cove Pool On Thursday we decided to throw our own pool party at the pool on the Cove side and this turned out to be a great party! Half of the 89 guest were mine and half were my husband’s so needless to say, we had a lot of people who had never met before. This made me nervous because I didn’t want there to be cliques. I had been running around dealing with the resort on some other issues so I was late to the pool party. When I arrived, I was so excited to see that EVERYONE was drinking, intermingling and having a great time. No introduction was needed by anyone…everyone met everyone and just started partying! As new guest arrived, they would join the party. The pool has a DJ during the day so we were recommending songs and dancing, drinking and singing the day away. Welcome dinner - Maracas Inlet (Cove Side) – 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm What a great idea!! This dinner really set the tone for the rest of our wedding weekend. We decided to hire the DJ to play from 7-9p.m. Relaxing music of course during dinner and as soon as everyone finished we had people up on the dance floor. This was a casual dinner because it took place at the inlet which is on sand. The DJ had such a great time that he continued to play until 10:30! After that we all headed to the club at the resort, which isn’t too bad. Our party was big enough that it made the club look somewhat full. I left around 1 am and most of our guest stayed until 2! Friday June 11, 2010 – D Day!! Highly recommend doing a massage in the morning to help relax! It was GREAT! I flew in my own hairstylist and make-up artist who airbrushed my make-up (GREAT because it is HOT outside and the make-up stays on and looks flawless!!) I would recommend putting your hair up because it is windy. I wore my hair up, but wish I would have not had long bangs. They were flying around all throughout the ceremony! Drove me nuts and ruined some of my guest pictures. I haven’t seen the professional ones yet and not really all that worried. But if I could do it again, I would have it all pulled back. My bouquet was made of calla lilies wrapped in ivory ribbon and I brought a broche to add to it. Looked beautiful! Ceremony – COBA Gazebo (Cove Side) Definitely get the carriage. (funny story…no one knew about the horse carriage except for my MOH’s and Dad, so as the carriage pulled up, they heard the sound of a horse through the speakers at the ceremony and they all looked around like WTH is that…then they see the carriage pull up and once they saw my dad lift me out of the carriage everyone was in tears!) It was beautiful! The carriage does not pull up all the way to the Gazebo, our guests were all up on their feet watching my father and I walk down the stairs. This was great because it gave my dad and me a chance to get in a quick laugh before arriving to the Gazebo. We provided white fans which definitely helped the ladies! We decided to have the harpist play…which was lovely!! Everyone was crying and I should’ve provided Kleenex!! The flowers that the diamond package came with were hideous so I paid extra to have calla lilies at the end of the isle. Which were great but they should’ve been positioned behind us so that they weren’t in all my guest photos! The vases that they have decorating the isle are plan ugly and are fake orchids! My uncle married us, which was perfect! As we exited the gazebo our guest threw confetti which made for some great photos. We were then given a glass of champagne which I don’t remember. Then we were summoned to the lagoon so that my husband and I could take pictures when the fireworks went off. This was great until the freaking ashes started landing on me (which were HOT!) We were in the middle of a photo and my husband was dipping me and he saw an ash land near my eye and his eyes got big….Pretty funny….The fireworks were great for photos! But beware!! Haha Next, we took a group shot, which was disappointing because we had so many guest that you couldn’t see the ones in the back row…but Oh well. Still was fun. The photographer stole my husband and me for photos while our guest went to the cocktail hour. Super excited about these photos. My girlfriend took some candid ones with her camera from a distance and they are absolutely beautiful! Cocktail Hour – Maracas Terrace 4:30-6pm I wish I could tell you about this, but I wasn’t there! Haha We hired the Trio to play from 5-6 which apparently our guest loved. They loved the Superior Hors d’oeuvres that were served and loved the view and shade! Reception – Solarium Mandaca 6:00-10:30pm Dinner was great! The view was beautiful and the wind was blowing which helped cool everyone off. Most of my guest changed for dinner which ended up making everything a bit more casual then we had wanted but hey…they were all comfy! I purchased 11 calla lily centerpieces for 11 tables and was later told by my mother-in-law that they were fake! SO beware…and make sure you get fresh flowers. They looked nice at the time so I guess it didn’t really matter. But I paid for real flowers and would have liked to get them. I was disappointed in the fact that the food ran out and it took them about 15 minutes to replace the buffet. The food was great though. We chose a 3-tier cake with chocolate, strawberry and lemon (I think). I only had a bite when we cut the cake and it was good. I asked guest about it the next day and they said it was good. So... I had purchased maracas, shot glasses and tortilla holders as gifts for my guest. Each table had maracas and shot glasses (looked more like a tea cup but didn’t care at that point). Towards the end of the night a table was set up and the tortilla holders were displayed and guest grabbed them on their way out. Everyone loved the gifts. Maracas were a big hit when we entered the reception dinner and while dancing. We hired the full DJ, speakers, microphone and lights which worked out nicely. We did our first dance; father daughter dance and mother son dance while guest were still eating. We wanted to speed things up so that we could start partying! Our first dance was beautiful…everyone crying again. Then came the father daughter dance…”I loved her first” by heartland. OMG…my dad and I were like big babies and so were our guest. I had never seen my dad cry and once he started crying we all started crying. It was a special moment! Loved it!! After my hubby danced with his momma we were all tired of crying and hit the dance floor. We were about to announce that the party was moving to the resort club when it started pouring down raining! Perfect timing!! It really helped cool everyone off. We moved the party to the club and didn’t leave until they kicked us out at 2am! I stayed in my dress all night long and danced the night away! I seriously didn’t leave the dance floor. At around 12:30am I kicked off my cobalt blue 4 inch heels and went barefoot! I know…disgusting…but didn’t want to leave the party to go get my flip flops. It was just that good! Our guest are still talking about how spectacular our wedding was and how they have never cried so much at a wedding! It truly was a story book wedding. Trash the Dress – June 13, 2010 So…there is no beach at this resort but they do have a beautiful lagoon to the far left of the resort. This is where I decided to take our photos. It’s rocky so wear shoes! I didn’t want to trash my wedding dress so I went and bought a $70 dress and used that one instead. ADVICE...do not sweat the small stuff! You're guest will not remember that. Focus on having a great time and savor the moments! This day goes by so fast and my husband and I made sure to sit back and soak up all the great memories. Our guest continually complemented us on how beautiful our wedding was and didn't want it to end. Neither did we! I’m throwing a picture party next weekend so that some my guest can exchange photos…so when I get some I will send your way. I do have some on FB that some of my friends have posted already. Look me up (Kimberly Trant Vargas and message me that you are with BDW and I will accept friendship so that you can take a peek.) Welcome bags- The resort charges $2.50 per room to deliver the bags. Make sure Dulce sets this up and get a name of a person to talk to when you deliver the bags. I spent 2 hours explaining to the bell man what they were supposed to do with the bags. A bit frustrating!! The beach bag was a huge hit; most guests forgot to pack a beach bag so were thrilled to have one. I provided our itinerary, sunscreen, shot glasses, and a bunch of other goodies. So the not so nice stuff is coming…Will try and post tonight. Hope this helps!!! Questions welcomed!! Kimberly Vargas! [email protected]

Quote: Originally Posted by nicdeb928 SO EXCITED for you! and so jealous..135 nights! 84 people! that is so amazing! you guys must be truly awesome people to have so many people love you enough to come to mexico Have a great time and enjoy every single minute...the next week is all about you and your soon to be husband..and with that many nights booked i would take FULL advantage of the unlimited events...have a damn party every single night talk to you next week...and Congratulations! Thanks girlie! We are blessed to have surrounded ourselves with such great people throughout our lives and are so grateful that a lot of them are taking time out of their busy schedules to share in this special day with us. YES...I'm taking full advantage of the unlimited private functions lol :-) bc that's the only thing they seem to be giving away! haha Thanks again!

Quote: Originally Posted by angelov321 So exciting!! I cant believe how many room nights you have booked!! Thats awesome! Hope everything turns out well (which Im sure it will!). Cant wait to see pics and read your review Definitely let us know how the DJ worked out. Im very curious to know. Thank you! I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Quote: Originally Posted by nicdeb928 I cant believe your wedding is only a week away!!! so exciting...please tell us youre going to write a review when you return...i feel like there hasnt been one written about ASP in awhile...also as many pics as possible will be wonderful! I cant believe you are having so many people stay there and they arent working with you with price...keep us posted how you make out with the centerpieces and anything/everythign else... I leave tomorrow morning and will be married in 3 days! Things are finally coming together and we are super excited! I most definitely will write a review when I return on the 22nd. We are having the resort photographer along with our own so there will be plenty of pictures :-) The only person that has worked with us is the DJ and I say that VERY loosely. My FI will be having a talk with someone at the resort when we arrive. So...I'll keep you ladies posted. We have a final total of 135 nights booked which is AWESOME. I can't wait to spend time with 84 of our family and friends who will most likely never be in the same place together ever again. This time tomorrow I will be on a plane headed to Mexico!

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow Are any of your girls having a band play? The mexican trio is 439 on the website for ceromonies ,but at the reception it goes up to like 800 from what I have read. Is this correct? Also what are you guys doing for table center peices? I was going to do the Mariachis, but I'm not paying $800 for I think it was an hour. I live in Houston and if I paid $800 for Mariachis, they would be mine for the night. I love this resort, but their prices are a bit ridiculous. For table arrangements, I'm going back and forth with them as we speak because they are wanting to charge me an arm and a leg for centerpieces. I have over 80 guest booked (105 nights) and you would think they would work with me...NOT SO MUCH.

Quote: Originally Posted by julieswedding Check out my daughters wedding photos. They turned out beautifully!! http://share.shutterfly.com/share/re...1AZNGbNm5Zs3LA What beautiful pictures. Who was the photographer and how was the harpist?

Quote: Originally Posted by julieswedding Just returned from 2 wonderful weeks Aventura Spa. My daughter was married there on MAy 20th! It was an amazingly beautiful wedding! Let me know if you want me to email you a couple of her wedding pictures. We used a photographer from the resort and he was fantastic! I would love to see some pictures!! [email protected] Congrats!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by mmmissyyy Well it looks like it's going to rain every day that we are at ASP. Any ideas on dry things to do at the resort or in Riviera Maya to stay entertained? You still have a whole week and the weather may change. I've been to Cancun and Playa del Carmen plenty of times when they said it was going to rain and it ended up raining one day for a mere 15 minutes. Most of the time it rains in the morning and is only for a brief moment. So no worries!!

OK…I spoke to Melissa and she explained that if you are the bride and groom and has signed a group contract with the resort and has booked 25+ rooms, then you get 7 complementary nights, unlimited private functions and a room upgrade. You also get the $1500 vacation dollars which you can use for tours, spa, private dinner and room upgrade. They are two separate entities one deals with reservations ($1500) and the other is considered group amenities (25+ rooms booked). For your guest: 3-4 nights they will earn $750 5+ nights they will earn $1500 The promotion will be credited to their room once they check in. Guest must check in on dates June 1st thru December 23, 2011 to be eligible. Hope this helps!

I put in a call today to ask about the promotion since I have over 25 rooms booked. Once I hear back from them, I will post the response. If you want to call, this is the number. 800.635.1836