StephyD

Welcome Caroline!!! It's always nice to find other GP brides We have picked La Laguna for our reception dinner. When I first asked my wedding planner about both location, she just said that La Laguna is surrounded by pools and that Gran Azul is surrounded more by the jungle. Here are pictures that she sent me to compare them both: La Laguna Gran Azul: Hope it helps! Good luck with the planning!

We are staying there for a week (arriving on the Saturday, wedding on the Thursday) and then leaving from Mexico to go to Hawaii for our one-week honeymoon. I'm sooooo looking forward to it!! :)

Thanks for checking in I'm getting nervous!!!! I'm having my 2nd bachelorette party tomorrow (My friends and family live 10 hours away... so I had one back home in February, now I'm having another one in town for my friends here). It'll be nice to relax a bit! Everything is under control... I just need to finish up my playlist for the cocktail and pick the song for our mother/father dance... AND PACK! I want to start packing next weekend... We wanted to do a rehearsal dinner for our parents and bridal party... but if we do, we have to have a set menu, which I'm not willing to do. Either that or eat at one of the buffets... Not sure what we are going to do! We are already eating at the buffet for our welcome dinner on the evening of our arrival... I don't want to force another buffet on everyone or a set menu either. We thought about eating outside of the resort but it would cost way too much... Leaving in 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D

We're getting married at the beach gazebo. The only thing they provide is the ribbon on the pillars. If you want flowers of any kind, that's extra. I think they can give you the red carpet and some petals as well. I didn't want my bouquet and boutonniere (since we're getting flowers from Vanessa Jaimes) and they offered to make me a premium centerpiece for the table at the ceremony (which we agreed to) or to make 2 small arrangements for the pilars.

We aren't going an AHR. My family lives 10 hours away so we would need to do 2 AHR. With the planning of this wedding, I'm fed up. I guess my FMIL might organize something for her side of the family/friends but I'm not. I feel bad sometimes... but, oh well. Well... I feel I'm doing as much personalization as I would have done if I'd gotten married here in Canada. We are getting external vendors for everything, I'm bringing a bunch of things as well (candles, guestbook, cake topper, favors, maracas, gifts for the bridal party... not doing OOT bags) plus we're getting menus, programs, welcome letters, petal cones, escort cards, etc. by a local design company... it sure adds up on my to-do list! Almost everything is done... I'm finalizing the flowers with the florist (we went with Vanessa Jaimes), I have to work on the music list for the cocktail and the planning of the reception... other than that, it's just minor things like buying thank you cards for the bridal party, gift bags, making itineraries for everyone on the day of, etc...

Oh ok, thanks Ellabaja! :-) JND2012: We booked DJ Mannia for our reception. We'll bring the ipod for the cocktail. We are having a mariachi trio stop by for 45 minutes during the cocktail but I still want music to play before and after they drop by. OMG, I'm getting so stressed out as the days pass!!! I still have things to get done before we leave... I just want to get there already! How is everyone's planning going??

Isn't it sufficient to play music, though? I believe that is all that you would need... or am I wrong? I'm no ipod technician...

Rocio also mentionned to me that we could bring our ipod for the cocktail (when I asked if there was a sound system so we could bring CDs) and never mentionned a docking station. I assumed they had one...

You can have a reception at one of the a-la-carte restaurants but I do believe there is a limit of 20 people. If you have more than 20 guests, you need to have a private reception. Plus, I believe you only have the tables until 9PM? Versus having a private reception until 11PM.

Can't you have a U-shaped set-up with rectangular tables? I've seen it before in pictures from past brides... That way, everyone is still together.

We are having a private reception at La Laguna and here is our setup: We are having a rectangular head table of 6 people: my fiance and I, my parents and his parents. Our guests are sitting at 8-people round tables. We are having 2 tables for our bridal party: 1 for the guys and their girlfriends/wifes and 1 for the girls and their boyfriends/husbands which will be the first tables in front of ours. We have 9 round tables total. Where are you having your dinner?

We're looking for something more practical... I thought about a personalized leather wallet but can't find any that I really like... other than that, I have no clue!

I look through the old threads but can't seem to find any inspiration for both of our Dad's gifts. We are getting a nice necklace (from Etsy) for our moms with their birthstones. But for our Dads, we have NO IDEA! Please help

LOL... It doesn't surprise me. What probably makes a difference in my case is that I had almost everything figured out with Ariadna before she left. All I had to do with Rocio was do a wrap-up of the decisions (which she already had anyways), send my seating plan and figure out a few last details. I'm sure it'll get better as your date gets closer. I forgot to answer your question in the previous post: We are getting married at 3PM. We are having a cocktail with appetizers and drinks (4PM-6PM) at the Sports' Bar Terasse. We wanted something private and there was nothing they could do. That terasse looks nice and there are (apparently) never anyone around. We'll have a mariachi trio stop by during the cocktail. Then, we are having a private reception (7PM-11PM) at La Laguna. We're hired DJ Mannia for the evening. What have you decided on? Are you having a private reception?

I had Ariadna as a wedding planner from the start. Right before Christmas, she emailed me saying that she was leaving the resort. Needless to say, I FREAKED OUT! A few days later, Gabriella, Ari's replacement, emailed me. She seemed pretty sharp... but then I emailed her, and never heard back. I sent the same email to Rocio, and she replied within a couple of days. Since then, I've been dealing with Rocio only. She's pretty good at responding to my emails lately. I guess when the date gets closer, she's much more on top of things. I definitely did see a change as the date got closer. I'm assuming it'll get better for you as well. Althought, it is pretty good that she gets back to you within a week or so.. I had to wait much longer than that sometimes, a few months ago.

Here are cold fireworks.

I can't remember exactly, but I know I had to wait about a month before contacting her again. When I did, she still didn't have the dates available and had to wait some more. It drove me nuts. But in the end, the waiting paid off as I got the date I wanted, no problem at all. I'm sure it'll be the same for you.

CONGRATS! You're officially married by now What a neat idea to do it on Valentine's day, too. We are getting married on March 31st. I CAN'T WAIT! I'm beyond excited right now... although, freaking out too a little bit. We have a few things to take care of still, but other than that, we are ready!

bump. These are still for sale.

I had the same problem for the date. I initially emailed Rocio in April 2010 wanting to reserve our wedding date for the end of March 2011 and I had to wait a few weeks since they didn't have the new calendar. Don't worry... they usually allow up to 3 weddings a day. You should be able to get the date you want. I agree with EllaBaja1983, they are pretty strict on the 3-day rule. We are arriving on Saturday and getting married on the Thursday (althought we initially planned to arrive on the Sunday, you have to be there for 3 business days prior to the wedding). We are doing the legal ceremony since we didn't want to get married here before leaving.

Thanks for that info!

Does anyone know of a place to rent suits/tuxedos in Riviera Maya? Preferably in the Playa del Carmen area.

Here is what I've bought so far: Bridesmaid cards. I had them made in orange and turquoise. From SDezigns Thumb print guestbook from fancyprints Got 4 of these as a gift for my bridesmaids. From natashagrasso

Will sell for less than 20$. PM with your best offer

Oops... I didn't mean to post the add so many times... :(