Eadon216

Only 12 total guests. Even with such a small number it got to be a little tough wrangling everyone together at times. But it was really great having such a small number. I felt like I really got to spend quality time with everyone.

Wedding I have to say that everything went flawlessly the day of the wedding. We had a very simple wedding in comparison to others that I’m sure have been held at the resort (in fact a week later, the day before we left we saw another wedding and it was much larger and more complicated than ours). Our ceremony was held at 5pm on the beach and our reception was on the Martini Terrace. Two days before our wedding Allibe took my husband and I to each spot and made sure that everything would be as we wanted it. We made a few adjustments (I wanted to face the ocean rather than the cenote, and we moved the dinner table spot down more toward Casa Las Islas rather than Kotori for more privacy as Casa Las Islas would not be open for dinner that night). Everything was no problem. Allibe also showed us a sample of what the flowers would look like to make sure they would be the correct color. I’m sure if we had travelled down before hand all of this would have been done months ago. However we were on a strict budget. But, really, it was not a big deal taking care of it a couple days before. And even not doing a tasting ended up not being an issue (which I knew it wouldn’t be. We had been to the resort a year and a half ago so I knew the food was good quality). Having a 5pm ceremony meant I had most of the day to relax. Alexandro came around 1:30pm to do my mom’s hair and makeup. He was great, but I really wish he had an assistant as we ran really late. He did my mom’s hair and makeup first and wow did he do a great job! She was really pleased and so was I. Once she was taken care of he worked on me. I showed him my ideas. Apparently I chose styles for much shorter hair, but he took my inspirations and made it work. I loved what he did. He offered advice and opinions. I had a headband that I was planning on wearing like a headband, but he convinced me to wear it further back - around the hairstyle at the back of my head. I liked the idea and went with it. It came out perfectly! Unfortunately because we were running late we had to rush down to the ceremony. Luckily you can’t start without the bride. But everything was ready and it looked so fantastic. Allibe had taken our sand ceremony kit the day before and it was set up on the altar with placement of gorgeous flowers. The minister did a great job. I loved that we could have our own readings and say our own vows (I just wish I hadn’t forgotten mine up in the hotel room. If I could have changed one thing it would have been to give our vows to the minister before hand for her to have down there for us). After we walked down the aisle the H3Rios staff had sparkling wine for us and our guests. We toasted and took pictures. Our dinner reception was amazing as well. Everyone raved about the food! We had Tlaxcalteca soup which is a tortilla soup and was so creamy and good. I highly recommend it. For the main course we had the Hacienda chicken which is chicken stuffed with spinach covered in a coriander sauce. This was also really delicious. There was also a dessert course with various desserts. Some were great and others required a different palate than mine. The cake, however, was awesome! Again, we didn’t do a tasting first. In fact, I don’t remember even picking a flavor! But it ended up being ok. And again, our guests loved it. I had some picky guests too. My sister is a notorious picky eater. Most times I only see her eat pasta. And my Matron of Honor’s husband is a strict meat and potato guy. He was proud that he ate the spinach with the chicken- and liked it! Another word about the food. My grandfather has a pretty severe case of Celiac’s disease. This means he can’t eat anything with gluten (wheat) in it. he is also lactose intolerant. It makes it pretty difficult to eat at home let alone when traveling. I talked to Allibe about it several times and sent her a list of what he can/can’t eat. She passed this on to the kitchen and talked to them about it. Then when my grandparents arrived she talked to them in person. The kitchen made all of my grandfather’s specially for him. He had no problems at all! It was fantastic! I was really impressed. I think the only times he encountered problems was at the brunch buffet, but that was because no one was cooking things specifically for him. They really did a great job at accommodating him and this helped to ease my mind. I really enjoyed everything they did for us for our wedding. I felt very special. I do wish that they did something special to our room. But I think you have to pay for that (which is a little crazy). A few pictures: goo.gl/FyQlU goo.gl/a08EP goo.gl/g7SVO goo.gl/5aiGA goo.gl/45spo goo.gl/sciNe goo.gl/11hNj My Vendors My Photographer was Sascha Gluck. I haven’t gotten my photos back yet, but I love everything I’ve seen on his website. I think they’re going to be great. He was fantastic to work with on the day. When the sun was in our eyes to much he found ways to help us out to ensure that our eyes would be squinty in our photos. He was very personable and I felt really comfortable around him. Our videographer was Mike Cantarell of Cancun Video. Again I haven’t gotten the video. I also can’t say much as our videographer Jerry was very quiet on the day. We didn’t receive much direction from him. But that’s a good thing I guess as he pretty much is supposed to follow us around. Hair and makeup was by Alexandro Zavala. Like I said, he was great! No complaints! He did a great job and I liked working with him! If only he could do my hair and makeup every day. Hacienda Tres Rios I really can’t say enough great things about this resort. My husband and I first came to H3Rios in November 2009 because I had won a trip for 4 days/3 nights. It was here that he proposed to me! We loved the resort then and we love it now. The great thing about Hacienda Tres Rios is that you have the option of lounging by the pool or going off and participating in any of the activities going on throughout the day. We did the Jaguar Tour (considered advanced) twice (which is a trip to the nursery where you learn about their eco practicies, snorkeling in the cenote, and kayaking up and down the cenote) and the Tigrillo Tour (considered intermediate) once (trip to nursery where we actually learned a few new things, snorkeling, and the option to either kayak down the cenote or snorkel down - we love to snorkel down and we saw a lot of cool fish and crabs). They take pictures of you as you go along which you have the option of buying (they can get a little pricey, but make great souvenirs). One of the less publicized activities is the Sense Adventure. We also did this last time we came. For some reason it isn’t prominent on the program. Last time we came we also did the Sense Adventure and has so much fun we did it again this trip. It’s very meditative and definitely something different. Be open minded! Even if you don’t do any of the activities relaxing by the pool or beach is an activity all in itself. The pool water is always beautiful and clean. They take great care in keeping the area clean. We never had a problem finding a lounge chair or a good spot to relax. In fact, there are tons of hidden gems all over the resort. One day you’ll be taking a walk over a bridge and find a new spot with hammocks! There was only one day towards the end of our stay when the resort had filled up with more people when we had trouble finding and umbrella. In the meantime we found shade under palm trees - still not a bad deal. The service of the staff is also really amazing at Tres Rios. Since our last visit they added a small bar down by the kids pool. This definitely helped service. Actually we found that we got better/faster service down by the kids pool than we did up by the adult pool. But really, it’s not a tough life when someone brings you food and drinks right to your lounge chair. Service was also great in the restaurants. Our favorite waiter was Oscar. We saw him all over the resort, and he always went out of his way to make sure we were having a great time and had everything we needed. I believe he worked at our wedding. He was always smiling! I really could keep going on and on. There’s so much to talk about. The room was great (we had a jacuzzi - I recommend it). I love turn down service; it’s a nice touch that I wish happened every night. The Patissiere is yum and Marco helped put together a great cup of chai. The one tiny complaint I have is that there is no casual restaurant. There are families that come to H3Rios and every restaurant at the resort serves fancy foods. I feel that a restaurant with a more casual atmosphere and casual foods would be a good addition. It would be a good place for families to go so that their kids could run around the table and not bother other guests. It would also give the other people eating there the expectation that this may happen. The buffet is a good example of this, but it isn’t open every night of the week. Besides that little complaint (and really, it is tiny because it occurred to my husband and I maybe twice) everything else is wonderful. Our guests kept raving about what a great time they had and how they didn’t want to leave. My brother-in-law called the resort “swank†and the staff really does know how to make you feel pampered. Go for a massage and that will definitely make the experience! We can’t wait to (hopefully!) go back for our anniversary.

I'm hoping they bend the rules for me regarding dinner too. I mean there's only 14 of us total. That's 4 more than they usually allow for dinner reservations. I mean I'd make a reservation for 10 and then have another reservation for 4 and ask to sit near one another I have kind of an awkward question to ask. Did anyway tip their vendors (photographer, videographer, hairdresser)? If so, how much? I'm not sure what the rule is.

We're having it in Pawtuxet park in Warwick. It's the park where they burn the Gaspee every Memorial Day. It's a small but cute park on the water

I'm from RI planning a Mexico wedding. 38 days to go! My reception will be in RI though.

It is a little confusing because there is no set package. And yeah, I find Allibe a little confusing too. I'll try my best to break it down for you. You pay for everything separately basically. Minister, flowers, cake, $20 per person for the dinner, if you have a DJ/band/mariachi/iPod (DJ/band/mariachi you'll have to find on your own but she will recommend someone), the archway they use if you want it, and lighting if you need it are all items you pay for. Linens are something you can pay for but only if you want to upgrade from the basic white. You book the photographer, videographer (if you want one), and hair/makeup on your own. Allibe can recommend someone to you, but in my experience it's better to investigate on your own. I found better people with better prices on my own. The only exception was hair/makeup and that's only because I have no choice. Everyone else is booked on my wedding day. Although time will tell on the photographer/videographer aspect. Maybe they'll suck and I should have gone with who she suggested Now this is just my experience, but I had to do the majority of the planning myself. I wouldn't call Allibe a "wedding planner" so much as a "coordinator." She'll be there the day of to make sure it goes according to plan. And she gave me recommendations and she took care of the flowers, cake, and menu. But that's been about it. If you are very worried about costs like I am try to be very clear with her otherwise you will want to tear your hair out. HOWEVER!!! Hacienda Tres Rios is goooooorgeous. And they are so hospitable. That's why we chose them. We stayed there in November 2009 and it's where we got engaged. They'll treat you very nicely when you stay there. Your guests will love it and feel very pampered. There's no real night life and it's very quiet so it feels pretty relaxing if that's the type of vacation you're after. I hope that helps!

My dress is ball gown style because I bought it before we decided on a DW. I definitely do not care! I LOOOOVE my dress and wouldn't trade it for anything! Buy what you want and wear it with pride

1. Budget.- My mom and in-laws are covering the AHR because we are paying for the majority of the DW. Also because the AHR has turned into something so much larger than I wanted/imagined it to be. Originally it was going to be this casual BBQ like thing. Now it's so much more like a formal reception.....just in the park. 2. Type.- See above. But again, it wasn't really my choice and I'm really ok with that. It will still be fairly casual but with catered food and a band in the park. 3. When. 3 weeks after we get back. 4. Food. brunch buffet. We loooove brunch 5. Clothes. My wedding dress is too formal for me to want to wear it around the park so I'm going to wear a white cocktail dress and a headpiece. 6. Invitations. formal invitations 7. Photographer. Nope. I'd have to pay for it myself and we are out of money. 8. Cake. We're doing cupcakes 9. Decorations. We're renting tables so there will be tablecloths on the tables and my mom is buying flowers to put on the tables. The caterers will also decorate their table with something. And we're doing a candy bar and I'll make that look nice. 10. DW Photos. I don't think I'll have them in time so I'll try and get some from guests that will have been there.

I'm hitting the 2 month mark which is why all of this is coming fast and furious. And it why I'm getting so stressed about it. I had no idea there was a linen cost. That better not be brought up last minute as it was never mentioned before!

Well, first I have to say you're lucky you got a list of extras. I never got a list like that. Originally I was going to have my reception pool side. That's actually in my contract. The lighting choices she offered us was a choice between two. One was this giant white lantern ball and the other was a string of round purple lanterns. Well my wedding color is purple so that worked perfectly and they looked really nice so we chose that option. No mention of price was made. Nor was it mentioned to me that if I had my reception pool side that I *had* to pay for lighting. There is no alternative. But now we've moved our reception to the martini terrace as there will only be 14 of us. The martini terrace has lighting already and can seat a max of 24 people. So if you have a small group I suggest going that route and save yourself $500!!!!

Did anyone have a night time reception? We're getting married at 5pm so our dinner will be after sunset. Allibe, a few months back, offered us a choice between two lighting choices. I figured it was part of the services they offered. Today in an email of cost breakdowns she sent me she included the price of the light that we chose.....yeah....it's $500! I almost had to pick my eyes up off the floor. I found that to be absolutely crazy! She failed to mention that it would cost anything let alone so much money when she offered me the choice in lighting. I'll eat in the dark if I have to.

All of those things are also in my contract as well. And while I HAVE to pay the $900 in order to have my wedding there...am I the only one that thinks $900 is a lot just for a minister, email assistance (which to me is really kind of a joke because I've found all of my vendors myself), and table/chair set up? I asked back at the beginning about the $5000 package and what the difference was between booking a stay and then paying for our vendors on top of that but there was no real answer. It's all really confusing. Why even offer a package if we end up having to book everything separately anyway?

I find working with Allibe to be quite frustrating. She doesn't always answer my questions completely and I've done the majority of the work myself. I've found all of my vendors except the cake and flowers myself. I still don't know who is providing my cake and flowers. She won't tell me how much the cake and flowers are costing me despite numerous attempts at trying to get a price. Did she tell you that if your guests booked this week they would have gotten a reduced rate? I think she only told me was because one of my guests tried to book, found out the rate was cheaper online, and ended up booking through the website so that he could get the cheaper rate. I still can't get an answer as to what my $900 for a symbolic ceremony actually pays for and why on the website it says they offer a complimentary luxury wedding package. How do I get that package? I've asked her about 3 times now with no answer.

Thanks!! That's good info to know. My wedding is at 5pm so I'll probably aim to get it back by noon. Glad to know they handled it well

Did any brides have their dresses steamed for them at the resort. I'm worried about mine getting wrinkled after traveling in a bag on the plane and I was hoping they'd be able to steam out any wrinkles for me.