pryncesslinda

wow ladies! 2 1/2 weeks! ahhh! lol I've been super crazy around here trying to get things done and finished up so sorry it's been a while since I actually sat down in front of my computer long enough to log in. Just would like to add my 2 cents in about the corporate group. I see some of the ladies on here discussing this will be getting married during our stay as well, so I DO KNOW that there will be a group of 200 staying here during the weekend of our wedding. Which is April 30th, 2011. I found this out through Cecilia when asking her about doing our reception in the ball room. She let me know that there will be a group of 200 in there that night. I do not know when they arrive and when they leave, but someone will be there then. I am trying not to let it bother me. I know we will still have an amazing time, amazing wedding, honeymoon, etc. We will have 15 of our nearest and dearest with us and at the end of the day I know its all that matters. Well ladies, I will see you there... we are staying until May 6th. If I am not back on before the wedding..... this Miss is signing out Will be back a Mrs.! ((with lots of pictures and reviews for you all of course~)) XOXOXOOOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Thanks Lovelylady! This is great to know! I was so nervous checking it in the suitcases, with the 'questionable items' incase they had a problem with it and just tossed everything out, then we would have nothing! So atleast now I know that we can atleast try the sand. Do you think they will have a problem with the wedding cake topper? It is handmade from real starfish and some seashells. I was going to order a new ceramic kind today, so I will wait a few more days and see if you have any suggestions. I had my wedding planner here in the U.S. get intouch with the TSA about what can and cannot be brought onto a passenger plane (checked in of course). But thier answer to her was; wheater or not it is on the "LIST" of items that can be brought (checked in), it is still under the direct discretion of the TSA agent at the airport as well as Mexican customs. ugh! I cant win lol. But thank you very much and I will be trying some of the items that I was just about to give up on completley WOW---- our wedding was exactly 7 weeks from the day before yesterday!!!!! whoo-hoo! finally! We have been planning this for a year and 4 months so it felt unreachable Now it is actually getting here! yayay!

Nemmerz- I completley agree with you! I dont understand how other brides are getting thier packages shipped! As per Mexican customs- NO PERSONAL ITEMS may be shipped to Mexico! ....period!... I am so upset. They wont let ANYthing through. I was yelling at them on the phone saying "what if I had family there, how am I supposed to ship anything to them". They had no answers other than, "we cannot advise you on what or what not to ship". This is complete BS. Excuse my language. Because I did call about some personalized waters that we wanted to ship and I had asked sepcifically about them because I know that you cant ship food, so I was wondering about the water. They told me "as long as it is sepcified on exactly what is in the package, it is fine". So I did bring this to thier attention, that someone DID advise me previously. All they could do at this point was repeat them selves. UGH! So we did call UPS, and did some reasearch. But we really don't want to pay for this very expensive mistake again. No more chances. We will have to pack everything in a suitcase, and as for the OOT bag items, we will have to split them up in all of our suitcases. There is 5 suitcases that it will be slipt up in. I dont even want to do this, because I am still afraid of going through customs in Mexico, I mean either way, we still have to pass. We have to leave out the water all together because no airline will let you bring water on. There are alot of things we have to leave. Our colored sand for the sand ceremony, our cake topper because it is made from real starfish and shells. Alot of stuff is questionable. If I knew this I would never have purchased alot of our items. I really hope that this helps someone else before they make purchases for all of the details. Jen- As for the photographer. I have heard that if they need a permit to work in Mexico.... so your best best would not even say anything about who they are. They do not need to know. Other than that they are your wedding guests as they other girls have suggested

Cole379- Welcome! you will be very happy booking with SMB! The resort is in a very expensie price range, but you do have to realize why thier prices are so high. you are are on one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world! You are paying for the location, top notch service, and personalized attention to every detail you can ever imagine. Incluing chefs cooking infront of you and serving you and your guests poolside and right on the beach! My guests thought that the prices were on the high end too, especially for Mexico, but once they realized by visiting thier website and some of the travel info packets that my FI and I sent out, thehy understood why, I have had several people and travel agents tell us that we picked one of the "Best resorts in Mexico!" Made me feel real good about our choice, and I'm sure it will make you feel better too, ATleast I hope. Now the answer to your question is yes, going with an agent is definatly the way to go! They will get you group rates, hold a block of rooms for you and will get you some really GREAT group rate prices! I have a name of my travel agent who specializes in group travel. She is actually the VP of group travel and has done tons of destination weddings. After months of searching around and even talking to some of the "master agents" (im sure that you've heard of them by now) We still came back to her because she had the lowest rates, amd in our opinion the best customer service, so I just knew that she would take care of our guests every need. She even threw in free transportation to and from Cancun International Airport for us and our guests, which some agents would NOT do, and as I'm sure you already know....SMB does not provide this either. Now for our package, we held 10 rooms in the beggining (we had 70 invites) but this was allowed to be changed later on, either more rooms or less rooms to be held or extended. So for our group rate contract she also did: for every 6th room that gets booked you get either an upgrade for your room category or the 7th room free; your choice, and so on, depending on how many quests you have book. (We had a few less than what we expected). . And BTW, she has done group rates for brides that do not live in the same area of CT. We live here in CT and we have had approx 6 or 7 phone conferences with her already, for her to fill us in on where we stand, contact info, and other extras that she is working on for our group. And I only went into her office once and that was because i wanted to meet with her, that was my preference only because I like to get "a vibe" from people and I wanted to see her in person to see how we "meshed" since I was trustung her with such a HUGE part of our wedding.Like I said my prefence, but def NOT nessisary lol. P.S. I also have 3 guests in my group who are handicapped and she is going out of her way to help accomidate them in every way she can. She even sent them,and us, the info on renting one of those "ride on/motorized scooters" during thier stay! 2 of out guests booked these and 1 choose to have it waiting at SMB upon thier arrival and my father choose to have it waiting at the gate of the airport when he steps off the plane She is also arranging for a special vechile to pick these guests up from the airport as well as take them back to the airport upon thier departure date because they are handicapped they cannot get in or out of a regular van. The step is way too high for them to get into. So she is wonderful,caring, and very understanding and will personalize anything or any concerns or special requests your guests may have. She also is helping our guests book thier airfare (since we have family all over the US) she is matching any price they find on any on-line sites for them; and is also dropping ALL booking fees for the airlines! Which is great because these are usually hidden costs thrown in by the airline and now our guests are saving anywhere from $30- $75 per each booking of airfare. Wow,..... am I sounding like a commercial for her? lololol! Maybe I should get a part time job there or atleast make some commision off of this ad that I just did for her. lol Sorry I went on and on, but I was trying to answer your question the best I could and give you some ideas of what to ask other agents when interviewing them. Private message me if youd like her info. It never hurts just to ask . Lovelylady- Yes I am completly stressed out! and now my Fi is too, so its making it worse when they start stressing too lol, I've recently learned that one. Yes I am hoping to hear something too!!! I def wanted to post on here ASAP because I wanted everyone else to be aware of what is going on with customs down there. I do NOT want another bride to have to experience this horrific nightmare that we are going through! I even posted a little something quick on the SMB Facebook page warning all future brides NOT to ship anything down! And I am still completley taken back by the fact that SMB has that entire page of "shipping procedures" on thier website!!! ugh! I dont get it! It is under "romance, weddings, and then the downloadable wedding PDF" Well thank you for thinking of me and I will let you all know what happens, or how we are going to pack 4 boxes worth of wedding items, favors, welcome bags, and items for these, cake topper, and dec orations, as soon as I do. i never in a million years would have thouht this eer have had been an issue at all! Im glad for this site so that I can share the good, the fun and the stress of the planning, and know there are other brides that are going though similar times. Well hopefully not with these shipping situations anyway. OK ladies sorry Im venting againg. Everyone enjohy your day!!

Hi Ladies! Its been forever since I have visited this site (I was recovering from MAJOR reconstructive ankle and foot surgery) But there was somthing VERY important that I needed to let the rest of the furture SMB brides know as well as get some pointers from past brides.... Our wedding Is April 30th, and we had just shipped box #1 of 4 down to cecilia and the resort by Fex-Ex. We followed the shipping procedures very closly as well as double checking with Cecilia as to exactly how this should be done. Well to our surpize.... the box WAS STOPPED in customs down in Mexico (Cancun to be exact). At first we were told that a "trace agent" would be assigned to our case and who would call in the 'argricultural department' to test the items in this package to make sure everything in this box was ok to be cleared. Real long story short.... after numerous phone calls to both Fed-Ex, Cecilia, Mexican Customs and the "trace agent' (which we are still not sure exactly who or what a "trace agent" is lol) we have found out that our entire shipment will be returned to us! And not to even TRY to send the rest of our boxes! The customs in Mexico had made it very clear that NO PERSONAL ITEMS may be shipped to Mexico... whatsoever! Personal items in thier eyes inclde... and item that will be used, or consumed by a person, (we knew that food could not clear cusotms so there was no food itmes. But every thing else is EVERYTHING personal in thier eyes! We had a cake topper, Wedding guest book, Personal photo frames with family pictures, wedding favors, sand ceremony vases and sand for this ceremony! that was only that box! We still had other boxes with our flutes, cake cutters, and items for our guests welcome bags! My FI and I are so upset over this entire situation. And especially since SMB website has an entire page under "weddings" on shipping procedures. If any other brides past or future, have any suggestions on what we should do about this situation or what you had done to get your items down to SMB, we really would appreciate any help. The only suggestion that Cecilia has made was to pack these items in our luggage. But, understandably we are nervous about this because not only do we have 4 boxes of items with the items that i had listed but also other wedding decotations and personal items that we wanted to bring to add those personal touches that we had envisoned for our Big day. And since the airlines now have such strict rules about what can and cannot be brought onto a passenger plane, this is completley stressing us out. Our wedding planner here in the states had contacted the TSA about what can and cannot be packed, and thier answer was "no matter if the items are on the list of items that can be packed, every item is still under the descretion of the TSA agent who will be searching the luggage at customs/point of entry into Mexico." After everything that happened with the box that was rejected, I'm not sure if we want to take ANY chances of being held up with any items that may be questionable. And the other thing that is getting me worried, is that if this box of items was stopped and rejected by itself on a cargo plane without a person, why in the world would it be OK to bring or pack on a pasenger plane with humans?? That part I am just not understanding nor comfortable with. BTW, none of the items are even close to explosives or what not. But only the point of Cecilia saying it would be OK to bring it on a passenger airline. PLEASE HELP! How did everyone get thier items to SMB?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all so much! XOXO

Hey Thanks everyone This site has been fab so far! Great people, great idea's, and great advice. I think we narrowed down our color choices to blues... just not sure what shade yet. We also booked our wedding planner (from the states) , photographer, and got our travel rates and signed contract with travel agent. Its all coming along and its so exciting!!! Now I guess its all just details, and waiting... I wish I was there now

Ok some good news all around. I get the whole travel agent contract thing! I had an ah-ha moment lol. We are holding ten rooms, with a minimum of 6, and a maximum of 30 at our group rate. Makes more sence and less stress! We officially got our confirmation for our judge at SMB! For April 30th, 2011 at our 4pm cermony... yayy! And tomorrow I will be offically handing in my signed travel contract and deposit! We are moving right along here. Ill be having surgery on the 29th and its going to be a 4 month recovery so, I need to get these major things done before I'm laid up for a bit. I wont be walking for a while, so whatever wedd stuff is to be done it will all be through the comp. So I'm glad the major things are done and that Im blessed with a great wedding planner who's an angel to be here for me and help and I'm blessed to have all of you great girls helping out with my stresses, and giving advice and idea's, and info. So thank you to all of you too

That makes alot of sense to me now. It is alot to come up with upfront, but thank goodness we are only holding 10. And I hope we dont go wrong by only holding 10, or 10 being too many. This is stressing me out. i have no clue who will surpise us by coming, and I bet the ones we think we know are coming, wont. lol ugh HAPPY 4 MTHS to go!

Congrats on your wedding! Thanks so much for your review.... soooo helpful! Your pics are georgeous and you looked beautiful! Great to know about the golf cart because my dad is slightly handicapped and cant walk far distances, so I will def be making this request esp for the day of! And we were thinking about the bonfire and I think you just made our desicion Looks like it was a blast! And we will bring our own music too Thanks a ton!

I think today my FI is finally coming to terms about the TA situation. I tried explaining over and over to him what they are actually doing for us other than holding the rooms rates. They will be organizing everyones arrival's and departures, we will know where and when everyone will be arriving for our welcome bags, and transportation will be waiting for them at the airport when they arrive in Cancun International, all our taxes and fees...etc, I dotn know what got into him. He is the laid back, quiet one in the relationship and then all of a sudden there was a complete role reversal for like 48 hours lolol!!! Jaccat- 245! WOW! thanks for noting that you had to put down the deposit for the rooms, b/c that was my next question. They asked us to do the same. So now we have to come up with all this money upfront. But we dont have as many rooms as you. Now a question if you dont mind me asking.... The desposits that you put down initially, will they go back to your room credit (account). How is your TA handeling that? I hope thats not too personal of a question. My TA said that she is going to see if she can do that for us. I dont know why they wouldnt. Our wedding like I said isnt until April... I cant start calling people and putting them on the spot asking if they think they are coming! Absolutly not! haha that was something my FI thought we'd do. OMG NO! We have 70 invites, but I really dont think more than 30 ppl will come. So as of now we are thinking of only holding 10 rooms... I'm so confused over this. I'm just glad that my Fi came to terms with this TA and got back to himself ahhh! He was making me nuts. I love him so much! The rates the TA came back with are cheaper than rates we have seen on the internet sites, except that one site that's having a 40% off sale right now. That's what got him all crazy I think. Once he found that one, he expected the TA to match that. That wasnt going to happen. I knew that. I mean the rates are still great rates, but that sale was better.... if everyone booked today lol. then of course we wouldnt have the extras that we get with the TA. Boo- 40 booked already wow, thats awesome!!! yayy newyork- i didnt even see the search thing before. im silly! thanks!!

sorry I was so flustered, I apologize for my spelling errors (I am at work and was just typing really fast and sort of venting). Jaccat- thanks for the other registry ideas, and your centerpeices sound real nice! I will have to ask her for some more pics. I am still waiting for pics of the diff reception locations all set-up from Cecilia.

Hey girls I need some advice.. my FI is driving me absolutly insane about our group rates! We have a wedding planner up here who has been working on group rates with two travel agents and they have been going back and fourth for weeks now tryign to negotiate the lowest possible rates. All of a sudden this weekend my FI decides to start searching for rates on .com's... well of course when you get soem 40% off sales, rates look fab, but they wont hold those rates until next April. They can change any day! So he wasn't getting this so I had to call them and personally speak to them about our situation, destination wedding, not sure # of rooms, etc. Well they would give us these 40% off rates if we book today. Umm hello? my guests arent ready to book yet. Our dave-the dates only just went out! I just dont think he understands that we aren't just booking a 2 person vacay. Also our Planner and these TA's are going to be coordinating all of our guests transfers and other small details. So we had a big conference call today with our planner and the TA, me and my FI. They gave us thier final quotes and helped explain to him more of exactly what they are helping us with. I think they are good rates, and he thinks they are insane! The rates we got today were $100 cheaper per person per night than what we thought they would be when we signed contract for the actual wedding at SMB. Ughh! I dont know what to do. He doesnt want to go with the TA thats been workign on our rates for weeks, and I dont want our guests to "fend for themselves" either. What to do what to do! Please help im going crazy!

general question: how can i find the wedding review page for SMB on here? I cant seem to find it. do we have one? im trying to get ideas for centerpeices and set-ups. Anyone else using Secrets Honeymoon registry? and if so are you registering somewhere else too? Both of our parents keep saying that we NEED to have another store option. But we live together and dont need or want another toaster, coffe maker, etc. And really would love (and need) help for the honeymoon, excersions, etc..... maybe since the whole "honeymoon registry" idea is pretty so-to-say new, the older generation just dosnt get it..... what are your thoughts? Knitgirl, Your contract will continue to change constantly. Please dont get discouraged. I understand that it is scary to think that by signing it, it will be final. But I went through the same thing about not wanting to sign because we didnt have every little detail picked out yet. We still dont. But the contract with SMB is and will continue to change, they will not hold anything to it. I was reassured by both Cecilia and my personal wedding planner that I hired here in the states that it is a revised contract and "open contract" But SMB place is breathtaking. I have only heard great reviews on thier weddings. I also requested the rental of the speaker system instead of a DJ so that I could budget in the photgrapher I really wanted. I would def use thier speaker system for the ceremony if you are doing it on the beach (which is what many brides have suggested due to the noise of the water, waves, wind etc.) and you will want your guests to hear your vows.... personally i think thats the most important part of the day! Then depending on where you are having your reception set up, maybe you wont even need the whole system for the rest of the night. Depending on where, you might be able to go with a docking station. I know we wont need it for cocktail hour since the Mexican trio is included in our package for a 45 minute set. ((oh, BTW, Does anyone else find it hysterical that they say mexican "trio" but there's really 4 of them? lol anyway....)) Our wedding isn't until April and I have probably updated or changed my contract 5 times since January. We still havent picked a definate reception location, and we prob wont until we are down there. just rem that this contract isnt set in stone. more like an open-process. Hang in there, everything will be perfect and beautiful

I know... it's horrible whats happening to all the animals, and all of the fishing ships. And also for all of the tourist spots that it will affect. I hope BP figures somthing out soon! It's so ridic already.

I was very concerned about it too... until my friend Sam Champion on Good Morning America showed a map of the projected path. The way the current runs down there in the coast is up towards the Florida Keys, then it will wrap around Florida and go up north towards Bermuda and the Carolina's. i hope he's right!