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Thomas Sanderson Photography - ([email protected]) A previous Ceiba bride had used Tom for her wedding (my friend of a friend connection to Ceiba). After looking a long time and really wanted Del Sol we ended up using Tom. He is from VA and paid for his own room and flight. Yes, I would have loved to have Del Sol but Tom shot many pictures over a few days so it was nice to have not just wedding pictures. He is VERY mellow so I think if you choose to use him, be more assertive then me. Some of you got your pictures back very quickly so in comparison he was a bit slower. Overall, very happy with my pictures. I received all of the pictures on CDs and I need to select the pictures for our album. MVP - hair and make-up This is the only review I did so far so please check it out. Melissa was AMAZING! Violinist - My husband surprised me with this for the ceremony so I have no information on him. It was very sweet of my hubby and I loved it. I have a "logistics" document with a bunch of the time, location, and all that good stuff so when I find it, I will post it. Laura

I thought I would post all of the vendors we used so those of you still in the planning stage you can get more input to make your decision. I ended up using Tropical Wedding Experts b/c we were dealing with Paola (not the fabulous one there now) and we weren't getting much support. A former Ceiba WC went to work for TWE and a friend of a friend said she was great. Pros to using an outside WC- they created a website for my guests to book their rooms and any requests, transportation from airport, meal options, and if they would be attending the BBQ and Brunch. This certainly made it easier on me HOWEVER... Con: there were many issues with the website so in the end I was constantly on top of everything double checking, fixing mistakes, etc. At one point, Denise our WC basically lost touch with us and replied to us in emails with "I will get to it as humanly possible". And let me state I was FAR from the bridzilla. There was no set fee for the services so I always felt like I was getting scammed. I will write a review and give more details for this company. Show System - DJ Omar Bautista Figueroa ([email protected]) He did a great job of keeping the party going. We had sent him a few songs to give him an idea for our style of music. We didn't want anyone yelling into the mic so his style suited us perfectly. His English is not great but 50% of my guests were Spanish speaking. He provided nice lighting for the dance area. He also provided the sound system for our ceremony since it was on the pier. Mariachi's Aguila de Mexico They were fabulous. They met us at the end of the pier after the ceremony and played music walking to the cocktail hour. So many guests raved about how great they were and it gave a great Mexican touch to our wedding. Eventos Euforia - ([email protected]) We used Eventos for the lounge seating and bonfire at the BBQ the night before our wedding. They did exactly as we asked and it looked great. It is hard to visual the space with how much you need...tiki torches, seating ,etc but they were very easy to work with. We used them for all of the wedding decor (ceremony, cocktail, and reception). Angel and I met with my WC and Eventos works to explain how we wanted the tables arranged at the reception...luckily my hubby stopped by the terrace area before he went to shower and had them fix it b/c it wasn't set up correctly. Only other negative the bouquet for my mom and mother in law were white callilies and the tips were brown. I ask my WC to see if they could get new ones and they did. We went back and forth with them a lot on what we wanted our centerpiece to look like. I was nervous b/c the sample pics were terrible but I LOVED my centerpieces. We rented 4 wooden cocktail tables with floating candle and orchid, square tables, bamboo chairs with cushions, 80 hanging candles, and yute overlay on cream table cloth.

We did our dance to "When you say you love me" by Josh Groban (who I love). Some people made comments that it sounded like a Lion King song but oh well. We kept a secret from everyone and did a surprise salsa dance. I had to change out of my dress so I ended up telling one friend but nobody knew. It was a fabulous way to get the party started. Here's the video. http://vimeo.com/24798316

I finally got my professional pictures and wedding slideshow: http://www.lifebehindthecamera.com/darkroom/share/?n=Laura_and_Angel Also, here is a video of our dance: Sorry I haven't been on lately...end of school year and working on those wedding thank yous!

LeanneMarie- I got married the same day and also used Melissa. She was one busy lady and yes she is fabulous! Your pictures are amazing and you looked beautiful!!

Thank you for all of the nice compliments! To answer a few questions: Soutache Lace ($105 per yard) and silk crepe satin ($53 per yard) - total with taxes and shipping $540. I paid $500 to have it made. A steal since alterations alone are a couple hundred. She paid for the lining, little bit of tulle, buttons, etc. It might look really heavy but it wasn't at all. I was a bit hot dancing but that is to be expected. The dress moved freely and I never once felt constricted or uncomfortable. I got a bit dirty at the bottom but we weren't in the sand that much. Still deciding what to do - clean and preserve it or not. The best thing was I wanted a lace that was $260 per yard. Fell in love with it to only find out they didn't have enough and they called France but couldn't get any. Kind of glad that didn't work out! Ha!

Sorry I haven't responded sooner. They are alcatraz which I believe are native to Mexico. StrephyD - love your bouquets!!! So many wonderful colors and variations.

Thanks Brenners. I wish you were close to NYC area b/c you could use my lady. My husband's sister got married (before we were together) and had this crazy big dress made with swarksi (sorry not spelled correctly) crystals hand sewn on so this lady is legit!

Here are a few pictures from my wedding. The postcards in the wine bottles are vintage postcards of places that my husband and I have traveled together. My brother in law found them and then he also created the seating place cards with the same photo so each table was a "destination". Loved it! Made it more special that he did it for us. I brought the blue mason jars with me and candle votives. Eventos Euphoria supplied the yute overlay and the centerpieces which I was really pleased with. We got married on Saturday and the centerpieces still looked gorgeous Tuesday night when we left and it was 93 degrees and humid the day we got married.

I didn't have super high expectations with the wedding cake and we went with our resorts pastry chef and orchids from Eventos Euphoria. It was nice, simple, clean looking. Yummy but not the most beautiful. Honestly, I am glad I didn't sweat it that much. Dulce de leche... YUM

I got married April 16th and had my dress made. I tried on many dresses and couldn't find the dress I liked so my mother in law (who has a hook up for everything) sent me to a lady she knows. I described what I wanted done and bought the fabric myself in NYC in B & J Fabrics. I LOVE my dress. I don't have a super close up of the back of it which I am sad about but still waiting on seeing more pictures. It has beautiful buttons down the back.

Wow Tracy. You did a great job planning such a large wedding. The beach dinner looked fun and casual and was that everyone jumping in the ocean at the end of the wedding? You too? You looked beautiful! Congrats and share your prof pics when you get them. : )

Thank you to all of you for posting your ceremony scripts. It made the task of creating my "own" much easier. We were lucky enough to have my husband's uncle officiate the ceremony. It made it so much more special and meaningful. I believe it was about 20 minutes long. We did not have a bridal party so I had my two sisters and his sister each do a reading. I thought I would be crying but I held it together! Ceremony Script 3 - 31-11.doc

I took some ideas from this forum and made "survival baggies" and put the band-aids, Tylenol, etc in a small clear bag and stapled a brown stock paper folded in half with this label. I printed the labels on sticker sheets and cut them out. I didn't want to deal with taking all of those first aid kits. Thanks of all of the ideas. bag topper mix.doc

Thank you for all your nice comments about my pictures. The photographer uploaded more pictures today and will keep adding more so check back later. I was deleting some files and found this one...not sure if future brides have seen this but it will give you some ideas for ceremony and reception layouts. Wedding Pictures[1].pdf

We used Tropical Wedding Experts who coordinated transportation if our guests wanted to use it and they also created a website for our guests to RSVP with their food choices and room choice. The guests did all of this on line on the website that was created for my wedding. That meant the guests had to book their flights on their own. We had all of our guests book as AI for the days of our wedding events but they had the option to change to European plan on other days. In our contract we had if all guests were AI we did not have to pay for alcohol. I think that was a major no no on the lady who was the WC at Ceiba for about two months. It definitely saved us a ton of money! The price per hour per person for alcohol at Ceiba is ridiculous!! Do you feel like you need a TA or could you negotiate with Ceiba? Good luck Oh and I got the link for my photos. There are a ton but have a peak. http://tsanderson.smugmug.com/Weddings/Laura/Wedding-Day/

YaY Tracey! So glad you had a wonderful time! 125 guests...you really did run that place. I'm jealous of these fabulous honeymoon trips. Enjoy your time with your husband!

MarisaKash - I just posted a review on MVP and posted some pics. I still have not even heard from my photographer so the pics are not professional ones. PM if you still have questions after checking out my review.

My bouquet was wrapped with an off white ribbon and I pinned a silver and blue brooch that was my late grandmothers. Also, these are my mother's and mother in law's flowers. I did not have any brides maids.

Very beautiful! I love the back. It fits you perfectly!

Hi Ladies, Sorry I haven't posted. My wedding was April 16th and I can't begin to describe how amazing it was from start to finish. We arrived on Monday prior to our wedding and left the following Tuesday. We had family or friends with us every day we were there but that was fine to us. Eight straight days of pure sunshine. Ceiba staff exceeded any epectations I had. To have everyone know your name and your guests was incredible. They treated us like king and queen! Our friends and family raved about how wonderful everything was and have requested to have a reunion there again. HAHA I have not written any reviews yet but I will eventually. Theresa - thanks for sharing your pictures. Amazing. You look so calm! Your husband's wedding band is so similar to my hubby's. Loved your flowers! I used a photographer that a former Ceiba bride had used. He flew from Williamsburg VA. Awesome - took 4 days of picutres (snorkeling, hanging out photos at the pool, bbq, wedding, a photo shoot of me and hubby in the water) BUT right before I left I read a bad reviews stating he takes forever to get pictures back. We emailed him on April 23rd and have yet to hear back from him. BUT, his father passed away on April 20th only two days after he returned from my wedding. I am trying to be calm about not hearing from him but a person who wrote a bad review on Yelp emailed me and told me it took one whole year to get their wedding pictures. Ok enough rambling about that. Brenners - so sorry to hear about your father. I am sure he will be watching over you on your big day. MarisKash - I used Melissa V. Perry for hair and make-up. She came to Ceiba and did a trial for about 3 hours a few days before my wedding. SUPER sweet and easy to work with. I ended up crying during my trial b/c I didn't feel like I looked like myself but wedding day came and I felt like a million bucks!!!!!! I will try to post some pictures that my friends and family have sent. She is on this forum so you can shoot her an email. Those of you who are debating on Ceiba...don't debate...do it! We went over our budget by a lot (mainly b/c I was clueless on prices) but it was worth every penny and then some!

We leave tomorrow for Mexico and our wedding is on Saturday. It doesn't seem real that it is finally here. I will share all the details when I get back.

KPSouthie - How long will you be at Ceiba? Will I meet you too?

Have a blast!!!!! Maybe I will see you b/c I will be arriving for my April 16th wedding on the 11th. YAY!

Hi Ladies, For any of you who are planning on doing your own make-up and need some help...My sister took me to Eliut on Madison Ave in the city for a make-up lesson with Robin. She was awesome. I am really clueless when it comes to putting make-up on so I went first and she gave me step by step on how to do my wedding look. Then I got to watch my sister who did a bit more than I will for the wedding. Highly recommend going if you need some help. She doesn't sell any products so no need to feel the pressure to buy anything but she will write down every product that she used. I have a 15 minute follow up with her in a few weeks to show her that I can do it myself.