Steph3486

I had a couple aunts/uncles that wouldn't come to our wedding due to the "violence". I told them to read the news- it's not affecting that area like it is the border cities. They never did come- I still think it's just a cop-out so they don't have to spend the money.. It was a bummer they didn't show, but we still had a great time!

FYI for swim with the dolphins pics.... We talked the guy down to $70 for ALL of pictures, 6 prints, and the DVD. Just act interested but keep talking about the price being obscene and they will start haggling FAST.

They sent the mariachi band over for free! I LOVED them! That group is usually playing at La Hacienda every night. :-)

It's a good 10 minute walk between the two, HOWEVER, we asked that they take our guests over by cart because several of the family members have bad knees. This was not an issue at all!!

I would do Mundaca or El Greco. I FINALLY got my pictures- email me at steph3486 at yahoo.com and I can send out the album link if anyone wants it. We did the Tulum gazebo and Mundaca for dinner. We ate out on the terrace and it was fairly private. We only had 11 people so obviously there were some other guests on the terrace with us but no one was terribly close to us or anything as they kind of had us off to one side. I thought our food at Ventanas was not very good at all- and the lighting was very Golden Corral-ish. Momo no hana is actually very pretty inside but oriental food isn't very neutral if that is something you're worried about. We ate there 2x for dinner and both times were delicious.

I never saw a Walmart, but we really didn't go up to Playa. I definitely saw a Sam's Club on the way to the resort and Walmart's aren't usually far away, lol! The guest relations rep was really helpful too- they'd point you in the direction you need for sure. There is also a taxi stand on site, so it's only a few seconds to catch a cab. Make sure to haggle with them to save a few bucks! I don't think packaged foods would be any trouble with customs- I think it's just fruits and stuff with issues. I did take three bags of chocolate in my carry on and no one said anything to me about it.

Another idea for the bags could be some snacks and/or candies. The hotel has fantastic food, but sweeties and salties are hard to come by unless you pay big $ in the gift shop... Some chips or pretzels would have been GREAT after a long night at the disco!

We debated a lot but went with the civil ceremony because I felt like it'd take away from the day if we were already married. The WC leaves a copy of the wedding certificate on your bed after the wedding, so you actually fly home with the originals. I had NO trouble with that part, in fact, the social security office and our DMV had someone bilingual who read through it without providing the translation. I'd get the translation for your bank, credit cards, etc though- it makes it a lot easier.

We exchanged rings, just not with the vows. and we kissed. :-)

Definitely no "to have and to hold" stuff. All I had to say was yes (when askedif I was there to get married). I'm sure you could ask the WC if she can add the "traditional" vows in? I never checked. Honestly, I never wanted a real wedding anyways (i was all for the courthouse) but the husband insisted we have a wedding so I just let the WC/Judge pick everything.

We took the "traditional ceremony" option. We walked in, the judge welcomed us and said a few words about marriage, welcomed us to the riviera maya and read us a Mayan poem, asked us if we were both there to get married, and proceeded with the paperwork. The paperwork involved us signing marriage certificates four times each w/ thumbprints, and once we'd signed everything the judge called up the witnesses one at a time (we used our parents) to sign all the papers as well. Once they were done signing the papers the judge pronounced us husband and wife, had us kiss and the exit began. It was only about a 15-20 minute ceremony. After walking out, we hung around outside the gazebo for a couple minutes alone and had a champagne toast and our guests came out to visit with us. From there, we went off with the photographer and had the dinner about 60minutes later so our guests just loitered around until then. I'm sure you already know Wilma lets you pick the dinner time- personally, I would do like a two hour gap if you have a photographer because we were definitely really short on time with only an hour to take after ceremony pictures.

I was pretty ticked that so few of my friends/family decided to come too, but at the end I was actually really glad that only a few came. It let me actually pay attention to everybody, and now I know who my real friends are. :-)

As for tipping at the spa, I couldn't really tell what the "norm" there was. We opted not to tip because many of the services are already 200+ "dollars" as is, and I definitely couldn't afford to tip 15%. No one really waits around or anything (with their palms out) so I think it's just a matter of preference. I did see a man leaving a tip one day at the receptionist's desk for his therapist, so it can be done.

Heads up on this-- this was my ONE major complaint about ASP. I emailed a vacation guy (Luis) and set all my spa stuff ahead of time and he told me I could use all $3,000 in the spa if I wanted to. He said after September 1st that was permitted. My husband and I ended up using about $2100 in the spa- 5 massages, facials.. etc.. However, when my guests arrived, the hotel would only let them use the $300 in the spa and I had several upset guests. The hotel really didn't do much to make it right, but my family didn't really bother to pitch a fit either so I'm not sure how complaining on site would have turned out. I would STRONGLY advise you to print it off the website or get the info in writing from a vacation planner BEFORE you go.

I had my makeup and hair done at ASP. She did a great job on both, but I would highly recommend you bring your color choices and hair pictures with you due to a little bit of a language barrier. She had special makeup that didn't melt off like my clinique would have done, so that in itself made it all worthwhile to me! Ditto on the hairspray!