82turtles

Yeah, I asked the moderators to rename the thread a while ago, but either none of them saw it or they didn't want to change the name. No idea since I didn't get a reply! I was hoping that having it renamed would draw all the new brides to this thread, since some people may not know that it was recently changed from a Paradisus. I think most of us Sapphire brides probably also follow the "The Now Riviera Cancun" thread, but it would be nice if more people would post on this one, too! The other one gets to be very Jade-specific sometimes. Glad you found this thread though!

Haven't gone yet actually.. Our wedding is this November 12th. Which will be here wayyy before I'm ready for it!!

It's a tough choice picking a resort. I think the main difference between the two are in look and feel. The Jade is more upscale modern while the Sapphire is more authentic-Mexican. I picked the Sapphire over the Jade for two reasons -- mainly I wanted that Mexican look since we traveled there for a reason, and also my group pricing came back MUCH lower at Sapphire. I don't have the exact numbers anymore, but it was close to $300-400 more at Jade over the Sapphire for a 6 night stay for our guests. That was the ultimate determining factor as we were trying to make this an affordable trip for our family and friends. No idea why there was such a huge difference in price between the resorts for the same dates, especially since their standard rates are the same. If you haven't gotten a quote on what the cost will be for your guests, perhaps that can help you decide as it did for me! Good luck picking!

Just wanted to pass along this site where I bought my fiance's wedding band that saved us hundreds from what we originally budgeted for his ring: http://www.tungstenfashions.com/ They are Tungsten Carbibe bands that are priced at $69.99 normally I think. They have a sale right now where they are $54.99. The sale goes through tomorrow, but they have that sale price every once in a while. And even if they aren't on sale, $70 is a GREAT price!! The ring I got was very sturdy and of great quality and fit perfectly, plus they have a lifetime guarantee for size exchanges or if it breaks or fractures. One of my bridesmaids' father is a jeweler and we had him check it out. He said that's a great deal. Lots of their suppliers couldn't even come close to the price for the same exact thing Also, super quick shipping. I bought mine on a Friday afternoon, and it was at my house Monday around noon. Couldn't believe it!

I would say no, you aren't sending them out too early at all. Not for a destination wedding at least! I think in general people appreciate having more time to plan and stuff (if they didn't already do so based on your STD). I decided to skip the STD and send out invites only and give people LOTS of time to decide, plan, book, etc... we sent those out in early February. Same as you were thinking - my invite said to have their travel finalized by August 1st as well, so I could release extra rooms if needed.

Very cute! Thanks for sharing and passing along the seller's info.

Hi May, Are you back from your site visit? Anything you can share that might be helpful?! thanks!

Hello, I found an old post that said to just contact a moderator to have a thread renamed, but I'm not sure who of all the people online right now are moderators! Could I please have someone rename the thread "Paradisus Riviera Brides - POST HERE!"? That resort changed names a while ago, and I think new brides considering or getting married there may not have have known that, so they find it difficult to find in a search. I had thought about having it renamed to "Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun (formerly Paradisus Riviera)". That way if someone searches either the new or old name, it would come up in the search results. Thanks! Sarah

Hi Lianee, I think the plan you have laid out makes the most sense (and that's how I did it more or less)-- contact the resort to find available dates and get that nailed down. I figured it would be awful to get the rooms/flights all set, only to find out later that the resort had no openings for weddings during my stay!! In general, I found if you can give them a list of your preferred dates (ranked in order), they will get back to you with availability faster than if you just ask for them to tell you what is open, especially if you have a very large window of dates you're looking at. Good luck! Sarah

I think we just need to have a moderator rename the thread for us. I know there is a list of active users on the homepage, but I don't know how to tell who is a moderator and who isn't.. I'll just post a thread in the "Bugs, issues, etc" section to see if someone can help us out with renaming. I thought about having it changed to "Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun (formerly Paradisus Riviera)". Pretty basic name, so hopefully it will come up if people search either the new or old name. Thoughts or suggestions for another name??

Anyone have thoughts about maybe having this thread renamed? I wonder if that is why participation has slowed... it doesn't show up under a search for "Now sapphire", and I'm thinking that new brides wouldn't have known that it used to be a Paradisus resort.

November 12, 2011 at Now Sapphire for us! Thanks clgriffi7 for maintaining the list! Can't believe we are all just about 6 months away.. !!!

There's another thread on here talking about to invite the DW guests to the AHR, so you might want to read through that to get some more ideas and opinions. However, my personal thought is that you might want to reconsider this strategy of just inviting people who aren't able to make it to the Dominican -- some may be offended that they aren't invited to your follow-up celebration. I am having a casual party at a park shelter about a month after we return and invited everyone that I invited to the DW as well as a LOT more people. I can't imagine NOT inviting the people who traveled with me to the actual wedding since those are our nearest and dearest family and friends. Like my immediate family and bridal party -- they are all going down to Mexico with us, and I know they would be hurt if they weren't invited to our AHR. I am just making it clear to them that they are in no way obligated to attend since it means so much to us that they are attending the DW, but we would love to see them again and have a little reunion of sorts. Plus I think some of the guests who didn't get to come to your wedding would love to spend time with those who did! Good luck with your decision!

Something else I had read about... she put her dress in the whirlpool in the hotel suite after the TTD and let the jets run. That cleaned out all the salt and sand from the ocean. Then she just let it hang dry. Wouldn't work on the stains probably, but it might be a good idea to at least get the salt out as soon as you can while still down there.

Wow, that was fast!! Good for you for deciding so quickly.. I went back and forth over what resorts for months! So much stress, wish I could have been as decisive as you were!!!

Anyone know if that is online only or if they have those in stores?

^^ Oops, had those flipped.. the extra cost for cake is $7 pp and for champagne is $4 pp.

Just checked my notes, and I have it down that the additional cost per person for cake is $4, champagne is $7, cocktail hour is $15, and dinner is either $48 for eternity package or $53 for divine package. All of that is PLUS 11% tax and 18% service fee, so it comes out to roughly $97 each on Eternity package, and $104 each on Divine package for every person over 25, if you were to do it all (cake/champagne/cocktail/etc). PRICEY!! This is why we kept the guest list down!

I don't think it's too wordy.. they are super cute! I love your idea of pasting them on a slightly larger cardstock. Have you tried printing one out like a final copy (put on the purple paper and everything), and shown your FI? Perhaps once he sees the final product he will realize that it looks good, and you have left plenty of 'white space' to keep it from being too busy. If anything, I think you could maybe leave out the detailed description of where the location is. You included the full address, so I think anyone should be able to look it up online. Unless it is in a tricky spot where you think those landmarks will be helpful. BTW, can you post the template that you used? I just booked my AHR venue last week, so need to start thinking about invites now! thanks! Sarah

Wow your dress is sooo pretty!! Congrats on finding it!

Thanks! Our date is November 12. Seems like forever away, but I'm sure it'll be here before I know it! Kinda wish I had known about the one opening in Punta Cana.. that's originally where we were thinking of getting married, but couldn't find a resort we really loved with good reviews at a decent price. Plus the flights were SO expensive coming from the Midwest! But I'm really happy with the Sapphire. I think the Now resorts in general are just really nice. They have a couple other new ones from what I've seen on the parent company's website -- one in Puerto Vallarta and two in Cap Cana.

That's not our plan, but one of my friends from high school did something very similar to what you are thinking - they had a small ceremony at the courthouse with just parents and grandparents, and then they just went out to dinner at a nice restaurant afterwards with the family that attended. Then they did a symbolic ceremony on the beach down in Mexico (although they did have 4 friends join them for the vacation). I'd say if that's what you want to do -- do it!!

I would say go for it!! But then again, I'm a little biased.. I'm getting married in November at the Now Sapphire in Mexico. It used to be a Paradisus resort which they converted in 2010, and from all the reviews of girls who were getting married right around the time of transition, they do a good job of making sure you don't 'fall through the cracks'. That resort looks amazing! Good luck deciding!

^^ Whoops.. meant 'tapping', not 'tapped'

Super cute idea! And thanks for the link.. have that one saved. Where/how did you make the tags to go along with the maracas? Do you have a template you could share? Side note -- you spelled 'tapped' wrong on your tags. Hopefully you haven't printed them yet! Other suggestion -- could you adjust the font size or something to maybe try to get the last phrase to be on one line?