Jessie

Hey Marianne! I'm happy to see another November bride on here! I would definitely be interested in hearing more about this if it works out for you. I don't want to carry a ton of stuff with me (I already have tons w/o adding in a bunch of decorations), and I don't want to pay the ridiculous prices charged by Lomas for everything either. So another option would be great! Happy planning!

HeyNada! I'm getting married at AS on November 12, 2011....so far you are the only other November bride I've seen on here! And we'll be there at the same time!

Nada - what day are you getting married? I'm getting married on November 12, 2001 at AS. Can't wait!

I haven't asked my WC yet, but I've read on here several times that you can't ship to the resort. My FI thinks you can ship (via UPS or FedEx to the airport (or possibly to a UPS or FedEx store in Cancun). I put him in charge of finding that out......he hasn't done it yet (or any of the other tasks assigned to him ), but I'll definitely post on here when I find out. If you can ship to the airport, I would definitely rather do that than pay for extra bags and lug them around.

WHAT?!? They CANNOT do that to you!!!! Do you have a contract? Call back your TA and tell him/her that it is just plain unacceptable and they need to figure something else out. How many people are in your group? Did they say for sure that all of your events will be at AB too? I'm sure AB is a beautiful resort too, and I know the brides that have gotten married there have been happy, but still. You chose AS and planned AS and sold all of your guests on AS! That is crazy. Wish I could help. Does your TA have a close relationship with the resort? My TA does.....I'd be happy to give you her contact information if you feel like talking to someone else might help....

We are not doing a catamaran cruise, but I remember a past bride by the name of AmyBermuda did a cruise and recommended a company.....let me see if I can find a link to her planning thread..... Here you go: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/61350/amybermuda-s-planning-thread-mexico-may-wedding

We are doing a full welcome dinner using the beach bbq menu. We are getting married on Saturday - some of our guests are arriving on Thursday, some on Friday, so we'll do the welcome dinner on Friday night. I guess it depends on when all of your guests are arriving. Since ours aren't all arriving on the same day, it makes sense to do it the first evening that everyone would be there. I think it would be ok if you do it a day after you arrive....it gives everyone some time to settle in. How large of a group are you expecting?

We didn't book through KHR, but we did sign a contract with a travel agency. We didn't have to prove a copy of our credit card or license, but we did have to fax our credit card number on an information sheet to our travel agent when it was time to put down our deposit. I don't know they would need actual copies of your credit card or license.

I switched to the sweet free package because I compared the packages, and the other packages really offered nothing that the free package offered that I even cared about, except for a bride's bouquet, which certainly isn't going to cost $2500 or more. What I did is print out a list of all the packages and compared them side by side. Then I looked at what was offered in the the more expensive package(s) that wasn't offered in the free package, and then figured out if it was worth the extra money. I figured I was WAY better off starting at zero and building from there than paying a few thousand dollars for basically nothing (and my uncle is a wedding photog, so I don't need that). The things that are available on the Gold package that are not available on the free package are: spa hairstyle for bride and haircut for groom, blood test, photographer, logo beach bag, romantic sunset cruise for bride and groom. If you want all of those things and they are worth $3,500 for you, then go for it. I think the big thing is the photographer. Figure out what you want to do for photography and I think you'll have your answer. You can kind of keep looking at it as you are planning and change your package at anytime if it seems like there is one that might fit you better. Good luck! And keep checking out this site.....it will definitely help you figure out what you want/need and what your options are at the resort. Everybody on here is at various stages of planning, so no need to feel intimidated!!

Love your pictures, Murmel!! You look beautiful.....love your dress!!

I have been picking them up recently at Office Depot stores. If you have any of those in your area, give them a try. They are on sale for $1 each and I've been finding about 10-12 per store. Good luck!

Natasha - I know you are probably still decompressing, but when you get a chance I would love to know about your cupcake cake. What flavor/s did you have and how much did they charge you? I didn't even know cupcakes were an option. Also, thanks for the info on the legal ceremony....I was totally considering changing to a symbolic ceremony because of the Spanish thing...now I have to reconsider.

Natasha - Yay! It LOVE hearing from the brides when they get back! I'm glad to hear everything went well and you and all of your guests enjoyed yourselves! How many guests did you have? I also am thinking about hiring the mariachis....just wasn't sure when to have them play. During dinner sounds like a good time. Can't wait to see your pictures and your planning journal/review! Congratulations!!!!

Welcome to the forum, Kerry! Congratulations! It took me WEEKS to read though all of the back posts, but it is definitely worth the time. This forum has been a HUGE help to me too!

WHAT?!? Are you serious? They are getting out of control with some of the prices.....

Hey ladies - I was at Michael's today and they have an entire aisle full of $1 bins....they had some cute stuff there that I think I'm gonna pick up for my OOT bags. They had cutely wrapped soaps in beach breeze scent and other love related items. Worth checking out!

Nice job on the weight loss! I'm working on the same thing myself before I have to go try on dresses, so I know how exciting it is to see results!

Look great! PALM TREE.pdf

Right now we are planning a welcome/rehearsal party on the beach. Probably BBQ deluxe menu. Also thinking about hiring a dance instructor for the last hour or two to teach latin dances to our whole group. Thought it would be fun so we could all do it at the reception the next night. But still trying to figure it out bc I don't see having 70 people of various ages trying to learn salsa dancing in the sand on the beach. Don't want anyone to twist an ankle or anything. I'm wondering how many people could fit on the yoga palapa. Are you all getting 20% off private events? Also, they don't still have the donkey, do they?

Oh my goodness.....that is SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Nice job, girl!!! You have mad DIY skills!! Everything looked really great.

MMC1105 - Love the BM dresses!

Michele - Check out this thread for ceremony scripts: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/21660/share-your-ceremony-script There are some really great ones there. I teared up a little when I read through them! It's making me seriously rethink our decision to do the legal wedding.

We went through a travel agent, and she (and the resort) held a block of rooms for us for about a month and a half. We sent out save the dates immediately with an information sheet for our guests including room rates (with our discounted price), the amount of the deposit, our TA's contact info, etc. Our guests were given a a cut-off date to put down their deposit. When that time period was over, we put down a deposit to hold 5 more rooms (for 2 more months only) in case there were any stragglers. Once that time period is up, those rooms will be released and anyone else that wants to book will not get our discounted price. Almost everyone that we expected to book (and a number that we didn't expect) booked during that initial period. It worked out well for us because we didn't have to put down the deposit to hold 40 rooms, but we did have to get on the ball very quickly and get out information and STDs together. Also, all of that happened a year in advance of our wedding, so it was no big deal for a resort of AS's size to hold those rooms for us. I've never been to a destination wedding, so I don't have a lot of experience, but I think it is a good idea to put together a package and make it easy for your guests. Depending, of course, on how important it is to you for people to come. And we definitely negotiated a better price than they would have gotten on their own. And there are perks for having a block of rooms for your wedding, depending on the size of your party, and I don't know that you would get those perks if all your guests booked on their own. That's just my two cents.

Awesome review! It was nice to see the comparisons, since I chose AS without doing a site visit to any resorts. Thanks for the pictures!