angel366

June7-- i just returned from my wedding on may 16th. not gonna lie--i wasn't impressed!! it was just my fiance and i-no one else. i think the size of our wedding (essentially--no one) really effected the attention we got from our wedding coordinator (valeria). we LOVED our actual wedding and ceremony--but because of the beach, because of us, and because in the end we got married. the justice of the peace and out photographer were just amazing. first--photography-Octavio Montes--AMAZING. his prices can not be beat and he is a true professional. he showed up 15 minutes early which was awesome (we only paid for 2 hours. again, just the 2 of us, no reception or anything) so any extra time was a super bonus. he caught some amazing shot of our ceremony and it was SUPER windy so most of the ceremony my hair was in my face but he was still able to catch some amazing moments. then after the ceremony we walked down the beach and the photos seriously look like they belong in a magazine. and--he stayed 20 minutes late. then-he met us at the airport the day we were leaving and gave us a CD of ALL the photos he took-close to 240!! we are very very pleased. we could not get into teh hacienda-there was a guard on duty but the photos are still amazing. hair and make-up--eh. OK. i loved my hair. make-up i had to fix a bit. that may be that because i am picky though. i felt beautiful in the end so thats all that really matters. i was a bit annoyed though because my appointments were made for me a 2pm for a 5:30pm ceremony. OK-i figured 45 minutes or so to do my hair, and then 30 minutes for my make-up...so i should be done by 3:15 ish. fine. the spa has a "bridal suite" i can book were i can relax-sip champagne-read and just be for a bit until i need to get my dress on at 4:30ish (photography was suppose to arrive at 5pm-but i have read he shows up early which he did what was awesome--so i figured getting ready at 4:30 would be best). um..this bridal suite was a joke. they kept walking in on me check to see if i had left yet and it was just completely and totally akward. i went to the desk twice and checked if it was OK for me to be in there because random staff kept walking in and checking to see if i was still there. not checking on if i needed anything mind you--just walking in and wuickly apologizing, asking how much longer i would be there, and then leaving. it would have also been nice to have some food or drink available since i was there for 3 1/2 hours. when i asked for a glass of champagne it seemed like it was a huge inconvenience. the only food/drinks they had was the stuff laid out for the general spa users--pecans, walnuts and raisins. tea, coffee water. not really "bridal snacks". so that whole thing was sort of weird. valeria-wedding coordinator--what a mess. let me state again--our wedding was amazing-BECAUSE OF US..its just laughable how BAD she was. she didn't do ANYTHING she said she would. perhaps it was because it was just the two of us so she thought she could slack off? who knows. anyways--she was great to email with prior to arriving. we had our meeting with her a couple of days after we arrived and everything went well...our ceremony was set for 5:30 on the beach. we did a legal ceremony. it was suppose to go like this: 4:30pm-she meets me in bridal suite to help me put on dress. remember--just me. no one is there to help me with my corset dress. 4:50-valeria goes to get my fiance and give him his flowers. she brings him down to the ceremony spot. 5pm (but i figured he would be there early)-photographer arrives and we take some photo of just me getting ready and around the spa. 5:15-valeria meets me with golf cart to take me to ceremony spot on beach 5:30 ceremony begins After ceremony-cake and toast. my husband does not drink so we asked for champagne for me, ginger ale for him. Not so bad-right? this is what happened-- 4:30pm--hmm...no valeria. i'll wait a few more minutes before having someone call for her. 4:45--still no valeria. i'm in a pair of shorts and a button down shirt. AND the photographer just arrived. awesome. i'm not dressed. 4:45-5pm--the photographer and i fiddle around with some pics of my dress before i put it on...the bouquet and what not. still no valeria. i go to frint desk and ask to her her paged. 5:10pm--she arrives and is sort of pis*y, "you need me for something?".UUMM YES!! to put on my freakin' dress, remember?? now--it takes her 15 minutes to tie it up--15 minutes of which the photographer that i only have for 2 hours is just sitting outside the room because i have no clothes on. so that was wasted time and why i wanted her to get there earlier. 5:25-valeria says-"ok! lets go to the ceremony!" we walk outside and there is no golf cart. mind you--its 92 degress, i'm barefoot, and its about a 7 minutes walk to ceremony spot in the humidity. i ask about the golf cart because i don't want to be a sweaty mess by the time we get to the ceremony--she looks confused..and says she'll get it. i notice she also still has my fiance's flowers. i asked if she has seen him yet and she says no. remember--she was suppose to go get him at 4:50?? for all i know-john is still in the room waiting for her to show up. 5:35--golf cart arrives--we drive off. thank god john was smart enough to leave the room after valeria didnt show up. 5:40--CEREMONY BEGINS!! it was beautiful. all except the group of 10 naked drunk people swimming directly behind our ceremony being loud and screaming at me while i was walking down the aisle. seriously. i'm talking naked men and women jumping and screaming throughout our entire ceremony. wouldn't you think the wedding coordinator would have shooed them away?? and they were guests of the resort. in the moment--it made me laugh and they didn't get in any of our pictues--but SERIOUSLY??? 6:10PM-ceremony concludes. the script they used was amazing. i cried, we exchanged vows, we kissed. i want to do the ceremony all over again because it was just so beautiful. 6:11-champagne popped!! they poor two glasses. i ask were johns ginger ale is and they say they don't have it. i asked if they could run to the bar so we could do a toast and they said it was too far away. seriously. so--no toast. we cut the cake (very yummy!!) and got some photos of that. they then said they would bring the cake and left over champagne up to our room. yea....we never saw that again and never received it. would have been nice to have our wedding cake for dessert on our wedding night-but i guess not. we then went on to do a photoshoot and again--Octavio Montes--AMAZING. BOOK HIM!!!! you will not be disppaointed. some other disappointing things: none of the beach chairs were moved from our be wedding ceremony location. john and the justice of the peace were scrambling to move the chairs right before i walked down the aisle. also--the "aisle" that they lay out and line with starfish completely blew away right before i came down. again--john and justice of the peace fixed it. there were other hotel staff and the wedding coordinator there...but no-thats cool. the groom will fix it. we also made an appointment with the preferred club for our complimentary champagne breakfast in bed that comes with the honeymoon package. we booked it for the day after the wedding. that never came either so we finally woke up and went to breakfast. also--we were there for a week after our ceremony and knew we needed a copy of our marriage certificate to take home. the night before we left we had to track down valeria throughout the day to let her know we were leaving and needed our things. she had us as leaving on a different day and would get us our things. awesome...a little discouraging though that had we not tracked her down--we would have not gotten our marriage certificate. another disappointing thing is i have read of brides that came home and had their jacuzzi filled and rose petals and what not...and was hoping we would get the same. nothing. overall--LOVED our wedding because it was beautiful and in the end--we got married. secrets though did a HORRIBLE job.

Hello! I am getting married at Secrets maroma Beach in playa del carmen on May 16th and leave this coming Monday-can't wait!! we are also having a civil ceremony. have you spoken with the resort at all? Saturdays actually do not count as "business days", and neither does the day you arrive. Also-some resorts actually require FOUR business days versus THREE. I believe it depends on the town. So for me, We are arriving on a Monday (does not count as a business day) staying Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (those are our 4 business days) and then getting married on that next Monday. So it sort of sucks because we are there for an entire week before we get married-but whatever! We are then staying through the following Saturday, the 21st. I am not sure if your wedding date can be on the fourth business day-but i am pretty sure it can't be. so definitely discuss with the resort to make sure they have the available date and then go from there as far as travel arrangements. as far as my experience has led me to believe-you would actually have to arrive in mexico on 2/22/12 to have a wedding on 2/29/12. good luck!!

scary! Deanna-which airline are you using? we leave monday-i just check our flights and so far-so good! we are flying usairways

thank you!! ugh im so nervous. i will probably run over to the DMV this afternoon. what a PITA!!

ok--sort of freaking out here. i lost my wallet over the weekend. yea. and we leave this coming monday, may 9th for our civil ceremony at secrets maroma beach!!!!!!!! the contents of my wallet contained my credit cards and my drivers license. credit cards are being shiped overnight and i should receive them by tomorrow or wednesday. thats good. but my license?! do i really need that??? because i don't think i can get it in time. i have my passport and *think* that is all that i need to travel internationally and i have my birth certificate which i *think* is all i need for the civil ceremony. right?? please tell me i don't need my drivers license. please for the love of pete tell me i don't need my drivers license!!!

omg that is crazy!!! hopefully you will be able to get some cash for them from craigslist!!! that would absolutely make me look sideways at them.

thats a bummer and would certainly hurt me as well. but can i ask how you came to found out it was discontinued? did you go to the trouble to seek out to find out if this item was a regift?

what are the body types of your bridesmaids? honestly--i have hated any convertible dress i have tried on to the point of not even walking out of the dressing room to show others!!! the chest never fits right and it ends up looking like im wearing a big bag of fabric. BUT i'm 5'10" size 4 and larger busted. i actually think (regardless of what the model pictures show) that if you aren't tall or if you are an average/shorter height and have some curve in your waist and butt-then these would be beautiful!!! but i dont thing bigger busted would EVER work in these dresses. think larger C cup plus. it just isnt practical. so--shorter/average height women without big boobs--yes!!!! taller woman or woman with larger busts--NO!!

invitation3.pdf invitationback2.pdf

I need help! below is our invitation that I made with a template from another BDW bride (thank you erin!!!) i like them! i think they are cute and different. Fiance on the other hand thinks they are "too busy". what are your thoughts?? i'm going to print them and glue them front and back on a deep purple cardstock that is about 1/2 bigger than this file. then stuff in deep purple colored envelopes.

have you looked online? what exactly are you looking for that you have had to waste gas in failing to find?

i'm sorry to hear that you were dealing with this on your wedding day.. i have a bff that would have been my MOH if we were having a bridal party (which we are not) and i am so glad that we arent. she also lives in another state and just doesnt seem to care much about our wedding. it is hurtful--but ultimately...friendships are weird and always changing as people do. am i hurt that she cant return a damn phone call to talk about the wedding? yes. but it is her lose. and if she doesnt see it that way--then maybe she isnt really my best friend after all. i will say it is interesting because you keep mentioning your MOH "insisted" on doing xyz. why did you let her "insist" on everything? it was your wedding.tell her to shut up. i think there is A LOT of other issues going on and perhaps your husband is correct and it is time to get rid of the rfriendship-as hard as that may be. i am a firm believer that sometimes people come in our lives when we need them...and sometimes they can overlive their stay. and there is nothing wrong with that. people grow and change--just like relationships. it is really sad that your MOH couldnt get over herself enough to focus on you. but it doesnt seem like she is accepting in realizing that or altering her behavior.

oh thats right! we are both tanning as well

my FI is getting his eyebrows waxed! he also wants a facial (and so do i!!) but it actually isn't in the budget. BUT-the night before we leave we will most likely go together and get pedicures because he loves them just like i do (side note--what are some brides getting done? i'm pretty much waxing my entire body -ha! arms, legs, armpits, brows, and brazillian. mani/pedi as well. feel a little stupid spending that much money but whatever. i'm gettin married!!)

my fake doesn't look like my real ring too which i think is kind of fun. my real ring is beautiful and i love it, but i told FI that im getting a HUGE rock for my fake ring just for fun