MJKH

No...just take your time ; ) I'm housecleaning this morning and my mind is wandering aimlessly. I just thought of something else I would "do again". If you and your FI have never had a photoshoot done together, I would recommend you do this before working with your "big gun" (i.e., your wedding day photographer). We had some very reasonably priced engagement photos done in the fall (it was a groupon) and that helped us figure out how to pose together...what angles we preferred...what poses we hated (for me it was definitely the ones where he was standing behind me with his arms wrapped under my bustline)...and just got us comfortable moving in front of a camera. For some reason, it took some time for my FI to figure out that when the photog said "ok, now lean in and kiss her", he needed to slow down and hold the kiss for longer than a millisecond!

Hahaha...no! I don't think anything on Vistaprint is truly "free"...you're either paying for the item (or some percentage of it!) and getting free shipping, or paying for the shipping in some roundabout way. But I'm in Canada, so maybe the deals in the US are better. I was wanting the 7 day shipping because it was the last few things we needed right before we left for the wedding and I needed them to arrive ASAP.

After spending time cleaning out wedding items in my basement last night, I'd like to offer up one more piece of advice to brides... VISTAPRINT...I'm so happy with all of the items we utilized over the course of the last year. Their customer service was excellent...if something wasn't printed to my satisfaction (blemishes on the paper, etc.) they reprinted the items and sent them express post every time so that I had replacements a week later. Here's the problem...it's really easy to get "caught up" in their promotions and order way too much too soon. I ended up throwing into recycling last night a whole bunch of personalized cards, etc. that we didn't use...for lots of reasons...my vision and plans changed over the course of the year, new ideas for items popped up on BDW threads, one of our flower girls (and her family) did not end up coming to Mexico (and it would have been too awkward to have given her the personalized bag, notebook, etc. after the fact). Rest assured if you sign up to receive their e-mails/specials, you will get sent out a number of them each week. Really take your time and plan out what you will need and how you will utilize your printed items. When I was waiting for an e-mail from Vistaprint that offered free 7 day shipping, I ended up picking up the phone and asking one of their representatives if she had a current offer in the system that would meet my needs, and she made it happen! Don't wait around for an e-mail...call them and tell them what you're looking for and they try their best to make it happen. So, don't leave anything to the last minute, but if I had to do it all over again, I would design my little heart out and save the items in my porfolio. Then as my plan really came together 2 or 3 months before the wedding and the guest count was solid, I would start to order. Just something to think about...

Completion of review... So, now I'll focus on our wedding day and hopefully share some helpful tips for future GS brides. Wedding Planner Elizabeth Miranda was assigned as our wedding planner and we were so lucky to have her on our team. Everyone adored her and she certainly went out of her way to make our day extra special. She loves her job and it shows! I, like many of you, got frustrated with the lack of communication/accessibility of the WPs in the months leading up to the wedding. At one point I just gave myself a reality check...decided what ABSOLUTELY needed to get done (book the palapa space, make sure we were confirmed for the full two weeks in the Presidential Suite, book the photographer)...and our TA helped us with that. Things really kicked into high gear about a month before the wedding though and Aracely and I had lots of communication back and forth. These ladies are very skilled at pulling off fabulous parties and they work incredibly hard to make sure everything is done the way you envision. I wouldn't worry again about sending a whole bunch of "inspiration pictures" ahead of time...it drove me crazy trying to figure out how to send the photos so they could open the documents up on their end. Palapa/Beach Wedding Area We loved this space and I would highly recommend it to any brides considering the GS. The week after our wedding we walked back out one morning...took lots of pictures and tried to take it all in again (the wedding day goes soooo fast!). Music Our package included 45 minutes of live music...I think the options were violin, mexican trio or saxophone. I had always wanted to have a classical or spanish guitarist play during our ceremony. I researched ahead of time and found one particular gentleman who plays in the area...booked him via e-mail and had him all lined up to play. However, when I mentioned his name at the wedding office during our first meeting, I kinda got the low-down on their previous experiences with this fellow and it didn't sound great. So, I promptly sent him an e-mail, telling him we would be utilizing the resort's musicians instead. Well, the guitarist they were able to secure actually played during the ceremony to recorded instrumentals...and the pieces he played did not really correlate with my original request for soft, pretty classical/spanish guitar music. He was an extra expense for us as we had also asked for the mariachi trio to play when we returned from taking photographs and before dinner was served. Apparently they don't get a lot of requests for guitarists to play...which was disappointing because I would think in that area you SHOULD be able to locate some amazing guitarists...go figure!!! The mariachi trio...they were FANTASTIC...the photos we have of them and everyone dancing around them are sooooo awesome! They asked for requests, played a mix of slow and fast songs...really entertaining!!! Food and Beverages Our menu for the night: Mixed Salad Greens (tossed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil)...It was delicious...fresh and tasty. Cream of Asparagus Soup...seasoned to perfection...everyone raved about the soup! The majority of our guests pre-selected the steak and lobster and those of us that did were not disappointed. My steak was done to perfection and the lobster had a bit of a delicious char from being grilled (and I don't eat seafood!). My friend from Portugal is a MAJOR seafood eater and she said it was the best lobster she's ever had. Some of our guests had the grilled salmon and the reports were very positive. The rest of the adults had the cheese and spinach ravioli...we had tried it at the buffet a couple of times and it was delicious. My Dad said he found his on the cool side and undercooked the night of the reception. We selected chicken nuggets and fries for the kids and their meals were cold. They set up a mobile kitchen at the palapa and I'm guessing that some items like the kids meals and the pasta were cooked somewhere on the resort and brought over for us. My advice would be to keep it to two entrees (and pick the grilled options) as they were fresh and hot. Brownie and Ice Cream...the disappointment of the meal as the brownie was dry. It is pretty much the same brownie they served us at the Brazilian Restaurant the night before for the rehearsal dinner (which was equally dry). Had we known that, we would have picked another option. I didn't drink a whole lot that night...but the waiters were great and did some fun little activities with our guests...like one danced around with a tray of shots on his head. No one went thirsty and champagne was readily available for toasting. Wedding Cake I knew from reading this thread and seeing the cake options in the GS powerpoint slides that our cake would be pretty basic. We asked for a three-tier cake (one layer chocolate, one vanilla, and one strawberry)...there was no chocolate layer...and to me the only difference between the strawberry and vanilla layers were tiny bits of strawberry in the filling between the layers. The cake was very light and moist...but flavour and texture-wise it was exactly like a lot of the desserts that get put out at the buffets each day. Elizabeth ordered a small fresh flower topper for the cake and we brought our cake knife and server, platter (which I love that we still have) and bride and groom calacas that we had ordered online (the one and only thing my FI requested in the process of planning our wedding). We also took cake boxes and plastic-wrapped disposable spoons so that each guest could take a slice of cake back to the room. DJ Some guy from the entertainment crew at the resort who, quite frankly, was terrible with his own music selections. I had to ask Elizabeth twice to go over and tell him to refer back to our list of songs on the iPad we gave him. He did not interact with our guests, he did not respond to requests from our guests...he should have been sent home. At the end of the night... In order to not spoil the surprise, I'll just say that we came back to a beautifully decorated suite and fantastic treats. Our marriage certificates were in a folder on our bed when we returned. Special Breakfast Our package included a special room-service breakfast which Elizabeth booked for us. However, it did not arrive the morning it was supposed to...but the next morning instead...and it was nothing to write home about. Elizabeth told us that it was a "continental" breakfast...which it was...a small pitcher of orange juice, a plate of fresh sliced fruit for each of us and a small basket of croissants and mini-pastries. So, a few "bumps", but a fantastic wedding and great time was had by all! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I'm going to finish by pasting here my contribution to another thread..."what I would and wouldn't do again"...as I make specific references back to the GS: Things I would do again (besides marrying my best friend and true love!): 1) Stay a second week at the resort on our own. OHHHH YES, DO IT!!! That first week with everyone was so busy...if I had had to leave with everyone else I would have been miserable. Honestly, that first week was no holiday for me! 2) Get a bit of a "base" before I left for the tropics. I had never tried a tanning bed before, but after seeing a friend's wedding pics (she's fair like me...and had some bad tan lines which I also knew I had...eeeep...no thanks!!!) I decided it was time to try it out. I started three months before the wedding...didn't do it to "tan" but just to get a hint of colour and even everything out. It was slow and controlled...never a burn...just 2 or 3 times a week. No one ever commented before I left or asked "have you been tanning???" which was good. I got a tiny bit more colour before the wedding when we were on the resort, but I'm super happy with my skin colour (i.e., lack of tan lines in my strapless dress!) in our photos. 3) Beg my FI and his daughter to NOT get sunburned before the wedding. They listened...enough said. 4) Hand out the wedding week survival (OOT) bags ahead of time, but save a few special things to give out at the resort. We had so much stuff to take with us, there was NO WAY I was dragging all of that other stuff down. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/76768/mjkh-wedding-week-survival-bags-are-done-lots-of-pics 5) Use 3 large (72L) Rubbermaid containers (sealed well with packing tape!) to transport our wedding stuff down to Mexico. The airline didn't charge us for the excess luggage...the totes were super sturdy and cheap ($3.99 on sale) and we just left them behind. 6) Arrive at the airport well before everyone else (almost 3 hours) to get rid of all the luggage and be free and breezy to greet and help our guests as they arrived! 7) My FI was happy that we spent a bit of extra money for private vans (USA Transfers) to transfer us from the airport to the resort, rather than using the transfers included with our Sunquest packages. We got to the resort quickly and didn't have to make X-number of stops on the way down to drop people off at other resorts. 8) Have a Mexican trio or Mariachi play during the cocktail hour when we returned from our photos. One of our favourite memories of the wedding day is making our way back to the reception after photos and finding three large Mexican men all dressed up, getting out of their 20 year old white Chrysler sedan in the parking lot, straightening themselves out and putting on their hats. They actually played us back on to the beach...their timing was perfect!!! It was sooooo fun and festive!!! 9) Splurge on an awesome photographer. I will never regret the money we spent on photos!!! 10) We decided, at our photographer's encouragement, to see each other before the wedding and take photos. That was, HANDS DOWN, the best moment of the entire day...it was just us and the photographers. I can tell you all that if it was up to us, we would have just eloped...we wanted to be married but we didn't want to have a wedding. In the end, we had this wedding for our parents. But...when we were alone to see each other for the first time...that moment was just for us...it was so emotional and spectacular! I can't wait to see the photos : ) 11) NOT wear a veil! It was quite windy the day of the wedding and that thing would have been whipping everyone in the face had I worn it. I did have a really inexpensive one that we used for the TTD the next morning. But honestly, the photos of me wearing that veil are my least favourite...it just wasn't "me". 12) Ask the wedding planner to see the officient's ceremony "script" prior to the wedding. My FI wanted to keep things short and sweet, so we didn't add anything to the ceremony to personalize it (honestly, I wish we would have). But, besides that, the officient mentioned something about "raising children" and we have no plans to have children, so had I known that piece was in there I would have asked for it to be removed.
 13) Sent my BFF out to the ceremony site prior to everyone arriving out there. We were running short on time and I told her "don't worry about it...I'm sure everything is under control". Well, our chair sashes were the wrong colour, and by the time she realized that, our guests were there already and it was too late to remove/replace the sashes. 14) Kept an ongoing master list of things to talk to the WP about...had I done that, I would have remembered to ask little things that had popped into my head as I went thru photos and reviews on BDW...like to ask the WP NOT to serve seafood canapes during the champagne toast...and to ask that they set the tables in the palapa with the white dishes and not the southwest-printed dishes that we ended up with. But I'm a type A...and a stickler for details...and I tend to over-analyze things to death... Things I wouldn't do again: 1) Order maracas from a certain etsy seller. That was a waste of $300. They're still in my basement...smudged, wrong colour...soon to be thrown in the garbage. Take my advice and order from Amols!!! The same maracas on the Amols website were available in Playa del Carmen, but were really roughed up in these huge baskets the shops keep them in and customers rummage through. Amols has excellent customer service...one of my biggest regrets was not ordering through them. 2) Stress about what people think/do/say...I actually had certain people (who shall remain nameless) e-mailing news reports to my parents about things happening in Mexico (two thousand kilometers away from the resort that we would all be staying at). Shame on them! I wish I had had the guts to say, "If you have hang ups about your own personal safety, and your desire to never travel to X, keep it to yourself. Don't ruin this experience for the rest of us!!!" I am happy to report that all 32 of our guests left Mexico LOVING it and wishing they could have stayed the second week with us! 3) Not sit with my FI on the flight down. Yes, if you can believe it, the airline actually had us sitting 7 rows apart and the flight was totally full. Saaaaad...I felt like an idiot when the flight attendant announced "So, where are our brides and grooms to be? Hands up!!!" and the two of us weren't sitting together. Things I wish I had done: 1) Spent time at Sephora (or a major department store) finding my perfect wedding lip colour. The girl that did my makeup didn't have a whole lot of options and we had to try 4 different colours before I found one that I kinda liked. But then I didn't have it for re-applying the rest of the day!!! I also wish I would have asked the girl if I could have applied my own mascara. I'm SUPER picky about my mascara and I HATE when it's clumpy (which it was...so I had to waste time working it out). Actually, I wish I had done a hair and makeup trial at the resort spa before the wedding...I think it would have been money well spent, especially when "glamour/updos/etc" is not my day to day look! 2) We hired our photographer for 8 hours on the wedding day and for a TTD the next morning. I only wish we had booked them to shoot for 10 hours the day of the wedding and start earlier. As hard as I tried for the day not to feel rushed, it did...and I think more time with a photographer before the ceremony would have helped that. 3) Get after the DJ to JUST play our playlist that we had spent hours compiling on our iPad (as it was I had to get after him twice!). Instead, he chose some HORRIBLE tunes and seemed to lack the intelligence/intuition that a DJ requires to look out at the dance floor and say to himself, "Huhhh, well that song isn't really working for anyone!". We should have sent him home and just played tunes off our iPad. 4) Trusted my gut more...when I did, things worked out great! When I left it to someone else, notsomuch!!! 5) Taken time one night before leaving for Mexico when I was by myself to compose a really nice letter to my husband to be. But I ran short on time and had to write him a sweet little note instead. It's amazing how people and events eat up your time once you get to the resort. 6) Found BDW earlier...a wealth of information...great resources...a big inspiration for me! Best of luck to you all : )

I'm not sure what you mean by "pre-coat"...but my inclination would be to tell you to go just with clean, moisturized skin...take photos in of the look you want and maybe a couple of key phrases translated into Spanish (the girl that did my makeup spoke only a little English)...like "I want no shimmer in my makeup" or "I want a very bronze-y look" or "I want lots of volume in my hair at the crown". I was really happy with the preparations/foundation she used on my skin...typically I have to deal with shine all day long...I wished I had made note of what she used. I would also take along a kit that has tweezers, q-tips, and your favourite products...just in case! Your wedding is quite far off though and a lot can happen with staffing between now and then.

Here's another thread on maracas to check out... http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/71448/cheap-maracas-for-reception/20

Sorry, I don't think I can help you with this one...I couldn't find a listing for it in any of my papers.

There is no gazebo at the GS...I think they do hold ceremonies in the palapa in a pinch if the weather is bad.

Hi - I tried to answer this question for you in post 554...

I vote for the high white ones...I love them with your dress!

With our destination wedding now behind us, we are putting together plans for our AHR this spring. I want to start a thread where we can swap ideas (for favors, decor, etc.) which might be somewhat unique to a brunch reception. I would also LOVE to hear from other couples who decided to have a brunch or breakfast reception in lieu of a typical evening dinner and dance. Why a brunch reception...where are we going with this??? 1) We love breakfast foods...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! What I'm picturing is an amazing late Sunday morning buffet (for 120 people) with bacon, sausage, carved ham, eggs, skillet hash browns, eggs benedict, stuffed french toast, fresh fruit, all kinds of muffins, croissants, cinnamon buns, scones, mini yogurt parfaits, great coffee. Maybe even another Mexican-inspired spicy savory egg entree...anyway, you get the picture. ONLY BREAKFAST FOODS! We have reserved a banquet room at the hotel my husband works at and the chef will create whatever we want. We will get a 25% off discount on the food plus a complementary room for us for three nights and a complementary room for a kids' activity space (with childcare) if we decide to go that route. 2) We love mimosas...but here is where we've hit our first snag. Our plan was to have a "cocktail" hour from 10 - 11 am where we would serve select fruit-juice based cocktails during which time we can mingle, take pictures and greet guests as they arrive. However, legally, our venue is not permitted to serve alcohol before noon on Sundays. So, we were thinking maybe we'd have a champagne toast after brunch (during the program). Any other ideas out there? I don't think we could just say "brunch at 11"...because we need everyone in, seated and ready to start eating at 11. Here are inspiration photos I shared with our catering consultant for a beautiful juice bar which we will have either way: 3) My parents are paying for this reception and my side of the family is more conservative (aren't drinkers, not dancers). To keep costs down, we decided on a daytime reception rather than an evening reception. 4) Our DW was in February of 2012 and our AHR will be in May. This is to ensure we have our pro photos back (she's doing a DVD for us that we will play during the program)...that we have good weather (hopefully!) for those travelling from out of town and that it will be warm enough out to have a "Return to the Tropics" BBQ at my parents the night before the reception. We also didn't want to leave it so long though that it interfered with summer holiday schedules. 5) We love puzzles/scrabble/crosswords, and when I saw this, I knew I wanted to create a special crossword to put at each place setting. We'll create a custom crossword, the answers to which are key words from/interesting or little-known facts about our relationship/wedding. Anyone out there done this before and recommend a particular website or program? 6) I wanted a less formal/more relaxed feel to this reception. I'm still not sure if I will wear my wedding dress...it might depend on whether or not I find another pretty dress to wear. If it were up to my new husband, he would NOT be wearing a suit. I think we'll aim for semi-formal attire...or perhaps "Sunday best" or something like that (i.e., no jeans or shorts). Any ideas on clever dress code lingo here? 7) Spring will have officially sprung...and everyone will just be gearing up to plant their gardens and flowerpots. I really want to have succulent centerpieces...centerpieces that people could take home and they would last for months or years, even. We have a local greenhouse that specializes in succulents, and they will do something like this for us (with a table number pick in each one): 8) One thing I was not prepared to compromise on was a sweet table. We will have our beautiful banquet room with a view overlooking the river from 10 am until 4 pm-ish (when everyone is invited over to my MIL's for a catered supper). This will give us lots of time to have a "(non) cocktail" hour, serve brunch, have a program...after which we will cut the cake and the sweet table will be officially open. We can sit and visit with those from out of town, take pictures, have coffee/tea and sweets galore. We will also have a table set up with our photobooks, keepsakes from our DW, and a guest photo book with instant camera. Here are a few inspiration photos (I love how they incorporated succulents into the sweet table): 9) Finally, we will present all of our guests who attended our DW with special photo albums during the program...these will be customized with pics of them (and us) on the wedding day, out on various excursions, at the resort, etc. We planned to use these natural woven straw albums in the oot bags, but decided they were too nice for that purpose and just went with a Vistaprint brochure instead. So...would love any advice, feedback, etc. at this point!!!

Ohhhh...we LOVED our Mexican Trio...they were fantastic...they took requests from the group, played a mix of fast and slow songs...and one of the best parts was how awesome they were at inviting my 7 year old nephew with his sombrero and little guitar to play along with them. The pictures and videos are priceless! At least 1/2 of the group were up dancing with them at any given time. Our guests would have been no further than 20 feet from the trio...and most of the time we were hanging out and dancing right next to them. Maybe it just depends on your space and the group...

From the resort, our receipt is in Pesos...when you pay by credit card in Mexico you pay in Pesos (or you should be anyway). Right now the US and CDN $s are pretty much at par. I think probably the best thing to do though is work your budget out in Pesos, as that's how the resort will be charging you.

Sorry...don't know about that...that was the deal we got out of our city at the time that we set up our booking (early 2011). Maybe it depends on where your group is flying from...or the resort you've chosen? Regardless, packages and incentives change, and it's definitely always worth comparing tour operators and what they will offer you to bring a large group their way.

Our photographers stayed as any other regular guests at the hotel. We booked them a room for the wedding night. We didn't need to have this approved by anyone, no one questioned/talked to us about having to pay an external fee. If you look at the cost per person of bringing people on to the resort for the day + an outside vendor fee, you're much better off to pay for a hotel room for them for the night (at least that was the case with us). Our travel agent booked them a room and we pre-paid it...sent a copy of the room confirmation to the photographer's assistant a week ahead of time, and checked at the front desk the morning of the wedding that everything was set for them. The private shuttle cost around $300 for three vans (28 guests). They had car seats for the youngest travellers in our group. Please remember that prices for any and all products/services do go up...my quotes for you are simply what we paid at the time of our wedding (early Feb/12). Other reception info I'll share later...

Are you thinking of SUNWING vacations? When we were looking at tour companies initially, I seem to recall that we looked at going with Sunwing and that was closer to their incentive program for groups. We booked with SUNQUEST.

OMG JBean...I don't know how it is that I'm just viewing this now...I laughed, I cried, I swore... !!! Oh, that felt good... Planning/having our DW was so much challenging than I would have ever thought. I was so hard on myself...I drove my husband-to-be crazy...so many things didn't really work out the way I wanted them to. In fact, I've found myself in a bit of a funk for the last month or so. I don't know if I'm sad that it's over, disappointed that I didn't pull things off as I had hoped, overwhelmed at the thought of now planning an AHR, still furious about the words and actions of those who screwed us around for months on end...perhaps mad that we didn't just turn down the money from our parents and elope?!? But I keep my eye on the prize...my 6 foot tall, wonderfully handsome and supportive husband...the best prize of all! Thanks to all of you who continue to serve as a sounding board and act as a big support to all DW brides...even those of us who are now married! P.S. Is there a thread on here called something like "I should have just eloped!!!"? ; )

There is a sofa in the room (right next to the door), but honestly I have no idea if it was a sofa bed as it was just my FI and I in the room. There were no other extra linens or pillows in the room/closet, so I'm thinking maybe not? I would check with Aracely about that. The rest of your questions will be addressed in my next entry...

Review Continued... Special Requests We had made arrangements with Aracely before arriving to have their kitchen create a birthday cake for us the day we arrived as three of our guests were celebrating birthdays. They recommended a traditional Tres Leche cake and we served it at the buffet that first night. Elizabeth made sure that large tables were reserved for us and she popped in that night to check in on everything. The waitress did an awesome job of helping us all celebrate (staff came over and sang) and she helped cut and serve the cake. It was at this point that we also handed out our snack kits, travel candles, and info packages. Here's a picture of the cake (it was twice the size that we needed, but it was delicious...it cost 1000 pesos or around $77 dollars): Resort Bracelets Could be removed the day of the wedding (for photos), but guests were instructed to keep them somewhere safe and turn them in at the front desk the next morning for a new one. We had placed toiletry kits in the washrooms out at the palapa which included scissors in case our guests forgot. But actually, anyone with a bit of upper arm strength could just rip them off. Steaming of Wedding Dresses Our WP took care of sending the dresses (wedding and TTD dress) into Playa for steaming. It cost 660 pesos to steam two dresses (just over $50). Dresses were taken to the spa on the day of the wedding. I had purchased a hand steamer as well, and had I remembered to take it with me to the spa, I probably would have plugged it in and freshened up my wedding dress (to take care of the small creasing from being in the bag). Cleaning of Wedding Dresses Two days after our wedding, I connected with the WP about the possibility of having my dresses and my husband's linen outfits taken to the dry cleaners in Playa for cleaning. His wedding day shirt was covered in makeup from all of the hugs guests had given him, and my dress was absolutely filthy at the bottom, especially because at one point towards the end of the reception a red drink was dropped on the floor right beside me. I remembered one bride on BDW saying how inexpensive it was to have items drycleaned in Mexico, especially her wedding dress. So I thought, "why not?!?"...and I was so glad we did (because we were staying for a second week, they had loads of time to take care of this!) The clothes were taken to Lavanderias Mayalav (Elizabeth the WP took them in herself and pointed out all of my concerns to the cleaners). To dryclean 2 wedding dresses, 2 mens linen shirts and 2 pair of linen pants, it cost us 1200 pesos (around $93 dollars). They did an amazing job! The stains in the garments were taken care of right away and didn't get smelly/damaged further. It was great to be able to take nice clean garments home with us and not to have to pack up or deal with sticky/dirty items when we got home. Civil Versus Symbolic Ceremony We had no desire to try and arrange a quicky wedding at home in order to bypass a couple of extra steps in Mexico. We only wanted to get married ONCE! : ) It cost $220 USD for our bloodwork (which was done by a paramedic at the medical clinic on site) and we submitted the paperwork required for our four witnesses. They were required to meet with us and the wedding planner the day after we arrived to sign some papers. Everything went very smoothly. The only thing I wish I had done was perhaps personalize the ceremony a bit more, and also to request a copy of the officient's "script" for review prior to the wedding (at one point she made a reference to having/raising children and we have no plans to do so...I would have asked for that line to be removed).

As promised, we wanted to share some wedding day details...things that went really well and things we would have perhaps done differently. Here was the tentative wedding day schedule we were working from and what we shared with the resort/photographer: Tentative Wedding Day Schedule – Ceremony at 3:00 pm 9:00 am? Bride to spa for hair and makeup. Groom’s daughter for hair and makeup; bride’s niece, sisters and mother for hair only when requested by spa staff. 1:00 pm Photography begins with bride at spa. 1:45 pm Photographer moves to shoot with groom (and his family) in presidential suite. 2:00 pm Bride and groom shoot pre-wedding photos together. Guitarist will be set up and be ready to play when guests start arriving. 2:30 pm Guests meet at lobby bar in front of wedding office. Shuttles begin to wedding site. 2:45 pm Groom/all remaining guests to wedding site. 2:55 pm Bride to wedding site. 3:00 pm Ceremony begins. 3:30 pm Champagne and light appies to be served immediately following ceremony. Photographer explains plans for group photos, shoots with group then on to bride and groom until 5:45 (request cart and driver). EH introduces activity to guests; table set up with frame (instructions), instant camera, film, pens, guestbook. 5:38 pm Sunset 5:45 pm - 6:30 pm (45 minutes) Mexican trio and cocktails when bride and groom return with photographers. 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm AS to share any announcements from WP/wait staff. Calls up mothers to do toasts. Welcome and toasts from mothers. Birthday wishes to GK. AS calls up PS to say grace. Dinner service begins. Dinner service completed, merriment continues with cutting of the cake, pinata, dancing begins. Thank yous from bride and groom. Photography coverage ends at 9 pm. *(DJ) dancing and bar service until 11pm. And this is how things actually went... Spa The spa is lovely. There is an adjacent snack bar/patio that offers light breakfast items and sandwiches, salads, stir frys, etc. for lunch. Our presidential package included a private dressing room across the hall from the hair and makeup area. We asked for 6 hair appointments the morning of the wedding (2 with makeup including mine), however because they were short-staffed, we were given two hair appointments at 7 am (!) and the two hair and makeup appointments at 10 am. So, my poor little 6 year old niece (our flowergirl) and her mother were up really early that day, and my mom and sister had to do their own hair. They did a great job with our flowergirl's hair, and my sister was pretty happy with her style. We had inspiration photos for all of our requested hair and makeup styles, but they also had a large stack of photos for updos, etc. I had spent a fair amount of time blowing volume into my hair that morning, only to sit down in the chair and have the stylist work a huge palmful of mousse into my hair and slick it all back down. The idea was she would curl it all and pin it up (my hair is fine and doesn't hold curl well, so an updo was best for me, especially with it being windy that day). My biggest complaint about the updo was the lack of volume she gave me...it was too flat on top. I loved the curling and pinning she did in the back. Makeup included false eyelashes which was a surprise to me and something I'd never tried before. My makeup needed a little "tweaking" after I left the chair...but I'm VERY picky. I wish I had asked to apply my own mascara as I hate when it's clumpy and I had to spend time working it out/fixing it when I got back to the dressing room. I also wish I had found my perfect lip colour at home and brought it with me to use and reapply throughout the day. I didn't find they had a huge selection of lip colours in their kit...and she had to try 4 different colours before I found one I kinda liked. Whatever foundation/prep products she used were phenomenal...bang on with the colour, fine/light textured, lasted all day and night and kept me from looking oily/shine-y. Beyond the wedding day, we visited the spa on two other occasions. Our package included a couple's honeymoon treatment...A++++...absolutely the best massage I've ever had! A treatment room just for us...a steam, spa tub for 2, hot stone (side by side) massages and vibrating waterbeds. Our package also included the water circuit at the spa (for 10 people) which was superb...so much fun and sooooo relaxing! We saved this until the afternoon of the day before we left and it was a perfect way to wind down our two weeks at the GS. From there, we went back to our room and drank champagne on the balcony until sunset...ahhhhhh!!!! These spa experiences totally won over my new husband...he said, "We really need to make it a priority to go to a spa everytime we go on a holiday!"...and I was like, "YES, yes we do!!!" : ) Photography This was a big deal to me and something I wasn't prepared to take any chances on...so we hired Elizabeth Medina to shoot the wedding and do a TTD at sunrise the following day. I had heard/read of too many brides who were disappointed in the resort photographers "Fotocaribbean"...that they showed up when they weren't supposed to and got in the way of the contracted photographer(s). Fotocaribbean contacted us by e-mail about a week before we left for Mexico, and I sent them back an e-mail with the following request: "We will have two very capable, professional photographers in our group taking photos, so we kindly and respectfully ask that the resort photographers NOT be around taking photographs during the ceremony. We will be reminding Ms. Tovar of this during our initial meeting next week." We had no further issues or contact with Fotocaribbean. We did not have to pay an outside vendor fee for our photographer...instead we booked them a room at the resort for the night of the wedding. Ok, so more to come at some point...I'll add some photos and submit this before I lose it!

Yaaayy...good for you guys!!! You'll love it! : ) Just make sure you request confirmation of your presidential suite asap. At one point when I was on the resort I caught a brief glimpse of the wedding packages booked for the month of Feb and the presidential packages were certainly the minority. But, I'm sure I've read somewhere on here of a bride that was given a "comparable" suite because they were out of the "presidential" rooms and it looked like a bit of a downgrade to me.

Thanks ladies for all of your positive feedback...these kits were so much fun to do. I hope you're equally inspired by BDW to do some "special little touches" for your guests. Honestly, now that the wedding is over, I get kinda sad walking thru the stores, finding new and exciting (and inexpensive) things for OOT bags...then realizing we don't need them anymore! ; ) Best wishes to you all and happy OOT shopping! J~

Hi - I don't know that I'll ever get around to doing a full wedding planning thread, but here are a few details we've already jotted down that some of you may find helpful. We live in Western Canada and our group booking was through Sunquest (included WestJet charter direct from our hometown to Cancun); for every 10 adults who purchased the Sunquest package, we got one package for free. Plus, when our tickets came, it included a voucher from Sunquest for $500 off our next booking (a nice incentive to book with them again for our 1st anniversary getaway). Guests stayed one week, we stayed two weeks. This was one of the best things we did…our first week was very busy (especially for me)…the second week we finally got to R-E-L-A-X! Airport Check In: My sister and her family took 2 of our bags to check, and a family friend took a carry-on filled with boxes of chocolates for the rehearsal dinner. That left us with 3 large (72L) Rubbermaid totes filled with wedding stuff plus 1 remaining suitcase to check plus we totally maxed out our carry-on allowance (Westjet considered my wedding dress a carry-on). We called Westjet a week before and again the day before we left to ensure we could check the Rubbermaid containers and that we could securely tape them shut. No problem. They made notes in our file that we would be traveling with excess luggage…and a note about the containers being pre-approved. They strongly recommended that we arrive early in order to make the whole process easier. We arrived nearly 3 hours ahead of our departure time, and when our first guests arrived at the airport, we had completed our check-in…it was perfect. The Westjet agent didn’t charge us for the extra baggage, she said “consider it an early wedding gift from usâ€! We did have to take the Rubbermaid bins to a special x-ray area for oversize baggage. The only thing he questioned at this screening point was a case of tinned almonds at the bottom of one of the bins. Funny as it was the same thing customs in Cancun pulled us over to look at later that day. In our home airport, once we confirmed what the tins were, he sent the bins off with no other concerns. I had mentioned on another thread that the owner of the bridal shop I bought my dress from recommended that, as my dress goes thru x-ray/security, if it appears as though they are going to open the bag and/or pat the dress down, that I request they change their gloves first to avoid the transfer of dirt, etc. I thought this was a great suggestion, but in the end the dress went thru x-ray and I was sent on my way. If you’re not particularly interested in being a “beacon†for questions like “oh, are you getting married in Mexico or something?†because you’re carrying around a huge white garment bag, you might want to consider slipping your dress and bag into another long dark garment bag. The outer white fabric bag my dress was in got quite dirty, no matter how much I tried to keep it up and off the floor/away from the luggage cart. Arrival in Cancun: The most frustrating point in the process was taking all of our baggage on three carts thru the x-ray area after passport control and loading them back up. Those of you who have been at this airport know that it is a small area…we had bags everywhere and we held up the line for a while. We got a green light at the end screening point, but still got pulled over due to the questionable items at the bottom of one of the bins (the tins of almonds). No biggie…I repacked the bin and off we went. Our Sunquest package included airport transfers, but in order to expedite our arrival to the resort, we chose to pay a private transfer company, USA Transfers (http://www.usa-transfers.com) to shuttle our guests in three vans directly to the resort. We hit one snag here…my FI went out to locate the service, not realizing that once he left the airport terminal he wouldn’t be able to get back in. So, we were waiting for him inside, and he was stuck outside with the transfer company! Some kind soul agreed to deliver a note to us inside, telling us to make our way out to meet him. Otherwise, everything went very smoothly, the transfer company was very professional, and we were happy that we made the decision to treat our guests to this private, direct service to the resort. Resort Check In: We were all greeted with glasses of champagne upon arrival. My FI and I were nearly the last to check in (we held back, wanting to make sure we were around to help with any issues)…as soon as the front desk clerk looked us up in the system, he said with a smile “ohhh, you are the bride and groom?!?†We had purchased the Presidential Wedding Package thru the resort, and had our TA confirm with the resort 3 – 4 months ahead of time that we would have a presidential suite for the entire 2 weeks. We did and it was fabulous (we later learned from our concierge that our room rate was over $500 USD/night/pp during high season)!!! After completing check-in, the front desk clerk pointed behind us at two lovely ladies standing there and introduced them as our wedding coordinators. Elizabeth Miranda and Angelina Lopez came over and gave us both big hugs and I knew immediately that we were in good hands. They had a letter for us detailing our first appointment the following day and what we/our witnesses needed to provide for our civil (legal) ceremony. We met Aracely Tovar (with whom all of our correspondence prior to arriving at the resort had taken place) the day after we arrived and she was equally sweet and charming! This was our second stay at the GS. On our previous trip (in January of 2010), we started in a room on the second floor (with two double beds), and it took two days for them to move us to a room with a king bed. After moving, we had a major issue with our new first-floor room REEKING like mold. The smell actually gave me a migraine within minutes of entering the room every time. We stayed in this room for the rest of the week but I was NOT a happy camper! Due to this past unpleasant experience, our TA submitted a request that our guests be placed in rooms on the second or third floors. We also submitted a request to the wedding planner (about three weeks before the wedding) that our guests be given second or third-floor rooms. However, our first night we found out that about half of our guests ended up on the ground level (by supper my parents and my sister and her family had requested and been moved to new rooms off the ground floor), and within a day all of our remaining guests (placed on the ground floor) made a trip to the front desk to request a room change. What would I do differently next time??? I would fax our guest list/room request in again the day before we arrive (they do the room assignments the morning guests arrive)…and I would simply ask our guests as they check in to ensure that they are placed on the second or third floor before they leave the front desk!!! This would have saved a LOT of time and energy for our guests who had to move (especially those with small children). After these guests were moved out of the ground floor rooms, everyone was happy with their accommodations! I'm going to stop at this point to load some photos of our suite in building 18 (Second Floor, Room 1830)...we loved having free laundry service, top shelf bar items in the room, snacks left every night...it was fabulous! Some of the biggest highlights about this resort for our guests included the lazy river, snorkelling/beach, nice open lounge areas for larger groups to gather/visit in the evenings, the kids club, the evening shows...lots of options for places to eat. Room included computer with free internet: Kitchen/bar area in suite, complete with espresso/coffee maker: An example of the "gourmet bites" that got dropped off in our room every night (included with the package we had purchased): Balcony: The large thatched roof in the background is the theatre where the shows are held each night and the craft fairs happen on Tuesday and Saturday nights. Sunrise from balcony: Sunset from balcony: In my next entry, I'll focus more on the wedding day/wedding planning services. Any questions, just ask!

Here's a pic looking up at the roof of the palapa at night with our papel picado. You can see there's LOTS of space to hang stuff. Elizabeth also helped us with a pinata in the palapa for the kids (big and small) and she and the head waiter ran the activity for us. We bought the pinata and all the candy in Playa and gave everything to her to set up.

We chose the Brazilian restaurant for our rehearsal dinner, and just be warned that we had to wait until we arrived at the resort and talked to the wedding planners before they actually confirmed this with us (the request went in about a month before the wedding...but I don't think their reservation system would allow it to be booked that far ahead). We had 32 people at our dinner and they set up three long tables for us down the center of the restaurant, with smaller tables around the outside for other reservations (i.e., we did not have the restaurant to ourselves). Our WP Elizabeth was there when we arrived to make sure our favors were in place and everything was in order. She also had a little run-down for our guests of how things would be working the next day for the wedding (i.e., timeline, transportation, etc.). The Brazilian might not be the best option though if your guests are not big meat eaters...I would probably pick the Italian restaurant because they had much more variety to suit everyone. I think the hands down favourite food-wise of all the a la cartes was the Japanese restaurant. However, it's much harder to visit because you're sitting at u-shaped tables around the grills, and a big part of that experience is the "show". Wherever you go, you'll have only around 2 hours to eat and visit, as they will need to turn the restaurant over for the next set of reservations (our reservation was for 6, and at around 7:50 the head waiter came up and very politely let us know that they needed to break the tables down for their guests at 8 pm). But there are lots of spots around the resort that you can continue to celebrate with a larger group...like the lobby bars, the evening show, etc. Yes, we used tiki torches out at the reception (I think 10) along with ordering two sets of the white furniture for seating areas at ground level next to the palapa. We were really glad we did as we couldn't go into the palapa until dinner was ready to be served. It also gave our guests a nice area to mingle/have drinks and snacks in the afternoon while they were waiting for us to return from photos. This was also the area that the mexico trio played for us and the party really got started!!! : ) The WPs do an amazing job of bringing your ideas for decor to life. We had custom papel picado done for us and were worried that they might say no to hanging them due to time or staff constraints. When you meet with them for the first time at the resort, you bring your photos and all of your decor/favors/etc and they will take care of setting it all up +++!! On a trip out to the palapa the week after our wedding, we noticed they had paper lanterns hanging up still from a wedding the night before. I would just say, the more lanterns you bring to hang the better. It's a larger space than you might think...and the ceiling is very high...like instead of hanging up 5 or 10 lanters, I would hang waaaayyy more (and pick larger sizes) to give the palapa lots of colour and make a bigger impact. Does that help?