FranticBride2be

Hey, I'm glad I found this thread! I just spoke with our wedding coordinator who suggested we move our time from 5 to 4pm (April 28th in Playa del Carmen, sunsets at 712). I spoke with our photographer though and they suggested we move our ceremony to 530. Any suggestions? I don't know who to believe!! Thanks,

Hey, I"m getting married there April 28 2012! Finally communication with the WC has started!

Hey, I just wanted to send an update that I think relates. I was having such a hard time getting ahold of Emma. I emailed her a couple questions a few months ago, and never heard back. I emailed in both Spanish and English and didn't get any replies. They also kept taking our deposit, even though we had already paid, so we were getting a bit annoyed... I spoke with a friend who did a destination wedding a few months ago and she said not to worry at all, not to even think about it, until Emma started getting in touch with me. I decided to just take it easy and not think about it! Yesterday, Emma called at 830am. We had originally been told we could use the a la carte or the chill out club for our reception. I have a big problem with both these venues because we have 60 people, so I wanted some privacy for the dinner, and didn't know what we would do after the dinner. I had a problem with the Chill out Club because I"m not a buffet person, and really want a sit down meal, which we were told was not possible. Also, the cost is really high at 100$ per person!! So Emma called, and it turns out there are way more options then what we were originally presented with. We're renting a private room (the Crystal Room) for $200 for the night. There are also about 15 different menu options to choose from. I'll narrow it down to three, and ask my guests to choose their meals a few months prior. The menu options (buffet is available if you want it) range from $40-$110 per person. This also includes domestic beer/wine and a DJ for 4 hours. We might cozy up to a bartender and see if we can tip them to stay extra long and provide hard bar. Otherwise, the rowdy people who want tequila shots all night can either bring their own liquor in, or go down the hall to another bar to get tequila shots:) We're going to use the extra money we'll save from not doing the Chill Out Club to use an outside vendor for flowers (I really didn't like the ones provided by the hotel). We're also using an outside vendor for photography (Del Sol). She also asked us to choose between the Riviera or Sunset 'archway' for the ceremoney. With 60 people, she said the Riviera one would suit us better, but its not as private. I"m thinking of having the Sunset one... Any suggestions? I hope that helps, I was sooo worried about the lack of communication, but it seems like my April 28th wedding is now higher on her priority list:) Erica

Wow, I hadn't thought about this at all! Thanks so much for posting this. I think I'm going to buy mine from the dollar store. I saw a big bag of starfish for like 3$. We'll attach them to the programs and place them around the table. I'll have to look up the customs from Canada to Mexico, thanks!

Hey, I've been looking everywhere, but I can't find out whether or not Skylanterns are allowed to be released in Playa Del Carmen. Has anybody done this? Or does anybody know where I can find the right information? Thanks,

Hey, Wow thats a really good idea! I was thinking of just giving fans away separately, so this is a really good diy project! Thanks passing this idea along

Hey, Good idea to check ebay! Thanks,

Hi! I just wanted to share the idea I came up with for gifts for the Bridal Party. I decided to go with some jewelery from 'Stella and Dot' for the girls. There are some really pretty earrings, rings and bangles that would match, but not be the exact same. They're turquoise, so they'll match really well with the white, turquoise and orange dresses they have as bridesmaids dresses (http://www.sears.ca/product/jolietm-mc-floral-party-dress/648-000260133-4887) For the guys, since we're also asking them to purchase matching pants and shirts, we're going to buy them a really nice pair of leather sandals. I think that since we're taking the guests on a catamaran tour, we won't be doing any other type of oot bag. What are other people doing for the bridal party? Does it seem unfair to ask our bridal party to buy their own outfit, even though we're asking them to match? Thanks,

Hey, I actually heard about this on 'Best Destination Wedding', but I"m not to sure how to make it a reality. I saw Ashley release lanterns on one of the 'Bachelorette' episodes, but I"m not sure if its legal to release small lanters in Mexico. Does anybody know if this is possible? I heard the lanterns can sometimes be confused with distress signals by the coast guard. Any suggestions? Thanks,

Hey, I know the east coast of Costa Rica is known for turtle releases. I went there backpacking a couple of years ago, and it was a great experience. The problem is that the Eastern side of Costa Rica isn't the easiest to get to, or to travel around at, so if you're doing this as part of a wedding, or with a large group that's not okay with roughing it, you might have a hard time. I believe there are also some strict guidelines about how close the general public is allowed to be in turtle nesting season. Hope that helps,

Hey thanks for posting that article. I was a bit uncertain I made the right decision, but now I'm glad we're doing Mexico!

Hey, Okay I just replied, and then all of a sudden, I was able to see all the pictures with the starfishes and sand. Those are beautiful! The centerpieces I was quoted cost 75$ each, this looks like a great way to cut down on costs. Thanks for posting that! I"ll have to look through the whole thread again and see if there's anything else I missed!

Hey, I was able to open the picture. I"m always grateful when postings are available to us newbies. Thanks for posting that. I have a bunch of family that won't be able to make it to the Mexico wedding, so we'll be hosting something casual when we get home. Thanks for the post

Hey, I"m getting married end of April 2012. I was wondering if there are some other brides out there who are getting married at the same place and time as me? Does any body have any advice on how their planning is coming along? We've found that we aren't able to organize the dinner as we would like. We really want to have a sit down dinner somewhere like the Thai Beach Club or the Beach. We aren't willing to pay almost 100$ per person for a buffet. We have about 60 people coming, and have been told we can use an a la carte restaurant. I'm not sure if this is actually a possibility though. Any advice? How are you organizing the day?

Hey, I'm getting married April 28 2011 at the Grand Sunset Princess. We heard we can use the beach gazebo. Also, we were told we could you one of the a la carte restaurants, even though we have 60 guests. We really didn't want to pay the 100$ for the thai beach club, especially since we're not getting a sit down meal, which is a priority. They seem to have pretty limited options to accomodate our group:(

Hey, I've booked at the Grand Sunset Princess for April 28th. We've been in contact with Emma. I've had some pretty silly questions, but she's been answering all my emails back within about 2-3 weeks.

Hey, I love the template! Thanks for including a picture of that. It's also a great way to give our guests an itinerary. We did make a website, that we've been updating, but I don't think our whole group is checking. I think doing both is a great way to get the message out! Thanks,

Great idea! Thanks so much for including all the pictures!

Great idea. I'm so impressed you did this all by yourself! Great work!

Thanks so much for the info. I also didn't know what a 'rack card' was. I might just go to a craft store and buy some specialty paper and print it out on my at home colour printer. I really wanted to find a way to convey some information to my guests. This seems like a great idea!

Hey, Thats a great idea! We already sent out post card style invitations for our guests, but I might try to do a mad libs thing at the dinner table. Thanks for the great idea!

Hey, Great idea! I"m looking for some diy projects to personalize the wedding a bit. This is a great find. Thanks for the template.

Hey, We're staying at the Grand Sunset Princess. Current prices have gone up by about 900$ per guests. When we originally booked, the prices were at about 1300$ including non-stop flight from Vancouver, and a 7day all inclusive trip. Booking early was the best decision we made. We booked about 11 months ahead of time. This meant we could get our invites out and allow our guests time to save up and take vacation time off from work. It also helped keep our costs down, and gave our guests incentives for booking before a certain date. We originally gave our guests 2 months to put a 300$ down payment on their trip with our travel agent. This deposit 'locks' in the price they agreed upon. We guarenteed that price for the 2 months. For guests who couldn't commit within that 2 months, we gave another deadline, with another set price. We only actually had about 2 people book after the initial early bird booking price. This was great for me because we were able to finalize our guest list months in advance. Also, and we were able to keep the costs for our guests signifiantly lower. Hope that helps,

Hey, This was a major concern for us. We did a couple of things. 1) We booked early. The prices were significantly lower (prices have since gone up at our 5 star resort by about 900$). Also, this allowed people to plan around the trip. 2) We looked into a resort that had multiple prices ranges (we decided not to, but did go with a resort where there were different price points depending on room type (swim up, luxury...) 3) A lot of packages/hotels, offer discounts like " every 11th person free". We decided to pool the 5 free trips, and offer either a significant discount to specific people we knew couldn't afford to come, or reduce the price for everybody. 4) We also decided that since it would work out cheaper for us to do the destination wedding, we could use the extra money we anticipated spending, to help out the couple of people that wouldn't have been able to make it otherwise. Hope that helps!!

Sorry, I've done a bunch of searching. I haven't seen any examples of brochures that people have handed out to guests. Do you have a template that you're following? I've seen several templates for 'boarding passes'. We're not doing OOT bags (we're taking our guests on a catamaran tour instead), so I think handing out brochures a month before is a great idea. Thanks,