Branya2012

We stayed at the Barcelo PV and my husband's cousin got her hair done at the salon there before the wedding, however, she said that she would have rather not paid to get her hair done because the boat ride was pretty windy. Her hair still looked nice and she was happy with it after the salon, but she wasn't happy with it after the windy boat ride. Just something to keep in mind! Also, the salon was apparently very busy when we were there (early December), so if you are going to arrange appointments for the day of your wedding, I would try to set an appointment before you go and then confirm it when you get there.

Super exciting, congratulations!! I only used the bathrooms by the dance floor/reception area once. They were only lit by candle light but seemed clean to me. The candles were a bit intimidating because I hauled my dress up to pee, but I didn't catch on fire so it was all good! Some of our guests complained because the washrooms were a bit of a walk to get to, but in my opinion it was hardly a walk at all and it was nice to have the pathway lit with candles. It added to the ambience! I don't think anyone from our group got sea sick on the boat ride to or from the island... I wore strappy flat sandals (there's a picture of them on here somewhere...). The sand was so nice on the beach, very fine and nice on the feet. My husband wore slip on sandals but took them off when we did pictures. We did pictures before the ceremony, which brings me to my next response... I believe they were on a zodiac type speed boat. We don't have a picture, but my husband came over with our photographer and his wife (also our friends) and no one mentioned anything about the boat being crappy or a downer on the day. I would hope that a quick boat trip (20 minutes) wouldn't take away from the specialness of your day! Even if it was a tin boat that seated 4, it's an adventure and well worth the trip to Las Caletas to experience a one of a kind wedding!! I mean, us brides usually come over with a group of other people and that didn't take away from my day at all. I think it's definitely a good idea to do formal pictures before the ceremony because by the time we got our group shots done with our friends and family after the ceremony (our group was small, too, only 26 people total) it was dark. Hope that helps!

Our wedding group stayed at the Barcelo PV! It was a little far from town, but the bus stopped right outside to get to town when we wanted to do that. It was a really nice resort, they were accommodating for our group for a welcome dinner and the setup of the pools made it really easy find people from our group. Most people that came to our wedding were first timers to Mexico and they were happy with the resort. The only real complaint was the distance from town and the airport, but I don't think that took away from anyone's trip! If you have any more questions, pm me! And congrats on picking Las Caletas! Your wedding will be more amazing that you could ever dream of!

We tipped our wedding coordinator with a small amount as we were leaving the boat at the end of the night. I completely forgot to get anything extra for her so I had to borrow some pesos from my mom, but at least it was a small gesture to show how much we appreciated her help! As for the hairdresser, etc, I had my hair and make up done and paid for my mom to have her hair done. My mom gave a small tip as Jamil was leaving, but I didn't. I found it to be extremely expensive to begin with. Well worth the money, but I chose not to tip because of that. Hope that helps!

We tipped our wedding coordinator with a small amount as we were leaving the boat at the end of the night. I completely forgot to get anything extra for her so I had to borrow some pesos from my mom, but at least it was a small gesture to show how much we appreciated her help! As for the hairdresser, etc, I had my hair and make up done and paid for my mom to have her hair done. My mom gave a small tip as Jamil was leaving, but I didn't. I found it to be extremely expensive to begin with. Well worth the money, but I chose not to tip because of that. Hope that helps!

I had to choose two - here is a picture right after we did our first look. My husband came up to see me in the window. You can see how much emotion he had on his face and it just makes my heart so happy to see the love between us! And second, we didn't have a bridal party but here some of our closest friends did a jumping shot with us! So fun!

Thanks HappyBride13! That is Yamil. He was really nice. Wasn't too chatty with me, but totally was with my mom! Dennise brought that flower (and another white flower option). Of course you should care, but just expect them to be fabulous!! I didn't mean to imply I didn't care, I just wasn't very specific in my expectations. Weddings are what they do...trust that they'll do everything fabulously! Thanks Lala1116!! Congratulations bleissoo! It will go by in a flash, and before you know it your special day will be here! @shortensweet007 I'd say hire the DJ. It seems like a lot of money, but then you don't have to worry about it. We weren't going to at first, but then when we realized that someone from our guests would have to be at the music station to press stop and play, we decided to just let the DJ do his thing. He was great, completely took our suggestions that we sent beforehand and took everyone's requests during the wedding. They played music that we suggested for the boat rides, or you can tell them what type of music you want them to play and they'll do that. I think they did a pretty great job at playing to the crowd and they definitely played current music. Basically, if you choose the DJ, they send you a form to fill out for options for music at all points where it will be played through the night and you don't have to worry about a thing on the big day!

Don't worry about the makeup! It was so light, it didn't even feel like I was wearing any at all! Seriously! I didn't get a trial done, but I wasn't worried about anything...I let him do what he wanted for my hair and makeup (even though I brought inspiration pictures...he did not really follow them and it was perfect!). I felt like the less I expected to be a certain way, and the less I could be disappointed about. And I was right, I LOVED everything!! Here's a shot of me having my makeup done. When I first saw myself after my eyebrows were done, I thought they looked way too dark, but it translates to our photographs amazingly! I think he is just putting the finishing touches on here: Good luck! Try not to stress!

I say absolutely go for it!! I spent around $1,600 with alterations, did a trash the dress shoot, and would've done it all over again in a heart beat! Honestly, the bottom of my dress was more "trashed" after the wedding than it was after the TTD, in my opinion! I stepped on the layer underneath, which ripped, on the night of the wedding, and there was a big ring of dirt underneath my dress after the wedding. As soon as we jumped in the pool during the TTD shoot (our first stop before the ocean), the dirt all came off the bottom! There was ruching on the body of my dress, and after the TTD, there was sand in all of the layers. We both showered off straight after rolling in the ocean, and then after my dress dried off, I just shook all the sand off, bundled it in a plastic bag and brought it home in a suitcase. Then I took it for drycleaning straight away when we got home and they didn't even charge me any extra money because of the sand!! As for my husband's outfit, it wasn't trashed at all. It probably helped that the sand at our resort was bigger and not too fine (therefore not too muddy) but I cannot think of any time I've gone to the beach at home and had it stain my clothes. I don't think wedding clothes are any different, except the hesitation because of how much $$ we spent on them! I don't think I've read a review where anyone that has done a TTD has regretted it. I sure didn't! It was tonnes of fun and the pictures are priceless!! I don't think that a TTD shoot necessarily "trashes" your dress anyways! EVKnowsitall - I agree...what would we be saving our dresses for?! I had mine dry cleaned and preserved, only because it was so soon after the wedding and it was too soon to part ways with it just yet.

Thanks! The chuppa with flowers was $200...not sure if we were supposed to be charged extra for the flowers? There was one centrepiece included in the package fee - those are the flowers on the table that was underneath the chuppa. Those flowers were moved after the ceremony to the middle of our dinner table. You can pay for extra centrepieces, but we did not. Honestly, the candles and flower petals on the table runner were more than enough decoration, in my opinion.

We got our professional pics in! Just thought I'd share a few shots around the wedding area, and a couple of my faves: The dinner table set up (we had one long table of 26 people): The ceremony set up: A couple shots from around Las Caletas: Our first dance: Fire dancers: And from the TTD shoot, a few days after the wedding (taken at our resort, the Barcelo): I can't get enough of them!

When we were in PV at the beginning of December, the nights were pretty warm. There was a little bit of a breeze at our resorts on a few of the evenings, but on the day of the wedding at Las Caletas, everyone was hot! I brought a sweater to wear over my dress because I anticipated being chilly (I am always cold) but I didn't even put it on during the boat ride back! You will be warm, especially if you and everyone else are up dancing as much as our group was! If it's important to you to have the first look be when you're walking down the aisle, go with that! But maybe try to do as much as possible, like the bridal party pictures, done separately before the ceremony. We were left in the dark by the time we did a group shot and pictures with our families.

I second what AllieH said - I planned on wearing my hair half up/half down, and was even leaning more towards having it mostly down before the wedding, but when we got there and it was windy, I basically just let the hairdresser do what he wanted. He put it all up and I am SO glad that he did! It was so hot when dancing, I know that my hair would've bothered me, sticking to my neck and then I didn't have to worry about it blowing around at all. Definitely a good idea to have ideas of one up do and one other do, just in case!