beachbride2013

They will ask you for your room number and you will pay upon checkout. Not sure about the spa. I can't remember if I paid the spa directly or not. I am sure they accept cash but they do not always have change. I remember them printing out a receipt that I signed, but not sure if it was a cc receipt or not.

Hi Nicc80. I had a white dress bag to carry my dress. It was $10 from David's Bridal. I have read not to use any color other than white, as it can stain your dress. I made special menus for the reception and brought them to Mexico. I planned the menu and let Cecilia know before we went to Mexico. It took me a full day to make the menus. One of m bridesmaids had a clutch for the reception. It was small, had some lip gloss, safety pins, bobby pins, and I think that is it.

Hi Kristinalilly! The resort was sold out for us about a month before the wedding. We had two guests choose to stay elsewhere and it was based on their preference in hotel.

hi Dsr. I was originally going to ship 2 boxes to the resort. It says in the wedding guide to ship via fed-ex or ups (can't remember which one) and to allow one month to be sure it clears customs and arrives on time. The address and instructions are in the wedding guide on the website. It was going to cost me a lot to ship the boxes and I was worried about the stuff not making it to the resort, so I decided to pack cardboard boxes and check them with the airline. It was much less expensive.

I agree with KCDawn. We did not have a special area and nobody brought us gifts (Thank goodness bc we wouldn't want to have to bring extra stuff back to the states). The people who brought cards just handed them to us the day after the wedding. We had a few people ask us before we left what they should do with our gift and we just asked them not to bring anything to Mexico. At the reception, there will be a table with your guestbook (if you are bringing one) and there will be room on that table if anyone brings anything.

I would email her and let her know you are ready to pay your deposit and that you want to confirm that this date/time and this location is available during that time for your wedding/reception. If she tells you that that is reserved for you (they will reserve it for 7 days I think, until they get your deposit) then that's what you need. After she gets your deposit, she will email you the contract soon after. At that point, I would book my trip. At least that is how we did it. It took us about a week to get the deposit and first contract. Others may have different experiences. As far as Cecilia, you should just keep in mind that it's Mexico, it's the beach, and it's a resort so it's all laid back. They don't really have a reason to rush to respond to emails. She is seriously running the whole wedding thing down there. She will get back to you usually within a few days and if a few days go by, just send another email. She is very nice and very helpful, just not in a hurry to respond to emails. She is also very good at what she does so you don't have to worry about anything. When I was at the resort, I called her several times and she always got right back to me if I left her a vm. Something that I did when I needed to contact her was basically to write out a list of questions. I would number them and she would respond to all of them in a different color under each question. That way you can email only once and get many answers.

Be sure to also confirm your ceremony and reception location as well as times. Most brides want the reception at the wedding gazebo and if another bride snatches it up first then you are out of luck. That is what happened to me. I told her in my request I wanted it there, but it did not happen because I thought that was enough. I needed to have the contract done, so I would tell her the date and time you want and also the location. Then when she sends you the first contract be sure to sign it and send it back.

Hi! To answer #5 on your list: You will pay for your trip through Expedia. You will talk to Cecilia before you leave for Mexico and set a time to meet with her (probably the day after you arrive). She will go over your contract, show you the wedding locations, meet with the DJ company if you are using them, and then you will pay for the wedding cost. You will want to have most of it chosen before you arrive. When you meet with Cecilia, you can make changes if you want. We changed a couple of things such as extending the reception for an hour and changed the location of the cocktail hour. Cecilia will send you photos of whatever you want, but this thread is a great source to see real photos of the lanterns, etc as well. You will have to request them from her and be patient. She will not rush to send them out to you immediately. The way that I did the planning was just started going down the contract when Cecilia sent it to me and filled it out then scanned it and sent it back. I just did that over and over til it was all planned. I added whatever extras I wanted throughout the process. If you have most of the planning done, you will only have to spend an hour with Cecilia and the rest of the day can be spent at the spa or the beach. Whatever you choose for sashes or lighting will look beautiful. They really do a great job, no matter how simple or how extravagant you decide to go. Good luck and congrats!

Hi Cri! I ended up not doing the video. We just didn't really feel the need for it and wanted to spend the money elsewhere. We ended up upgrading our photographer for 5 hours and hopefully he caught all the special moments.

Hi Jen, I would have to say that the DJ was not cheesy at all. I was also worried about this bc I have seen some cheesy DJ's here in the states at weddings and parties. He spoke to us privately right before the reception (introduction of us and bridal party to guests). He talked us through everything privately and did a great job making announcements like the cake cutting, first dance, etc. Def not cheesy or corny. I thought he was really cool and just seemed really comfortable and confident with what he was doing. Def very professional and dressed in all black with slacks, dress shoes, and a jacket too. They played perfect music for the dinner and right after dinner, he had every single guest dancing and we danced all night. He didn't play anything like the chicken dance or hokey pokey and he sounded great when he spoke. It was so much fun!

I don't have my professional photos still, but have quite a few that were taken by friends at our wedding posted to my facebook account. If you would like to view them, PM me. I have some of my hair which was done at the spa, my make-up which was done at the spa, you can see the basic ceremony set up (without any additional decor other than my ivory chair sashes), and the barracuda terrace where the cocktail hour and reception were held.

They should have more than one DJ/MC. I think the other wedding that was going on during mine used the resort DJ as well. It's just a company that the resort uses I think. I don't think the resort actually owns the DJ company. For mine, there was one MC who was awesome and dressed very nice in dress clothes, and he had 2 other guys with him helping with the equipment and lighting. They were wearing black polos and black slacks. They looked very professional. The DJ also had some colored lights too. I didn't have to pay anything extra for that and it all looked great. When my reception was over, the other was still going on. Their DJ/MC sounded really good too.

Newloves-I know this is directed at Cri, but just for info, I had the sound system on the beach. I had 20 guests and don't think anyone would have heard anything without it. It stormed really bad earlier that day and was pretty windy. The veil wasn't a problem though. A bridesmaid can tuck it into the back of your dress when you get up there if it's super windy and it won't blow and will look normal from the front. Just let them know before the ceremony to keep an eye for it blowing everywhere. Also, speaking of sound system, etc. I remember a few people saying they would use an ipod and ipod dock for their sound system during the reception. Just some food for though here. We brought an ipod and good quality ipod dock with loud volume to use for the bonfire on the beach. It was pointless. There was a wedding reception going on at the wedding gazebo and they had a DJ. You couldn't hear ours and it just sounded like a mess trying to play it while the DJ was playing at the reception. If there isn't a reception you will be fine...otherwise it's just pointless. We were fine listening to the DJ music though. We did our reception at the Barracuda Terrace. It's just on the opposite side of the pool from the wedding gazebo. There was another reception that started shortly after mine at the gazebo. The DJ's will work to make sure one doesn't drown out the other, but if you had an ipod dock (no sound system) you will basically be out of luck. The DJ music is very loud and it will drown out any ipod dock imo. I was soooooo glad that I chose the DJ because our reception would have been completely different. Just keep that in mind, and maybe check to be sure that there aren't 2 wedding receptions going on at those locations at the same time if you are planning to bring an ipod dock and not use the resort sound system or DJ. If you have the DJ it isn't a problem at all. They will communicate with each other to get the right volume so that one isn't heard over the other. The DJ/MC made the reception the awesome party that it was though, so if it's in the budget I would go for that. We just used the resort DJ and were glad we did.

Hey Lola, I actually wore barefoot sandals. One of my bridesmaids bought them for us and surprised us with them in Mexico. She brought them from abiddabling.com and yes they are a little pricey. My two girls had short dresses so you could see them the entire time. Not sure if mine showed in the pics or not bc I haven't received my wedding photos yet.

I did bare feet. I bought heels to wear for the cocktail hour and reception, but ended up going barefoot the entire time. I don't think anyone noticed. There were a few guests that i noticed were barefoot during the reception as well.

@KCDawn, I did not see a ceremony take place anywhere other than the beach. I would not recommend doing a ceremony at the gazebo unless it is at 5:00 or later. You will have much less privacy there bc it is right at the pool near the pool bar and near the showers coming from the beach. The pool and beach pretty much clear out at 5ish. If it's earlier than that, I would avoid it. The beach is much more private imo. Two quick things that I thought about: 1. Be sure all of your male guests bring long pants. They will not be allowed in any restaurants during their stay with out them! We had a few people who did not take that seriously and only brought shorts. The pants in the gift shop are quite pricey! 2. Be sure that if you are requiring people who are not staying a the resort to pay the $100 entrance fee that they KNOW about it. We told our 2 guests about it several times but when they arrived at the resort they were suddenly clueless and extremely angry about it! They (the guests) called my husband from the front desk and were livid. It's just not something that you want to deal with that day or have to worry about.

Congrats! I also had the best time there! Your photos look amazing and really show how much fun everyone had!!

That is so pretty Cri!!! We just did plain white with ivory sashes. KCDawn-What time is your ceremony? Mine was at 3 and there were tons of people watching and taking pictures. All of the chairs will be far enough away from the ceremony location. I would say that 3 is probably when the beach is most crowded. If you are doing it at 4 or 5, there will be a lot less people there but I noticed at a 5 wedding, there were lots of ladies watching and also a few couples. I think the beach starts getting crowded around 11ish. It's a pretty good distance away though. At my wedding, I only noticed when I came out to walk down the isle, after that I didn't notice anyone. When I was standing outside waiting on Cecilia to come back and get me, one lady came and started taking photos of me on her phone and even started crying! I almost lost it! I was really trying to hold the tears in. Something that kind of irked me was that a lot of people will walk on the beach right behind your ceremony. And I mean literally right there behind the arch. I only heard this from our guests (the groom and myself didn't notice). There was a group of like 6 people who walked right behind the arch and then stood there looking. Another guy walked behind us in a speedo as slow as possible. I just thought it was weird that people would do that. I know Juan and the other photographer sort of shooed them off so that they wouldn't be in any photos. lol Some people!

Hi Everyone! I just returned to TX from the wedding week at Secrets Maroma. It was the most wonderful time! The wedding went off w/out a hitch and all of our guests loved the resort. I will post an update and review very soon. I haven't received my photos from Juan yet, but I have lots of candid ones I can post. Also, Juan and his team are great. They are all professional, were on time, and they know what they are doing. I loved having him as our wedding photog and we didn't even request him specifically. His assistant was great and also took lots of our photos. Everything was wonderful and I really have nothing to complain about. The food was great, the barracuda terrace where we did our cocktail hour and reception was perfect, the resort DJ and MC was better than anything I could have asked for here in the states. They were perfect and we ALL danced the entire night.

Thanks Annieweds and Amberh! I leave tomorrow. I am finishing my welcome letters right now, and still have to pack! EEEK! I'm excited to leave tomorrow!

So I leave for Mexico in one week! Today I made my escort cards and finished my table numbers. I need to make and print my welcome letters and steam my chair sashes as they are super wrinkled. I also made my appointment to have my hair and make-up done at the spa. I am doing a trial as well. This is probably what makes me the most nervous. Just not knowing if it will look good or not. I've also decided to change up my centerpieces a bit, so I need to do a trial on those today to see how they look. For anyone who is curious on how I am getting all of my things to Mexico, I have decided that instead of packing all of the decor into suitcases, I am packing it into 2 cardboard boxes. That way I won't have to check the bags on the return trip. One box is almost completely full of maracas and chair sashes, and the other is OOT bags and the rest of the decor. I really wont bring most of it back. Okay, well I guess I should get busy. I can't believe I am leaving in one week to get married in such a beautiful place!!!

If a dance floor was in my budget I would probably do it as long as I had 20ish guests or more. I really don't think it's completely necessary though. I think it will be amazing either way. I hope to see you! I have no idea who to look for but it will just be my fiance and myself on the first day we arrive (23rd). We will probably be relaxing on the beach and then hanging out in the lobby bar that evening. Please say hi if you see me!! My name is Chasity and my FI is hispanic and about the same height as me!! Congrats on your wedding!! I am excited for you!!

Cri- we arrive on the 23rd so I will be keeping an eye out for you. If you see me, be sure to say hi!!! I would love to meet you and hear about your wedding!!! Have a great time! CIAO!!

I posted this on another site already, but I would suggest that you look at doing a shorter number of days for your guests. Are they coming from DFW? If so, I think 3-4 nights is fine to keep it at a reasonable price, and you will probably have more guests and ones who are willing to stay at your resort. I told my guests when that, "Most guests who are booking are staying for 3 nights, and some are staying for 4, but you are welcome to stay longer if you want to."

Congrats! It is so stressful!! I don't have any info to offer on the questions you asked, but enjoy your wedding and the short time you have leading up to it!!! It will be beautiful!