kristinalilly

Hi K3nelson, I did get my hair and make-up done there and was a bit nervous about it. She was great though and they had all MAC make-up so it's pretty legit. The chair sashes I got from weddinglinensdirect.com and the starfish were from qualityshells.com. Both of the orders came super quickly and as advertised. I'm sure some nights are windier than others, but we had no problems with our candles and we had a lot of them on each table. We found some beachy lanterns and put sand and seashells in them with a tall candle. We also bought mini lanterns with tea lights in them online and had them stamped with the "Secrets Maroma Beach" and the date. We had a bunch on each table and let people take them home. We only had 3 tables so it came out to ~75$ for all three. We wanted to keep it kinda simple & beachy. Here's what they looked like.

Hi everyone, My apologies for taking so long to get my rear in gear and post since our wedding. We've been moving and starting new jobs and it's been pretty crazy. The wedding was so wonderful. We had an amazing week and the resort is so gorgeous you ladies will love it. I worked with Valeria and she was so helpful. I know everyone else has said the same thing, but to reiterate. The wedding coordinator will make you feel so much more at ease. I went down there feeling so unprepared and not really knowing what the experience would be like. In seeing my girlfriends plan their own weddings I think I was prepared to be flipping out, but Valeria and her assistant Yolanda (who is an absolute doll) really took care of everything. We got married on the beach and didn't do any of the sand ceremonies or extra things like that. The weather was great and being on the beach really kept everybody cool. I wore a long veil and put one pin in to anchor it down and would really recommend the same to anyone else wearing a long veil as it can get a little windy. The one thing that I did that I would not recommend doing is getting ready at the spa. They will not let you have food or drinks in there and we got married at 5 so it was a looong afternoon with no comfort eating/drinking. Definite regret, the only one though. Ceremony was nice and short and the setup was nice. I included a photo of the setup. Its what you get included in the Secrets of Love package and we brought our own chair bows and the starfish for the chairs. Our cocktail hour was also on the beach. We upgraded to the Mexican tapas and it was pretty good. I probably wouldn't upgrade though if I had my time back. The 1 hour goes by so quickly once you get over there and though we wanted the upgraded bar too, you can't really drink enough in an hour to make it worthwhile. One thing I would also recommend is asking if there are other event occurring at the same time as your wedding at your selected location. During our cocktail hour there was also a beach party happening pretty nearby which kinda was a bummer. If there is events happening maybe you could request to be further apart. The reception we did at the gazebo. We brought our own centrepieces and Yolanda set them all up. One thing I will say is that the food at the resort was super good, but the food at our reception was noticeably even better, which was nice. The whole thing was great and as long as you go into it knowing it's a different kind of wedding than the traditional at-home wedding and be a bit relaxed about it you'll have a great time and anything that isn't perfect won't matter and won't be remembered anyway. So exciting for all of the brides on their way down the aisle in the near future. I wish I could do it all over again!

So Valeria agreed to let us have a choice for the entrees. I'm confused why people are printing menus then if you have to tell the resort what people are having beforehand. Is it just a formality to have a menu there even though people don't order off of it? Is anyone else not doing assigned seating? Thoughts on how that will work?

Thanks CriCri. I think I'm going to just send her the info and assume it will be sorted out.

If we could get an option just for the entree that would be great. It's something that she's said can't be done. Good to know that it's being organized for others though. I'll just keep pushing for it.

Hmm.... interesting. I've been back and forth with her a couple times on this. I'm just going to go ahead and get the numbers, suggest the place cards to indicate who's getting what and go with it. We're only having 20 people, but I just don't see the reasoning behind not letting people just order. I would rather just get to the reception, choose off of a menu and just wait for them to cook it like in a restaurant... It's kind of been the first stumbling block for us. We definitely need to give people a choice.

Gorgeous photos Amber and check out those tans! Has anyone else sorted out their food yet? We're doing the Secrets of Love package and have the Silver menu included, but we're upgrading to the gold/platinum. I was under the impression that in that case they provide you with that menu and guests can choose off of it at the reception. However, Valeria told me that you have to pick one item from each category (apps, salad, main, dessert) and everyone has to have that if you want a plated service. Your other option is to choose 2 items from each category, but it must be as a buffet... I'm super bummed about this as everyone has such different tastes/sensitivities so we'll have to give people an option, but I really wanted a plated service with a menu rather than a buffet. Thoughts, advice?

We're leaving on the 25th and arrive on the 26th. Can't wait! It comes up fast. We only have the tedious things left to take care of now as we did all the fun stuff earlier on. I'm really starting to develop an attitude about when people say "Oh, but it's a destination wedding so it's not stressful"

I know how you feel, my Mom's been the same way (difficult) about most everything wedding-related. What worked for me was to go shopping with her and buy something small for the trip (a beach bag, flip flops, a hat or something like that) it was only then that she started to get a little into it and was an easier transition into the harder purchases like the wedding outfit and bathing suit (that was the worst, but I can relate). Hope this helps

My boyfriend insisted on doing the legal ceremony there, in hindsight I wish we had just gone to the courthouse here for the legal-stuff. With the judge/minister thing and the oversized needle that CriCri is talking about it seems complicated. I'm hoping to be able to get it out of the way the first day we're there. I'll let you know how it goes

I think I've read that review too. I've pretty much exhausted reading every review there is out there I think. I once got blood taken and bruised super badly so I'm a little nervous about how it will go. I'll let you know once I get back

Loove that cake topper, so cute! Has anyone read any reviews about how the blood test was? Now that it's getting a little closer I'm starting to get a bit nervous about that.

Thanks for the advice ladies. I think the operative term in this case may be "we'll see what happens". Maybe I'll just bring an alternate dress and see how sweaty and uncomfortable I am by the end of the reception. I guess I don't really have any plans of preserving the dress anyway, just seems sad to wreck it, but I'm not sure I'll want to take it off...

Starting to count down the weeks until we leave! Can't wait! One logistical question for those of you who have been married at Secrets or are more organized than I am who have already figured this out... We're getting married on the beach, having a cocktail hour there and having our reception up at a restaurant. We're only having ~20 people so we're just going to go to the nightclub afterwards for dancing. Has anyone else done this? If so what did you do about the dress? I'm wearing a long dress and though it has a bustle I think it may get wrecked if I'm dragging it around the nightclub all night. Not to mention that I may look a bit overdressed . I want to wear my dress as long as possible, but am wondering if I should just change into a short white dress for afterwards... If you ladies could weigh in on this I would really appreciate the input and advice from those who've been through this.Thanks!