Charliegirl59

Hey Miwako! Congrats to you too! That profile pic is soo sweet and I Love the pink Thanks for your post and recommendation of having them build the huppah! I would have had my ceremony at the gazebo because I didn't like the arch but then I read your post on the huppah from Alina at Empirio Arte and it came out looking like my dream beach wedding Plus Katie Harv (another bride on here) and I got married on the same day, and we communicated about the huppah beforehand. They allowed us to split the set up cost since her ceremony was at 6PM and mine was at 4PM and we agreed on the style and color we wanted. It was $175 each, and we picked our own ceremony flowers of course. It worked out great!

Hello Ladies! Just got back and my full review of our beach wedding at the Riu Palace will be up shortly....in the meantime check out my new profile pic! It was absolutely beautiful!

Hey Mrs. Cantatore and other gals! I only have the menus of the food that is included not per person plated options. We are doing our reception at one of the terraces so we do not have to pay per person for food. They are charging me $25.00/plate (even if I go with the menu of the restaurant) per any person above 15 people since I got the royal package. But we only have 30 people so it's an extra $375 for food, and the caprice was over $2300, if I remember correctly. Does any one know what they do for music during the ceremony? We are planning on bringing down a bose system for 1st dance etc during the reception, but we wanted to have music during our ceremony on the beach. Would we have to hire a dj for the hour during that time, or can the hotel supply speakers? Also, does anyone know if you are having your reception at one of the terraces if you can have candles? We are thinking of doing something like the below for centerpieces to save money on floral centerpieces as they are $50-$90 each. We also found these awesome driftwood candle holders on etsy, which would be totally unique and rustic with the burlap table runners I am still waiting on an email back from Jaz regarding these questions. I have sent her 3 emails since last week (one of which was my checklist and signed terms and conditions and no response.) I feel like I have to email her multiple times to get a response and my wedding is NEXT MONTH! So frustrating! How's everyone else's planning going? I

Hey Miwako and Katie, I finally got a response from Jaz, I'm so relieved to be actually planning finally! She sent me all the lists, so I'm all good....now time to make some decisions

Still no response from the WC....Miwako will you please email me the lists you have? My wedding is in 59 days and I have not reserved anything, nor gotten a response from Jaz. I would greatly appreciate it! [email protected] Regarding the photographers, you should post an add on craigslist! Seriously I was shocked at how amazing some of the photographers were that responded...I couldn't believe how many responses I got. What I did was picked out my favs and then sent emails to each one asking them the best deal they could do, and from there I called and interviewed them to see who I clicked with the most. It is better to meet with them beforehand if you can so you can make sure you are comfortable with them and have a good connection since getting good shots is all about how comfortable you feel in front of them while they are shooting! Plus, if you are interest in doing a trash the dress shoot the next day mention that because those are so much fun and most of the photographers would LOVE to have those photos for their portfolio. (you don't have to use your actual wedding dress if you don't want to get it dirty lol) I am because mine was only $400 and I'll never wear it again. I have read about brides who just wash the sand off and then hand wash it and its usually fine.

Hey ladies! Hope everyone's planning is going well!!! Katieharv, yes we are booked the same day....and we are at the 60 day mark! So excited but a lil nervous since I have not done any planning with the wedding coordinator.. I got an email back stating they would be in touch but nothing yet....can you please forward me whatever lists you have regarding reception sites etc? [email protected] I would really appreciate it! Our wedding is going to be really small less than 30 guests, so not sure what options we would have for reception sites. My biggest concern is where we are going to have our reception so we can have a dance floor. I think we want to get married on the beach, originally I was thinking the San Jose gazebo, but it just feels more like a destination wedding with our "toes in the sand" =) Have you hired your photographer yet? We decided to fly in 2 photographers and pay for their trip. I actually posted on craigslist and literally got over 70 responses in 2 days, and found 2 photographers that are a married couple who would do it for $2000 total including travel expenses, their fees, editing etc. Their usual fee is $2800 but they really wanted a destination wedding for their portfolio. They will be shooting for 6 hours the day of our wedding AND do a trash the dress session at lovers beach the next day at sunset for free. They are awesome, they do wedding photography full time and are so excited to shoot our wedding. We got a lot of responses from reputable wedding photographers that would do it for a nominal costs because they are trying to branch out into destination weddings and would like to have the photos for their websites etc. I read a recent 1/12 review of the hotel photographers that was awful, they paid $1000 for 3 hours for horrible photos. I started looking for outside vendors from Cabo but they were so expensive (esp when you added the outside vendor fee) and they do not have blogs usually with all of their work, only a few select photos (of their choosing) and I just didn't trust our most important event of our lives with someone I couldn't meet beforehand. The hotel doesn't charge an outside vendor fee if your wedding guests are "by chance" photographers. Thank you Miwako for your post about the huppah, that's a great idea! I'm so hoping all goes well with these next 2 months of planning!

Hey Kary, Thanks so much for your reply! I appreciate your help in all the advice, since we officially have a date booked of 4/21! I'm super excited! I'm kinda nervous about squeezing all this planning in 3 months, my biggest concern is how all of our guests are going to get booked etc in that short amount of time! But, I'm sure it will all work out! Did anyone take advantage of the group rates offered by the Riu? My travel agent worked something out where every 6th person booked gets to stay free. Thought that would be perfect for family or anyone who can't afford to make it, but I think all guests that count towards the number have to arrive on the same day...so that may be a little tough with planning due to conflicts of people's schedules. Also, that includes a semi-private dinner, so perhaps we could use that as our rehearsal dinner and then the wedding package includes a semi-private dinner as well for the reception. I do not think we will have more than 40 people, so hopefully I will not have to have our reception somewhere where we have to pay per person for the food. I guess before I can even start considering reception sites we gotta have some people RSVP'd huh? This is all so up in the air and I'm usually a planner but we are so anxious to get married, I'm kinda winging it lol. My fiance has "courted me" the old fashioned way for the last year and a half, we are not living together until we are married and so needless to say we are SO ready to get married in a hurry. We are only 111 days away from being able to start our life together!!! Its going to be so amazing! Dress shopping next weekend at David's bridal, keep your fingers crossed I find the perfect dress!

Hello Ladies! So first off I am SOOOO thankful I found this site. I would be so lost without the "wedding trailblazers" and all of their helpful tips! I just got engaged to the man of my dreams 11/19...and I am in the process of researching and hopefully booking possibly in April, maybe even the 21st (at 4 pm hoping for the San Jose Gazebo ) We are also considering early May, like 5/12. I was wondering if any of you ladies could let me know how much pp they charge for the baja norte reception plated food? I know you have to pay the $500 to rent the location, plus additional food charges. Just trying to get an idea of how much this all is going to cost before my fiancee starts inviting 2nd cousins! LOL. It's so easy to say, "oh we're having a destination wedding, come if you can!" but the problem is, everyone wants to go to Cabo! I'm wondering how much all the other services like the dj, photographer, etc are all going to be as well. Hopefully not outrageously expensive like here in Orange County, CA! I am considering the "royal package" and it seems like $1600 wow that's a good price, but from what I'm learning once you add everything else in you're probably at least at a few thousand in at least. Any tips and advice you ladies can offer is much appreciated! Looking forward to going through this together!