KCDawn

I definitely recommend the Jambox! We paid about $300 for it, which is less than you'll spend to rent a sound system for 2 hours, plus you have an awesome little sound system to keep. It was loud enough and it wasn't even maxed out. It comes in a few different colors. We got the white one, which looked nice at the wedding festivities. We didn't purchase anything extra to use it. I believe it comes with a cord so you can connect directly, but we used it wirelessly connecting with Blue Tooth which was great! I don't think you'd have to include that in your wedding stuff total. You're just taking your radio to the beach We actually did see another couple with one lounging on the beach.

I'm back!!! It was absolutely amazing! We had 36 guests and all of them were so impressed. We had the best time and Valeria and her staff did an incredible job! I will post pictures when I get a chance. In the meantime I wrote down some post-wedding thoughts and notes for all you future brides. I know every little bit of info I got from this site was a huge help. Especially when you’re planning a wedding at a place you’ve never seen in person. The Resort I don't have much to compare it to, but I loved it and we had some well-traveled guests who've been to several all-inclusives and everyone said this was the nicest they've ever been to by far. The service is excellent and everyone was very polite and eager to assist. The resort and the beach are beautiful and well maintained. The food is great! The place pretty much shuts down around 1 (room service is always available though) so if you have a younger crowd who wants to party late into the night, you may want to plan a night in Playa Del Carmen. I've heard there are some great clubs there. Excursions We went on a Catamaran trip (CataMaya) with 10 of our guests the day before the wedding. It was awesome! Highly recommended! They guys on the boat were so much fun and they even did a tequila toast for the boat when they found out we were getting married. We also visited Tulum which was really cool. We booked both of our trips through Olympus Tours. They have a desk at the resort. You can pick them out by their orange polos. Some of our guests took taxis to Playa Del Carmen in the evening and had a lot of fun there. The Spa We got a couple’s massage and I got a mini facial. Both were very good. The Spa is gorgeous!! I didn't get my hair and makeup done there, but I wish I had gotten some more treatments and taken advantage of the place. It really is nice. Beach Bonfire Party This was fantastic! We walked away from it so happy we did it. Our guests loved it! We did it Thursday night (wedding was Saturday) at 8:30. Most of our guests arrived Wednesday and Thursday so we did it that night as a welcome party. It was a great chance for everyone to meet and get to know each other. I really think it made the rest of the trip more fun for everyone. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with the size of our group but the setup was great, much better than I had expected. It was in the center of the beach in front of the resort. They put big white flags in the sand in a big half circle. As you walk up to it there was a rack for everyone’s shoes. They did a half circle of lounge chairs around the fire at the end of the space and in the center, had some cocktail tables and regular chairs (like they use for the ceremony and reception without covers). The bar was a big setup on the side. We didn’t do any food and I don’t think it was missed. The party is 2 hours and it goes by soo fast. We brought our own speaker, The Big Jambox (awesome little thing by the way!) and had a playlist. We also bought a bottle of high-end tequila for Eric and some of our guests to try and I brought a couple packs of glow in the dark bracelets from the $ store which ended up being fun. If it’s in your budget I highly suggest this, especially if you have a bigger group of people. OOT Bags These were a big hit! I had drawstring beach bags, disposable waterproof cameras, a waterproof key/tip holder, and a survival kit type bag with Tissues, Motrin, Imodium, Tums, Bandaids, Emergen-C, Hand Sanitizer, Aloe, and personalized SPF Lip Protectant. Everyone really appreciated the thought and it seemed like they found everything useful. It was cool seeing the smile on everyone’s faces when we handed them a gift as they arrived. That said, I was glad I resisted the urge to go overboard. I thought I was keeping the stuff I was taking down there to a minimum but I still underestimated how much room it was all going to take up in our luggage. I almost did mugs or cups but while they might be a nice momento if they are personalized, they’re not really necessary here. Just keep in mind that you picked a top notch resort and you and your guests are paying for that, so a lot of things are already there. THE WEDDING DAY! Sorry if it’s long. This is just the highlights believe it or not! I’ve mentioned here several times how Juan was going to do our pictures….well he didn’t. Turns out he fell earlier in the day doing a TTD session and hurt his back, so Tony took his place. I haven’t gotten any pictures yet, but he was great to work with and from what I can tell from what he showed me on his cameras he got some great shots. I was soooo glad I changed my ceremony to the new beach location. It’s beautiful and the ocean was the perfect back drop. The wedding gazebo also happens to be located at the same end of the pool as the swim up bar which is open til 6. I saw a wedding at the gazebo on Sunday and I felt bad for the couple because the bar was still full and it was pretty loud. As far as ceremony décor, we kept it pretty simple, and honestly I don’t think you need much. The setting is gorgeous by itself and the ceremony is short. I just had the included white fabric, white chairs with no covers, pink and orange rose petals in the aisle (no runner, just sand underneath) and the included centerpiece (different colors of lillies) on the ceremony table. I was glad I didn’t spend any more money on that part. It just wasn’t necessary. The view is stunning in itself. Even though we had our own speaker system, we rented the resort’s system for the ceremony. It was well worth the money to ensure that everyone could hear the ceremony (it would have been difficult without the mic) and it was nice we didn’t have to worry about who would man the music. They did a great job with that! We did the sand ceremony which was only takes a few minutes but was a nice addition to the ceremony. I went back and forth on even doing it, but at the last minute I bought a set at Michael's. I was glad I did. It was really sweet. Unfortunately someone stole our sand L so I’m glad we have it on video. We did the cocktail hour in the Gazebo thanks to Valeria’s suggestion and I was glad we listened. The spot on the beach for the cocktail hour has no shade and it was still really hot that time of day. The bar wasn’t really an issue for that part. Even though there were people still there, we had the mexican trio and everyone in our party was talking so you didn’t notice. Everything was cleared out by the time we sat at the tables for dinner. Dinner was fantastic but slow. Valeria told me initially the dinner would take about an hour leaving 2 for dancing and other stuff, but it ended up taking more like 2 hours. Valeria stopped by to see how everything was going and I mentioned it to her. Within 5 minutes, one of the servers stopped me to apologize saying there was a miscommunication or something in the kitchen and said they would all stay extra time to make up for it. They stayed an extra hour for us! That’s how good the service is there. They really do try to make everything perfect. Although slow dinner service was the norm while we were there. The servers were always attentive, it just took a long time to get through dinners. For Décor, I brought table runners (purchased on ebay), maracas (amols), seating cards (with starfish and had no problem with customs but I didn't get searched), table numbers and a cake topper. I also had three cards for each place setting tied together with a ribbon. The first was a Thank You, the second was a menu, and the third was an I Spy game. Since we didn’t have a photographer for the reception, the I Spy was a good way to encourage people to get certain shots. I got the Ispy and the thank you from Weddings by Jamie on Etsy. She's on this site as well since she just had her own destination wedding. She was great to work with! She sends you the file and you just print it out. She was really fast! I also got center pieces through the resort. I chose to spend money here instead of on the ceremony location. I was happy I did. They looked great! We did a photo guest book with the instant fuji camera. That was a HUGE hit! We have some hilarious pictures and our guests had a lot of fun with it. I got some colored sunglasses and a tiara from the dollar store and made my own mustaches on a stick using some items from Michael’s. I got a photo album from Michael’s for under $10 and added a satin ribbon to it. It was a suggestion from another BDW bride and it was so much better than spending a ton of money for one like I’d seen on the Knot or Etsy. For the music, we used our Jambox and Ipod. It worked out great. We were in complete control of the music and since our Jambox is controlled by Bluetooth I could control the music from my seat or the dance floor. We didn’t miss a DJ at all. We did use the Gazebo as a dance floor and while I had the same concerns about lighting as some of you, it was very well lit. There are sconces all around the inside of the Gazebo and it’s bright! The lights around the tables are also nicer looking than what they appear in pictures I’ve seen and we had a few of them. There was also some lighting under the tables which was cool. With the pool lit up blue and the lights wrapped around the trees it was nice. I don’t think you need extra lighting at all. For our first dance and the dance with our parents we actually danced near the tables instead of the gazebo. Everyone was at the tables and they were set up in a circle so it felt right to just dance in the center of it all so they didn’t all have to get up and move to see. AFTER PARTY Instead of heading to the disco, we all went to the Sugar Reef Bar in the resort. They have tables that sit in a few inches of water, which feels GREAT on your feet after being in the heat in a wedding dress all day. J

Leaving tomorrow morning!!! Thank you ladies for all of your help!

Gorgeous pictures!!! Thank you so much for sharing! I'm happy to hear you had a great experience with Valeria. That's who I'm working with too. This past week I'm really starting to see she has it all together and I'm starting to relax about it.

That's great! One less thing I have to take. I can't wait to see your pics! I'm really excited for Juan to do ours.

One week to go!! Wow! I'm trying to pull everything together so I'm sure I"ll have a few questions for you girls. First one - Did you take a cake cutting/serving set with you? I wasn't going to, but I want to know what they'll give you if you don't bring your own. Thanks!

That's exciting! Ours is almost here too...we leave in 10 days!!! I can't believe how fast it went. We are doing the ceremony on the beach. I think we're just doing the plain white chairs (no covers) and the white sheer fabric on the structure. I'm doing some flowers, but I'm going to decide exactly what kind when we get there. I like the flowers on the chairs down the aisle. I also like the corsages on the structure, but I'm afraid they get a little lost because of the width of it. I haven't decided yet if it's worth the extra money. We finalized the menu already, so I am planning on doing menus. One of the long list of things I still have to do =) I did the OOT bags. I bought drawstring bags at 5 Below. You can see them here: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/79713/beach-themed-drawstring-oot-bags-at-five-below As far as contents, I did a survival kit like a lot of the other brides (bandaids, Tums, Imodium, Motrin, Hand Sanitizer from BBW, nail files for the ladies, Emergen-C, Tissues, SPF Lip Balm & Aloe from Target) and disposable waterproof cameras. The cameras I got from a vendor on Ebay. They come without packaging, so I got clear bags and a bag topper for them. I'm also doing a welcome book. I got Maracas from Amol's. You'll see them mentioned on here a lot. They're awesome to work with and the maracas are nice. Plus, I love that they say Mexico on them. They'll let you pick the colors you want, assuming they have what you want in stock, and they turn things around quickly. I got the medium maracas seen here: http://www.amols.com/catalog/medium-traditional-maracas. I think they're a perfect size. I was afraid the large would take up too much room in a suitcase on the way down. We have about 35 guests too. I did one maraca per person. Just remember when you order, that they sell them in pairs.

We're doing photo package 6, which is also 3 hours but includes all of the negatives. I'm not sure if it's worth an extra $200 over package 5. Otherwise they are the same. When I was deciding on how much time and which package I emailed Juan. I was impressed that he wasn't pushing for extra time like other places I contacted. I'm guessing 3 hours will be enough for you. If you're not sure, I would email him and just tell him what you want and he'll tell you how much time you need. That's what I did.

I'm a little worried about the starfish too. I'm planning on using them for the seating cards. I've seen pictures of people using that stuff so I guess it's hit or miss. I may have to come up with a backup plan just in case they get confiscated.

I've been dealing with Valeria, so I have no idea what's going on with Cecilia. That's frustrating though!

It's great to see someone local! Nice to meet you!! I just picked some up last week for another bride. They were on the right wall with all the other tote bags. They were getting low but they still had some. They were out of the green and only had a few pink left.

I see you're in Pittsburgh! I got mine at the Cranberry store.

You're welcome! I was just there and our local 5 below still had some in stock.

They will work with you to give you specific colors you want as long as they have them in stock, even though it says "assorted colors". I just emailed them right after I placed my order and they sent me the colors I requested.

I guess the point of the menu is to describe what they're having. Even if they get to choose their entree ahead of time, they don't know what the other courses are. Plus they look nice on the table. We're assigning tables. I would definitely make a sign of some sort or assign one or two people (depending on how big your group is) to make sure everyone knows they can just pick their own seat so no one is confused.

Well I don't think you're going to be able to do the menu style unless your group is small to enough to just do dinner in one of the restaurants. I think getting an option ahead of time for the entree is the best you'll be able to do with the formal reception. That's typical for a banquet or wedding reception because it gets you the quickest service. Otherwise your dinner will take up the entire reception. She did tell me people wouldn't be able to change their choice at the reception or we would be charged. I think that is what people are used to when it comes to weddings so I don't think it will be a problem.

I'm in the middle of that now. We're doing the Ultimate Package so we have the Gold menu. When I first asked Valeria about the food options, she said we could give people a choice for the entree but if we did so we'd have to give her the numbers about a week or so ahead of time and have a way to indicate to the staff who gets which choice. In that email and a second one after she definitely pushed more for the buffet if you want more than one entree, but since she gave me the opening I took it. I emailed her back with our choices for everything (one choice each for Appetizer, Salad, Soup and Desert and two choices for the entree) and told her I wanted the plated meal with two entree options. I also told her I would do different colors for the seating cards so they could tell who ordered what. Obviously that's more work for them but we're bringing about 40 people and I'm not going to make them all eat the same entree. I haven't gotten her response back yet, so we'll see what she says.

Amber, you pictures are gorgeous! We're using Juan too. Seeing your pictures just gets me more excited! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! I would feel better dealing with them directly. I guess I was just afraid to step on her toes. I'd like to get as much done ahead of time as possible. I also want to know what kind of extra cost I'm looking at. If the centerpieces are going too much I may need to compromise and bring something with me or come up with an alternative with the florist. Could you send me his info? Thanks again!

Yay!! Oh I know what you mean. I feel like I have way more to do than I should for a destination wedding. Of course I think I did a lot of it to myself trying to do the invites and gift bags and everything else myself. My fiance informed me the other day I've been cranky. Haha! I guess it's getting to me more than I realized.

Ok I need some help with flowers... Valeria is our wedding coordinator. We have been emailing back and forth for about the past month starting to figure out some of the details and get some questions answered. I asked her about the flowers. Told her we were looking to do centerpieces (we'll probably have 5 tables) and some flowers for the ceremony location. I asked her if I go through her or deal directly with the florist if I had specific ideas for what I wanted. She told me to send her pictures and she would get me quotes. So I sent her some pictures of bouquets and centerpieces to give her an idea of what I liked. I heard from her about a week and a half later and besides giving me the prices for flowers on the aisle chairs and aisle petals (which are listed in the wedding guide) all she said was "No problem!" and "further details can be discussed at our meeting in the resort". Really?? I guess I was hoping to get that part done before I got to Mexico. What are the rest of you doing? Did you or are you picking flowers before hand or when you get there?

Good luck! I'm sure it's not that bad. Your day is getting so close! When do you leave?

How long did it take for you to get your marriage certificate? It seems like it could take a long time, but I've read other people (not from Secrets) say it didn't take that long.

I bruise too so I'm a little worried about that too. Hopefully if it's done at the beginning of the week it'll look ok by the wedding. I did some searching on this site, just putting in "mexico blood test" and everyone that posted said it wasn't bad at all. Everyone said it was very clean and professional. Made me feel a lot better. So many people say they do the ceremony before they leave so I was starting to worry I was crazy for doing it this way.

We're doing the legal wedding too. I'm definitely not looking forward to the blood test! I remember reading a couple's review somewhere that you need to take cash because they had to pay for the test directly. They also suggested getting a receipt so you don't get charged a second time by the resort.