Savs1027

I had to pay $500 for 50 extra pics!!!! this makes me really mad because they even told us that that was a discount!

Thank you so much everyone!!! It was such a magical day (and week!). Let me know if y'all have any questions at all!

Yeah I just saw this on the FB page! I'm sure it wont be an issue. I know this past summer one of the wedding coordinators left and she transferred over all of her weddings and everything went fine. LindseyM I think was only 2 weeks out from her wedding when it happened and everything went fine!

I posted this a few pages back but we did: wedding coordinator - $100 photographer - $100 DJ - $50 Videographer - $50 Minister - $50 Mariachi - $10 each waitstaff/bartenders - $10-$20 each (my step dad was in charge of this so I'm not sure exactly how much) I also believe he ended up giving Jorge and the food and bevarage manager $20 each but could have been more than that. They really helped us move inside when it started raining.

beautiful pics Rach! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!!

Ceremony - There are 2 different beach locations... North and South Beach. I think the North beach is a little bit less busy but it's still right in front of the hotel. You can decide on the time of the ceremony as long as there is no one else booked for that time. Time and location are the 2 first things I would book and finalize with the wedding coordinator. If you get married on the beach I believe that white drapes are included. They can do flowers too but you'll have to pay extra. We did a rehearsal 2 days before the wedding with the wedding coordinator. You'll have to schedule it with her. The minister we used spoke perfect English, but I'm not sure if it's someone else that they use if it's a legal ceremony. Ours was just symbolic. We met with the minister the day after we arrived and picked out our entire ceremony. Cocktail Hour - Desires Terrace or one of the jacuzzis is a good place if you want to be away from the beach. Reception - I recommend the pool deck or Seaside Grill. The pool deck is by the beach and it wasn't too windy. It started getting windy for us because it ended up raining though. You can send the DJ a list of songs you want and you can also meet with him after you arrive to go over everything with him. Latest to have a reception is 11pm I believe. There is a dance club you all can go to afterwards if you want to keep partying. I've seen long tables in pictures, but I think most people use the round tables around the dance floor. I'm not sure how 1 long table would work out if you had the dance floor too (depending on where you are having the reception). Our hanging lights on the bamboo poles were completely worth it for the price. They lit up the entire area and we got a lot of compliments on them in the pictures. Hair/Makeup - I didn't do a trial and I'm glad I didn't because I loved how they did both my hair and makeup. They did mine, my bridesmaids, and both of our mom's and everyone loved their hair and makeup. If you have room in your budget then you could do it but I don't think it's necesary. Make sure to make your appointments ahead of time though because if there are other weddings that day you might not get your first choice of time if you wait too long. Wedding Coordinator - I think if you know what you want, go ahead and email them. THen you can always change anything once you get there. My wedding coordinator told me that some things that have to know in advance (i'm not sure what though). If they don't respond for awhile, just understand it's because your wedding is further away. Once it gets closer they will start responding more frequently. The 3 most important things to book right away are your date, times and locations of ceremony, cocktail hour and reception (and the rehearsal dinner/welcome dinner if you're doing that). Other than that, I think most things can wait until closer to the date. Hope this helps. Here's a link to our slideshow and wedding video if you haven't seen it already... http://171212ryan.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/ryan/

You will probably get upgraded to the master suite since that's the next level up unless there are a bunch of other weddings that day! If you want the presidential, I would book the master suite instead.

beautiful pictures Ashley!!!! Francisco did a wonderful job! I love how your turned out and the bridesmaid dresses were so pretty!! Did y'all get ready in the presidential suite? It's SO much nicer than the master suite we had!

I would let your wedding coordinator know you want to change and you can't get in touch with him. I emailed Lorena telling her and I think she let him know to email me and he finally did the day before we left.

Are you using Cesar (mauricio)? We had the same problem.... He was great at communicating up until about a month before the wedding and then we never heard from him until the day before we left....

Oh, I forgot - I just bought 2 regular sharpies but in silver. They were just the plain ones, not fine tip or anything. I tested it first in the corner to make sure it wouldn't smear and it worked out great!

Yup, they will do custom! You could possibly even tell her my name and she might have history of my order. It would be under Savanah Cooper. I just told her what I wanted for our Save the Dates and the guest print and she sends you a preview of it before she prints it. So you can say yes or no. I had her make a 12x12 size for us. I found a cheap 12x12 frame at Michaels and left the glass at home and just put the picture in the frame once we got there without the glass and it worked out perfectly. I rolled the print back up and threw the frame away in Mexico and now have it framed nicely in our house You'll have to let me know if you order one!

Ok, I finally finished up my planning thread!!! I've been needing to sit down and do it forever. I wanted to make sure I included everything because I used those SO much while planning! Here is the link and if you have any questions let me know! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/84658/savanahs-planning-thread-12-17-12-dreams-riviera-cancun

Trash The Dress: One of the most fun things ever!! I wore my regular dress and husband just wore his suit pants and white shirt. The Photographer: I used one of the resort photographers, Anel, and I can't say enough good things about her!! She was AMAZING!!! Here is our slideshow she put together for us http://171212ryan.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/ryan/ You can see the wedding and TTD slide show from that one link Ok, I think I recapped everything!! If you have any questions, please let me know!! I haven't recapped everything on my blog yet, so I hope you'll continue to stop by to see everything! I'd love to have you Happy Planning Everyone!!!!

The Cake: We had a layer of Tres Leches and a layer of Vanilla - it was excellent! Cake topper and Cake knives both from Occasions Unlimited on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/people/OccasionsUnlimited Guest Book: We did a Guest Book Print for everyone to sign that we could hang in our house later on. We ordered it from the same lady who did our Save The Dates, Define Design, on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/DefineDesign11 I don't have a good close up picture of this, but it's a picture of Texas, New York and Mexico (met, engaged, married). And I brought silver sharpies for everyone to sign. We already have it displayed in our house! The Wedding Video: We got a 30 minute wedding video included with our package. For it to be included, I was happy with how it turned out especially since I hadn't even talked or met with the videographer ahead of time. My husband put the video up on vimeo so here is the link to it. Of course the quality went down and there's a big watermark because we didn't have the program to rip it correctly. - the password is Dreams We also used Story Mix Media for our other wedding video... http://storymixmedia.com We got 3 video cameras to take with us to Mexico and use the whole trip and people could also use the app on their cell phones. We don't have the final edited video back yet, but I will share once we have it! I think it's going to be REALLY FUN to see video footage of the whole 10 days we were there! Wedding Music: While guests were getting seated - Lucky - Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat Wouldn't Change a Thing - Matthew West I Do - Colbie Caillat Home - Phillip Phillips Got Whatever It is - Zac Brown Band Grandparents, parents, Bridal party entrance - Marry Me - Train Bride Entrance - Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Iz Sand Ceremony and Document signing - Angel - Jack Johnson Recessional - Marry You - Bruno Mars Bridal Party/Bride and Groom Entrance to reception - Give Me Everything - Pit Bull First Dance - Feels Like Home - Chantal Kreviazuk Cake Cutting - Today was a Fairytale - Taylor Swift Last Dance - Time of My Life - Dirty Dancing More Coming!

Ceremony Decor: See all of our ceremony pictures on my blog- http://www.savanahsmiles.com/2013/01/121712-ceremony-part-1.html http://www.savanahsmiles.com/2013/01/121712-ceremony-part-2.html Aisle Runner and seashells provided by the resort in our package Chair sashes from www.weddinglinensdirect.com Sand Ceremony Set from Hobby Lobby Teal sand from Oriental Trading Natural Sand straight from the beach "First Look": We didn't want to see each other before the wedding so after we were both ready right before we went downstairs John came to my room and we did a "non first look". We stood on opposite sides the door splitting the master suite and got to hold hands just for a few minutes You can see the rest of them and our getting ready pictures here: http://www.savanahsmiles.com/2013/01/121712-getting-ready.html http://www.savanahsmiles.com/2013/01/121712-portraits-before-ceremony.html Reception Decor: Table overlays and chair sashes from www.weddinglinensdirect.com Mr. and Mrs. Signs from Handmade Expressions by Perfectly Jenn on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/PerfectlyJenn Napkins from http://www.theamericanwedding.com Love sign from Hobby Lobby Cake/Guest Book Table - pictures of our cats 5x7 engagement photo Guest book Pink Lanterns and LED lights both from Hobby Lobby Engagement Photo book from Shutterfly More Coming!