Martoca

I am on the other side of the coin. I am a Wedding venue owner in Puerto Vallarta and we provide wedding services as well. I wanted to invest in a bridal show and I thought it may be a loss of money. It is about 2,000 dollars to have an exhibit. My question to you is if you saw an exhibit is a regional Expo about weddings in Puerto Vallarta would you have stopped to ask about it? Also, I was thinking about a destination Wedding Expo instead of a normal wedding expo. Are there many of these? I am doing research and ran across your post. I would like to look into a Destination Wedding Expo in a major city like Houston, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, LA, NY,... any ideas? Thank you Jimmy www.martoca.com

Have you considered Puerto Vallarta? Super romantic! You can stay in an AI and have the reception in a private venue next to the hotel and it actually serves as a "tour" as well. A party for 80 guests should cost between 12,000 to 25,000 or more if you add many features. For 15,000 you could have a nice party with all major items considered. A "Fully loaded" party for 80 would be about 25,000 dollars. Just throwing it out there. I would be glad to help if you have any questions. www.martoca.com Jimmy

Tips on how to Calculate a budget for a wedding in Puerto Vallarta These are some general guidelines to prepare an estimate or your "mas o menos" budget for your destination wedding when it is not in an all-inclusive hotel scenario or a restaurant. I assume other venues are similar in the way they operate so this could be handy for you even if you are not choosing Martoca Beach Garden as your venue for your wedding. The venue should rent here in Puerto Vallarta area for 2,200 to 5,500 dollars on a beach front setting. The price also depends on wether it is a weekday or a weekend since weekdays are usually half price. Some places are villas so they charge you 5 night stays mandatory which could cost up to 10,000 a night for the villa which has many rooms. The catering may vary from 30 dollars a person to 150 dollars a person. This includes tables, chairs, dinnerware and service andall that is needed for catering and the banquet setting. Anything more and you are paying way too much. Unless of course a world class chef is doing the cooking and even then it would have to be a 6 or 7 course dinner. The Open bar should cost from 25 dollars a person for beer and wine and soft drinks to 55 dollars for a specialty bar and a full premium bar with top notch liquors. A decent average bar should be 35 usd per person for 8 hour open bar. DJ and dace floor for 8 hours should cost you from 800 usd up to no more than 3,000 usd with all included for a big nightclub setting with LED lighting, strobe lights, smoke and whatever else you can think for entertainment. The ceremony gazebo should cost anywhere from 300 dollars and up since this varies with taste and decorations. Mostly flowers can make the biggest difference in cost. A simple setting should be 300 usd. These are the core items for a wedding in a venue. Wedding planners charge 10% of the total cost of the wedding or they may charge a flat fee. A good fully bilingual coordinator will charge about 2,000 dollars for a good quality wedding. There are others who may charge 1,000 dollars but the service will be lacking much promptness and they will not be able to speak English effectively. There are however wedding designers who charge 5,000 or 6,000 dollars for there services. it really depends on your budget and your desire for special decorations. Most of the extra cost is spent on flowers and special decorations or handmade items. It definately makes a difference but if you just want a great party with good food and drinks and excellent music and fun the whole enchilada should run you on average about 200 dollars a person for a very nicely decorated wedding wit great quality food and service. Happy hunting for your perfect spot that suits your budget. www.martoca.com is a wedding expert in Puerto Vallarta. However most pricing is similar in Mexico.

Vallarta, Cabo and Cancun beaches are safe to visit. Only big cities are subject to violence and the violence is among gangs anyway. Just like going to Chicago... no worries. So come visit! www.martoca.com

Hi guys, It is interesting to hear what brides go through to convince their own family to have a destination wedding in Mexico. It is a shame the violence has scared so many away but as one of my recent brides told me in an email: It is more dangerous to go to the movies in the USA than to go to Puerto Vallarta... her words! Anyway, if you want many links and information about safety in Puerto Vallarta I would be glad to help. The truth is Mexican violence is between the gang members in big cities and mostly in border areas. Tourist towns are not a focal point of the violence except for Acapulco which is so close to gangland. International tourists visit by the millions and how many have you heard of that have been killed?? So safety should be the last of their worries unless they plan on getting involved with drugs or shady places off the tourist areas. Good luck and if you need supportive links or referrals of how safe Puerto Vallarta is I will be glad to provide them. www.martoca.com [email protected] Thank you for choosing Puerto Vallarta for your wedding. Our families and town appreciates your business and support in these trying times for our tourism industry. Jimmy

"Must haves" for a successful beachfront wedding Most people associate beachfront weddings with easy going romance and carefree planning. The reality is that it is quite the opposite unless you hire a professionally designed wedding package, otherwise you will have much to work on and this may cost you more than a package deal in the long run. Expenses and stress will usually be higher by the time it is all said and done when you try to do it yourself with a long distance wedding. Many brides think they will save by avoiding the wedding planner fees or getting the cheaper package with wedding planning included they found on the internet. However, who will make sure the vendors are solid performers and trustworthy? My recommendation is to check company references with independent reviews like a wedding location site such as this http://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/martoca-beach-garden-bucerias/d129e6d3873c1702.html or friends on the vendor´s social media site or other vendors in the area may also coment. On Facebook I like to go down the older posts and see what people have said about the venue or how brides react to the blogs or posts. In the pictures usually the brides comment on how it all went and also vendors who worked together on a wedding may have good or bad comments. These are obviously not advertisements so it is a trustworthy opinion you can count on. Another way to make sure you are correctly and successfully planning a great destination wedding is once you find a location you like, then, go to You Tube and search the videos on the place. You will see more than pictures and get a much better idea of what the venue or the wedding planner´s decorations look like and how happy people may or may not be. If there is no You Tube video I would suggest you ask for one from the vendors you want to work with and if they cannot produce one most likely this is not a good sign. Your planning should be updated for you by your wedding provider via a conference calling system you prefer with your wedding services provider at your convenience. With updated payments and schedules you will be more relaxed and focused. In case of additions or suggestions you may need or have so basically then it will all be discussed as if you were here in Puerto Vallarta enjoying the sun and planning on site. We recommend may good wedding planners and vendors in the area. Please email us with your questions and I will give you references and reviews on each vendor you may want to verify. Be well and be in love amigos! Jimmy

www.martoca.com is a private venue and not a hotel. We have hotels all around us though.... Just FYI for some brides who may be curious. Gracias:)

Have you considered the west coast of Mexico? Puerto Vallarta or Punta de MIta area? Does it have to be a resort? Most brides now are going in the private wedding venue direction and of course stay at the resort but have the wedding in a separate venue. www.martoca.com can help you with your planning advice. I have a friend who is a wedding planner in the caribbean and can help you as well. If you like I will tell her to email you. Happy planning. Jimmy

Have you tried the west coast? Puerto Vallarta is an extremely romantic colonial city with actual Mexico style of living that dates back more than 100 years. If you want to feel a bit more of Mexico and get on the beach just as well try somewhere on the pacific coast. www.martoca.com is a great venue or there are many other villas and such. DO you want a resort? Most weddings nowadays are using the resort as a place to have the guests for the week but they take them elsewhere for the reception. It works as a "tour" off the resort and it gives them absolute privacy as well. There are many articles of this on our posts and by other venues on BDW. Have fun planning! JImmy

In a Wedding Fiesta a Midnight Snack or "Cena de Desvelados" is a Must. It is midnight and it has been now 6 or 7 consecutive hours of fun drinking and dancing so the guests are now ready to refuel or call it a night. Do not worry, the "cena de desvelados" is here. This is what "munchies" are called in Mexico. They are not munchies really, in all seriousness it is a midnight station we set up for the guests so they do not have to go out to eat and also it helps to mitigate the effect an open bar can have on indulgent guests. It is necessary in order to get people to calm themselves a bit and get ready to head back to the hotel around 2 o 3am. Typically in Mexico we bring a taco station in and have tacos al pastor. These are beef and/or pork tacos from meat cooked on a rotating spit. They are amazing and fun to watch as they are made. It is a show in itself. See Ricky Martin on this video make some tacos!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR4CKupuOlI&feature=related Watch Ricky Martin as he tries to prepare some. It is in Spanish but in minute 1:30 you will see a pro do it:). The other favorite is quesadillas which is the tortilla filled with cheese and meat and of course all kinds of salsas. Chilaquiles are fried corn chips boiled in sauce and are excellent plated and served on a late night buffet. They may be marinated and served with spicy red or green habanero sauce. This will kill the buzz for sure! My personal favorite are the tacos and they are so easy to set up. After having tacos I recommend brides to offer a Mexican coffe station where the guests can enjoy cafe de Olla (made in clay pots) or flammed coffee with brandy and some sweets that will make their toes curl with delight. It is fun because we serve it table side and it becomes a bit of a show and it helps to kill the buzz as well. Unless of course they spike the coffee with tequila, ay, aya ,ay!! Enjoy your time in Mexico and try different things, if not, what is the point of getting married in Mexico? Besides getting more value for your money of course. Have fun! Jimmy www.martoca.com

Hi everyone! I joined this website because people say you guys are helpful and have good resources. I am thinking about having a destination wedding but do not know where, do not know when, and have no idea where to start. Any suggestions/recommendations are welcome and needed lol. Thanks Vera Hi Krups618 I am a Destination Wedding planner in Mexico and as I read many of these posts I learn a lot so I like to read them. I agree with all the brides. They should know because they went through the process. However maybe I would shorten the search and just go to a wedding planner in your area and speak witht them. Let them guide you for free. It will take 30 minutes to talk to a professional and they will show you the options. The travel agents work a lot with hotels obviously but weddings do not have to be in resorts. Actually the trend is to have the wedding outside the resort so people can enjoy a different area of the country they are visiting. Anyway, talk to a professional wedding planner for free professional advice. Obviously a destination wedding specialist would be best Do not be afraid to ask questions and do not feel you have to commit to them just because you asked them for a consultation. Most would be glad for the opportunity to explain how it all works and what they can do for you. For some reason wedding planners seem to be viewed as a broker when in reality a true wedding panner is a consultant, a friend, a concierge, a source of experience, a travel advisor and a bride's mate all rolled into one. Well worth the 10%. Sometimes couples save that just by asking where to stay and the difference in rates at a hotel can be totally different with a local helper vs on your own! Anyway, I hope this helps. By the way, I read in two different responses that getting married legally in Mexico is complicated. I have done a few weddings and we do it all online now. Yes you need bloodwork but that is a 30 minute visit upon arrival to a doctor and after that I take my couples to a bar and eat seafood watching the sunset while we plan the week. It was not that complicated for us. Maybe the rules have changed since then, I do not understand why it was complicated. OK senoritas! Have fun panning and enjoy BDW forums... Viva los novios! JImmy www.martoca.com

Hi there, Sorry to hear about the slow responses of hotel. We have a wedding venue in Puerto Vallarta and we either ask our clients to deposit to our bank in USA before arrival (except gratuity) and they pay either cash, credit card or they can pay us with a travelers check for the difference. Personal checks will not work I do not think. At least here we do not accept them. Cash is fine as well depending on how much is owed though I would think about that twice and if you do just take the cash. If you are paying the hotel directly you could also of course use your credit card or debit card. Bring some cash for miscelleneous use... about 1,000. You need cash in Mexico for emergencies. That is all I can think of but I hope it helps. Have fun and rest assured, it will all work out:) It always does.... Jimmy

Hola Brides and Grooms! If you are looking to get married in Puerto Vallarta you need to know a few great nuggets that will help you filter out some options and narrow your search. There are the usual suspects such as hotels of course but I would like to touch on more special, off the beaten path wedding options. Hotel weddings are fine if you want to be conservative and save. But if you have the right planner and take a few more minutes to search, you could combine your stay in a hotel with an extaordinary day away from the hotel and enhance your vacation and your guests Mexican experience. Just the drive alone to a different area is a great eye opener for some guests. Remember that you may have been to Mexico before, but many of your guests have not so having them explore a bit more than the resort or the resort area is a huge plus for your Mexico extravaganza! So here is the scoop, for about the same amount of money (Maybe 2 or 3,000 dollars more depending on your taste and decorations, you can find gems such as private wedding venues that specialize in private custom weddings in different locations and that will give you some invaluable bonuses well worth the extra expense: For example, you will actually have privacy and not share your day with drunken tourist at the pool or hear the microphone of the activities guy at the pool. Or, you will most importantly create a wedding setting uniquely for you and your guests and you have the bonus of touring them away from the hotel to see other areas of Puerto Vallarta. So it is a double or triple whammy! Your guests will be happy and interested to see other areas of the bay and you will have a private unique setting for your wedding without interruptions and unwanted or unpredictable onlookers. So think about it. It is almost like giving them a "free tour" that they normally would pay 60 to 70 dollars each to do on their own. Most venues that are not hotels can accomodate up to 80 guests. They will have great beaches, installations and all the connections and even handicap accesible bathrooms. Puerto Vallarta is not only a city, it is surrounded by many towns and beaches and actually the best beaches are not in Vallarta proper! They are either north or south of the actual city. Villas may charge you for staying there with your wedding party so it can be more expensive than hotels but there are venues that do not force guests to stay there at all. This allows your guests to stay anywhere they like such as high-end resorts, all-inclusives, villas, condos, cheap hotels, camping or with friends. You are not limited anymore to one type of lodging. I have brides that tell me that there guest list includes people with much money and broke college kids. So they are glad when they find a place where they are not forced to make people choose between avoiding the wedding altogether, or go broke, or in debt to get there. So that is another advantage of independent venues. Lodging usually is walking distance or a 10 dollar cab ride away, most venues can set up transportation anyway for all kinds of lodging arrangements. Everyone can come! So that is my friendly advice for those who want another option. Explore these tips for your wedding before deciding. I promise you will be glad you did. Visit us at Martoca Beach Garden at www.martoca.com for information on our venue or any free advice on getting married in Puerto Vallarta area. Even if you are not using our venue or if you are thinking of a hotel, we love to help if we can. We do not plan weddings outside our venue but I can sure give you advice for free if you like. Jimmy