JessiTaylor

i hope none of you brides who are getting married legally will be needing your marriage certificate soon after the wedding. they say it takes a month to apostille and send it...but its been over 3 and ive had nothing but excuses. without it, i cant get my papers to live in mexico, we cant buy a house, health insurance.... my whole life is on hold. im getting really irritated with lupita and the judge grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

http://cancunphotosblog.com/jessica-orlando-xcaret/ sascha has added some photos on his blog!

thanks!! i almost wish i hadn't seen the photo though, as now im impatient and i've got a while to wait!!

i have a teaser photo from sascha!

Heres a tip for St francis of assisi brides!! As the chapel is at the top of the hill it can be a bit breezy, especially if like on my wedding day there was a lot of wind even on lower ground! This is great if it's a bit warm but can lead to a few problems. If, like me you decided you want one of those uber long romantic veils that trails to the floor behind you (and i think a lot of brides like this for a catholic ceremony in particular), bear in mind that its only attached at the top of your head...so the bottom can blow around A LOT. as its a sunset wedding - most people use some kind of candles to decorate the church. Free blowing veil + candles can get a little bit dangerous hahaha. I had to have a bridesmaid walk behind me holding the veil as it kept blowing directly into the candles on the right hand side and I didn't want to go up in a puff of smoke. I started to wish i'd chosen a simpler/shorter veil!! Same goes for the candles lighting the path and slightly bigger dresses. be careful! =)

by the pool i did see staff removing towels that have been there for ages, by the beach not so much. People do regularly leave so you don't have to wait *too* long but sunlounger reserving is a problem. Then again I've yet to visit any hotel at all where it wasn't a problem at all. So annoying - people would leave their towels at 8am then come back around 2! Like other hotels, they ask guests not to do it (in the daily newsletter/ activity list) that they give you but no one listens!!

i agree that if you do it all on a resort it might not be worth it. if you want to go to a church (therefore needing transportation and to find own vendors) off resort then it will make life a lot easier

ok so youve given your dates for the group - and these are the rates for the dates mentioned. these rates will also apply 4 days before, and 3 days after for those who want to stay longer than dates you mentioned. ie you said March 8-10.... but if they arrive March 6th-12th then they will pay the same price per room per night (whereas i assume it would be more expensive not with these group rates) price is per night, per person so take the first room: Superior deluxe - one person - 343 dollars per night - double - 191 per person per night - so 382 dollars total for 2 people - triple - 178 dollars per person per night - so 534 dollars for 3 people so more people in the room, equals cheaper per person per night for the last 3 types of rooms, the maximum occupancy is 2- so thats why the only mention the single and double occupancy rates. and children can stay in the first 2 rooms thats how i interpret it anyway!

yes its 24 hours, i think the latest we ordered was around midnight. Bad room service drives me mad, Sandos took 3 hours to deliver a bottle of wine (and by that point i'd tried to cancel it haha) so it was nice to have a hassle free experience Daytime activities are included, the only extra costs at the hotel are for the spa ,motorised things (like jetskis etc), tours outside hotel and then obviously for the shop/souvenir stand type things. Id have been happy just flopping on the beach but Orlando gets restless so it was good to have something to do. I wish i'd tried the spa though, its expensive but they offer daily specials and i kept meaning to go but the time ran out!

we were put in 3205 which is quite near the spa and about 7 mins walk from the main bit. Room was massive and really nice, everything i could have wanted. yes the room keys are cards and im pleased to say we didnt have any problems with them! (sandos playacar, the keycards failed almost daily. epic fail!) key card holders would be great i think- id have used it! the french and italian are great restaurants, you do need to get there early or you'll have about an hours wait. but then again you can always get a drink in the mean time! I loved the sparkling wine, the banamama coctail (spelling?) and the chocolate martini. For breakfast the only one we went to was the buffet as we like choice rather than an a la carte (ok ok, *I* like choice and dragged my husband) Room service is quick and delicious - but order a lot. for example we got the ajillo shrimps, and that was more a snack than a main (delicious, but only 4 or so of them). luckily we were pigs and had also ordered fajitas and a burger so it worked out well =P My husband was missing sparkling water to drink with his whisky and it was delivered in under 15 minutes, best service ive seen so far! The live music was always great (more so than the entertainment shows in my opinion) so make sure you time dinner/getting ready so you dont miss it! We kept leaving bars really late, taking an age to get ready then dashing to see what was going on The sand is so so soft and silky smooth, its incredible. Far more so than the beaches in playa del carmen we went to. Definitely check out some of the daytime activities even if they don't seem your cup of tea - i was bemused that my husband wanted to go 'air rifle shooting' or whatever, but it was surprisingly fun! If your husband is competitive don't let him do this (or similar activities)- we got put into teams and my husband got super grumpy he missed all his shots, esp since i managed to hit one (not the one i aimed for, but still!!) There are also pool tables and ping pong tables if you want to do something low key and in a non organised way. Basically you can be as busy or relaxed as you like oh, skip the cooking lesson though. seriously - guacamole - take a advocado and smush it up, ceviche - take raw stuff and add lime. job done, now you know The entertainment team are lovely as are the barstaff. I didnt want to leave!!

he spent 3 months saying "ill know next week" and then just suddenly said he didnt get permission and didnt elaborate. honestly not sure what happened, whether he really didn't or just decided not interested in coming I hope it works for you though, frankly no one seems to like the local priests that much!!

styling trio were incredible!! makeup was perfect (love the little airbrushing thing)...natural, but er, better than natural if you know what i mean Adrian was super friendly and patient,which was necessary as its a nightmare to put eye makeup on me. I tend to blink like a crazy person and my eyes start watering haha. but he'd wait for me to stop moving and then start again. Also i had no idea what i wanted which i don't think really helped, but they came up with a look that was just right for me, with pretty much zero input (i don't think "i want to look pretty" really counts as guidance right?! =P)" I also think he's super cute, which isn't relevent in any way but thought i'd add it in there I got there, had the trial and realised it was perfect first time so i'd keep it for the wedding day/ My hair was also perfect! my venue was so so windy. glass decorations were flying around like little grenades, wine glasses flying - but my hair stayed in place. i loved it! i will add pics when i have them couldnt have ask for better! i'd 100% recommend them. cant seem to find them on the vendor review section so thought id better put it here!

oh no, sorry, i don't want to make you nervous. i mean, he got the job done so to speak and let us choose everything for the ceremony. i think he's just a bit direct - nobody else has mentioned any problems! the other thing that stressed us out is that he doesnt reply to any emails and rarely answers the phone. we just did our complete service sheet by ourselves, and then he approved all of the prayers and readings a few days before the wedding. Not sure what we would have done if he'd have vetoed any of them! Honestly it may well have been that my fiance wasn't contrite enough about living together and i guess the whole point of confession is to make amends for sins and demonstrate that youre sorry (so says the anglican about how you catholics do things, im not really sure - we deal with God directly hahaha) I would suggest arriving to your meeting early and make sure ceremony starts on time! though in my defence its quite nervewracking to have 40 missing guests somewhere on a bus in playa del carmen!! ah well, at least i didnt get nervous for my grand entrance to an empty church hahaha thats what we planned to do as our priest here is simply lovely. he's happy, puts people at ease, understood difficulties of a mixed marriage and talked us through them etc....but then he didn't get the permission =( I think a priest you have a connection with will always be better. Fingers crossed you can get yours to come with you!

Im surprised you said that, we found father bernard a bit scary!! From the moment he found out we'd been living together he was very serious. Our wedding started a bit late (we lost all the guests and had to start without them) and i guess he had somewhere to go to as he rushed through it to the point i could barely get my vows out. He didn't smile at all ever, the most we got was a half smile when he said congratulations He asked why it had taken us so long to get married (together 2.5 years) and my fi couldnt think of an answer. during confession his style is to comment, whereas my husband was used to a silent priest who simply gives penance at the end. He made us both very nervous!!

just to say that whoever the bride was who got married this week (tuesday i think? and had to move the ceremony due to rain) you looked beautiful!! I might not have had my wedding there but it was perfect honeymoon- the live music and shows are awesome, the food is delicious and the staff are simply lovely!

these guys were great!!! cant post an official review as not quite sure how my husband found them, but everyone loved them. And more to the point, the mexican guests loved them (as lets face it, english guests probably cant tell if theyre any good or not hahaha) People crowded around the dance floor and were singing and swaying to the music. theyre a great option!!

Were we there at the same time!? I saw another bride! I gotmarried saturday in the gazebofor my legal wedding thenwent to xcaret for photos and catholic ceremony. Guests has a few hours down time and most rested in roomsor had a few drinks while waiting Lupita was lovely!

Just to say imhere on my honeymoonand it is a fabulous hotel. Amazing place for a wedding!!

UPDATE used the shine band, and they were INCREDIBLE I have a massively painful right foot and couldnt dance much,but they were so so good. Both in spanish and in english.best decision i made was using them Will post a proper review soon, on honeymoon right now haha

external vendors are charged a day pass per person (is around 77 dollars i thnk?), with the exception of photographers - i think thats 300. sent the info as not sure whether anyone else did - its for 2012 prices