JessiTaylor

hows your spanish? My fi just found really low prices for transport from a well known company ((ie so we know they wont rip us off and they are in fact a real company) buses are for 50 people and have air con, reclinable seats, and a WC we were quoted 2700 pesos (200 dollars ish) for a trip sandos playacar to xcaret (ceremony) to blue venado (reception). i assume then back to sandos playacar but need to check it. we're investigating but its cheaper than any other quote by abour 300 dollars. which kind of makes me wonder why. but ill let you know!! the company is http://www.grupoado.com.mx/ and the guys email is [email protected]

have you definitely decided on BV or is it just an option?! I only booked last week so im working out the details of mine. cant decide between set menus (chef recommendations) that come with all the extras - midnight snack, cocktail, decoration....or a la carte. im dying to know what someone else is doing...,.i only have 2 months till my wedding!

im bringing my own band, mariachi,photographer and wedding planner so this probably isnt that helpful...but i did a LOT of research before i chose them and didnt come across any of them

Well, with 2 months before my wedding i am officially a blue venado bride! (well, reception anyway) unfortunately we didnt come close to the minimum number of people needed for the xcaret wedding (80!) so whilst ill be having my ceremony there, our reception is now at blue venado! its a little bit stressful changing the venue at such late notice, but blue venado is an incredible venue too and i think itll be great to have it there. i now need to start pinterest boards for BV!! hopefully i can find people to exchange ideas!!!

ive never heard of people getting robbed on the way to the resort, where was this?! i would stick to official transfers rather than public transportation if youre concerned i do live in one of the states (nuevo leon) and specifically one of the cities (monterrey) where its not advised people go, and even here its not like we have daily gunfights (and no, i dont live in the posh area). i have no qualms about going to or recommending the riviera maya.

does anyone have pictures of las pozas/the ponds and dos playas restaurant? and any info whether they are on sand or a hard floor? thanks!

my xcaret contact is graciela carmona and shes been really good at answering questions. we do have another wedding planner too though, kristee from fresa weddings, as i dont think i can manage to co-ordinate the things xcaret doesnt handle (cake, flowers etc)

oh that sucks. hows your spanish? bodaclick.com.mx is a good website if you can read spanish and write to the vendors - it has vendors, offers etc this is for hair and makeup in the whole cancun area (it does have a catergory specifically for playa del carmen, but a lot of the others will travel) http://www.bodaclick.com.mx/bodas-mx/cancun/belleza-novias/peinados-y-maquillaje-para-novias/ Costs in pesos are nearly always better than costs in dollars this is the link specifically for playa del carmen i think normal makeup will look great too if you cant find airbrush. style me (one of the vendors on that website) does hair/makeup for 2200 pesos (160 dollars ish) http://www.bodaclick.com.mx/bodas-mx/cancun/playa-del-carmen/belleza-novias/peinados-y-maquillaje-para-novias/

BUMP! I was planning to basically make an extra bridesmaids bouquet - does it have to be white flowers? Also a friend told me that the bouquet for the virgin should be bigger than the bridesmaids bouquet (and possibly mine, im not sure the conversation was in spanish and i got a bit lost) Im not catholic (but having mixed marriage in catholic church) so i need to learn these traditions as i go!

Well, we are officially getting married by father Bernard Quinn! We're still a little disappointed our priest here can't make the trip with us but glad that we have one now! He said he can do a bilingual wedding which is perfect for us - so all the family can have an idea of what's going on! Now just need to work out the details of what will actually happen, in terms of readings and whatnot

Oh dear, i live at 14, spend weekends at 18, this thursday will be travelling up 13 and fi's family are from 10+ 11.Pretty much all the bad areas in those two states. Even so, i rarely see anything too bad. i have no qualms suggesting my relatives from back home go to cancun/riviera maya - its fine!

sara tamargo is about 250 dollars i think, and 150 bridemsaids. and she can do normal or airbrush makeup and she seems great. i ended up booking another stylist at a wedding expo (so got a discount) or i would have gone with her

i dont know why i only get email alerts half the time! We found a new one! Our band suggested one and gave us the contact details,so fi spoke with them and watched videos to make sure they were decent and he was really happy with them. It is for one hour (last post i couldnt remember if it was one hour or 45 minutes, but is definitely one hour) Fi contacted them in spanish so im not sure whether the guy speaks english (besides, you get way better prices in pesos!) but the email is [email protected] we had to pay 50% deposit in advance - so 4000 pesos now, and 4000 later, and we're good to go!

which priest are you using by the way, fr bernard?

Youre welcome! Its mentioned on the other thread, but im slowly gathering all pics i can find of xcaret on pinterest http://pinterest.com/jessctaylor/xcaret-st-francis-assisi-chapel/ http://pinterest.com/jessctaylor/xcaret-la-isla/ not so much for the other chapel though since im not getting married there http://pinterest.com/jessctaylor/xcaret-guadalupe-chapel/

Ok sent!

Hey everyone! Since all the threads on chapels.and priests are way out of date i thought id start a new one! So for Catholic Brides in 2013: Where are you getting married? Are you bringing a Priest or using one in Riviera Maya? Hows the process going? Im getting married in the St Francis of Assisi chapel in Xcaret. We were bringing our local parish priest but he's now unable to come so we're now looking for a local one. Everything is going really well but there has been a lot of paperwork. I had to go back to London (my hometown, i now live in Mexico) to get the papers i needed. We just completed the pre-cana!

ok update for future brides - fi and I are going with an 9 person mariachi band, for either 45 mins or one hour for 8000 pesos, so about 615 dollars. And fi likes them so they have the mexican stamp of authenticity

Its bizarre. i really thought id replied to this and yet...doesnt seem to be there Can you explain how your Catholic ceremony will be legal? I get that a Catholic ceremony in Mexico is recognised by the Catholic church everywhere...but it isn't normally recognised as being legal - as in, you're married by the church but not by the law. So it's called symbolic but far more important culturally. Are you bringing a judge to sign papers outside the church, or bringing a marriage certificate from home or how does it work?

Wedding co-ordinators have a special relationship with vendors normally so have better prices, i dont know if theyd be willing to share vendor information if you arent paying them to co-ordinate the wedding? mmmm It also depends how much you know about mariachi. My Mexican fiance loves mariachi and will complain endlessly about "bad mariachi". so i had to research to find a cost effective one that he approved - he wouldnt hear of booking one without seeing a video. if it was me...all mariachi sounds pretty much the same, theres no good or bad hahaha

i only had one photographer directly say on the written proposal they sent me that "citizens of mexico get a 30% discount" BUT as ive mentioned elsewhere, prices quoted in pesos are often cheaper than those in dollars. sometimes its because they use a 1-10 exchange rate. eg 14900 pesos or 1490 dollars (which arent the same amount of money) and sometimes its a "foreigner tax" to be fair, mexicans do get paid far less than their professional counterparts in US and cancun prices are often geared towards tourists/foreigners so it does kind of make sense?

Thing is, at a lot of resorts its not always just an issue with non-resort guests having to pay to get onto the property, often the bride and groom have to pay extra for example, i emailed grand velas asking about packages and i loved the pictures. they said a wedding for 80 people with private plated reception, open bar and what not - and it would be around 7.500 dollars which i thought was fine. Then i asked what would happen if non-resort guests attended and got this response: (copy and pasted from an email) "for guests not staying at Grand Velas Riviera Maya,there will apply a set up fee per person for ceremony and reception, plus the charge for wedding dinner and the open bar, this all together is around $429 usd per person to attend the wedding event," I was very shocked - it apparently wasnt a typo. and id only been worried about guest passes! i nixed thst idea as id have been in a terrible position

i know what you mean, xcaret wanted to charge me 1985 dollars + tax for 45 mins - 14 mariachi. and no option to reduce the number of performers. and seemed genuinely suprised when i declined hahaha

musicancun charge the following for one set of 45 mins: with 5 mariachi - 595 dollars with 6 - 655 with 7 - 715 with 8 - 800 with 9 - 880 you wont get a decent mariachi for much less than that unfortunately http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg-fRy21R3Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2i2Z3jy3iM&feature=plcp

ooh and i liked kool club too!