May12

Holy crap! Ileana just sent us an email at 5:45pm on Friday confirming our flowers....unless it was someone else using her email, like she did when I thought I was emailing Gustavo. This is getting VERY frustrating! How did you find out Ileana was gone? I'm going to call the resort today to see if I can get any answers...I'll keep you all posted! As for the bottle openers...BRILLIANT! We are so on board with that...my fiance is looking for personalized cork screw/bottle openers online now...I'll let you know if he finds something good! I remember trying to open a corona in the door jam and then found the bottle opener in the bathroom the next day. In our OOT bags we are bringing down with us mint tins, excedrin, tums, sunscreen, shout wipes, bug spray and now a bottle opener. We are actually going to be doing a ton of shopping while we're down there. We found "Mexico" or "Cancun" beach bags at Mercado 28 for about $4 each! We'll fill them with the things we're bringing down but also picking up Mexican chocolate, little bottles of kahlua and tequila, a lime,(along with our favorite margarita recipe) and possibly a throw blanket(those woven ones that they handmake). We'll also have to get (probably at the resort) a map of the area with things to do. Our favors at the reception will be handpainted blown margarita glasses and of course maracas! Last time we were down there we ran around pricing things and found that buying most of it there will make our lives a lot easier from a packing perspective and it's also authentic and way less expensive! We still have to lug down the bridal party's bags and buri fans for the ceremony...we'll have a suitcase just full of that stuff. As for the ceremony music, we have music picked out, but I too am nervous about it not sounding right. It's a REALLY long walk from the convention center and I'm wondering if I'll even be able to hear it! Great call with the guitarist...I think it's the way we're leaning now. YOU LADIES ARE AWESOME! I am so glad I came across this website and found you! THANK YOU! Sheryl

Hi Sharon! The flight thing is a bummer....last I saw at the least expensive from Philly was $525 on Airtran...not a non stop flight. We looked at Baltimore and found an Airtran flight for $411 non stop and American for $395 but with 1 stop. Depending on where your guests live in the Philly area, a 2 hour road trip to Baltimore may not be a bad idea! As for DJ Mannia, we met with them in Sept as well. Fernando was great and very open to what we want to hear. We too are BIG time music people and have a very eclectic mix of music. We're in the process of converting our music from Itunes to an MP3 so he'll have anything that someone may ask for and can then taylor it to our style. Not many DJ's would be that open to doing this. Also, he will send you a sample list of music that he has and will need a list of songs from you for first dance, cake cutting, bouqust throw, etc. If I remember correctly, they are the ones that do the lighting as well. Here's the email... [email protected] Oh, and they include all sorts of party "accessories"...sombreros, Giant glasses, beads, etc... You'll have to let him know if you want this stuff... 3 months away! How exciting!!!

Hi again! We are going to miss eachother by 4 days! We're heading down on the 12th staying at Marriott Casa Magna for the first 3 days, going to Excellence for a week and then having our honeymoon at Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita for the next week. I can't wait! I believe you need to pick out the menu ahead of time and tell them who is having what. The next step is making a seating chart for them. We had the menu choices on our reply card with the invitations. If you pick one menu then there's no need for a seating chart. We have several fish eating vegitarians so we had to do some adjusting. Are you seeing crazy high flight prices?? I live close to Philly and most of our guests are coming from PHL or the NY airports. Prices are outrageous right now! I think it's holding some people back from committing. We have an rsvp deadline of Feb 11th and we are still waiting for over half of the guests replies! Question....how do you feel about their choice of flowers?? When we were there in September, we met with the florist and had everything worked out. Now there's a new vendor....prices higher and NOT the options we chose...I'm getting worried! Sheryl

WOW! That's going to be quite a group takeover! How fun! The best place to find videos are on Youtube. There are several travel agents who posted things as well as weddings. Not the "best" but it gives you a bit of an idea.... Good Luck! Sheryl

Funny you should ask? I just spent a good portion of my day yesterday researching vans/busses/drivers to do an excursion to Tulum for our wedding party who is getting in earlier. We're planning on leaving at 7:30am and heading down to Tulum then on the way back, stopping at Playa Del Carmen for lunch, shopping and drinks! We thought of going to a cenote instead, but we need to be back to the resrt by 6pm to be ready for Thursday night welcome cocktails for all of the guests. Depending on how many people you have, this trip will cost between $37 and $69. Averaging around $50.

Our wedding is on May 19th! We've been engaged for 2 years and picked this resort when we visited in Sept '10! We started with Yamina, then worked with Ileana, and since this past fall when we visited again, we have Gustavo. I have to admit, I'm starting to get freaked out now that it's right around the corner! With our meal choices, we decided that hot soup outside in Mexico didn't seem "right" as delicious as it was. We talked with the chef and we're going with a tuna sashimi app, then the hearts of palm/mandarin/grapefruit salad, then either the filet with scallops or the fish option of Baked Sea Bass with a chunky lobster and shitake risoto(depending on what the guest wants) ending it all with the chocolate cake...delish! AND we're doing Tres Leches as our wedding cake! They were GREAT when we did the tasting! We have the gold package but what I love is that you can mix and match it the way you see fit. We were also able to taste 2 hot and 2 cold appetizers...I highly recommend doing a tasting if you have the chance. How long are you staying down there? Are you honeymooning there as well or going somewhere else?

We're getting married at Excellence Playa Mujeres in May and were there to visit this past Sept. We were able to do a sampling of our dinner choice and some of the apps. What's great is that we were able to change/add what we needed to and also come up with a great seafood option. Who are you working with as your wedding planner? He/she should be able to guide you in the right direction. The food there was fantastic so I can't imagine anything being awful.