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Hey Ladies, We just got back yesterday and we were really sad to leave, everything went perfectly for us. Our wedding was on Friday, we arrived on Tuesday and met with N on Wednesday. The meeting only took about 45 minutes, we went over the invoice she sent us before we got there and we went over some last minute things. We also gave her the decorations that we brought. We went rather simple, I brought candles from Micheals (2 packs of 12), I made programs for the ceremony (I brought a small basket for the programs), and 2 chalkboard signs for the bride and groom. We rented 3 vases ($10) for the bridesmaid flowers and one table runner ($5) for our table to make our table pop more. We also had 3 centerpieces for the other tables that were included in our package. They set the tables so nicely, that they do not need much more. We were on the spice terrace, it was breezy, so some of the candles did not stay lit well. We did a small rehearsal on Thursday, so everyone would at least know where to stand, we also did a semi-private dinner at Barcelona for 15, so there would be no extra charge. We handed out the welcome bags on Thursday, we had a "Welcome Cocktail Hour" at Kafe Cafe, which worked out perfectly. The welcome bags were beach bags with chapstick, Tylenol, mints, a pen, personalized can koozies, a personalized crossword puzzle, a map of the resort, and a welcome letter with more details of wedding. We had everyone RSVP at the knot, so I just e-mailed the Welcome Cocktail invite, which worked well. The wedding day went very well. The only thing I had to worry about was getting my hair and make-up done! The salon did a very nice job, hair and make-up took about an hour and half and I have long thick hair. We did our ceremony at 4:00, we started our photos at 2:00 and it gave us plenty of time to get our formal photos done before the ceremony. After the ceremony, we did champagne, a receiving line and a group photo on the beach. There was a small gap of time between the ceremony and cocktail hour at 5:15 (X-lounge). We did additional photos, just bride and groom at this point, we were still able to get to some of the cocktail hour, which was nice. Our reception started at 6:15, it was three hours long. We did not hire a DJ, we brought our Bose system down, which worked out perfectly because time we finished with dinner, cake, and speeches, we only had a short time to dance, so a DJ would have been a waste of money for us. We put together a playlist for dinner and one for the dance, which worked well. I was worried that the flow would not go well without a DJ to announce things, but my groom handled all announcements, which worked well. We then went to the show and hit up the disco for more dancing! We hired Victor Herrera Photography for the photos and they were a dream to work with, very fast with all responses. We hired Sara for the photos, but at the last minute Victor did them for us and we were not disappointed. Let me know if I can provide any additional information for anyone! Ashley

Monica, Our wedding is on November 23rd, I am also planning to use the bridesmaid bouquets for centerpieces. It does cost $10 to rent each vase, but that is still cheaper than a centerpiece and this way we do not have to bring the vases. I plan to do a large post with photos after the wedding! Ashley

I do not know the exact model of the Bose, but I think that it is the only one that can run on batteries (let me know if you need more information). The Bose does come with a remote, which will help with the operation. I will admit that I am also slightly concerned about the operation, although, my fiance says it will be fine. Our reception is only 3 hours, so we will have a dinner playlist and a dance playlist, so I do not think that it will be a big deal to turn on dinner music and then switch it to the dance mix, I think the best man will make the one or two announcements that we need. I will definitely let you know how it goes, fingers are crossed!

Hey Ladies, We are getting close, November 23, 2012! It does take N awhile to get back to us, but she has answered all of our questions, she sent us an invoice like sheet with all of our choices and pricing on it, which is very reassuring. I did have some additional questions for you ladies: Do we need to tip the salon? For those that brought their own sound system, we are using a Bose, did you use a microphone if so which one or how did you make announcements, speeches, etc? As of now, we are doing our ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, show, and then disco. Did anyone else do the disco, I was wondering if it was fun or if it is lame? I feel like we are not doing much in terms of decorations for the spice terrace, would you recommend anything? I think most of the major things of taken care, I just want to make sure our guests are going to have a good time! Thank You, Ashley

Ally, Thank you for your response, however, I miss typed and I should have said reception instead of wedding. I want to make sure that everyone can hear speeches and announcements during dinner. Ashley

Hey Ladies, We plan to use a bose speaker for the wedding and are trying to figure out what to do for a microphone. I was wondering what past brides did for a microphone or if they were able to go without one. Thank You, Ashley

Hey Ladies, We plan to use a bose speaker for the wedding and are trying to figure out what to do for a microphone. I was wondering what past brides did for a microphone or if they were able to go without one. Thank You, Ashley

We hired Sara Herrera from Victor Herrera Photography, our wedding is in November and so far we are very pleased with the communication from them. We have only corresponded through e-mail and always have gotten a response in a day or so, if only the resort was that easy.

Hey Ladies, We are in the process of booking Victor Herrera Photography and we are wondering how you made the payments to them. It looks like our only options are wire transfer or a paypal account, but both would charge us an extra fee. We were wondering if there is an easier way or what did you guys do? Thank You, Ashley

I just booked this week and we are not getting married until November, I figured book as early as possible to get what you want. I did not book my bridesmaids, once I got my confirmation, I sent an e-mail to them to book themselves and to mention that they are with me so they will get a similar time and hopefully be in the same area as me.

Does anyone know if we need to get approval for an outside vendor, we want to book Victor Herrera Photography soon, but as we all know the resort is super slow in responding. We just want to be sure before we put a huge deposit down. On a positive note, I made my hair and make-up appointments at the spa through the website and they have gotten back to me with a confirmation and answers to all my questions within a day!

In my original post, you answered my questions about photography. We e-mailed Victor Herrera Photography, where Adrian works and we were quoted $2500 for him, we were wondering if you negotiated with them down to $2000 or if their prices went up. Otherwise, we were thinking of going with Sara from the same company as she is only $1900. Plus, we assume that we still have to pay the $500 to the resort. Thanks again, Ashley

You are a lifesaver, thank you for the great advice, I am sure that there will be more questions in the future!

Hello Ladies, I have really enjoyed reading your posts they have been very informative! We are getting married on November 23, 2012 @ 4:00 and was looking for some advice from past and future brides. What are you doing for photography using the photographer provided (pricing?) or are you using an outside vendor? We thought we would bring our own sound system to save some money, what has worked best in the past? My biggest concern is making sure that it is loud enough. I also e-mailed the wedding coordinator and waiting to hear back about the following: What are the options and pricing for a rehearsal dinner? What are our options for the cake? Design and Flavor? What are the location options for the dinner? Do we need to choose this ahead of time? Does each guest need to make meal selections ahead of time? I know that we have one hour with hors d'oeuvres, how long does the reception last? Do hair and make-up application appointments need to be made ahead of time? Any help on this would also be great! Thank You, Ashley

Hello Ladies, I have enjoyed reading everyone's posts, they have been very informative. Our wedding is booked for November 23, 2012 @ 4:00 and would like to get some opinions of past and future brides. What are most doing for photography, going with the resort photographer or hiring an outside vendor? We thought that we would bring our own sound system to save money and was wondering what has worked best in the past. My biggest concern is making sure that it is loud enough. My original correspondence with the resort said they had sound equipment for the ceremony, but it sounds like they are not always reliable with setting it up. I e-mailed the wedding coordinator and am also waiting to hear back about the following items, if anyone can give me some insight that would be great: What are the options and pricing for a rehearsal dinner? What are our options for the cake? Design and Flavor? What are the location options for the dinner? Do we need to choose this ahead of time? Does each guest need to make meal selections ahead of time? I know that we have one hour with hors d'oeuvres, how long does the reception last? Do hair and make-up application appointments need to be made ahead of time? Thank You, Ashley