DinaQtobe

You can absolutely do your wedding for 10K, even with travel. We only upgraded on flowers - 3 bridesmaid bouquets and 2 extra boutonnieres. I had very simple decor that I brought myself and we brought our own bluetooth speaker system down with us. All in (dress, suit, invitations, rings, wedding party gifts, favors, travel, and wedding package) we came just over $10,000. Keep in mind this was almost 3 years ago and prices have changed a bit. We splurged in some places and kept a tight budget in others. You have to be willing to do your research on how to save money.

We had 20 people at our wedding and the blue tooth speaker was enough. We had a playlist for dinner and then a playlist for afterwards dancing. It wasn't a club atmosphere but more than suited our needs. After the bar packed up we continued to dance on the terrace for about another hour or so. We all then headed to the disco and had a great time. With a wedding party so small we didn't feel the need to announce anything. The ceremony and cocktail hour and the reception flowed really well from one to the next. Ramon reminded us that we needed to cut our cake. With 20 people it was obvious what we were doing. The rooms at the Now Sapphire are actually pretty spacious. I had my 3 sisters as bridesmaids and we were all able to get ready (and my mom and aunt) and it didn't feel cramped at all. We even took some great pictures in the room prior.

We booked through bookit.com (USD to CAD was pretty similar at the time). We had guests coming from all over Canada and the US, and they all booked on their own. A travel agent will be beneficial if you have multiple guests flying out of the same location. This way you might get some promo - ie every 12th guest is free. I knew that we weren't going to have enough guests flying out of one location to make having a TA worth it for us. I am not sure if you are in Canada or the US - it changes your options a bit. We flew down on West Jet and they took such great care of us when they saw my wedding dress. I just booked our travel for my sisters wedding and booked hotel and air separately as we found a great deal on the hotel and got a seat sale through West Jet. Some of your guests are going to need help booking (I had to help book my entire husband's side of the family which was a little bit of stress and a lot of work to get them all together at once). You will not be disappointed with the Now Sapphire! We upgraded to the preferred status and I felt it was worth it - for the Adults only pool alone. AND you get to reserve chairs on the beach! Let me know if you have any other questions.

We were married at NOW Sapphire at the end of 2013. My sister is getting married at NOW Jade in January. NOW do amazing weddings. We liked that everything we wanted was included in the package price. NOW's packages include 25 people, where I think Dreams only include 20. The additional cost per person can go up pretty quickly. I have been to Generations also, 2 years ago. It is also a beautiful resort. The food was amazing. You can click on my profile to see my review and pictures of my wedding day at NOW, and also see some pictures of Generations. The Now Sapphire and Dreams are really close to each other. We walked down the beach to Dreams. One thing I can say is that the Gazebo wedding location is right at the pool, so there will be a lot of people watching you get married. This might be something to consider if privacy is something that is important to you. The Tequilla Terrace at the Sapphire was private during our wedding.

I had the Divine package, but really didn't bring much. I had a table runner and brought seashells and battery operated tea lights. I had Ramon put them into wine glasses for me. I also had little favour boxes with chocolates inside that were placed at each guests seat so they knew where to sit. I used our bouquets as centrepieces during the dinner and reception. I brought my own plastic glasses to use as vases for this purpose. The tequila terrace is really beautiful on it's own and I didn't think it needed much decor. It helped us save a lot of money too!

I had sparklers after our reception was over. My mom brought them last minute, so I did not ask Ramon if we were allowed them or not. We used them on the tequila terrace after the bartenders had packed up (but we were still dancing as I had brought my own portable speakers). Ended up with some interesting photos that I added to the photobook I made using shutterfly.

It depends on how fast you walk. Walk slow. Maybe a minute and a half. The music was faded out perfectly so no worries there!

This will be fine for you. My husband and I did the exact same thing - we made a playlist on our phone and played it throughout dinner and reception and it worked perfectly for us. I didn't want to pay the extra for the sound system either (2 years ago it was less -- only 150/hour). Also to the brides questioning the price of flowers. Is the type of flower important to you, or just the color? I didn't care what type of flowers were in our arrangements, I just wanted them to match a certain color. I attached pictures to my planning thread of the colors I wanted and Ramon gave me exactly what I wanted (for no additional cost to the package price). That being said, if the type of flowers are important to you, yes, this will cost you extra.

I was married 2 years ago, so I am not sure how similar the menu is, but what I chose is below. The food is so good! For cocktail hour we chose: Salmon and dill cream cheese (my favorite!) Shrimp wrapped in Bacon Sliced tomato and mozzarella al pesto Prosciutto ham bruschetta Dinner: Appetizer: Seared Tuna salad Soup: Lobster Bisque Main Course – Surf and Turf or Seafood Stuffed Chicken (guest choice) Dessert – Cognac Truffle Cake The tuna was phenomenal. Everyone raved about it. The Lobster soup was good also – complete with a fried seafood ravioli garnish! The surf and turf was served with shrimp and asparagus and was very good. The chicken was served over couscous. I had the chicken and wasn’t overly thrilled with it (I would say that was how I felt about the chicken at every meal I had over the week. It all tastes the same – very salty). The dessert was awesome, it was a chocolate-y decadent mouse/cake covered in a white chocolate shell. Before the main course arrived our guests were served a second signature drink (different from the one at cocktail hour). I chose mango margaritas. After the main course but before desert guests were served champagne, and this acted as a signal to start the speeches (this was Ramon’s suggestion). I think it was perfect timing! After speeches we cut our cake. We chose Tres Leches. It looked beautiful. We only had 19 guests and the cake was 3 tiers. I brought a cake topper and Ramon had flowers added that were the same as my bouquet. I only tasted the bite that my husband and I fed each other after cutting and photos. It tasted good, but after that truffle cake dessert, nothing compared!

I made my appointment with the WC during our meeting before the wedding. My wedding was in November (low season for weddings), so with yours being in May I would contact your WC and ask them what to do, who to contact etc. They can likely book for you.

My mom found some sparklers at the dollar store before our wedding. She brought them on the plane and figured if they were confiscated it wouldn't be that big of a deal since she spent so little on them. They weren't taken, and made for some fun photos! The resort didn't have a problem with the sparklers (I didn't tell them I was going to have them though - my mom just brought them). I am fairly certain that sky lanterns are not allowed, but check with your WC.

We honeymooned at El Dorado Maroma. It was amazing. Small hotel, everything is very close (we like walking in the evenings and there wasn't much walking to be done!). Food was great, service was exceptional. The beach is unlike any other I have experienced. Nice pools too. Generations Riviera Maya would also be a good choice. There are many more rooms but the hotel is built up instead of out. All of the restaurants are located in one building and the pool is amazing. It is a family resort though... not sure if you want to be away from kids. We were married at Now Sapphire. As Vancouverpetunia says, it is not huge (El Dorado Maroma is MUCH smaller.) If you get a room by the pool you will not walk a lot at all - all of the restaurants are in one area and the pool separates the restaurants from the rooms. This is also a family resort but there is an adults only preferred pool that we loved!

Instead of place cards we had little favor boxes that we filled with chocolate kisses. Each box had a label on it with each guests name. No concern for it to blow over! (and it doubled as our wedding favors! -- guests also got a travel mug too, but we gave those out a few days before the wedding).

I had my nails, hair, and makeup done by the ladies at the spa. I had Lecticia (I think!). She spoke very little English. I showed her a picture of what I wanted with my hair, and tried to communicate that I wanted it to have some volume on top. Although it wasn’t quite what the picture showed, my hair looked beautiful. It framed my face very well and I LOVED it. I wear very little makeup on a daily basis, so I was worried how it would turn out. At one point she put a little too much; I said something and she fixed it immediately. I thought it looked amazing. My mom said that it looked beautiful and I still looked like me, instead of looking overly made up. When I got back to the room I added a bit more eyeliner, and right before leaving the room a bit more mascara, but I felt gorgeous! My three sisters and my mom also had their hair done. All three looked amazing, though not exact copies of the pictures they showed the stylist. All held up really well throughout the night too. I would like to add that the ladies at the spa overall were very helpful. My sisters painted our nails while waiting for our hair, and when we asked for nail-polish remover it was provided no questions asked.