LaurenMoser2B

Loved our TTD session!

I did mini maracas from oriental trading and painted some blue for fish and orange for beef and attached name tags to them.

Yes, off to the side. This pic may help you get a better idea of the layout.

We had 1 long table for 43 people on the terrace and I used my bridesmaids bouquets as centerpieces. Here is a pic

Quote: Originally Posted by UMassRN007 Quote: Originally Posted by Nicole Graf 6 was a little empty, not majorly awkward but if you can, I thought 8 was perfect! So now, here we go, my back and married post because today I am having the post wedding blues because it is over and I am sad lol. It was beautiful. They are doing a really great job! There were a few minor issues but nothing that I would say "God, they really messed up". We met Pilar the day we arrived (Saturday). She knows what she is doing and when she saw how I had everything prepared, she asked if I wanted to move to Mexico, she would hire me lol. I had everything in labeled bags and pictures of how I wanted it to make it idiot proof. Yes, I am controlling hehe. Anyway, she saw my seating chart and asked if I really wanted to use Castaways or if I was open to switching to the Bamboo Room because it would work better for our group. So we walked over to both locations and she was right. The Bamboo Room is beautiful and it was an easy decision for us. As for the payment. I had called my bank and they told me they would charge 3% foreign transaction fee. I remember we had the discussion here, which made me look at our statement from the deposit where we didn't pay the fee. So in my mind, there had to be a way around it. So I asked Pilar if we could pay the way we payed for the deposit. She told me it would be a different compartment but she would ask. She did, we payed and voila, 90 bucks in our pocket. On Sunday we had our welcome party, where we planned trips. That day I had my hair and make up trial. Holy cow, was I glad I did it. They use SO much make up. I am only 30 and you could see the wrinkles around my eyes because the make up was so heavy. So the day of I knew I had to tell them only eye make up, I take care of the rest. The hair trial was great. She didn't use my extensions but I got the point how it would look which was what I wanted to get out of the trial. I forgot who I had but she was sweet. Unfortunately, she barely spoke English, so when I tried to tell her she could use the fake eye lashes because I had more of them, she didn't understand and kept telling me we would use those on Wednesday. Somehow I managed to tell her "Tengo mas para Wednesday" and THEN she understood. The eye make up was good but my husband didn't really like it, possibly because the rest of the make up was so heavy. The day of though he loved it. Due to our trips we had to do rehearsal dinner the day of our bach parties right beforehand. So rehearsal dinner wasn't right after but the night before the wedding. We had it arranged at the buffet (my husband didn't like the buffet but he thought the restaurant food was good - I am less picky and was fine with buffet lol) but when we got there it was closed. Uhm. Ok? So we had a group of 21 people and nowhere to go. We ended up at the show buffet but the show was terrible and we couldn't all sit together, so there went the rehearsal dinner. Oh well. The day of we woke up at around 10am, ordered room service, and then went to the pool for like half an hour to see if somebody else was there from our group. I had to leave at like 11:15am because I wanted to be at the Spa at 12:30pm. For some reason I had no motivation. The weather wasn't particularly nice, so I got coffee at Coco and sat a little on the balcony just to relax. Of course then I ran into time problems lol because I still had to iron my bridal robe and I had a bride application for a white top that I still had to iron on. Once that was done I had like 20 minutes left to shower and blow dry my hair. Oh, and of course I had forgotten to do my eye brows beforehand so that needed to be taken care of as well. Anyway, it all worked out. At 12:20 my one bridesmaid came to bring all the dresses, while another was getting the flowers from the hotel entrance (they turned out beautifully!!!). We all got ready and everyone was happy with their hair and my make up was amazing as well! I felt so pretty. We decided to check on the decorations and while we were walking towards the Bamboo Room, I heard someone yell "Nicole?" We turned around and Sascha Gluck took the first picture. HE IS SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME! He was there super early, and hands down, was probably the best decision we made. We got a teaser pic already and wowsa, it is amazing! So after we checked the room, we walked back to my room and some of the girls did their make up, while my one bridesmaid tried to cover up the bug bites my MOH had. Holy shit batman, she looked terrible! Make sure you use some kind of bug spray at night! She ended up having to go to a doctor and got a shot in her bum because it got so bad. We ordered room service while we were at the Spa, so it came shortly after we got to the room. Then Sascha arrived and everything becomes a blur. Time ran by so fast. All I remember is we took all pics I wanted (and trust me, the lit was quite comprehensive, poor guy!) and at some point I realized, damn it, I am not wearing my earrings yet lol. Quickly it turned 4:45pm and we walked downstairs. We wanted to take pics at the bar but one of my bridesmaids checked the lobby first and thank God she did. Everyone was still there. But I was able to hide. Phew. Once they were gone, we took a few pics, none at the bar, but that is more than ok. When the bridesmaids walked in, I realized they played the wrong song but oh so be it. They played the right song for me so I was like eff it. When I got to my husband he told me that I chose the most beautiful dress and that my make up looked perfectly. I love this man! After that we just cracked up, because the minister was TERRIBLE. All he had to do was read the script I had provided but apparently that was really difficult lol. It didn't matter to us - we thought it was so bad that it was just funny. We walked out to LMFAO with sunglasses on and that was FUN! After the ceremony the sky turned dark grey. I just looked at Sascha and asked him, "It is gonna rain isn't it?" But he told me that it wouldn't. I trusted his judgment and it didn't. They know how to read the weather! So we took all kinds of pics, and Sascha made sure he took all the pics he wanted (he had the list on his phone lol). I lost my veil all the time because people stepped on it or it got caught somewhere but on this day, nothing mattered. I was in 7th heaven. <3 We saw a few pics on Sascha's camera and even without retouching them, they looked phenomenal. Can't wait to receive them! Then it was reception time. I snuck into the room right beforehand to make sure everything was how I wanted it. It looked amazing. They did a great job! All I had to do was tell them the cake topper is missing and the memory candle needs to be lit. But that was it. The next 3 hours went by so quickly. The waiters were awesome. Nobody was ever without a drink. The food was eh ok. We had the shrimp and scallops with lime vinaigrette (wasn't great), then I don't remember the second course but the steak was fine. And boy, the wedding cake was amazing! We had the cake testing the day after we arrived and it was a close call but we were happy with the almond and raspberry filling. We had wedding cake for the rest of our time there hehe. At 10 we ended the night with "Don't Stop Believing" and it was just amazing. After that we went to the sports bar and had the after party. We changed clothes though because as much as I loved my dress, I got really hot. A piece of advice if you go for a princess gown: The petticoat was a life saver! All in all, I cannot wait to see the pics and video. It was truly one of the best days of our life and I will never forget it! If you have any doubts on your mind - don't! They know what they are doing! HAPPY PLANNING ladies! Congratulations!!!! So glad to hear everything went well...Your post got me super excited!! I'm also excited to hear how good Sascha was, he'll being doing our wedding in Jan!! I started freaking out a little bit last week that I was spending the extra money on an outside photographer, but now i'm sure about my decision again lol.. We just got all of our pics from Sascha- best wedding investment I made. You will not be disappointed, he is soo worth the money!

Quote: Originally Posted by Nicole Graf Brandi, did the videographer tell you when to expect the video in the mail? Also, do they upload it anywhere? Nicole- I got married on Friday October 11th and received my video this past Friday, so exactly 2 weeks. He did a great job, I love the video! I emailed him to see if they upload it and he said they don't initially, but he will put it up for me so I can share with friends and family.

Quote: Originally Posted by remykion Hi Just wondering if anyone paid their wedding balance with travellers cheques and if Now Jade are ok with paying this way? xx You can pay with travelers checks but only a certain amount per person and each person has to show an ID. I have an email from Deisy about this. I'll let you know for sure when I find the email.

Quote: Originally Posted by remykion Congratulations Lauren!! and thank you for your reply I certainly feel alittle more at ease now. To be fair most of the reviews can't praise the Now Jade enough but you cant help feel unsettled when you read a few negative ones but like you say they must be miserable. Did you have the Devine Package Lauren? if so what menu did you choose? Did you have your hair and make up at the spa? Sorry for al the questions.....getting nervous/excited now! leaving on Saturday 26th Oct and marrying on 1st Nov :-) xxxxx Its so exciting! I wish I could do it all over again! I had the Devine package- we had caprese salad for appetizer, lobster bisque, then guests had a choice of mahi mahi and scallops, or beef filet and shrimp, passion fruit creme brulee for dessert, and bella matrimoniale wedding cake. It was all delicious! All of my guests raved over the food! I didn't get any of the cocktail hour food because we were getting photos on the beach, but I heard it was excellent. We had beef brochettes, tempura vegetables, chicken quesedilla, and 1 more thing (I forget, sorry!). I had a hair trial the Tuesday before my Friday wedding and was loved it! I asked the girl if she would be the one doing my hair on my wedding day and she said yes. However, when we got to the salon they tried to have someone else do my hair. I asked to have the original woman do it and I think this threw them off a bit with scheduling, but I really liked my trial and didn't want to take the chance on having someone else do it on my wedding day. My stylists name was Leccith (may have spelled that wrong). My mom and mother in law have somewhat short hair and I don't think either of them liked the way their hair turned out. My one bridesmaid who also had Leccith, loved hers. I guess what I'm trying to say is I receommend Leccith!! She also did my makeup and it turned out great. I told her I don't like anything too heavy and she showed me a picture of really smoky eyes which made me nervous. I told her lighter and she did it and it turned out great. My mom and other bridesmaid had someone else and it was ok, but not great. Also, if you want fake lashes, bring your own! They didn't have any so I was really happy I threw some in my suitcase at the last minute. Sorry for rambling, hope this helps! Make sure to relax, everything will turn out great!

Quote: Originally Posted by remykion Im not sure what to make of the reviews on Trip Advisor regarding the not so nice "Vibe" from the staff at the Now Jade. I know I should not take much notice but my guests and I are paying alot of money to holiday/get married here the last thing we want is battles with the staff. Surely they can't be as bad as the reviews make out but I dont understand why people would make such negative remarks without reason. Maybe these people have nothing better to do than moan and critisise the smallest of things. :-( I would be very interested to hear from any brides that have got married there recently because the reviews say that this Vibes was never the case a couple of years ago and that it is only within the last year or so?? on the plus side there are LOTS of positive reviews but these odd few do niggle away at me!!! Actually the thing that scares me most is coming face to face with this time share people from the trip advisor comments they sound like BIG scary, aggresive monsters.......I think i will need to toughen up in the next week because I dont like saying NO to people, on the other hand my Fiance will have no problems at all in saying NO! 1 week Saturday and we will be there :-) Any comments, words of wisdom, advice, reassurance would be gratefully received lol xxxxxx Hi, I got married at Now Jade last Friday and was there from the previous Monday until Sunday. The staff were wonderful! Each one of them were very eager to get us drinks and accomadate our every need. I called to have our room cleaned early on the day of the wedding so the pictures would be nice and they sent someone in 5 minutes. I also ordered champagne and a fruit and cheese tray to snack on with my bridesmaids before the ceremony and they said they don't usually do that but it was in the room when I got back from the Spa. I just have to assume the bad reviewers on tripadvisor are just miserable. We had an excellent time and everyone there works so hard to make sure you have a good stay. As for the timeshare people- we werent approached by them. We went to ask about our free coupons through our booking and they asked us to come to a presentation. We said no thank you, she said no problem and that was it. Hope this helps! Have fun! Lauren

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamShannon Did anyone then tip the DJ, if they used the resort DJ (AVI I think currently)? Yea, I tipped everyone there. Servers, DJ, wedding coordinator

Quote: Originally Posted by LaurenMoser2B woops, I'm new to posting pictures. I got married on Friday, so I can finally post a picture of my dress. Not the greatest quality photo, but here it is!

Quote: Originally Posted by Natasha McArdle Hi and congratulations. Did you give isela a tip after ?? Yes I gave her $20.