abbacaddaba

Below are a few pictures of the set up and stuff. I have tons more, if you want a few more I can email them to you if you message me. Or if you can't view them I'll email them to you too. Before the private function was 5 hours (two years ago when we started planning) so we were thinking that was what we were getting, we were unaware they changed it at the one year mark of our planning. It all worked out though. The food was reallllly good for the reception. We had a plated reception and chose the chicken and filet. Both were amazing! I was a little upset at the extra charge for the dinner since it is all inclusive but this is standard with other resorts as well which made me feel a little better paying it. The bar tenders brought trays of shots to the dance floor so the guests didn't have to keep going to the bar as often which was really nice. Remember the three hours goes by super fast. You eat for around an hour and then do the first dances and garter and such for a half hour it seems. You only get 1.5 hours after that to dance and enjoy. After that you would have to move to the lobby bar inside. Also, you get wristbands when you arrive at the resort that you have to leave on through your stay. For the wedding all guests can remove them so they don't end up in pictures but you MUST KEEP IT! The next day you go to the desk with your band and they give you a new one to leave on the remainder of your stay. It's annoying because you have to keep moving it around so you don't get a tan line! Remember to move it around! lol

Well our wedding was May 11th at FAC and overall we were very pleased with our experience. There were a few hiccups though that put a damper on our night. First of all the resort is amazing! All of our friends and family loved the resort and are planning a trip back there already! Everyone on the staff was excellent! We had our favorite bartenders and wait staff that we would go to every night but really everyone was great. Felix, Juan Jose, Pedro, Renee and Rudolfo were are favorites The food was either excellent or so so. When we ate at the mexican or italian restaurant we had great food everytime. However, the buffet was hit or miss. We had good meals there and some just alright meals there as well. All the entertainment each night was great! We participated each night and had a blast. Wedding stuff now! The ceremony was perfect. We had it in the garden area which is the grassy area overlooking the ocean. It was perfect because we didn't have to walk through sand The officiant was great, we had whoever the resort set up for us and we just let her do her own thing and it turned out beautiful. Reception, here is where things started to go wrong. I started planning our wedding 2 years ago and the private function was for 5 hours back then. I was told to pay for the private function when we arrived on site. Since then however it has been changed to a 3 hour deal with no change in price. Noone made us aware of this change. While there we met with Lis and we discussed start times and everything else but not end times or duration so this wasn't caught until 9pm when it was announced the last song would be played. My husband and I went over to Lis asking why... we had paid for 5 hours so we would go to 11pm? She stated it was only three hours included in the private function and anything over is $19 per person per hour. So on my wedding day during my reception my husband and i had to take a half hour out of our party time to get this fixed. I agreed to pay for one more hour just to keep the party going but the next day i printed the one and only private function i was sent showing 5 hours. She credited the extra hour and paid us back for the one hour we didn't get to enjoy but it still put a damper on the mood of the party. PLEASE MAKE SURE you go over this with lis to make sure you have the right duration set for your reception if you choose a private function package. The other problem we had was that we had paid for a private function yet there were people in the pool area and jacuzzi watching my first dance and the dances with the mother/father. Lis finally went and asked people to please leave but people would keep walking up in their speedos and bikinis and they are in all my pictures from the dances. My husband and his bestman finally took care of the problem themselves and put beach chairs at the entrance to keep people from watching our wedding from the pool and jacuzzi. There are two jacuzzis and a pool on the lower terrace of the pool. Why didn't they block ours off somehow since it's a private function?? Just beware, unless you take this into your own hands the resort will only do so much. For DJ we used DJ Mannia and were very pleased. They did an excellent job with music selections and were very friendly. I couldn't of asked for anything more from them everyone loved them. The reception food and cake were excellent. No complaints here at all! Photography we used David Gastaldi who is through the resort. We had Luca as our photographer and he was excellent! Very professional and we didn't even realize he was there! He caught some great moments and we have great pictures to look back on. Definitely get photos in the garden area in the room areas, those pictures turned out especially beautiful! Overall we loved the resort and the ceremony. The reception had the hiccup but we were able to move past it. Just make sure you go over everything with Lis. She is a sweetheart and we know she didn't do this intentionally. She became the coordinator there a year ago and didn't know what the previous person had sent us. It was just an unfortunate mistake which she made right in the end. We loved our stay and will be returning with all our friends again sometime in the future

I fly AirTran this Wednesday and I have also called ahead and was told that I would either have to squeeze it into a bin and make it match the dimensions or an allowed carry-on, check it in as checked luggage or purchase a seat for it. All of these options seem ridiculous to me. I don't have an enormous dress, it just poofs at the bottom. I'm just bringing it and asking at the gate what they can do for me. I'm hoping the people at the gate will be a little more sympathetic and somehow make it all work out. Good luck with everything!

They all turned out great! I love the purple lilies, I have them in my bouquet as well If you don't mind, do you have the template you used for the menu's? They turned out super cute and i've been struggling my menu's. =/ Good job

Hey everyone! In two months I will be having my at home reception and I'm turning to you ladies for some guidance and advice! No one in my family or that we even know has done a destination wedding or AHR so I'm kinda going in blind. We rented a pavilion at a local park that holds 120 people and it's right by the water. The park offers a lot of fun stuff to do, paddle boating, canoing, volleyball and basketball. I need tips on fun stuff we can do together and tips on food and keeping everything cool. We thought about buying a kiddy pool and filling it with ice and water bottles/two liters. Were doing BBQ food and salads and snacks. As to specifics on food, we haven't gotten there yet. I've never thrown a party like this before so any advice you guys can give will be appreciated! We will have a slide show, guest book, and Cancun post cards for guests to give newlywed advice. I though about playing the shoe game but am undecided. Do i tell guests on the invite to byob/chairs/coolers? I just feel like the day is going to come and i'll be unprepared/unorganized but i really want it to be just a laid back and fun day for everyone. Any advice you can give will be much appreciated.

Hi there We have 25 guests and didn't get much of a discount. I think if you set a room block up straight with the resort you could get a good deal but guests have found better deals on other travel web sites. I can't really help with music, were getting married on the garden terrace. I think the speak system should be loud enough tho to combat the ocean/wind. We are using DJ Mannia, they have been great so far. I plan on posting a big post after our wedding next month with more details on how everything went. Lis is a sweetheart and has been great to work with but like you say she does take a few days to respond. If it's important she gets back to me right away but if not she takes maybe two days. It hasn't been a problem so far for me though. Hope this helps a little bit Our wedding is May 11th and i'll post some more details on how it went with the vendors/resort, i've heard nothing but good things

Finally have my groom dressed! Well... almost We purchased the White Perry Ellis linen/cotton suit pants and vest from their website and they look great, I'm very satisfied! Now we just need to find out what color shirt he will be wearing under the vest and find white shoes for him to wear, were looking for like a boat shoe type of thing. The groomsmen are also dressed finally! They will be wearing the items below. The pants were from Kohls and are surprisingly light weight, they were all very thankful for that and they were on sale for $30.00. The shoes are also from Kohls for $35.00, which again they all love the shoes. The shirts are from Old Navy on sale for $25.00. I also bought them these fedoras from Macys as their groomsmen gifts which were only like $12.00. I'm very relieved now that they're dressed. Only 53 days to go! Sorry it wouldn't let me paste the photos =/ Groomsmen fedora: http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/american-rag-hat-banded-khaki-linen-fedora?ID=803652&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results shirt: http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=6921&vid=1&pid=385589062 pants (taupe): http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-524757/croft-barrow-no-iron-classic-fit-flat-front-pants.jsp shoes: http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1240832/sonoma-life-style-boat-shoes-men.jsp Groom http://www.perryellis.com/Linen-Cotton-Suit-Vest/42HV7452PS,default,pd.html?dwvar_42HV7452PS_color=126&start=4&q=linen&prefn1=refinementColor&prefv1=White

Hey Ladies! Has anyone ever listened to this song: Philip Phillips: Gone? He was on American Idol last night and performed it and I fell in love with it! The lyrics are perfect, I want to use it in the wedding but am unsure where at the moment. Is anyone else having problems coming up with ceremony music? I have our sand ceremony music and recessional but I have no clue what the bridal party or I will walk out to. We only have 13 guests in the seats so it's not like I can use a normal length song for these spots. Has anyone just picked out a spot in a song they wanted played during that time frame? Would love to know what you all have planned music wise for ceremony

Hey ladies! After reading everyone elses to do lists I feel a little better! It seems I'm not the only one that doesn't have the grooms attire yet. Here is my to do list. I plan to have the big things tackled by the end of march. Earrings Fiances Ring Groomsmen/Groom Attire Flowers for Bridesmaids (Fake & doubling as centerpieces) Figure out my hair/make up arrangements Sand Ceremony shadow box purchase Ceremony readings/vows Cake topper Welcome Letter DJ song request sheet Menu Cant wait for it to be here and be done with planning! I'm ready to just be married already and party with everyone in Cancun. We had a two year engagement so maybe that's why i feel this way? Anywho happy planning everyone

Can anyone offer me some input?? We are getting married in May in Cancun with close family and friends and are looking to have the AHR at a local park/beach under a pavilion they have to rent right off the water. Unfortunately the only day i can book it is a Sunday. My future MIL is on me saying it's not right to do a Sunday because people can't drink n party because they have work the next day. I don't want it to be that kind of a party, i picture a nice relaxing day at the park with lawn games, horse shoes, volleyball etc. I don't mind if people drink but I don't picture people getting trashed, everyone needs to drive home anyway? Is it wrong of me to do this event on a Sunday? They do have Saturdays in August, however i want June so that i can get the wedding shenanigans over with by end of June. Please let me know your thoughts on this ladies Thank you!

Stacysorenson00 - FI and I went through the menu together and decided what were planning to do. We wont get to taste the food before hand either. We are doing a plated dinner though. If you want message me and I will send you our choices for the dinner we went with. Only 14 weeks left till the big day! Corina Cox - We chose the in house photographer Daniel Gastaldi and he's been great so far with communication. He fits in our budget as well. Our second choice was Claudia Rodriguez. She has beautiful photos too but was too far out of our price range. Hope this helps some?! I know there's not a lot of information out there on this resort but from the few people i've talked to they have had nothing but good things to say - Sarah

Both are great ideas thank you ladies!

ASHK This is exactly what we are doing. We are renting a pavilion at a beach nearby and having bbq and lawn games, volleyball and such. We'll have the pictures out and some video and it'll be real relaxed. We'll show up in our wedding clothes for additional pictures and then we will switch into shorts and t-shirts. I'm trying to figure out when to send out these invitations and how to word them. I don't want anyone to feel like they have to bring a gift, I just want everyone to come and celebrate/have fun. If anyone has any suggestions on wording/time frame for invitations please let me know. We are getting married May 11th in Cancun and are having the AHR on June 29th. Happy planning everyone

Hi Janelly, I fell in love with the place because it's not one of the huge crowded resorts. The wedding coordinator Liz is wonderful as well Good luck with your decision, March isn't too far away! -Sarah

Chocotaco & Cherany - that's exactly how I feel! I just keep saving pictures of what I like and will bring them with me. To cut costs I've decided to make centerpieces and my maids bouquets so at least that will keep me busy and occupied for awhile. Happy planning! Happy planning!

Hi Everyone, I'm glad I found this thread, our wedding is May 11th 2013 at Fiesta Americana Condesa and with under 6 months to go I felt like I should be doing more! But it seems like I'm just as far as everyone else on this thread so I feel better! Am I the only one that gets the feeling all weddings in Mexico are basically planned the week of? I mean with the exception of photographer and DJ? I guess were just getting all the details figured out when we get down there a few days prior to the wedding such as flowers, cake and centerpieces. I'm getting the feeling this is normal. Either way, were very excited to be at the 6 month mark finally! We've been engaged for a year and a half now. Happy planning everyone and Happy Thanksgiving! Sarah

Hi Jamie, I am interested in the candle packs and the Spanish For Dummies books. How much is shipping to 48026? Thank you, Sarah

I am getting married here in May 2013 We can't wait! Little nervous because we haven't really decided details decorations or anything but still very excited