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@@hp520 No he was there at my wedding from beginning to end, but that DID happen to a friend of mine from this forum who also used Illeana, so I'm sure that is what she is talking about. Apparently he had an emergency that night and had to leave, but didn't tell anyone, including Illeana, and had his asst sub in for him.... I'm not sure if he's done that with other brides and Illeana... I really liked him, I mean, you can ask him to put something in the contract that it has to be him, and if his asst comes instead, it's a lower price? You only pay him a deposit and I gave Illeana the balance to pay him the day of the wedding. Did you ask if she liked his asst? I think my friend said he was fine, but b/c it was a last minute sub, he didnt' know the wedding party names and mis-pronounced them... :/ @ #1-5 Thank you so much! We DID do a symbolic ceremony- our friend who introduced us "married" us. We got legally married in the states. "Where in the world are you" map was a seating chart. Each table of 6 was named after a country, and on the map were tags pinned to a country, and each tag had 6 names on them. My MOH also made little luggages with luggage tags that had country names on them to clarify. We wanted a little travel them since it was a DW.

@@cassie06 yes, but they didnt' care what size i brought, so we had costco size. I'm not sure if they have changed this rule or not. I told my WC I had 42 drinkers, and i think she got: 3 bottles of tequila 2 bottles of vodka kyrkland 1 bottle of whisky 1 cases of beer of each type 1 Ketel one Another bride brought in alcohol from the duty free shops.

@@AmorDeMiVida We had about 11 months to plan, but didnt' really need it. Once you lock your vendors, it's pretty easy. The WC can help guide you what to book first, come vendors get booked well in advance.

@@eirbear0915 Congrats! I had the same questions when I first started planning my wedding and was quickly overwhelmed with all the choices. I didn't want to hire a WC at first to cut cost, but ended up hiring one b/c I couldn't decide on a venue, and it was the best decision I made. She showed me that I could get married at a resort I thought was too expensive, and also helped with finding vendors for me and was able to lock down contracts in person, which was more effective since I was in another country. The day of, she organized the vendors and decorations of the restaurant and ceremony, which i thought was invaluable since the day ended up being windy and some adjustments had to be made. The fewer people you have, the less the WC should charge. We had 50 guests and kept our budget under 12k, only 2k more than what we budgeted for, and still had an open bar. We leaned towards a resort and had he wedding there- we thought it would be simpler and wouldn't have to worry about transportation, and had the ease to get ready in our rooms and people were still able to have fun at the resort til the minute they had to get ready. All inclusive has it's ups- i believe it ends up being cheaper for you, but we opted not to - I didnt like the look of the all inclusives, and wanted my own vendors without a fee, so we got married at Casa Dorada, where the dinner was cheap yet delicious. We also didn't want to get married on the beach, so there aren't any looky-loos. Hope this helped, and happy planning!

@@cassie06 I would def get a DJ- I was not going to have one either to cut cost, but he honestly wasn't that pricey, made the proper announcements, and played great music and got the party started. I liked him a lot and so did my WC and all my guests. (And you really do not want to think about anything like music etc on your wedding day)

Thank you @@hp520! Yes, basically you will have to get used to long responses from everyone in Cabo, and constantly having to follow up with them - it's beach/island mentality there...but they get better as you get closer to your wedding (well, most of them...). CD had the foozeball and ping pong by the pool, so they let me "borrow" them for free at my wedding. Illeana DID go to Costco for me- she bought the perfect amount of alcohol for me, and we were able to give our guests great quality tequila. CD charged us for water and wine, make sure to ask for cheap water or they will give everyone the expensive stuff. I also heard their corkage fee has gone up, so just ask Illeana if it's still worth it. I gave CD a cap for the bar (wine and water) and they abided by it and we actually came in quite a bit under. I shipped 2 boxes to SD, they wouldn't let us drive it to them, and some items did break, but we expected that- just pack it good. They charged us $50 i think to drive it over, which i thought was pretty good, the only reason why we didn't ship more stuff was b/c we didn't have enough time- it took like 2 or 3 weeks, depending on their delivery schedule, for it to get to Cabo. I found CD to be very honest, I never felt like they were trying to get me or pull something, and Jazmin, the WC at CD, is a sweetheart. Please ask away, I got so much help from other brides here

@@puravida2015 You can always pack it with you... $50 bag fee is cheaper than shipping, and i think each person gets a free bag. On the way back we just but the small suitcase into the bigger empty one. I don't see why poppers can't get shipped via air- it's just a spring, not like it's those sparklers. I forgot about my DJ and guitarist: DJ Fradal - A- The transitions could have been better but he played all the songs i wanted. Great price, fast responder. Daryl Currie- A Great price, he was very sweet. I didn't hear any of the songs he played, but all my guests enjoyed him.

@@puravida2015 Thank you thank you! I bought them on oriental trading online and fedexed them to our hotel's location in San Diego, where their driver drove them over with their normal delivery....a lot of them did open though :/ so my WC and i put little tapes on them which worked fine. ***They do say "made in china" on them which i heard is a no-no in Mexico, so i took sharpie , blacked it out and put my monogram labels over it! @@cassie06 I DID have my dinner at the 12 Tribes Terrace area. That whole area is considered 12Tribes. You can certainly have the dance floor in the open area, but depending on how many people you have, it might be too large. It was my original plan, but my WC said i had too few guests (48) and it would be hard to get the party started. The center area where we ended up having it was indeed perfect amount of space for the amount of people I had. We instead had ping pong and foozeball and polaroid center out there, and we did have a fire dancer (which was a surprise for me by the hubby ) with lounge chairs. You are going to LOVE CD!!!! It's just so lovely there. We won't stay anywhere else now when we go to Cabo. PS- Fire dancer was from Lunas de Fuego and they were a delight. Forgot about them in my review.

Thanks @@Chrysta! I did use that, this is what the film looks like: http://www.dsstyles.com/product/fujifilm-fuji-instant-instax-mini-8-polaroid-camera-bundle-set---white?src=gb_us&currency=USD&gclid=CjwKEAjw77OhBRCJ7Onfp_HNtwYSJACZqHAW50KQZEDEEQmuq-2Ln_aLjLQ1y_OvQyVDCgDXepOqExoCteDw_wcB I am actually selling my camera and extra film if you want to buy it? PM me if you do. It's funny, we put the little corners in the book in advance, which was a big mistake b/c my husband did it all horizontally....and a lot of people too it vertically! i don't know if that's how the camera take it and it was more natural...but i ended up moving all the edges to make it look right a month ago, ahah...so mix and match it if you put on the edges before hand. Hope that helps!

Hello Brides, I finally have a chance to review my wedding in April 2014! It's been a long journey, and I want to help out other brides as much as possible, so here it goes.... Here are some professional photos: https://plus.googleapis.com/105327139201478088186/posts/MBtt7kdttkR?pid=6013667542488420066&oid=105327139201478088186 WC: Illeana Reyes - A First off, I loved Illeana immediately. She was very sweet and honest, and talked me down a lot when i was freaking out. Second, sh'es not super-responsive, but I think the longest she ever took to respond to me was 5 days, and that was when i had months left until the wedding. The month of my wedding they were immediate, and she was almost always available to talk on the phone. From start to finish she helped me with every detail and helped me stay in budget as much as possible. I'd use her again in a heartbeat. Flowers: Sergio - Flowers and Events - A http://www.flowersandeventsloscabos.com/ Sergio was affordable and had AMAZING flowers. I loved everything he did, and he matched all my photos perfectly (I especially loved my arch). Warning: he is super unresponsive, but Illeana told me to trust him, and that he would do his job, and he certainly delivered. The day before the wedding he sent his asst to my hotel to show me the flowers he was going to use so that i could see the color pinky peach he was using, so there wouldn't be any mistake. I would use him again in a heartbeat. I also recommended him to 2 other brides and they loved him as well. Hair and Make-Up: Neysa Berman - C- and i asked for this I didn't like my hair and make-up. I regret hiring her and not speaking up more- It was partly my fault for not speaking up enough, but I know she knew i wasn't 100% happy with it, and didn't seem to care that much. She WAS nice and punctual and professional, though... I had the trial the day before my wedding for the rehearsal/welcome dinner, and a lot of people commented how dark my face looked, so i asked her when she started doing my make up for the wedding if she could lighten my foundation a couple of shades. Her response? "Oh, yeah i noticed that yesterday." Ok, thanks for letting me go to my rehearsal and welcome dinner looking like that. Then she put my hair up, and it didn't look like the trial from the day before or any of the photos i gave her (see above). When i told her that, she said she couldn't really change it b/c then it would ruin the s-shape she had made in my twist in the back. Who the hell cares about the twist in the back? I look like I have a wig or helmet on, AND my eyes look smaller... Like I said, I should have been a bridezilla but she didn't make me feel comfortable saying anything....but I wish I had. Oh, on top of that, in some of my wedding photos my face is like 3 shades darker than my body, so my photographer had to do some photo-shopping, which brings me to my next point- Photographer - Gilda Badillo - B+ I really liked Gilda, but I had to tell her my face was 3 times darker than my face in a lot of the photos. I mean, shouldn't she have seen that? Other than that, she was lovely and funny and energetic, and got everyone smiling. She even put up with my drunk friend who kept photo bombing all the pics. I'd hire her again, she gave me a great price and i wish i had booked her for more time. Hotel - Casa Dorada Resort - A+++++ God, I love this resort. I wish i could call every single person that wants to get married in cabo and tell them to get married here. They have the best staff, made us and all my guests feel like VIP, and were accommodating to everything. The only thing i would change was the lighting in the room. We need more light when we get our hair and make up done! Those windows aren't enough! The food at CD was AMAZING and CHEAP! Almost all my guests stayed there, we fulfilled our room block with no problem and everyone loved the location- you can walk easily to downtown. The WC, Jazmin, at CD is also great- sweet and awesome. Welcome Dinner - Baja Cantina - C+ I wouldn't do it here if i had to do it again. They were VERY unresponsive, mixed everything up, the night of we had to stand around while they brought 2 more tables even though we told them for weeks our final count, they served the wrong margarita, they would give me one price one week, then weeks later said they gave me the wrong price, the payment site didn't work....i could go on. They did however make a special plate for my vegan friends, which was very sweet, but that doesn't really make up for all the headaches they caused. And the food was just ok...the food and drinks were very different when we had dinner there on other occasions, definitely not as good. I'd have CD whip something up for me if i had to do it again, like a bonfire or a taco station at the firepits, b/c they're cool like that. Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck all of you trying to plan your wedding around the hurricane aftermath.

@@cassie06 It was AAAMMMAZINGGGG!!!!!! Everyone should get married there. I will post a review and pics soon! Thanks for asking!

I agree with hpreece, I am using Illeana and she has great prices, and has gotten lots of things done for me that were above and beyond.

I really like my wedding coordinator, Illeana Reyes. I know 2 other brides that just had weddings and loved her, and they said she was a huge help the days leading up and day of, and she is very reasonably priced. I am getting married in less than 6 weeks and she's been very attentive and helping me with the little things and last minute ideas.Her company is Romantic Cabo Weddings.

I found the mini 50ml Patron Silvers here for $6.49 https://www.missionliquor.com/Store/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1101955140&PNAME=Patron+Silver+Tequila+50ml but haven't ordered it yet...still debating if I want to.

We are! We're having it in Cabo on the Thursday before the wedding, which is the day most people are arriving. However, our resort is not all-inclusive, so everyone will have to pay for dinner and drinks anyways, so I don't think it's a big deal, and I am going to give them the schedule, and they can choose what they are going to show up for. The girls are having spa time after lunch, then drinks by the pool, a power nap, tequila tasting in my room around 6 with snacks, then off to a nice dinner, and drinks/dancing wherever after. The guys are doing some sort of surfing thing in the morning, and...no idea what else the rest of the day. If you are staying at an AI, you can always just organize a get together somewhere in the hotel for bonding and drinks?

I'm not getting married on the beach either! I didn't want any looky-loos and didn't want to get sandy. We are having our wedding on a terrace over looking the beach, with the ocean as our back drop. Do what you want! Wearing great shoes is a valid excuse if you ask me.

I recommend Illeana Reyes from Romantic Cabo Weddings as well, she's been great with me.

Hire a WC there who can physically go to her office and get in her face to get your answers. Really.

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/18570-mini-tequila-bottles/page-2 http://www.missionliquor.com/Store/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=009&DEPT=000002&CAT=1048107529&BACK=A0007A1B0000002B1 I've heard of brides ordering the mini bottles empty (from etsy) and filling it themselves too.

There is a bunch online: http://store.korbel.com/korbel-brut-187ml-mini-bottles-p1.aspx http://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/mini-champagne-bottles-for-favors-where-to-get-them/d095fb1eb20c9933.html The post on weddingwire has a lot of suggestions from brides who have actually ordered them before.

Thank you so much! I'm really proud of them...

My WC is Illeana Reyes from Romantic Cabo Weddings. She's really great, and I've recommended her to other brides who really like her- one of them had her wedding in September and she said it went really great. She also has reasonable prices- she negotiates. Happy planning!

We're not staying at an AI resort and are having a full dinner reception, but we are still hosting an after party bonfire on the beach, with pizzas and any leftover alcohol from our open bar...maybe you can do something like that for afterwards. I'm sure your guests carved the evening out for you and your wedding. My in laws are also hosting a welcome dinner for everyone the night before, after our wedding rehearsal. What if you organized some sort of activity for the 1st day for ppl to get to know each other, or get reacquainted, etc. Maybe some water sport- wave running is fun and cheap, boat rides, kayaking?

Search "games" on this forum!

This was the quote they gave me on 10/31/13, with 15min performances with recorded music, or 20min performances with live music: 5 dancers and live music 1,155 usd 4 dancers and live music 1,045 usd 3 dancers and live music 935 usd 5 dancers and recorded music 880 usd 4 dancers and recorded music 770 usd 3 dancers and recorded music 660 usd 2 dancers and recorded music 550 usd