flo628

This is amazing. I love the sewing kit. I might just get one for my house. Great finds.

I'm using Illeana Reyes from Romantic Cabo Weddings, and she originally quoted me 2k for 50 guests, but went down down significantly when I negotiated with her. I imagine she'd charge 1k or less for such a small wedding (but that's just a guess). Shes been great so far. And yes, you need a WC for a wedding at SDML. Congrats! It's such a beautiful place!!!!! It's where I wanted to get married but it was out of my budget. Good luck!!

This thread is hilarious! I'm never going to reach 150!!!! I'm a production accountant and my FI is a producer, and my old boss was his accountant. One day I got a call from my old boss "I just met your future husband". After I rolled my eyes he convinced us to meet and go on a date...and we had a great time! 4 yrs later, the accountant is officiating our ceremony. Favorite vacation: Cinque Terre, Italy. Must go if you haven't. Favorite moment: fine. I'll say it. waking up and falling asleep perfectly snuggled within, like a cocoon.

Hey, I'm the "another girl" that's she's talking about!!! Everything Tricia says is true! Unless you're the party planning type, and can handle stress really well, hire a planner! It is weight off your shoulders! And I love Illeana, but she better not start ignoring me with all the new business she's getting. (J/k!!) Good luck, and use this forum, it's a huge help....and highly addictive.

My WC is great- she's done weddings there I think and is realistic about budget (so far). And she worked with me on her price, she's great! Her name is Illeana Reyes, and is very responsive. I like her a lot. But yes, you def need a WC for sunset da Monalisa. It's so gorgeous! I also think Illeana said you can use their chairs for free in the reception, and a buffet style for dinner if you're trying to cut costs,, just some ideas. Good luck!!

Gorgeous!

So who did everyone end up using? I only want to spend $600...

I just love the look of this one too, though I would probably use different colors. One thing I worry about is having a chuppah with lots of moving parts. Especially with the wind, I'm guessing that that could potentially be a bit distracting! Love this!!

Our wedding party is wearing gray, and we are incorporating peach and light sea blue into everything. I'm thinking of having everyone wear different shades of gray, but I'm not sure. I saw a photo where all the bridesmaids wore shades of blush and lavender an it was gorgeous, but not sure how it would look with gray...

Hi Chelsea! I was so overwhelmed when I started planning that I wanted to cry every time I thought about it. I didn't want to spend money on a WC, but I finally found one for a good price, and she's helped me tremendously!! Illeana Reyes at Romantic Cabo weddings is awesome, she is really helpful, helped me find a place, and when I told her my budget was only 10k for everything, she worked with me on pricing. Honestly, I would start with a WC, b/c they will think of places you didn't even know about, or help you discover places that you don't think you can afford. That is how I found Casa Dorada- I didn't think I would be able to afford it, but Illeana got me great prices, and having your own WC allows you to skip the wedding pkg, which isn't necessarily cheapest for you. You can also search WCs on this Cabo forum, there are a few good ones I think. Hope that helps!

In my experience so far, everyone will negotiate. The hotel was refusing everything I asked for- little perks here and there for having my wedding and doing a room block at their hotel- and they kept saying no. So I had them call my FI and all of a sudden, they said yes. It's a tactic of good cop, bad cop, that happened to work. But we were willing to walk away if they weren't going to at least meet us half way. I also didn't get a package- I did the calculations and didn't think it was a good deal. I have a coordinator that's been great- I didn't want to use the hotel's b/c I didn't think they would have my best interest at heart. My WC now is wonderful and has helped me in a ton of ways already to keep costs down, and she knows her way around Cabo vendors that is very helpful. Hope that helps!

Funny, my FI and I went through the same thing...in AI, your party basically pays for most of the booze and food at your wedding. Non AI (or European plans) you will end up paying more. We ultimately decided on the European plan b/c we didn't want to get married at a HUGE resort with a million people around, and we the AI plans at the smaller places were too expensive to think it was worth it, especially when we are planning to host a welcome dinner, bachelor/bachelorette party 2 nights before the wedding, and the wedding...so that's 3 nights we weren't planning on staying at the hotel to eat or drink. We also liked the idea of being close to DT Los Cabos, so we are planning to walk and hanging out there as well. Have you looked at Bahia on oyster.com? They indicate that the photos online is MUCH nicer than in person, but it's great bang for your buck if you stay there. But maybe not for a wedding. The upgrades are not done throughout the entire hotel. I am actually getting married across the street at Casa Dorada and having Bahia as an option for guests who cannot afford to stay at CD. IMO, AI is only worth it if your friends/family drink A LOT, b/c it brings the open bar price WAY down, or if the AI option is only a hundred dollars more a day, or less. I think you should just look at the resort and see if you want to get married there. That's the most important. And you will never be able to make everybody happy.

Sunset da Monalisa has a GORGEOUS view, and you get married on the terrace that's made of rocks, with small pools beside it. I'm getting married at Casa Dorada on the terrace. I didn't want get married on the beach either.

We're TRYING to get married at Casa Dorada in Cabo, but we're having some difference in opinions with our contract. Hopefully we will come to an agreement soon! I suggest to KEEP LOOKING! I mean, I'm not sure how long you've been looking, but we looked for 3 weeks, and everything started blurring together, and we just couldn't make a decision, so I ended hiring a great WC, and she came up with places I hadn't even considered (too expensive or never heard of it) so that's how we ended up at CD. AND EVERYONE negotiates. Good luck!!

Wow AUCV!! I was debating between her and Neysa but not anymore! What did the bride's hair end up looking like anyway?

I have hard clear luggage tags that I need to sell. I actually just got them today. I only need 30. I'm selling them for 0.75 each, buyer pays for shipping. Email [email protected] if you're interested. Thanks!

ALRIGHT!! Good for you! This site is addicting- I can look at everyone's ideas all day (which I sort of do...). Starting my STD (weird to abbreviate...) this weekend hopefully.

My FI and I are having our good friend (who actually set us up) officiate the ceremony, which is kind of my favorite part of the ceremony. We're also having the ceremony super short, b/c we're not keen on being the center of attention for a long time, and we might do a shot of tequila with everyone after we say I do- have ushers pass out shots and just have one all together, since we are getting married in Cabo. We're obviously not that traditional to begin with.

Hi! Great idea for a forum! I am getting married April 19, 2014 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We plan on getting married at Casa Dorada, but haven't signed the contract yet (so cross your fingers!). We're inviting about 50 ppl, and I have a 10k budget(!)- butI'm not including the dress or travel costs in that. I am researching save the dates now - I'd like to sign the contract for the hotel 1st of course - and I actually just decided I'm doing luggage STDs with the hard covers, which is an idea I got from this site. I'm hoping it doesn't get too expensive, but we'll see. I am PLANNING on making the passport invites with boarding pass rsvps (another DIY from this site)- they look like a TON of work, but they are the best looking ones I've seen. Happy planning!!

I am also doing one bag per couple, and separate ones for the kids (my 4 nephews and FI niece and nephew). For the couples I am putting: -flip flop beer/bottle opener -personalized aluminum water bottles so they can carry around water at the hotel and at home -mini sunscreen/advil/pepto -personalized chapstick -foam football and everything is going into a reusable, foldable grocery bag (b/c we like being green) that they have on sale at Ikea! (the Baggu's online are about $3-5 a piece!) The kids are getting sunblock, kid sunglasses, foam footballs and frisbees. I might put some bandaids, b/c, well, kids are kids. Single people are getting the same things, except I'll take out the football for the girls if I know they won't use them. Wedding favors are the silver starfish wine stoppers, I haven't decided if I want them given out at the wedding or in the OOT bags. LOVE the cooler idea, but it's a bit out of my budget. There is also a thread someone amazing started called "for the frugal bride" (or something like that) with a BUNCH of websites that other brides post sites where they find incredible deals for OOT bag stuff. Search it! It's amazing! The thread started made all 60 OOT bags for $100 or something! I'm not bothering with the flip flops, b/c who is coming to Cabo w/o flip flops?!? But a friend told me one can never have too many flip flops...

Hi Arroyo17, I am in the midst of planning my April 2014 wedding as well, and looked at most resorts. I also looked at the Sunset da Monalisa and fell in love with the photos. However, I decided against it b/c: a)there would be extra costs to provide transportation to and from the venue. We have a few children coming, and I didn't want to worry about some people needing to leave early, etc, so if we had a bus, it would have been extra trouble to find them a separate ride. I believe they don't open late unless you pay extra. c) I don't believe there are any hotels that are within walking distance. We opted instead for Casa Dorada, which has a lot of options, and is a smaller resort. We also looked at the Sheraton, it looks like a beautiful hotel, but the Dorada had nicer rooms, and for the ease we wanted everyone to be able to stay in the same spot, and be within walking distance to Cabo San Lucas for easy day trips, etc. Hacienda Cocina y Cantina is another popular restaurant where people get married, and supposedly they have excellent food and reasonable prices. I really did love the Sunset da Monalisa, if you don't mind the transportation thing, then it would really be a beautiful place to get married. Zoetry is small but I hear is pricey, and it's also closer to San Jose, which we did not want. Good Luck!!

We are actually getting personalized aluminum water canteens to put in out OOT bags. We thought guests would use this a lot at the resort, as well as at home. We were just going to put our names and the date of our wedding in really small print at the bottom maybe. We haven't ordered them yet, but at $3.11 a pop, I thought I found a great deal, but if any of you have a cheaper one, let me know! Thanks! http://www.discountmugs.com/product/ab101-20oz-custom-aluminum-water-bottles/

Does anyone have prices for her??

Thank you! I chose her and she is the best. Can't wait to see your review and pics!

Hi and congrats! My budget is 10k for my wedding (April 2014) for 40 guests. We looked up every hotel that I saw on the map, but still couldn't decide. You have SO many things you need to decide: did we want all-inclusive or european plan? Have everything at the resort, or should we have it at a restaurant? San Jose del Cabo, or Cabo San Lucas? Or the corridor? So, we started with european plan (non-AI- we figured with the dinner and welcome dinner, that would be 2 nights wasted), Cabo San Lucas (more shopping, more Americanized, more activities for people to do), and we wanted everything to be at the hotel (instead of going to a restaurant- we didn't want to bother with transportation fees, and we also didn't want to worry about some people needing to leave early due to their kids, etc), so now we are thinking about Casa Dorada, and waiting to hear back for prices. I ended up hiring a WC, and she has been worth every penny so far. I didn't want to hire one at first so that I could spend the money on the wedding, but it was too hard for me to call and find vendors. Pretty much every hotel provides beach weddings, but it's hard to find a private area, so you will have looky loos. Places I considered, just to give you an idea, was Sunset da Mona Lisa (GORGEOUS view, but requires transportation), Hacienda Cocina y Cantina (I think this place is very affordable and you can also have the reception on the beach), Sheraton, Casa Dorada, and Bahia. You might also want to check out Fiesta Americana, I hear they have a good AI plan that's affordable, which would make the price of your wedding go WAY down. Hope this helped!