leahjuly

Thanks Ladies! Im feeling better about my choice now (good thing, wedding is in three weeks!!). I went with some simple hammered gold earrings and bracelet and I think Im going to do a low messy bun type thing. Im too worried about wind to keep my hair down. I'll post picts (and my Las Caletas review) when we get back.

Hey LC Brides! Im actually getting married there in three weeks!! Im happy to see a new LC thread because during my planning I was felt the old ones were a little outdated to be very helpful for me. Here are some notes based on some of the items you've already been discussing: - Blanca is my wedding coordinator. She's been pretty good, I don't have any major complaints. After we paid the deposit I didn't hear from her until about four months before the wedding. I was a little concerned because I didn't know what the process was and how much they provided, how much other brides brought, etc. Reading the threads on this site really helped me knowing what other brides did. Basically Blanca and LC are super flexible and if you want something just ask and they'll tell you what they can provide or let you know about how you can get it. For example we didn't want to upgrade the whole bar, just the tequila (FH is mexican so the family will want the really good stuff) so we're getting our own locally for a great price and bringing it. Plenty of other venus wouldn't allow this. All the planning is a very collaborative process that I feel really good about at this point. We also asked to modify the menu they sent us and they did it with no problem. I didn't like most of the decor I saw in photos they sent and I was worried about that but Im pretty excited to see what I have planned. Its a little scary not being able to see mockups the way you would working locally with a florist, but I think it'll be good. - resorts: my guests are staying at Velas Vallarta. The resort itself is the most gorgeous in the marina area and the staff on the ground is super friendly and helpful however I would NOT recommend them for a group event at all. The events manager is HORRIBLE and her supervisor wont return phone calls or emails either. My FMIL is insistent that we host a small welcome event (drinks/snacks) at the hotel and its going to cost a fortune and oh right, its three weeks out and we still cant get timely responses to get the damn thing planned. Viktoria, you're not going to get a resort near LC (its really isolated) but you want to look for one close to where the boat leaves from, either the main marina in Puerto Vallarta or the marina in Nuevo Vallarta (your choice). I was a little confused about this before I visited a few months back. Our hotel is in the "marina district" and its an easy walk to a marina, turns out even though its technically the same marina, is a different part and not walkable to the LC boat so long story short we have to pay for the bus to get our guests there. Its a lot more expensive than taxis but we thought that was much too complicated to arrange. I don't know about Nuevo Vallarta but I don't think there are even any hotels, certainly not on the beach resort type places, within walking distance to the PV boat. Its the main marina where the cruise ships dock. If you look on google maps and zoom into the marina, you can see Vallarta Adventures labeled there. - photographer: I asked if we could meet with the LC photographer when we went on a site visit but I was told that wouldn't be possible. I didn't like not knowing my photographer so we started looking elsewhere. On the previous LC thread many brides raved about Photo Shoots Vallarta so we set up a meeting with them. We totally hit it off with Eva and she was amazingly helpful with tips for Las Caletas since she has shot there plenty of times before. She made recommendations to the timeline based on the lighting for the time of day/year to get the best pictures which can be a huge issue at LC. It gets darker there earlier than sunset because the sun goes down behind the mountain and many brides have been really disappointed that their photos were in the dark. Photography is one of the most important things to me so her help was invaluable!! Photo Shoots Vallarta's prices were actually a bit cheaper than the in-house photographers so when you add on the $300 to bring someone else the prices were really similar. Please let me know if you have any questions and I'd be happy to weigh in based on my experience!

Im getting married at Las Caletas and I chose to go with an outside photographer. I dont have anything bad to say about the in-house photographer but I asked to meet with them when before we went on a site visit but was told this wouldn't be possible. I think knowing your photographer and getting a feel for each other is vital. Eva from Photoshoots Vallarta came all the way out to our hotel (with her adorable baby boy!) and we totally hit it off. She answered all of our questions and I have full confidence that she'll be perfect for us. She was also insurmountably helpful for us to figure out a number of details like the wedding timeline, since she's shot at Las Caletas many many times. I also think that the #1 most important thing you can do when looking for a wedding photographer is to ask to see an entire wedding album. When you see photographer's websites you only get to see the absolute best work. If I got back a few hundred images from my wedding and only one or two were really great, I would be devastated. Eva was able to give me access to a few albums specifically from Las Caletas and I was happy to see beautiful portraits, ceremony shots, reception shots, all kinds of lighting, ect.

I don't have much experience with Puerto Vallarta but I would NOT recommend Velas Vallarta. My wedding is at the end of the month and we have a block of rooms at Velas for our guests. Ive had a horrible time communicating with the events coordinator. She takes weeks to reply to emails and she'll answer one of the many questions I had asked her. Their prices for events at the hotel are extraordinarily high. My MIL wants to have a welcome reception at the hotel the evening before the wedding and they want to charge us $25 for just beer, wine, and "mexican appetizers" which will basically be chips and guacamole. And that price is only for guests staying at the resort, they'll charge more for any guests not staying at the property. This is why we chose to hold the wedding elsewhere. They also only offer all inclusive rooms and I found the food to be totally marginal so I think its a waste. I would much rather walk 10 minutes down to the marina to eat. Everywhere we ate there was far better than the hotel and you can get almost anything from super cheap mexican food all the way to pretty fancy Italian. The only reason we have our room block at Velas is because my fiancé's family are condo owners there and have been for decades so I was obligated. Having said that, I was able to visit the resort a few months ago and it was wonderful. It is the most beautiful resort on that strip of beach and the staff that you interact with is really great. We also have quite a few friends in grad school and thankfully they were clever enough to check out airbnb where condo owners at Velas rent out their rooms at a cheaper price than the hotel rates. They wont be all inclusive with this route but they were able to get a pretty big place and split it so that it was pretty affordable for them.

Im getting marries at Las Caletas at the end of the month and my guests and I are staying at Velas Vallarta. Velas told us the same thing about paying for other guests to come onto the property. Im not sure how well they police this though, having been there a few months ago it seems pretty simple to avoid paying if they're just hanging out by the pool. This is why we chose not to hold the wedding at Velas though, if we're already paying X dollars for them as a guest, Im not going to pay for them again just to come onto the property for the event. Im actually not a fan of Velas' management. (not the property, that is fabulous) The only reason my guest are staying there is because my fiancé's family are condo owners and have been for decades so I was obligated with the family. Las Caletas on the other hand is very different. They are very accommodating. They do charge $300 to bring in an external photographer because they do employ their own photography team. We are bringing our own photographer though and since they were cheaper, even with the additional $300, the photography cost would have been the same as hiring theirs.

Hello Ladies, I just bought a wedding dress and I need some advice. The wedding gown I just bought is so far from what I ever imagined wearing that I have no idea how to style it and Im afraid Im going to be overdressed at my own wedding! Our wedding is only three months away and it'll be on the beach at Las Caletas in Puerto Vallarta. We want the wedding to be laid back and fun and I wanted something really different for my dress. Monique Lhuillier's Candy in pink was my dream dress but even used that was totally breaking the bank! The dress I bought is called Braxton, by Maggie Sottero (pict below). I love the dress but it's so heavily beaded that it seems too fancy for the venue and the look and feel I had wanted. I wasn't planning on wearing shoes since we'll be in the sand. Does anyone have any other suggestions for dressing down my gown? hair, make up, veil, flowers, etc? Im not even sure about the wedding colors anymore. I had been thinking pinks, peaches, corals with gold but now Im not sure. I also posted a pict of the original bouquet that I wanted in those colors but I think its too bright for the dress. We go to visit the site in two weeks and I'll need to make all of these decisions. Thanks!! for those who cant see the attachments here are links: dress: http://www.sotteroandmidgley.com/dress.aspx?style=4SK816&page=0&pageSize=36&keywordText=&keywordType=All flowers: http://www.theknot.com/weddings/photo/bright-bridal-bouquet-118336