CAmomofbride

We were at NOW last week and Anel is back and although she was supposed to be our coordinator and was in the Office, Ramon covered our wedding. She did attend though which may be a policy they have. I know its frustrating but we actually only had email contact with them once before we arrived. At the meeting 2 days prior to the wedding we went over the entire planning sheet and they were very accommodating for changes and things we had not filled out that we were questioning. Then a day before the wedding we had to move the time due to a flight delay and they were accommodating to that too. The resort is beautiful, our group of 48 had a great time and complimented us on our choice. I had some small issues that I'll address in my review and I think I have another phone number and email you can use to reach them, let me find those and get them back to you tomorrow.

The package is decent with all the extras but when you go over the 25 people, its pretty expensive. The meal is $53+$5.83 tax + $7.95 service fee=$66.78; plus they charge $15 +$1.65 tax + $2.25=$18.90 for the open bar at the cocktail hour and they charge that $18.90 again per person for the Hor douvres and $5.04 per extra person for champagne toast for a grand total of $109.62 per extra person. The kids meals are $31.50 actually with the tax and service fee. The service fee looks like a 15% tip. I have no idea how the buffet would work for over 50 people but worth checking in to. The wedding food was great, and served very nicely and quickly. We had the option of two choices for the guests but didn't have time to ask what people wanted so stuck with one choice, the surf and turf. The Childs menu is a choice from 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. We ordered chicken fingers and French fries, fruit cocktail and ice cream, set up a kids table so the parents could enjoy their meal and a much as I hated to pay it, it worked out well. Another option is for the kids to go to the kids club and have dinner and a movie. I'd be happy to answer more questions and still plan to write a detailed summary after I recover!

Hi ladies, just finishing up our week at NOW! Its been fantastic! The wedding was beautiful, of course there is always a few glitches, not necessarily on the resort end. Will be home on Tuesday to tell you all about it. But yes, the meeting with Anel/Ramon clears up any changes additions, etc and they are very accommodating, we even had to change the time less than 24 hours ahead due to a flight problem and they were accommodating can't wait to share more, will do a detail summary when get back stateside!

Daughter is getting married there next week and we haven't booked additional photographers. I got this information from the resort photographers. Http://summer2013nowsapphire.nowsapphire.adventure.com.mx check it out for comparison. I will definitely be giving a review by the end of the month. We also have a lot of family coming with their fancy cameras, so hopefully that will be enough.

Response #1459 states that the round tables seat about 10. Our wedding is in 2 weeks and I'm afraid its going to be raining! Any former brides have experience with bad weather or see another wedding while you were there that had to be moved for rain from the beach?

She made all contacts to the resort for reserving a block of rooms, to contracting the wedding coordinator and even did an additional site visit on her vacation, although she had previously stayed at NOW and was familiar with it. She always responded to my calls and emails generally within the hour but no less with in the day. She handled organizing guests coming from 7 different states across the country, our travel documents, airport transfers and although her portion of our wedding is essentially done she is still responding to questions and offering to make contacts to the resort on our behalf when they don't respond to us. She also helped us make the final decision on which resort to go with based on her own extensive knowledge of resorts in the Maya Riviera region. There is a small fee for her services but after it is almost all said and done well worth it. She even spent a couple of hours on the phone with me before I officially chose to use her services. This is not a paid advertisement for her, I saw her booth at a bridal fair, picked up a brochure and contacted her from that, lol, I've actually never met her in person outside of seeing her at the fair. But she was quick and had us all set up in a short amount of time. Hope this helps

Very nice pic! The dealer I found the shells from said he would drill small holes for the ribbon. He said the shells are very fragile and would break if dropped. Our flower girls are 5 and 3. Do you think the hot glue was firm enough or should I go ahead and have them drilled since he said he would do it for free. Also, was that a 3-4" shell or the 5-6"?

Thanks so much for you're insight into the NOW sapphire and all we need to know to plan. Can you remember who your dj was? You said he was from the resort and really kept things lively. We'd like to request him by name if we can.

Do you have any pictures of your wedding with the flower girl carrying the shell? Would love to see

Another question, beyond the wedding, what type of excursions did your guests seem to enjoy? Did they use the excursion desk at the resort, go into Puerto Morelas directly to book snorkeling, book before they came, etc... Is there a bus available to take into Puerto Morelas, did people use taxis or even walk down the beach to town? Any insight is appreciated.

Oops, happened again I never can finish a question or reply without getting send before I'm done, so I meant to say"feeding" them at the buffet if they weren't going to eat well anyway. We have parents who are opposed to using the Explores club because they have never traveled outside the country and will only be arriving the night before the wedding and won't have much time to check it out that day, plus we have to commit to the resort how many chairs and place settings to set up. This is my big stresser! Any additional insight is more than welcome!

Mollyes, Thank you so much for your insight with the kids. I have been so worried about the cost of their plates and the food going to waste and also setting them up At the tables with the adults and then they don't want to sit still enough for the adults to enjoy the occasion. We were even thinking about taking some of the littler ones through the buffet and freeing them

Have anyone had a lot of children at their weddings. We picked this resort because it was kid friendly and most of our guests are making this a family vacation but we now have many small children attending and we're trying to think of a way to make the dinner pleasant for the adults and for the kids too. I'm aware of the extra charges for the kids plate and seats because we are well over our allotted 25 seats for our package. Any ideas or recommendations. The kids range from ages from 1-14. We are also aware of the Explorers Club s end core zone. Has anyone used any of the certified babysitters available?

Oops sent message accidentally before finishing questions..... What meals did you plan, how did you like what you got? Some of these question have been answered before, but it's always fun to read more brides experiences! Any little details of what toy did are really appreciated!

Thank you so much for posting your pictures, you had a beautiful wedding! Would you mind answering a couple of questions? Our wedding is mid Oct and were still making some final plans. I notice you didn't use flowers on the chuppa, did you use any besides the package flowers anywhere else? How was it for other wedding parties going on the same day or week

New thought....has anyone considered or done ( previous brides) a catamaran or reef cruise for their guests. if you did can you post some ideas and rates. Thanks any info would be great.

Thank you so much for sharing. My daughter is getting married at NOW in October and I'm reading everything I can find on the weddings. You're post was very informative. A couple of questions about your pictures. Are your decorations at the post of the wedding ceremony from the resort, what are they? Are the tables set up on the beach for your cocktail part? Your wedding was gorgeous!

While were waiting to see you're wedding pics, can you share some ideas of what you've planned for decorations, welcome bags, meal orders etc. Thanks, still in the planning for Oct wedding and anxious to get things tied up!

We are having a lot of children of all ages come down to the wedding with their families as it will also be a family vacation for most. What did the brides who have already had their wedding do for the small children. I know we can pay for a children's plate for each and the extra chairs, etc. But did anyone come up with another solution for the smaller children? Did you use the babysitting services, the Exploeer's Club, etc.? Were you happy with them? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

We're also working with a TA who has had trouble getting a fast response but we finally did. To help alleviate your anxiety, we checked the website of the resort and they actually have a calendar in the wedding section that shows the availability of wedding dates. It may not be completely accurate but at least it will give you an idea. Good luck

Thank you so much for your reply! Your wedding pictures are really helpful. I've also read your prior post of your wedding review and it was great. My daughters wedding will be mid October and we are just in the process of getting our confirmations and making all these decisions which are nerve wracking but this forum is a great help. Thank you again and all the brides who are posting best wishes to all of you!

Congratulations on your recent marriage. Love to see pics of your beach terrace wedding. I've hardly seen any weddings done there vs. the Tequila Terrace. Were there a lot of outsiders looking in?

I would love to get some more feedback on the beach terrace and how that was with the rest of the resort guests mingling nearby. We had wanted the Tequila Terrace for our ceremony and it isnt available. We heard it wasnt very private and hardly anyone is talking about the beach terrace or sharing pictures of it