CurlyKristen

@@kyoung090 Yes they do charge you for trail hair and makeup at the day spa. But we had a dinner the night before the wedding so all the guests could meet each other and I just took down my updo and made my makeup look different that she did for my trail so I feel like I still got my money's worth. Oh and the trail took only like 2 hours but the actual day of my wedding it took 3 hours, so make sure to give yourself enough time for hair and makeup. Let me know if you have any other questions! Happy planning! @@Breanna2015 There were a few of us that got lots of bites but then most of my guests were bite free The mosquitos in January were not too noticeable. My advice is to not sit in the grass!

Hi brides! First and foremost don’t be stressed out! If you have picked Now Sapphire as your wedding resort know you are in good hands! Our wedding week was honestly one of the most wonderful weeks of my life. Everyday spent there was beautiful and so special. I loved having our family and friends there the whole time and will never forget the time we shared together. Having a destination wedding is totally worth it! Use all your resources and ask all the questions you want! It will all come together and you will love it! I wouldn’t change anything! Here's a recap of our wonderful Now Sapphire Wedding: Wedding Coordinator: Juan Carlos. He was very responsive to emails and always made time to answer my questions. I changed my mind like 4 times about the direction of my wedding and every time I did he was understanding and encouraging. Try to keep in mind busy wedding times like Christmas or summer or even weekends because it may take a few more days to hear back from them. They all are hard workers! They are there from 10am until sometimes midnight. WEDDING DATE : 01/31/2015 CEREMONY LOCATION: Beach CEREMONY TYPE: Mix of Religious and symbolic COKTAIL LOCATION: Tequila Terrace RECEPTION LOCATION: Tequila Terrace Ceremony starts at: 4pm Family pictures: 4:30-5pm Couple pictures: 5-6pm Cocktail hour: 6-7pm Reception: 7-10pm Welcome Dinner: We held a Welcome Dinner at the Market Café the night before our wedding. The Market Café is buffet style so everyone could eat whatever they wanted and we ordered wine to share with our guests. The Welcome Bags were also our favors for our guests and we gave them out as soon as we could so that our guests could enjoy and use the items we had placed in the bags. Our welcome bags had a thank you/welcome letter, sunglasses, gum, tums, sunscreen, aloe vera gel, hand sanitizer from bath and body works, chapstick, pepto bismol tablets, and hello my name is name tags. PHOTOGRAPHY We heard mixed reviews from different sites about the resort photographers so I decided to look outside the resort. Bringing in an outside photographer is pretty easy at Now Sapphire. The only extra cost is a day-pass ($65) for each photographer. FYI If you use any other outside venders besides a photographer you have to pay an extra $800. We hired Derek Campbell and Lorena Jaimes from Photos in Cancun (http://www.photosincancun.com and https://www.facebook.com/photosincancun). They responded to emails very quickly from the start and during the whole year of planning leading up to our wedding. They requested I send them any idea boards I had for my wedding, my wedding pinterest board, and our wedding website so they could get a feel of what I was looking for and the kind of wedding we were planning. I also went through their photoblog and hand-picked the pictures I loved and looked for pictures that they had taken at Now Sapphire. I sent my favorite pictures from their photoblog to them and requested that those be my must have pictures. Derek and Lorena arrived at my room at 3pm. They asked for all the little special things for our wedding. Like our rings, my jewelry, wedding heels, welcome bag items, newspaper with our wedding date, ect. Anything you want to have them take a picture of before leaving your room or placing it on your person they wanted. It might be a good idea to have those things collected together the night before the wedding because I was running around the room like a mad woman trying to gather all these items and not forget anything. They started with my dress. It had been wrapped in a sheet hanging from our bed since the night before when the maid had delivered it from being steamed. As Derek unwrapped my dress and I was running around looking for all the little items for him to take pictures of I heard him yell out “YES!!” and I was kinda scared and responded with “what?!?what!?!?” He said it was only their second colored dressed that they had photographed and they love colored wedding dresses (my dress was blush pink). I was happy he and Lorena were excited and it lighten the room with laugher and smiles. He did also recommend playing some music and having some drinks because I think he could tell that I was a little stressed out with my wedding being less than a hour away and my dress not on me yet. Derek ending up leaving around 3:20pm to go take pictures of my groom getting ready and Lorena stayed with my sister, bestfriend, and I while I put on my dress, veil, and hair flower. She actually helped place my veil and hair flower. She was lovely and patient during that time together. Then before I knew it Juan was calling asking if I was ready to be picked up by the golf cart. The golf cart was at my rom around 3:55pm and we were off to the main lobby where I walked from there all the way to the tequila terrace with my sister. Lorena ahead of us taking pictures the whole time and Derek was on the beach with my guest and groom taking pictures of them. I have no idea where they were during the ceremony but the pictures turned out perfect! Derek and Lorena helped us plan out the timeline of our wedding day so make sure they were there to capture all the important moments. They were almost like an extra wedding coordinator that I could rely on and ask any questions I had the day of my wedding and the days leading to my wedding. They were always professional and respectful of any requests that I or my guests may have had. I honestly don’t think we could have picked a better set of photographers that made me feel comfortable, still gave us direction, and still were able to be artistically creative with our wedding photos. Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! If you go with Derek and Lorena let them know Kristen and Johnathan recommended them to you FLOWERS We used the resort florist for all our flowers. Juan did tell me that this was the first time he had done anything like this but when we went on our resort tour with Juan, the day we met him, he was so excited and sounded so confident. I really put full trust into him and he didn’t let me down. I couldn’t have been more happy with table setup. I loved the hanging flowers and candles from the pergola, it really added to the romantic feel of our wedding. I wanted small floral arrangements down the center of the table with candles woven in-between. The color and the size of floral arrangements were exactly what I wanted for our wedding. I did pay extra for my bridal bouquet because they didn’t have the exact flowers I wanted. I thought the extra $150 would also include a larger size bouquet but it turned out that it just paid for the different flowers. So make sure you explain the size, the flowers, the color, ect so you get exactly what you want. Overall I was over the moon with all the flowers arrangements and still loved my bridal bouquet in spite of the size. The resort florist and Juan really did a beautiful job! SPA We had a couples massage, did the hydro therapy once, I had a trail for my hair and makeup, and had my hair and makeup done by the spa the day of my wedding. At least 6 other girls had their hair and makeup done by the spa also. The couples massage was a nice relaxing experience. I would totally recommend it! The hydro therapy is just plain fun! I wish we would have had more time to go back and do it again. Make sure to make your reservations for hydro therapy as soon as you get there for the rest of your stay because spots fill up fast. I would also hands down recommend a trail for your hair and makeup. I loved what she did for my trail and the day of my wedding but the bride next to me was not happy with her hair the day of her wedding but she told me she didn’t have a trail. They worked with her until she was happy but it got a little emotional for her and I think you could just avoid that with a trail. The less stress on your wedding day the better! Spa 5 out of 5 stars. DJ and Dancing We did not pay extra for a DJ or dance floor. We brought two portable speakers online hoping that they would be loud enough and put together a playlist for each section of the wedding (ie cocktail hour, dinner, dancing, cutting the cake, introduction, ect) The speakers were okay but nothing like what we heard from a wedding that did have a DJ. So maybe if you still want to do your own playlist, at least pay extra for the use of the resort speakers. It seemed to just add a little extra party to the wedding when you want to get down and dance! There was plenty of room for a dance floor but to be honest I didn’t feel like I was missing out on that. We had the dining table to the right and the cocktail hour furniture to the left and in the middle was a large space for dancing. Romantic Dinner: The first night we were at Now Sapphire we had our romantic dinner that was included in our wedding package. After a stressful week before the wedding and the stress of travel it was a great way to reconnect with my groom and have some alone time together. I would totally recommend this to future brides! The food was wonderful! We had salad with shrimp and goat cheese (the best salad we had the whole time we were in Mexico and now one of my favorite salads), Surf and Turf " Now Sapphire"(Fillet of beef and sea scallops, glazed vegetables, Oporto sauce) and Crunchy of red fruit, vanilla and mint sauce. We also ordered a bottle of wine to share during dinner. Our waiter was wonderful! He gave us our time alone but also engaged with us to talk about downtown and his favorite local places to eat authentic Mexican food. He was just delightful! I would give the food 5 out of 5 stars. FOOD Wedding Meal: Cocktail hour: GUACAMOLE AND CHIPS, SLICED TOMATO AND MOZARELLA CHEESE WITH PESTO, TAMALE, and PORK BAKED IN LEAVES “SOPES” (I only tasted the tamale and it was wonderful! 5 out of 5 stars) Dinner Salad: MIXED LETTUCE WITH BLUE CHEESE AND WALNUT CONFIT: HONEY BALSAMIC DRESSING (4 out of 5 stars) Dinner Soup: BRANDY SCENTED CREAMY LOBSTER SOUP (5 out of 5 stars) Dinner Entrée: 1) SUR AND TUR OF BEEF FILET AND SHRIMPS, WILD MUSHROOM SAUCE AND MILD SWEET PEPPER SAUCE (4 out of 5 stars) I wish we would have got the Now Sapphire Surf and Turf that we were served at the romantic dinner. 2) COCHINITA PIBIL WRAPPED PORK IN BANANA LEAVES SERVED WITH A RED SAUCE, PICKLED ONIONS, AND WARM FLOUR TOTILLAS. (My groom’s favorite Mexican dish and I really wanted him to have it at our wedding. 5 out of 5 stars) Desert: COGNAC TRUFFLE CAKE (3 out of 5 stars. None of their deserts at Now Sapphire are mind blowing and this was no exception.) Wedding cocktail: Watermelon Lime Margaritas (5 out of 5 stars)

I am so sorry to keep asking so many questions but here's another one I have ordered the vases, candle holders, and a ton of other wedding supplies but now how do I get them to Mexico? I read somewhere that we can only take $300 worth of wedding supplies with us on the flight, is that true? And I also read that you have to have a note in spanish explaining that everything is for your wedding? Please advise. Thanks! And Merry Christmas!

I am so sorry to keep asking so many questions but here's another one I have ordered the vases, candle holders, and a ton of other wedding supplies but now how do I get them to Mexico? I read somewhere that we can only take $300 worth of wedding supplies with us on the flight, is that true? And I also read that you have to have a note in spanish explaining that everything is for your wedding? Please advise. Thanks! And Merry Christmas!

I am so sorry to keep asking so many questions but here's another one I have ordered the vases, candle holders, and a ton of other wedding supplies but now how do I get them to Mexico? I read somewhere that we can only take $300 worth of wedding supplies with us on the flight, is that true? And I also read that you have to have a note in spanish explaining that everything is for your wedding? Please advise. Thanks! And Merry Christmas!

Hi brides! Happy Oct 1st!! 122 days until my wedding day! I was wondering if you are having the resort do your makeup, do you know if they use airbrush makeup or what kind of makeup are they using?

Hey brides! I was wondering if you paid for the wedding in cash or if they can take your credit card at the resort? Kinda worried about carrying that much cash around with me in Mexico...advise? And what did you and your guests do for money? Exchange at the airport? Just use US dollars the whole trip? Use ATM at resort? How much cash should we have on hand? I know these sound like odd questions but it will be our first time to another country besides Canada Thanks!

@@vanessav53 that's super cute! Thanks!

Hi Brides! I have been getting quotes for floral arrangements the past few weeks. What floral arrangements did you have Now Sapphire do? Or did you have a company outside the resort to do all the flowers for your wedding? Or did you do a mix of flowers from Now Sapphire included in your package with an outside florist? How did it turn out? Thanks! KL

Does anyone have any excursion recommendations? What was the best part of your trip besides the wedding?

Does anyone have any excursion recommendations? What was the best part of your trip besides the wedding?

Does anyone have any excursion recommendations? What was the best part of your trip besides the wedding?

Does anyone have any excursion recommendations? What was the best part of your trip besides the wedding?

This is too cute!

Ours turned out to be 4 pages. We have a small description of Riveria Maya Mexico, travel agent info, welcome party date/time/location, wedding date/time/location, and our wedding website was on the back.

Thanks for sharing

Here are two more ideas to consider. I am going to do the second one in our wedding colors. It's soft, flowly, and easy DIY. Happy planning, Kristen.

Good afternoon Brides! I was wondering what kind of table setup have past brides done or current brides planning for their reception? At first I was thinking one long table, kinda family style since we are only having 25-30 guests, but now I also like the U shape. Any suggestions?

Good afternoon Brides! I was wondering what kind of table setup have past brides done or current brides planning for their reception? Has anyone done a U shape table setup on the tequila terrace? At first I was thinking one long table, kinda family style since we are only having 25-30 guests, but now I also like the U shape. Any suggestions?

@@kmk2016 I am having the same issue. I brought my blush dress last month and now I am trying to figure out what colors to have my sisters wear. My favorite color is fushsia pink and that's what my heart is set on. Everytime I try to change it I feel like it just isn't our wedding style. My friends think the bright pink bridesmaid dresses will still work with my blush dress. Dessy has a ton of colors to pick from in the pink family. We are planning to go this week to see them in person and try to figure out what pink will go best with my blush dress. I attached a picture of our wedding colors but there is no blush there I don't know if that helps but at least you know you're not alone... Happy planning, Kristen.

@@JaxBchKay I found a company that does streaming for wedding ceremonies. Idk if they are any good, but worth looking into? Here is their website http://www.octaviomontes.com/packages.html

And remember we all have to be there a few days before our weddings anyway, so you can kinda play with the timeline when you get there. We get there on a Wed and get married Saturday, so we can see in person how fast the sun goes down and what it really looks like at 4pm in January

@@1BeachBride, @@jayejayelynn Remember to keep in mind sunset times also. Couple pictures from 5-6pm is perfect timing for sunset pictures in late January. If that's important to you, here is the website we used http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=923. That does give your guests an hour to go back to their room, get a sweater, get a drink, or even just freshen up a lil. And it gives the staff of Now Sapphire time to setup the chairs from the ceremony site to the cocktail hour/reception site. It would have cost us SO much more if we had to request chairs for the reception and ceremony site. This is way cheaper! Hope that helps Happy Planning, Kristen.

@@niknic456 I actually went with Now Sapphire because a few travelers posted pictures of bed bugs at Now Jade. Maybe it is a problem in Mexico over all? Did you ask to be moved from those rooms? How did the hotel staff handle it?

Hi brides of Now Sapphire! I was wondering what others are doing or have done for a welcome party for their guests? I emailed Juan and of course we recommended doing the 2 hour dinner for $28 per guests. That's a lil high for our budget. Did anyone do anything creative or have any ideas that might be a lil more budget friendly? Thanks, Kristen.