jenna32schap

We are having the semi-private dinner at El Torete Steakhouse. We have 74 guests total so we didn't really want to pay per plate for food. Also, I think with having so many guests we will be taking up the majority of seats anyway. We are then having a reception at the Tequila Bar. We are having a DJ and paying for an open bar per person. Our dinner is 630-8 and the reception is 8-11.

Thanks.. you too!!

@@Victoriabride I just email her with any questions. She typically responds within a week. We are all flying from Philadelphia. We had our guests book their room and flight through apple vacations. Each guest got about $100 off their room fee as long as they booked the Apple flight. We will be getting comps back from the resort. Not sure how much it will be yet but we are using that for wedding costs and we are paying for my sister's room.

With taxes and shipping for the photo book, the 5 hour photography package came to $1750. The only places I know of for the ceremony is the gazebo or the beach. However, I'm pretty sure the gazebo can only accommodate 20 guests. Let me know if you have any other questions!

@@Denisse Our ceremony is at 5. Here is the brekadown from the email she sent me... "We can start at your “getting ready” at 4pm Ceremony 5pm Group photo, photo session with the wedding party, bride & groom session 5.30 to 6.30 Dinner/Reception (cake, speeches, bouquet, etc) 6.30 to 9" Our dinner is from 630-8 then we are having a reception from 8-11. The only bad part is that she will only be at the reception for one hour. We figured we will just make sure the first dance, garter/bouquet toss, and anything else important happens in that first hour. We also figured that most people will be taking a lot of their own pictures at that point as well! Hope this helps!

@@Denisse yes we are! We booked the 5 hour package.

@@calgarybride2015 Sounds great! Thanks for the info. I am definitely back and forth between clear and colored. I've actually seen a lot more color tumblers in the dollar store compared to clear. My concern with the colored tumblers is purchasing stickers that will be able to be seen on all the different colors. Did anyone have a problem with this? Did anyone just give the colored tumblers without any sticker? Thanks!

@@calgarybride2015 how do you plan on packing the tumblers? I love this idea and they look great but I would have about 65 to pack. Also, did you go to the store and pick out all clear tumblers or were you able to order them? I was thinking different colors would be good for contrast but I saw you said you got letters for your guests initials. I love that idea! Where did you purchase the letters and where are you putting them? Thanks!!

@@calgarybride2015 @@NJBride2014 Thank you both sooo much for the advice! Great song choices as well! Glad to see it could go either way!

I actually have never been in Cabo before and we will not be going prior to the wedding. We are just hoping everything turns out well!! The average price our guests are paying is about $1400 (we are from PA so $600-650 is for the flight). For the Palace, it would cost each person about another $300. Also, we are in our mid to late 20s and our family/friends like to party and have a good time. I read a lot of reviews suggesting that the Santa Fe is more of the party place, which I believe fits our crowd perfectly!

Thanks so much for the info!! I really appreciate it

We are getting married in Cabo in July. We had to choose a Bridal Party Entrance, Bride's Entrance, and Recessional songs to play on a CD. I think I am going to go with... 1- Train- Marry me 2- Chantal Kreviazuk- It feels like home 3- Israel Kamakawiwo- Somewhere over the rainbow Here is my question... are you supposed to play the instrumental versions only or do you play the songs with the actual lyrics during the ceremony? Not sure if it could go either way. I wanted to see what most brides are doing! Thank you!

I was also looking into purchasing a GoPro or some other video device for our wedding in Cabo in July! We are going to opt out of the professional videographer. I love the idea of video clips throughout the week with our friends and family! We probably would not use it again so I wouldn't want to spend too much on it. Let me know if anyone comes up with a good one to get! @@TinkerSofi do you know the model of yours and would you recommend it? Thanks!

@@lunapow67 Hey Luna! I am getting married at the Riu Santa Fe on July 20! We also chose this resort as it was too expensive for our guests to stay at the Palace. We are having between 65-85 guests. Let me know what questions you have and I would be happy to help you! I would say the wedding is possible for under 10k. It really depends on what package you get and what you want to do for a dinner/reception afterwards. Jenna

@@calgarybride2015 thanks for the response!! I'm sure your Wedding will be beautiful next week! Congrats!! We originally wanted to have the legal ceremony at home prior to going as well. However, being that our grandmothers cannot make it to Cabo we plan and having a very small Church ceremony and dinner at our house following. I'm worried about being stressed over that while I'm trying to get together all the last minute details for our trip! Thanks again!

I am getting married at the Riu Santa Fe in July. I'm going to share our current plans incase anyone has questions or needs suggestions! We currently have 65 guests booked and may have up to 20 more guests (they have until March to book). We are getting married on the beach and having a semi-private dinner at one of the restaurants that overlook the ocean. Our dinner will take place during sunset which should turn out nice! Being that we have so many guests, I doubt we will even notice the other guests that may be at the restaurant. This option is nice because you don't have to pay per plate (although we do have a fee for each guest over the amount allotted in our wedding package). After dinner, we are going to one of the reception areas. We have to pay the reception fee of $600. We are having open bar there for 3 hours ($18pp). We are also having a DJ there. This helped a lot with costs because the dinner was included so paying for the open bar wasn't much of a problem then. Hope this helps!

I have a question if anyone can help! We are having a symbolic ceremony in Cabo in July. We are not planning on getting legally married in PA until after the Cabo wedding. I do not need any paperwork or have to be legally married prior to going to Cabo for the ceremony, correct? Thanks!

@toriw83 We are using Apple Vacations. I would definitely recommend using a Travel Agent. A lot of our guests have reached out to Apple with a wide variety of questions (both prior to booking and after). They provide a room discount if you book your flight through them. They also provide transportation to and from the airport (which I'm sure most places do). I couldn't imagine having all of our guests book on their own and then having them asking us questions that we may not have answers to! I think having a Travel Agent takes away some of the stress! Also, there is an Apple representative at the resort for any on sight questions. Jenna

Sure! I will send you the Palace extras list. Again, it is for 2014 so I'm sure prices will change. I also have all the info for the Santa Fe If you need anything! I'm getting married on July 20, 2015. Jenna

I'm getting married at the Riu Santa Fe (price was better for our guests) in July. I have the Palace extras list for 2014 that they originally sent me when beginning to plan my wedding. It was sent to me as a PDF so I'm not sure how to share it on here? If you want I can email it to you. Let me know if you have any other questions! Jenna

That sounds like a great idea... thanks again!

@@MelissaH113 Ok, perfect thank you!! I know you said you did your music through Spotify.. I honestly don't know anything about Spotify! Do you have to download the music or is it more like an online radio? Do you have to be a member? Thanks again! Jenna

@@MelissaH113 thanks for all the great info!! As far as the DJ, did you do the traditional bridal party songs as each member of the bridal party entered or did you skip that? Also, did you do the traditional first dance, father/daughter dance etc... Thanks!! @@thebestjacquie thanks for sharing your info as well! I was thinking about getting glow sticks too! Do you remember where you purchased yours from? As far as the welcome bags... how many guests did you have? We are having 80-90 guests. So far we have 30 rooms booked. I was planning on just doing a welcome bag for each room (30-40 total). I asked the wedding coordinator and she said that they can only be handed out at check in and it will cost $5 per bag. I like what you did since I can basically do the same thing and save $200 handing them out on my own. A lot of our guests are coming in groups as well. Was it difficult to have them all together... did you have a table or suitcase or something you brought down to check-in with you to carry them all? Thanks!!

I think I would only want to purchase half of the starfish/sand dollars. Let me know if anyone else wants to split them.. Thanks!

I'm just not sure if I would be able to use all of them for our ceremony. Did you just pack them on the plane with you? Do you know about how much shipping would cost for the whole lot. I am from northeastern Pennsylvania. Thanks for getting back to me! Jenna