JenniferH114

@@hapykat - I agree. I'm not going to let it get to me, but considering we will be paying over $5k for the wedding alone, you'd think they could just toss in the lights for free!

@@Sabes44 @@hapykat I sent Jessica an email yesterday to ask about the price for the lights for Las Olas and she told me $220!!!!! I wrote back saying some other brides were quoted $100 and she said that some prices went up, which is why it's higher now. Would you mind sending me your email (jhowe114(at)gmail.com) with the quote for $100? Did you get that quote after the new year? UGH! WTF! @@Wrathwitch - I'm glad it's straightened out! That would make my heart drop to my stomach. I haven't really been stressed about anything but now that we're about three months out, I worry about little things here and there. We're getting down to the end of planning, though. We have some more things to get ordered (maracas, papel picado, paper fans, tote bags for OOT bags) and a couple of things left to pick out with Jessica (flowers, cocktail hour menu, cake)! Time has been flying!

Our guests are all flying nonstop from Chicago to Cancun. Our wedding is at the Excellence Riviera Cancun in Riviera Maya/Puerto Morelos on May 16, 2015. The resort is adults only, so that does increase the cost. For two adults in a standard suite for three nights, nonstop airfare and airport transfers in Mexico, the price was about $2300 - $2500 total. We have some guests staying for six nights and their package was about $3200 for two people in a standard suite.

I'm May 16, 2015! It's time to really make sure we have all of the boxes checked off on our list!!

My dress was almost $700 and my alterations are $285, which includes hemming, bringing the shoulders in a bit (since it's not strapless), and a full bustle. I was expecting it to be around $300 going in. My mom worked in bridal for a long time, so she had forewarned me that alterations are pricey.

@Wrathwitch - Did you ever get the issues straightened out? I have not heard of that happening to anyone else. Hopefully it was just a communication mix-up! @@upstatekj - We just have my fiancé and the best man (his brother) and they will be going with the tan linen suit look... pants, vest and white button-up with rolled sleeves. I think they may also wear a tie if I can find a couple in our turquoise color.

@@upstatekj - That was just a rough outline but we are doing the gold package, which adds the cocktail hour and then the standard reception is four hours. Jessica told me they leave about 20 mins between the ceremony and cocktail hour for some pictures.

@@hapykat @@Giocivs88 You get chairs and linens, etc. included in your package. They are whatever "standard" issue the hotel offers. The linens are white, for example. What costs extra are colored linens, "fancy" chairs... Basically anything you want upgraded you would order through their preferred vendor, which I believe is Event One. When you start ordering that stuff it adds up and you have to pay for delivery, etc.

@@hapykat - I totally understand your perspective when it comes to the DJ and how much it costs. For us, at the end of the day, we just don't want to have to worry about anything. Also, the DJ will play music during dinner and provide added ambiance with lighting. When we met with Jessica she told us the day would roughly go as follows: 5pm - Ceremony (about 15-20 minutes) 5:20 - Break for some photos 5:45 - 6:45pm - Cocktail hour 6:45pm - 7:30pm - Fire show 7:30 - 9pm - Dinner 9 - 11pm - Dancing Again, we could change the fire show to after dinner but I think it might flow better for us to go before. I feel like with that schedule we are still getting some good use out of the DJ, including during dinner.

@@Giocivs88 - The DJ is $1300 for four hours and that includes during dinner time. No, you do not pay an outside vendor fee for any of the "preferred" vendors that the resort works with. DJ Mannia is a preferred vendor. We hired an outside photographer, and we will have to pay the extra $500 for that. If you ask Jessica, she should send you a price sheet for extras such as the DJ, fire show, other live musicians, etc.

@@hapykat @@Giocivs88 - We are the ones doing the fire and percussion show! It's $1260 for 45 minutes. We are also hiring a DJ - using the resorts preferred vendor DJ Mannia. Jessica recommended the fire show after cocktail hour or after dinner, so that we could go straight into dancing for the rest of the night. We haven't decided when we are having it yet.

For our welcome bags we are doing... Personalized totes (from Wedding Chicks) Personalized Tumblers Bottle Openers Hangover Kits w/ meds (bags are from Etsy and then ibuprofen, tums, etc.) Personalized Do Not Disturb Signs (from Etsy) Mini Aloe & Mini Sunscreen Lib Balm Thank you sand jars (being made by my mom) Thank you cards

Jessica said we could pick and choose as long as everything was on one of the menus. So we mixed up our options and she confirmed that everything we picked was fine. We actually already had the reception menus printed. I haven't thought about music for the welcome party, actually, but I'm sure we'll try to figure something out. We aren't planning on hiring entertainment or anything, so if we don't have music it's fine. I figure people will be mingling a lot anyways.

So far, I have not heard of any additional fees in regards to the food or menus. Is there something you were thinking? Also, here are the final menus we chose: Welcome Dinner: ***Mixed greens with radicchio, carrot ribbons, hearts of palm, tomato, mandarin and grapefruit segments served with a orange passion fruit dressing ***Cilantro avocado soup with panela cheese ***Pistachio crusted salmon with orange chipotle glaze combined with grilled chicken breast laced with red wine and forest mushroom sauce served with roasted onion tequila confit and lentil saffron rice ***Bitter chocolate coffee and cardamom truffle cake with a hazelnut praline emulsion Wedding Reception Dinner: *** Fresh romaine lettuce, Parmesan flakes, creamy Caesar dressing served with focaccia croutons *** Potato, leeks and corn chowder *** Wild berry sorbet *** Grilled fillet of beef tenderloin on roasted bell pepper pasilla acuyo sauce combined with chunky lobster simmered in a creamy fennel sauce served with roasted garlic herb mashed potato and grilled vegetables *** Wedding cake (to be decided)

I emailed the menu. The welcome dinner is $25 per person and includes the four course dinner and two hours of private bar. The lobster for our dinner is not a full tail. It's basically lobster meat in a sauce, so it isn't extra. I got the sashes from here: http://weddinglinensdirect.com/ There are other sites, but they had the best turquoise option for what we are looking for. Yes, I switched the welcome dinner from Garibaldi Square to the Foyer because I was not impressed with the Square. It's in the back of the resort and I felt like we'd feel like we were in a small corner.

@@hapykat - We are doing a welcome party/dinner, so Jessica had sent me the menu options for that. After reviewing those options, I actually liked one of the entree options better than the gold package options. We ended up choosing the Filet and Lobster (with veggies and garlic mashed) for the reception and we are doing the chicken and salmon (from the gold package) for the welcome party. I don't eat fish, so that really narrowed down the options for us. I figured I'd rather have the dish with something I don't eat (salmon) for the welcome party, rather than at the reception dinner. I eat shrimp and lobster, so I was hoping there would've been a chicken/shrimp or beef/shrimp option, but there wasn't. I ordered the sashes online. Our colors are pink and turquoise, and I'm really picky about the turquoise. Turquoise can really be all over the place with some more blue, some more green, etc. So I shopped around and finally found one that works perfectly. Also, I ordered double the amount so that we can put two sashes on each chair. (I just thought it would pop more.) Including shipping, which was a rip off at $13, we paid $40 total for 80 sashes. I don't think that's bad at all. Sashes are included in the gold package, but I think you can do rose petals instead, so we'll just do that.

@@Sabes44 - We are not planning to do assigned seating. Pretty much everyone going knows each other, so I don't think seating will be a big issue. Also, we decided to stick with one entree option, instead of two, so it'll be easier on everyone and we won't have to worry about that either. @@hapykat - Thanks! I have no idea how early we will get them, but they actually don't take too long to put together. I think they are on-site, so maybe I could ask to get them a day early or something. My mom is bringing her hot glue gun (lol), which will make everything much quicker. We are planning on one long square table, so we can fit 30-35 people. I'm guessing we'll need 3 or 4 centerpieces, so 9-12 vases total. We need three vases per centerpiece (each a different size). We are using floating candles, so they will sit on water below the top of the vase. I don't think wind will get in there too easily, so I haven't really thought about it. We also have white starfish to spread across the table, menus, custom maracas, a burlap runner, and custom coasters for drinks, so all of those will help to bring the look together. We ordered our own organza chair sashes for the ceremony, too, which we would like transferred to the reception chairs.

@@Sabes44 - I was just thinking... I could be wrong but I thought you only needed 35 people for the Lobster House to shut it down on a night it's not already closed. I thought it you wanted to use it on a Friday or Monday you could since it's already closed those nights. Again, could be wrong.

@@hapykat - I just emailed you her quote of $4 per vase. I will have to reach out to her to ask about Good question about the flooring. I wasn't paying attention (whoops!) but from the picture I found earlier, it looks okay. I will check my pictures too. I already have my heels, so too late for that anyways!!

When I get home, I will pull up the pics I took while we were there and post any good ones I have. I'm sure they'll be identical to what Jessica sends anyways but I'll still post them. We both looked at the Foyer and were like "Wow!" Much nicer than I thought it would be. I just worry about the heat and I'm going to be in a full wedding gown. Plus, I'm always hot as it is. I don't want to be dying! I just love being right on the beach at Las Olas. I think it'll be so perfect.

Here are the pics Jessica sent me. I double checked the email and she did say $4 per vase for rental.

I got the picture! I did have that one. Ha! Thanks, though. I love that look. For $60, it's totally worth it to me! That's so pretty.