Sabes44

@@victoriasalv I bought my hair piece on Etsy, there are tons of great hair pieces on that site!

I always envisioned my hair down, but after we decided on Mexico I knew I would have to put my hair up and I am so glad I did! It was super windy and the humidity would have wrecked havoc on my hair. In half the pictures my husband looks like he has a mo-hawk from the wind. I am really glad I put it up because I didn't worry about it or fuss with it all night long!

Thank you @@kjb0528 we ended up only doing a 3 hour package on the wedding day to save some money. We didn't have any professional pictures of the reception but it was fine with me since there was so much down time during the reception. I got the beach ball picture idea from pinterest and got some really cute pictures from it! There is a better one that I framed where you can actually see my face.

It was $1,500 for the Cenote which included transportation and the entrance fee to the park. Here are some pictures from Juan Navarro, I still get giddy when I look at them! http://juanphotos.com/blog/trash-the-dress-cenote-sabra-and-donavan/ http://juanphotos.com/blog/wedding-at-excellence-riviera-cancun-sabra-and-donovan/

The Cenote shot was not in our budget at all but my husband really wanted to do it and it ended up being a ton of fun and one of the most amazing things I have seen. Plus, the pictures you get are amazing and can't get those anywhere else. So if you can swing it, I say do it! My dress did not get trashed at all! Honestly it was cleaner after the Cenote than after the wedding! I just let it dry out and had it cleaned when I got home and it looks perfect! It is fresh water in the caves so doesn't hurt anything!

I used Juan Navarro too and LOVED him as well. We also did the Centoe TTD shoot which ended up being amazing and such a cool thing to see if you can while you are there!

I started talking to travel agents right away. We reached out to all our guests about a year in advance and sent the save the dates out 9 months in advance. I used them and everything went fine. On a price comparison with Wright Travel it was about the same. Just make sure you are happy and comfortable with who you pick because you and your guests will do a lot with them!

I did a burlap runner, hot pink, orange and white roses for the floral center piece and added a bunch of different votives. I wanted it to be a bit more simple, it turned out perfect. Except it was really windy at Los Olas, so the candles kept blowing out, but I get a ton of use out of them now at home!

@@victoriasalv - The labels weren't too difficult to put on a few were definitely crooked! But, I had extras so it was okay. I searched a lot on this site for templates and ended up finding some I liked and just tweaked it a bit and bought the labels they recommended.

Check out drugstore.com for welcome bag items. I got Tylenol, sunscreen, tums and a few other things from them. They have the great "sample" size packets that are perfect for the bags! I got my chapstick from Bulk Apothcary.com and made my own labels.

@victoriasalv-Honestly the seaweed was not good at all. I was kind of gross in some areas (even though they spend hours every day trying to clean it up). But, did that ruin the wedding or how much fun we had, NO! We just spent more time at the pool and I had some guests go in the ocean despite it and I tired it out, but I get freak out with stuff touching my legs that that I can't see underwater. Our photographer asked if we cared about the seaweed in pictures and I didn't and the pictures looked really cool with the extra texture. It just wasn't what I was expecting (they said its cause of the currents with El Nino and where the resort is located). Yes, they have a new coffee bar and tapas restaurant, both were awesome!

Really!? I wonder if Gloria is still there, I heard she was great too. I used to work in a hotel doing weddings and its not the easiest job or schedule for sure! If you ask your guests to RSVP with a menu choice that is the easiest way (I found to do it).

@victoriasalv-I think they will let you give your guests a couple of choices if you want. Honestly I just didn't want to deal with that, (knowing I had some allergies and at least one vegetarian guest). So we just selected a steak and scallop dish (that was amazing!) and noted on the invitations that was the entree and if anyone had any dietary/allergy needs to let us know. It worked out pretty well. They were easily able to do a vegetarian option for that guest, they just want to have heads up on counts for everything.

@victoriasalv-Thanks it was pretty sweet! We didn't plan on it being that late, we had wanted it earlier but they ended up booking another one earlier so it was either 4pm or 6:30pm. I decided against 4pm because we would have been in direct sun at that point and since the sun set at about 7:30pm it ended up being perfect for pictures and cocktail hour and not too hot!

I had a 6:30 wedding so mine was a bit later, not what I had originally wanted, but worked out perfectly. We had planned to separate the night before but he kept making a fuss about it and I ended up caving. We had legally married the week before and didn't do a lot of stuff the "traditional" way. Honestly I could have gone either way. But it was nice to spend some time together that morning and hang out, he was just being so sweet and needy (in a good way) it was hard to say no!

I did the same thing with my bouquet and centerpieces. They both turned out better than I expected! I got our maracas at Amols, inexpensive and a great product, I loved them! My husband didn't end up utilizing the grooms room the night before the wedding we we ended up staying together that night. We just got some breakfast the next morning and hung out on the beach with some friends for the morning and then separated. I went back and took a shower before my hair and make up appointment and that's when my sister and a couple of girlfriends joined up. I was only alone for about an hour but I started to get really anxious. It ended up being a really nice day before the wedding and even though we spent the night together before, it didn't feel like it when we saw each for the first look.

Thank you @@victoriasalv, @@calgarybride2015, @@Giocivs88!! I am just so happy we have some good pictures, I barely remember the ceremony or what I was doing the whole time. Luckily I just had a smile plastered on my face

Our pictures are ready! Here is a sneak peak on Juan's blog... http://juanphotos.com/blog/wedding-at-excellence-riviera-cancun-sabra-and-donovan/ I can't wait to see the rest and am so so happy we chose Juan! He was amazing and I am so happy with the pictures and glad I didn't look like a totally weirdo under water!

@@JenniferH114 - Your pictures are so wonderful! You look amazing and Juan captured wonderful shots of your celebration. I hope they are everything you want and more!!

@@JenniferH114, thank you for the update! Hope Arturo is okay, can't wait to see your pictures!!

Happy wedding week @@upstatekj, hope you have an amazing time!! @@JenniferH114 - have you gotten your pictures yet? I am waiting till you get yours to ask him about mine lol. It's been a month and I am getting antsy to see them! I can't wait to see yours too! Once I get mine, I am planning on writing a full review too, just not ready to be done with it all yet.

I LOVE your post, because I totally have "regrets" too. I hate to even call them regrets. For example I was getting mad at my husband the other night because we never took photos on the pier (because he was over it and it was hot and we were both hungry and thirsty). I should have pushed him to take them, but I didn't so now I really wish I had those pictures. Oh and I also started crying the week we got back at work, saying I wish we stayed longer and had more time alone. Unfortunately we only ended up having 2 1/2 days alone and it was not enough! In hindsight I wouldn't have changed anything, but wish I could do it all again. It was the most amazing time and if you or any of you other ladies on here are anything like me. You planned a great wedding, everyone had the time of their life, you are married to the best partner for you everything else now seems blah! So we find little things to pick apart because maybe it wasn't all that great and everyday life isn't that blah to planning the most amazing day(s) of our life. Just my thoughts...I have been feeling this too and thinking about it a lot. Oh and writing this totally made me tear up! Because it really was an amazing time and I know that despite the little things we didn't do, it was still epic!

@@upstatekj I used my Capital One Visa because they don't charge international fees. I know they don't take Discover, but not sure what other restrictions they might have. Maybe Jessica would know...