jeffandrobyn

I am getting married July 2015 and my STD just arrived! They will go out within the next week. Mine have the date and our travel agent's information to book. Our group block of rooms needs to be released at the end of March or else we are held financially responsible for them, so I'm hoping that by sending STD now, bookings will start. Our invitations will probably go out in early January.

I used the knot and paid the $20 to have a custom domain. Check out www.robynandjeff2015.com

@@Sophiaone95 Hi there. I'm sorry to hear your family is giving you a hard time - I can relate I will give you the advice my fiance's parents gave us: do what's best for you. I know it stinks to not have some of the people you love there with you but at the end of the day, THEY are making the decision not to come. THEY are doing what's best for them. So why should you have to compromise what you want? That's not fair to you. I am dealing with something very similiar with my fiance's aunt. She thinks she is going to be killed by Mexican drug lords (lol!) and refuses to come. And since she looks after my fiance's grandma, it means she won't come either. Now I can respect her decision, but she makes it very awkward because she won't even acknowledge the wedding is happening. Good luck! I know it can be rough.

@@NixSpade I hope my post didn't irritate or annoy you - that certainly wasn't my intention. I'm only trying to give you the perspective of someone who works in the industry. Not trying to convince you to do otherwise, but just keep in mind that many Hyatt properties are franchises and I am guessing, since Playa is managing this property, that this Hyatt is one of them. It could very well be an amazing, amazing property but when you're dealing with franchises, I've noticed there is often inconsistency. I just wouldn't use reviews of other Hyatts as a basis as to how good this one will be. I would find out if this is a new build or a refurbishment. I would also try to stay there beforehand if you can.

@@leesabrian I heard that resort DJs (in general) in Mexico aren't that great. Neither are the photographers. We hired both externally. Now will only charge a $65/pp day pass fee for the photographer and then $300 for the DJ. Totally worth it in my opinion! For Disco Movil, the basic package includes two people - and all of the mixing equipment. I noticed the differences with the more expensive packages for them are extra lights. We are also getting married on the Tequila Terrace so we skipped the light up dance floor. I had considered cold fireworks, but apparently Now doesn't allow them anymore. We're using Juan Navarro for photos, who I've heard great things about, both from others on the boards and from some people I know who specialize in destination weddings. I'm hoping the resort will give us a longer video in lieu of the photographer we're passing on. In my opinion, the photography is the most important part. @@KathyandEthan The DJs I spoke to all charged in the $700 range for a light-up dance floor. We're getting married on the tequila terrace so we skipped that all together. String lights - bring your own. I was told by the resort that they would handle any decorations you bring for no extra charge. The only exception is chair bows - they'll charge $1/bow. Still a WAY better deal than using theirs for $5/each...I've seen them for purchase online for about 50 cents.

@@leesabrian Disco Movil quoted me $600 for a 3 hour reception. Also I spoke to Audio Cancun. They were charging $800 and discounted me an extra $100 to offset the vendor fee cost.

@@Lia33 a TA will block your rooms based on how many people you're expecting, yes. You'll likely need to put a deposit down on your room block, and then look at the policy for releasing the rooms. For example, if we don't release unused rooms by March 27th, we become financially responsible for them. I'm getting married a few days before you (yay us!) and I'm planning to get save the dates out this month. Save the dates have my travel agent's contact information on them, so that should make things easier for my guests. My invitations will go out Dec/Jan.

@@Lia33 No problem and good luck! No offense to your sister, but if you want to find out if this is a travel agent that truly knows her stuff, ask if she has an IATA or CLIA number. Those are industry organizations - try to think of it as a Good Housekeeping seal of approval. If she is part of one of those (IATA is better but CLIA is still good) then she'll have access to more. I'd also ask who she'd be booking your room block through. Two popular tour operators are Travel Impressions and MLT Vacations. Nothing wrong with booking directly with the hotel, but your perks won't be as good. Those are the ones who will help her to get you some good perks.

@@Lia33 congrats! It was a huge weight off my shoulders when we settled on our venue - I'm sure you know what I'm talking about As far as an agent goes, I would STRONGLY recommend a travel agency. I'll issue the disclaimer that I work in the travel industry (I am not a travel agent, nor do I work for a travel agency), so I can tell you some inside things about agents that a lot of people aren't aware of. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. 1. It doesn't cost anything to work with a travel agent. Travel agents get paid a commission on the back end through your resort. 2. A good travel agent has access to rates that you can't secure on your own. If you work with an agent that works with your resort often, they'll also have some extra pull. 3. There are perks in it for you - for example, for every 6 rooms we book, we get 1 free. That's how my BFF who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to come to my wedding is able to make it. And for every 10 rooms, we get a free upgrade. The agent is able to access this because she's going through a tour operator, not the resort directly. Tour operators won't work directly with consumers. 4. Some agencies have a payment plan set up. My guests have to give $150/pp deposit and then they can pay however much they'd like, as often as they'd like. It makes the trip more affordable versus charging the entire thing at once. 5. There's a lot of coordination involved. A travel agency will make your life easier. They'll track (and tell you) who's left their deposit and such. You don't have to chase guests yourself. That could get awkward. But my number one suggestion - go with an agent who specializes in destination weddings and works full time as an agent. There are a lot of agents out there who book travel on the side as a second income. You don't want that for such a major event. A lot of agents also dabble in this or that, versus doing one thing really well. Hope that helps!

I am having a best friend as my MOH, and two future sister-in-laws as bridesmaids, plus the daughter of a very good friend as a flower girl. I'm not thrilled about asking one of the sister-in-laws (she's the wife of my fiance's brother) but it's the right thing to do so Im sucking it up.

@@Lia33 of the three that you mentioned, i would say excellence. i stayed at one in the DR and it was amazing. That said, it also wasn't cheap. I started by compiling a list of resorts that looked interesting to me and ran them all by a travel agent who specializes in DW for feedback. She crossed a number of them off my list, telling me the good and the bad of every property. We narrowed it down to 3 resorts and visited them all two weeks ago - Dreams Tulum, Now Sapphire and Azul Beach. We booked Now Sapphire. We chose it for its location, the food, the fact that we could get all of our must haves and would like to haves, their flexibility, etc. etc. You'll find that some resorts are more willing to work with you than others. For example, some charge you set-up fees for using your own decorations and there are outside vendor fees to consider into your budget. Some properties are rigid with who you can and cannot use - we didn't like that. My advice would be (if you haven't already) figure out your budget and put a list together of 'must haves' and 'would like to haves' and go from there. I would def hire a travel agency too. If your budget permits, I would also visit your favorite properties ahead of time. It was very helpful for us to see all of the set-ups and little details. For example, one resort advertises only two weddings per day, 4 hours apart. We saw two weddings going on at the same time, just a few hundred feet from another. We didn't like that and it helped us with our decision to not go with that property.

We are hiring Juan Navarro. His pictures are beautiful, he gets great reviews and his prices were very reasonable. I think we're paying $1800 for 5 hours of coverage which includes him, an assistant and rights to all photos (which will come on a DVD.) We plan on adding an album - he charges $200-$300 for that.

I found out my boss is planning to fly to Mexico the day after my wedding for business. I have mixed feelings about her - as a person she's really nice but as a boss she's not so great and that clouds my judgement of her. So...knowing that she's going to be in the area anyway, do I invite her? I don't want to feel uncomfortable around her afterwards. We are going to do a brunch back home afterwards for those who couldn't attend our wedding so she would've been invited to that had she not told me about her trip.

I might be interested. I'm playing with the idea of pinks for my wedding. Can you send me a pic please? robynbrooke81@@gmail.com. Thanks!

Just reserved July 12, 2015 at Now Sapphire and am soooooooo excited!!! Anel was lovely to talk to and we felt so comfortable with her (and as two type-As that was super important.) I will have to read through all 212 pages but would be super grateful if past Now Sapphire brides shared tips, thoughts, feedback on things I shoudl (and should'nt) be doing. yay!!

We just booked July 12, 2015 for Now Sapphire! Yay!!! Sooooo excited. @@lisadra we are going to be checking our DIY stuff when we fly in boxes or duffels. It's way cheaper ($25 so long as it's under 50 pounds) and then you also have the peace of mind that it didn't get lost in customs.

My fiance and I just returned from a week in Mexico scoping out venues and are stuck between Azul Beach and Now Sapphire. Anyone else have this problem? How did you decide?

@@pddcmc we are looking at July 2015. It's a toss up between Azul Beach and NOW Sapphire

My fiance and I are going to Mexico on Tuesday (yay!!!) to scope out Dreams Tulum, NOW Sapphire and Azul Beach Hotel and will hopefully have made a decision before we get back home. I've been reading the reviews on all of these properties, but has anyone seen more than one of the above and how did they compare to each other? As of now, we think we'll probably end up at NOW Sapphire, but things could change after we sit down with the wedding coordinator and get on-site.

Thanks for this. We may go this route after all. I like that they have ones customized for different resorts.

It's on beachwedlockinvitations.com

beautiful! Where did you buy all the supplies? Michaels?

I saw some cute ones on the David's Bridal website.

My fiance and I are interested in doing the passport invitations - so cute! I was planning to do them myself with some assist from a creative friend, but I saw them online for what I think is a very reasonable price - $120 for 50 invitations. If you did passport invitations as a DIY project, how much did you spend and how many invitations did you make? If the cost is close to $120, I would just purchase them but if it's significantly cheaper to DIY (which I know it usually is) I'll go that route. Thanks!

We're going to start right away. Our thought is to start one month before our wedding, but I'm questioning if two months early is pushing it. I don't want my dress to not fit!