@@lizzjameson
Thank you!
We had our ceremony in the stone gazebo, i HIGHLY recommend having it there instead of directly on the beach. We watched a few weddings that were on the beach and there is just way too much going on, people in the water, people on the beach, volleyball games going on. If you have the option, have your ceremony in the stone gazebo. It is set back and all the way over to the left side of the beach, and you still have good views of the water minus all the people.
Our cocktail hour and reception dinner were at Las Dunas. Originally, it was to be at Sky Bar, but I really wanted a more intimate, rustic feel. Sky Bar has a minimum for guests and we only had 24 people total. They had given us an exception to use Sky Bar but when I saw pictures of Las Dunas set up for a wedding I fell in love with it. It was exactly what I had in mind for our destination wedding. The ONLY problem with this was the mosquitoes. September is rainy season, and along with that comes the mosquitoes. They seem to be out from 6:30pm-8:30pm and are relentless. We got attacked for the first hour of the reception which was awful, but the resort does everything they can to help control them. They spray the area daily actually came out to spray right before the reception and offered us plenty of bug spray for ourselves. Once the mosquitoes were gone around 8pm, the rest of the night went by perfectly.
The food was delicious, we went with the tenderloin and everyone said it was the best meal they had the entire week at the resort. I really have no complaints about anything, the service at this resort is amazing, everyone is so unbelievably nice and super helpful. My mother in law has trouble walking and they got her a wheelchair right away and were always offering to help get her around.
As far as vendors and extras, we went with everything the resort offered us. We chose the gold package which included a video of the ceremony and a photography package with the resort's onsite photographer "Beach Weddings Studio." Our photographer was Federico, and he was amazing! We didn't pay anything extra for his service and he ended up coming to our suite as well as the guys to take pictures getting ready prior to the ceremony, and then stayed another hour after the ceremony to take pictures on the beach. We ended up purchasing a package that included a slide show he made for us, a large photo album, and a disc with edited, copyright-free photos. My only complaint with the resort's vendors is the videographer. I do not believe he was affiliated with Beach Weddings Studio and the video is very low quality but at least we have something to watch to remind us of our wedding day.
We did not hire the DJ, but instead rented a speaker system from the resort for $400 and brought our Ipad with a playlist we created prior. The DJ service costs $1300 and we were trying to save as much money as possible and didn't feel the need to have a DJ for 24 people and everything worked out perfectly, I have absolutely no regrets there.
With the gold package, my hair style and make-up application were included. I did pay to have a hair trial the night before which I also HIGHLY recommend. I had Monica as a stylist and she really is amazing. I did not love the trial hair style but I told her exactly what I didn't like about it and my hair was perfect the next day for the wedding. She did everything I asked for and I loved it. She also did my make-up (no trial) and did an amazing job. If you can, request Monica!!!!
Finally, my wedding coordinator. I had Viviana and she is absolutely amazing. I never did a site visit and planned everything via e-mail with her and she did such a great job. The whole day was exactly how I had imagined it to be and more. She is available to meet with you whenever you want at the resort. She knew exactly how I wanted everything to be and made sure it happened. I seriously felt like I've known her forever, she is so good at her job and making sure everything goes smoothly. There were a few bumps, which I had expected- nothing can ever go perfectly smooth- but she fixed them right away. All of my bouquets and boutonnieres were delivered to my mom's room instead of mine so we had to relocate to find them and have someone run the boutonnieres down to the groomsmen, but it all worked out. The guy in charge of music at the ceremony played the wrong song for the wedding party entrance, but mine was right and there is nothing I could have done about it, so I let that slide.
I apologize for the length of this comment but I wanted to make sure I told you about everything! I seriously can not say enough about this resort and the service, it was absolutely amazing. We are already planning our return!
