Okotoksbride

I did not get a practice trial done on my hair and Isis did a great job on my hair! No worries!!

Be patient with the wedding team. Sometimes they have more than one wedding a day and they are focusing on that bride and her wedding from like noon on...You will appreciate it when you are that bride. They will give you responses soon. I was usually responded to at most within 72 hours at the start. As wedding got closer they responded within the day. First you need to decide if you are going to get married in London for the legal part. If you are you can skip all the paperwork stuff of divorce documents, witnesses, translations to English, blood tests. This is all only necessary if you want to be legally married in Mexico. Looking back, my hubby and I said we might have done legal stuff at home. Less hassle and less money. We did it legally in Mexico. We had to send out divorce documents by email to wedding planner about 8 weeks ahead. We did not have to have them translated. We also sent our witnesses' and our own passports by email about 4 weeks before. Again we did no translating. We paid while we were there about $200 for our WC to send in all the wedding certificated documents at end to have them translated to English so that we can be legal in canada. You can pick your flowers and decorations while you are down there. We went super simple because the decor was the beach. It was so beautiful. Pay you $500 deposit and then you do not pay anything else until you get down there and make all the decisions. It is frustrating to have to pay for food and drinks when you are at an all inclusive but that is very normal in all resorts. Think of it this way, you are paying for that staff to be devoted to you and your crew. I will send you as many things as I can that I have received while I was planning. I just got back. So am happy to answer questions. Read my review from a few weeks ago. It was an excellent experience. I will send prices etc to you. The prices are all in pesos so you will need to translate to GBP. Also check your prices. If you are thinking 5000£ for your package. You might be more interested in the presidential package. With our photographer and many many perks we were around $10000 cdn which is close to 5000£ if I'm not mistaken?

I used inweddings.com. I loved my dress. Ordered it custom made and rush shipped for $300

@@Okotoksbride how did 25 people only cost $500? The beach bbq I was quoted at $32/pp. So 25 x $32 is like $800, then all the open bar after what is included. Am I missing something Okay so I was a little off, pulled out my paperwork. Our legal presidential wedding package was 71000 pesos And we paid $1470 pesos for extra flowers and bouts We paid for our non drinkers and kids @ 45 pesos each We paid for our premium open bar @150 pesos each We paid for our BBQ @370 pesos each So we paid an extra 17000 pesos total for bar and flowers Our total package was 88660. which worked out to about $7300 CDN, and we had so many many many things to enjoy for our group.

The feet bracelets were made by my niece and I! They were super easy and she makes them constantly now. And has gotten super creative with them. A friend of mine sent us the bride and groom cups from Texas. Not sure where she bought them? The star fish table top was done for us by Lilian and her team... I didn't even ask for it. Pretty eh? I was hoping there would be some shops near the hotel so I can buy things for wedding (favours etc) as we flying from UK and don't really want to be bringing everything over. We bought some stuff at Walmart but didn't find much down there... We did buy shot glasses and maracas as the wedding favours for the table. We have around 50 guests and have booked presidential package and noticed that there is only 7 per golf cart, do you think it be worth paying for 2 carts? We had just over 30 guest and only used one cart, they took a few trips, they started at around 4:15 with our wedding beginning at 5. my girls, my parents and I were last to be picked up and we were picked up right at 5. You might want one more cart? We are selecting to get married at 4, mexican trio to start once we start having pics will the bubbly come outthink ? Do you think I should open bar at 5 or 6 just don't know what is best to do as I don't want them to be thirsty! Unless you are doing the catholic service, it won't take more than half hour, so the bubbly gets handed to you when you come down the isle and everyone gets a glass at that point... pictures can happen around then and there. Our open bar didn't officially start until 7 but the waitresses went to the Palapa and got us drinks as needed. At this point mostly everyone drank bubbly until the time arrived. @@Okotoksbride how did 25 people only cost $500? The beach bbq I was quoted at $32/pp. So 25 x $32 is like $800, then all the open bar after what is included. Am I missing something Maybe I am missing something, I just threw out a guestimate.... I haven't seen the damage on the credit card bill yet... I will pull out my paperwork from resort and tell you exactly...

The ruin is kind of the center of the resort along the beach front. It's very lovely and a popular spot for some great shots. But would be quite far from reception area. They have at least three chairs, maybe more in the salon, this would be a question for your coordinator, they can help you time that all out. Paying for the DJ, pays for the sound system. We tipped mostly everyone that was part of our wedding: Wedding coordinator Wedding assistants golf cart driver DJ bar tender waiters/waitresses chef Mariachi band hair dresser set up/tear down guys (behind the scenes, Lilian suggested that they NEVER get tips and they often do the most work to make your day special, and she told us that they work a 12 -15 hour day just for your wedding and they earn $6 a day!?) I think everything said and done we paid about $500 in tips. Some of our guests tipped during the night too, which was very nice. Also, you could likely give a item by item break down and ask your coordinator if you are missing anything and for them to give you a good idea of what the budget looks like. We did that and it was pretty accurate. Another thing that you might want in the Palapa is the dance floor, it is a lit up white raised dance floor. We didn't think it was necessary, and it cost over $800.... although my step son did stub his toe on the wood, and ended up bleeding but he was dancing bare foot on the wooden floor. Otherwise we were fine without it.

This was in my inbox from Calgarybride but I thought that others might like to see some of the answers too: In the location of the wedding, the pictures are very possible with the group as well as with just the two of you. If you want the mayan ruin and some of the other 'locations around the resort like we did in TTD, you will need the golf cart for that. The appetizer shot was my friend Juan who came from Cozumel, he didn't know why us polite Canadians weren't eating the food, so he grabbed the tray and started serving...lol! And yes we saw a lot of bellies that night, remember we were there in August and it was sooo hot. The guys were opening up their shirts almost before supper was over. That would be one complaint about the Palapa, it does not have fans and it gets pretty hot in there. They recommend the hair and make up to take two hours, I went at 1:30 and was back to my room by about 4... my family was starting to panic thinking they had a runaway bride on their hands... I wasn't worried... they pick you up last, you have all the time in the world! The make up is not airbrush, but it is sprayed at the end with a staying spray which made the make up last. Emergen C is able to be purchased at health stores, and I do believe I have seen them at Walmart now. You might be able to get a deal if you go to an independently owned health store. I bought mine through Amazon, along with many of my other things... this was a mistake, there were so many extra charges 'shipping' 'duty' etc. It did not make is any cheaper. If you want to go off and do independent shots with just you and your hubby 3:30 or 4 would be a good start time. But keep in mind, the earlier in the day, the hotter it is. How many guests will you have? The Presidential package for the legal ceremony was only $6000 ish Canadian for 10 people and another $500ish for the extra 25. And that included everything you want. The symbolic is cheaper than legal. Just check your numbers, you might be getting up there? We didn't want or need all the other extras either, but they sure were nice when we did get them We paid extra for the premium bar, got a few tequila snobs in our group so wouldn't have heard the end of it if they were served Jose Cuervo...lol and don't worry we got our money's worth on that tequila! lol Also, if you have any non drinkers or kids in your group, you can let your coordinator know that and they will charge you a smaller fee for pop or juice. This way you aren't paying bar prices for the people who won't be drinking. Any other questions, I don't mind! calgarybride2015, on 21 Aug 2014 - 3:02 PM, said:

So we just got back from spending three weeks in Mexico. Two weeks at the Grand Sirenis for our wedding and one week in Cozumel for our honeymoon. First of all, we used an agency called Romantic Planet Vacations who searched for resorts in our price range, they set up a website for our wedding where guests could book, they sent out reminders for payment deadlines, and they even called us with a price change of almost $200 on every one’s trips because prices went down! Have you ever heard of that?? They helped organize our out of town guests to get to the destination as well and we were give a free spot for each 11 guests, so we actually got my husband’s sons trips paying taxes only. I highly recommend them, there was no stress on our part with the booking and organizing of guests! Each of our guests also got $10 credit for food or drink on the plane with Air Transat, for both flights there and back! We were originally only going to book one week at the resort, but we asked how much it was for the extra week and it only cost another $500 per person for the entire week so a small group of our party booked the extra week! This was fantastic because we were able to get oriented with the resort before everyone got there and we were able to greet all of our guests upon their arrival. The resort is pretty big but not terrible. We have stayed at much larger resorts and we have stayed at smaller ones. You can walk just about anywhere in the hotel within 10 minutes. The spa and the disco are far from everything so you need to take the free shuttle for those but the shuttles ran very regularly and the drivers were very good about stopping and letting you on if they had space. First thing to realize is that the hotel tells you they cannot guarantee that your guests will be in the same building. And they likely will not be. We were spread out between 3-4 buildings and I have to be honest I was quite frustrated to start with because we had asked and asked and asked again right up until the morning of our guest’s arrivals and we still did not get to be together. I found this was absolutely not a big deal, we found that our group had regular congregating places at one of the pools, at the Beach BBQ and in one of the lobbies, it was never hard to find people. We gave out gift bags when people arrived that included the following things: · Ear plugs, in case you are near the ‘happy couple’ or any happy couple… · Flashlight, so you can find the toilet if the power goes out. · Aloe, in case you didn’t heed my advice about the sunscreen · Wet ones, keep these with you so you can wipe up after eating, drinking or spilling. · Clothespins for hanging up wet clothes · Q-tips for getting sand out of your ears and nose · Vaseline for whatever you need it for… don’t wear on lips in sun · Playing cards · Woolite, in case you need to wash something · Emergen-C, if you are feeling under the weather from booze or a flu bug, this is a great little remedy to help with dehydration and it is FULL of vitamin C. · Sanitizing wipes… um to sanitize stuff. · Alka Selter- just in case · Pepto Bismal – for the other just in cases… · Advil – for even more just in cases… day after swim up bar day? · Post card, addressed to us, this is going to be our ‘guest book’, pop it in the mail before you leave Mexico please, you can bring to the concierge and they will tell you where to mail. · 4M – Morck’s Magic Mosquito Mix… there is Deet in this, works great around your ankles at night to avoid bites. · Some helpful Spanish phrases · Guest list with room numbers so you can find your new friends! · Itinerary of the week’s events · Do not disturb sign for day after wedding · Welcome letter My husband and I did not plan excursions for the group. We had a group that were quite capable of planning their own activities as they saw fit. And since they were only there for a week, we wanted them to feel like it was their vacation too and not just all about our wedding. They seemed to appreciate that. The only mandated things that we did were the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. This did not stop the group from spending time together. People would book their own ala carte’s and then we would each migrate to the lobby bar, and hoard chairs for our large group. We had many laughs each night in those lobby bars. Tip those waitresses well, they continuously bring you free drinks all night. They took very good care of our group each night. We had our wedding on the Friday of the week, having our group there Sunday to Sunday. This wasn’t planned specifically but you do need to be there for three days prior to wedding as per Mexican laws. But having the five days together before the wedding was excellent because the group really bonded and had a great time together throughout the week which made our wedding dance so much fun! Our wedding guests are already talking about a reunion next summer! Be prepared for some business to be taken care of while you are there. So we had to do our wedding appointment with the coordinator when we got there. Do this earlier in your week so that you have a few days to get the things done that need to be done. We broke things down and tried to do one or two things every morning around breakfast as we were in that building for breakfast and this way we didn’t eat up our whole day. Let’s see if I can remember everything: 1. Wedding appointment where you make all your final decisions and pay for everything. 2. Your need your passports and tourist cards (in passport from customs) which they will make a copy of. 3. You will also need copies of these to go to the doctor for your blood test, which costs $250 cash USD. This is in the medical centre which is close to the tennis courts. 4. Your four witnesses need to bring their passports and tourist cards to the wedding office to sign forms. 5. You need another $200 USD cash for the wedding coordinator to have your documents translated into English so your marriage can be legal in your country. 6. Give any favours or place settings that you want set up for your wedding to the coordinators, they will have them set up for you. 7. Go and see the photographer and pay for your package, book your times for wedding day and trash the dress day if applicable. 8. Any other last minute details for or from wedding coordinator, they work hard to make sure your day is AWESOME. Trust them, they do great! When we arrived the week before, we asked one of the ladies in the wedding office to take us to the different wedding locations around the resort so that we could choose where we would get married. We hadn’t decided this before we arrived and that was okay. So Tania, who wasn’t even our coordinator, had time, she got us a golf cart and took us on a little tour. As soon as we saw the Palapa, we were sold! That beach in front is completely private and beautiful and the Palapa is spectacular. So this is where we decided. We chose the Presidential package because when we decided on the Palapa, and a private reception dinner with a DJ and bar, all of those prices added up and the Presidential package had so many great perks. Had my hair and make up done by resort spa. And they did a fantastic job! Lasted all evening in the heat and sun. The make up artist did exactly what I asked of her, no more, no less. I felt that I looked pretty great! Lol The package included wine and appetizers immediately following the ceremony. We had considered maybe organizing more food, but it wasn’t necessary, people ate what was there and then we headed in for supper.. so no issues. I don’t think people would have missed the food if it wasn’t there so don’t feel like you need to add it if it isn’t part of your package. We booked the Mariachi band for 45 minutes also included in the presidential package. This was great, people kicked up their heals during the cocktail hour on the beach while the photographer got shots of everyone. Everyone loved the Mariachi band!! Our wedding was at 5, finished at 5:30, then formal photos with group for about a half hour Mariachi band came at 6 until 6:45 and then we moved into the Palap for a few drinks and dinner started at 7. We had the DJ for three hours included in our package and this was enough. He played our music for our ceremony and then moved into the Palapa for the party… DJ played music for dinner and then the dance started. We only gave him our few important songs, otherwise he ran the show and did awesome! Our wedding group danced the night away. He read the crowd too, and played requests. He has several thousand songs… it was great! No complaints at all we had a great time! He wrapped it up around 10:15 and our party continued over at the disco which opens at 10:30. We did not pay for an extra hour for DJ which we were contemplating, it wasn’t necessary. With the DJ, you get speakers and mics, quite high quality cordless mics… people were interrupting the music all night to talk about us… it was a bit of an open mic. Fun! Our songs included: Walking down the Isle Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a wonderful world compilation ~Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole Registry signing I’m Yours ~Jason Mraz & I do ~ Colby Caillat Walking Out Hey Soul Sister ~ Train First Dance The Way I am ~ Ingrid Michaelson Parent Dance Ho Hey ~ Lumineers The flowers were gorgeous, the Beach BBQ was delicious, and the Cake was pretty and delicious! The spa pass for 10 people was awesome! I had 17 ladies in my guests, so we paid for the extra 7 and all 17 of us went to the spa and had a nice afternoon in the water circuits the day before the wedding. Everyone really enjoyed the different tempered pools, the massage chairs, the massage spouts etc. It was a nice way to spend the day together. Hubby and I also got an afternoon at the spa where we spent three and half hours being pampered together… We had a private room where we had a steam room together, and then a nice bubble bath together while the massage therapists rubbed our shoulders and our temples, and then we each had an hour long massage, and then a snooze on a heated vibrating water bed. It was very relaxing, we did this the day before all of our guests came! Express laundry service does not include steaming of your dress which I had thought it would. It is just laundry, you get a load of laundry done. So this was great for us because we were still going on a honeymoon for a week but for people heading home, it isn’t necessary. Free internet for the week was great because wi fi is NOT cheap at the Sirenis and Lilian arranged that we had it free for both weeks not just the week of our wedding. We did the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding with the entire group of 33. We chose the Brazillian Restaurant for this because when you book Ala Carte’s as a group you have to order the same for everyone. The Brazillian has a generous salad bar for people who are not big meat eaters but for those that like meat, you get about 9 different types of meat brought to your table and everyone can choose what they like. It was a hit for our group! One of the coolest things that happened to us was that we got moved to the Presidential suite for our last two nights. The hotel was high capacity so it worked out that we could give up our regular room and get this Pres. Suite for two nights. This was so fantastic because we were able to enjoy the romance and beauty for our wedding night but then the next night we actually shared it with all of our guests and had a cocktail party. The Pres. Suite has a fully stocked bar and a kitchen, two bathrooms, living room etc. This was a Bon Voyage party for our group! Don’t count on this happening for you… but it just might? I know this is pretty long, but I wanted to make sure I included all of the details that made things perfect for us. I will also attach our professional photos online portfolio. Some aren’t great, but some are spectacular! http://adventure-photos.smugmug.com/Other/GRAND-SIRENIS/PAULETTEBILLYSELECCIONARBAJAWA-1/ Let me know if you need anything I have kept all of my documents and things of the sort. I will respond to specific questions too. I do not mind sharing prices or amounts we paid for things either so don’t be shy to ask.

Hello ladies....just finishing up my honeymoon in beautiful Cozumel... will post more details later about the whole experience. I promise!! But if anyone is concerned or worried or apprehensive about this resort and this staff, DO NOT BE! Everyone was exceptional! The entire wedding team is amazing and they take such good care of all of your guests, extra care of you and your groom. Lilian was our Wedding Coordinator and she quickly became like a sister and I trusted her impeccably. Every one who worked on or around our wedding did fantastic. Hair and make up, DJ, music for ceremony, bar tenders, wait staff, EVERYTHING was PERFECT! I will post an entire review with details and pictures this week!

I was on here ages ago and didn't find any discussion from ladies that was current and now I came on and found all kinds of discussions! Where have you all been!?? I leave on Sunday!!! I saw someone else say they were a teacher, I am too, so this is the best time for me to travel. My fiance and I are heading down on Sunday with my parents, my sister and brother in law, and my aunt. We will be there as a group for one week. This will be a nice relaxing week before the chaos of the wedding party begins! Everyone else arrives next Sunday, August 3rd, and we are getting married on August 8. We have 31 guests other than ourselves. We are so excited!! It is coming up so quickly! After the wedding week and all of our guests leave, we will be heading across to Cozumel for a week where we will have our honeymoon! We have booked the Presidential package down by the Pallapa. We were very much planning on going with the Free package with a few upgrades but found that things really started to add up and it was only a few thousand dollars difference between 'making it work' and having everything you could possibly hope for! We will be paying around $7000 for everything... and did I mention how excited we are? I have had excellent service from both Maria and Andrea and now I have been introduced to and am working with Lilian who is my wedding coordinator. I cannot tell you how incredible they have been to work with. So attentive and answering all of our questions, within a day at most! We are using the resort photographer, they sent us a quote and a bunch of pictures that we were very impressed with so we are going to go with that. these are actual weddings photographed at Sirenis by the Adventure Photos group that is affiliated with the resort: http://adventure-photos.smugmug.com/PhotoBookOrder/NewPhotoBookOrders/2014/04Abril/GRAN-SIRENIS/B26237P1NATALIEMARKSIRENISNEXT/n-4tqWH http://adventure-photos.smugmug.com/PhotoBookOrder/NewPhotoBookOrders/2014/04Abril/GRAN-SIRENIS/JACLYN-DANIELMUESTRASIRENISOK-1/n-NpbLX http://adventure-photos.smugmug.com/PhotoBookOrder/NewPhotoBookOrders/2014/04Abril/GRAN-SIRENIS/B25918P1SAINCHRISSIRENISNEXTDA/n-Xm8CJ http://adventure-photos.smugmug.com/PhotoBookOrder/NewPhotoBookOrders/2014/01-Enero/Grand-Sirenis/B17401P1NIKKI/n-NC5z7 http://adventure-photos.smugmug.com/PhotoBookOrder/NewPhotoBookOrders/2014/04Abril/GRAN-SIRENIS/B25237P1SCOTT-1/n-kDC7B I will gladly give reviews and pictures once we are back. I can't wait to experience what promises to be the best holiday of our life. Let me know if you have questions! This is my dress. Ordered it custom made to fit me, and had it shipped from China all for $300. I LOVE IT! http://www.inweddingdress.com/style-bc128.html