Chawrela

Our Dream Wedding in Puerto Vallarta, November 2016 After 1.5 years of planning our destination wedding, we just returned from Puerto Vallarta and it was the most flawless beautiful wedding I could have imagined. Upon our engagement in May 2015, I began researching wedding coordinators in Puerto Vallarta. With the type of wedding we wanted, I knew I could not organize it alone. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to have our wedding ceremony at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, and the reception at Vista Grill Restaurant…we just needed help making it happen. Of course being in Canada, we wouldn’t even know where to begin in finding vendors for the wedding either. After some research and referrals from friends, we decided to host our guests at the NOW Amber and Secrets All-inclusive in PV. It is an absolutely incredible resort, and the food is unbelievably good. Each meal is fine dining, some of the best meals I have ever had! Since we were not hosting the wedding on resort, we did not receive any special “wedding perks” at the resort, but we were okay with that, we just wanted a nice hotel for our family and friends to enjoy their entire holiday. I was very thorough in researching wedding coordinators in Puerto Vallarta. I contacted almost every coordinator I could find listings for, and requested proposals. Right off the top, I could tell some were trying to take advantage of us, as they were quoting insane amounts for the meal at Vista Grill, which I already knew the prices of the group menu, so I knew they were trying to make a kick back for themselves. This made it easy to cancel out quite a few planners/coordinators. When I found Eva and Michael at Vallarta Weddings, they were my instant favourite. They charge a flat fee for their services, and were incredibly up front about the costs of everything. In retrospect, I would actually say their fee is very low for all of the work they do! I gave them my ideal wedding budget, and they did everything they could to ensure I stayed within that! Eva and Michael’s compassionate approach to their work gave me instant trust in them planning our day. To be honest, I wasn’t very clear in my own “visions” of décor and what not for the wedding, but it was like Eva could read my mind, and would send me pictures of exactly what I liked! They gave us a rough time table of when we should be planning different things, and this helped immensely. After the initial venues were confirmed and deposits made, most of the detailed planning didn’t occur until the last three months before the wedding. Eva and Michael took the time to meet with my parents while they were vacationing in PV a year before the wedding, and also took the time to meet with our Priest who was vacationing in PV, and would be doing our ceremony at the church. This was all extra time and coordination for them, however they were happy to do it and went above and beyond in everything they did. The planning process was entirely smooth and I trusted all of Eva and Michael’s recommendations for every vendor etc., (which all turned out absolutely beautifully ). Two days before we left to fly to Puerto Vallarta, I received an email from Eva asking me to call her urgently, as the Mexican Government had just closed down our reception venue, Vista Grill, that day. I was absolutely devastated of course, and so worried that my wedding, which I had 82 people flying to Mexico for, was going to be a flop after so much planning. Eva was an absolute angel and rock through this, she was so compassionate and understanding I was blown away. Even though this was obviously not her fault, she was apologetic and vowed to do everything she possibly could to ensure our wedding was perfect. The day after we arrived, Eva and Michael picked us up at the resort and we embarked on re-planning our wedding reception. They spent probably 8 hours with us, showing us new venues, and then working out the details as we selected one. We ended up having the reception at the top terrace of the Grand Miramar hotel, which was the most beautiful place I have ever seen! Eva and Michael were also kind enough to take my parents to the venue the next day so they could see it as well. Everything works out for a reason! When times get tough, you really get to see peoples’ true colors… and Eva and Michael truly amazed me I cannot speak highly enough of everything they did for us to make our day perfect! I also can’t imagine the amount of hours they put in over those few days re-planning the wedding. When Eva arrived at our rehearsal the night before, she actually had gold spray paint all over her hands that she hadn’t even noticed, which was from her making my décor! They are some of the most hardworking people I have ever met. In addition to Eva and Michael saving our reception, they also saved my ceremony! Little to my knowledge, my brother’s guitar broke in transit and he was supposed to play the guitar while I walked down the aisle at the church. I found out after that Eva and Michael spent an entire day finding a rental and taking my brother to get it as well! The day of the wedding went so smoothly, you would never know we had so many bumps in the road. We had hair and make up done by Franc Gole and Jesus Avelar, truly the best pair you could get in Vallarta. I haven’t ever had make up done that good even in Canada! When we got back to the hotel, the photographers were there, the flowers were there, and the guys were already downtown with the assistant photographer. We had 10 passenger vans transporting all the guests and bridal party between the hotel, church, venue, and hotel again. Vallarta weddings organizational skills were flawless, it all went very smooth. Soko Sandoval was our photographer, and from the few photos I have seen so far, I am sooo thankful we chose her! She captures every moment perfectly and creatively. We didn’t like typical “posing” wedding photos, so she was great at getting candid and edgy shots! After the ceremony we walked through the streets of PV with her taking photos of us. Her eye for things was amazing, I am so excited to see the rest of the photos. When we arrived at the Grand Miramar and walked out on the upper terrace, I could’ve cried I was so happy. The sunset was beautiful to start, but everything was SO elegant and gorgeous. Beautiful white floral centerpieces with gold highlights, black and gold maraca favours, lights strung above…it was right out of the movies. The wait staff carried around appetizers and cocktails for our guests, the service was incredible. The meal was delicious as well. We had a three course dinner, salad to start, prime rib, and churros for dessert. Everyone commented on how great the food was here. Eva and Michael were still running around busy this whole time, making sure everything was flawless. I learned after that many guests approached them with their own questions (ie. Allergies in salad dressing, kids menu, etc.) and Eva and Michael assisted them graciously. We also had Michael as our DJ and I am so thankful we chose him! I was nervous as I didn’t have time to prepare a song list in the chaos of things, but we briefly told him the styles we like a few days before…and again it was like they read our minds! He played Mexican/Salsa light music during the cocktail hour, acoustic folk covers (think Jack Johnson type music) during dinner, and really got the party going after! We told him we wanted some stuff that was top 40ish for everyone, but with a majority being hip hop based for our younger crowd. He nailed it- I was amazed! He played really cool covers of Snoop Dog that I need to try and find now, blended with some oldies, and into some awesome classic hip hop to finish the night. Our wedding day was absolutely perfect, even better than I ever dreamed it could have been….and I can honestly say it was entirely because of Eva and Michael of Vallarta Weddings. A few of our friends who are not yet married asked us how much the wedding cost, as they estimated it to be well over 50 K Canadian. I am so happy to say that Eva and Michael helped us hold this beautiful wedding for under our budget of 20 k. I share this because I know when planning my wedding, I was always wondering how much things cost. I have no hesitations in referring anyone and everyone to Eva and Michael as I know they are the best you could have in Vallarta! If anyone has any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected]

@@bean1983 that's great to know thank you! We have approx. 100 guests so we are renting the entire upper terrace, and the alcohol is quite expensive! Thank you for advising me of that option!

@@peachykeen159 @vancouverpetunia Thanks Ladies! That is quite a quick turn around but if guests are prepared for it ahead of time then it is totally doable. I think with destination weddings most guests know in advance- and we do have the time to notify them. That is very smart to have all of the invitations ready ahead of time...I was thinking about that yesterday as our travel agent also said she will do up inserts for the invitations that can just be put inside once prices are secured. I have had a few bad experiences with some of the other carriers so if I can go with westjet I would much rather do that! And even if they only release their info 330 days out it could be worth waiting for those reasons! I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate your input- it is so hard to figure this stuff out on your own! Wishing you both the best with your wedding planning and can't wait to hear your reviews!

Wow I am so happy to be able to talk to you about this! Okay my only other question is, from the time you "secured" the pricing with WestJet, how long did your guests have to put a payment down? My travel agent said that WestJet is less accommodating to work with for group bookings surrounding the down payment time frame and what not. I figure if they're significantly cheaper it is worth it though! @@peachykeen159

Thanks for the input ladies! I think looking at the dates may be a good option, and that is a very good point about the US dollar affecting it! Departing through Calgary could perhaps be worth looking at too! @@peachykeen159 My agent has been getting quotes from Sunwing, Air Transat and Air Canada....she said WestJet hasn't been able to give her a quote yet as it is too far out...I have my fingers crossed for them though as I typically prefer to fly WestJet! You got very reasonable prices that is fantastic! What cities do you have guests coming from if you don't mind me asking? Coming up very soon...very exciting!

Hey Ladies! Looking for some advice from your experience...we are planning our wedding for November 2016 and I have my heart set on the NOW Amber in Puerto Vallarta. Our travel agent started getting quotes in July (15 months out) and they were way higher than I expected. She checks almost weekly and nothing has come up for less than $2000 leaving from Edmonton, which I would like to try and keep the price under. From this forum it seems most people book 9-12 months out. Has anyone tried to book 15 months out and experienced the same thing? We definitely have time to wait and see if prices drop, just hoping you guys might have some feedback on this. C

Hey gals- I've been emailing with Mishka from Mishka designs and so far she has been absolutely incredible to deal with. Her response times blew me away, as I assumed I would be waiting weeks for a response- Mishka has responded to every email within hours. She also goes over every little detail so thoroughly...if she is this thorough with gaining insight into a bride's vision I can only imagine how thorough she is with the actual event!

Hey everyone, My fiancé and I would like to get married in this church as I grew up travelling to Vallarta and attending mass here. The glitch is while I am catholic my fiancé is Anglican. From my research , I believe we need permission from our priest here which we can arrange . Can anyone else speak to this type of situation? Or your experiences in being married here? Thanks! Chelsea

Hi everyone! Wow this thread is AMAZING! Thank you!! Question for everyone: if I were to book my group for Now Amber but have ceremony and reception off site, will the hotel still accommodate special things for guests such as a welcome party, etc. the bonfire sounds amazing too would love to hear prices for it! Has anyone done something similar with holding the events offsite? Thanks in advance! Chelsea

Hey ladies, Has anyone had their reception at Vista Grill restaurant? We have had dinner there on past vacations and would like to hold our reception there. They have emailed me their group menus ( the open bar is a tad pricey) but I would truly appreciate hearing first hand experience !