caaaate

Yes we did a symbolic ceremony (got legally married at the courthouse a couple days before we left for Mexico; so much easier!). They didn't give us a script, but I did bring my own music (bridesmaid entrance, bride entrance, and all exit on a personal ipod with its own playlist - very dummy proof) and we read our own vows. All of this was discussed at our initial meeting with our planner after we arrived. Anything you want to incorporate they will be willing to work with you on, but I'd be wary of having an entire custom ceremony, just because the officiant we had was great, but had a very thick accent and I am unsure of how well he'd be able to handle an unfamiliar ceremony script.

I used the spa and so did my wedding party (3 girls) and mom. All of our appointments (hair and makeup) started at 12:00pm and were done around 200pm. My wedding was at 5pm.

Just had my wedding a EPM on February 22, 2016 - I wanted to provide some details on my experience, but feel free to ask any additional questions. Our wedding was fairly small, just 15 plus me and my husband. The resort is absolutely fantastic, we had friends and family arrive on Friday and Saturday, wedding was on Monday, everyone left on Tuesday and my husband and I stayed until the following Sunday. My wedding coordinator, Mariana, was great. We had sorted most details via email before our arrival, and she was always quick to respond and update the wedding planner. Once we arrived on site, we met with her to review and finalize details and ask questions. We didn't have a rehearsal, but it wasn't really needed as Mariana was there to coordinate and give everyone their marks and cues. We used the stone gazebo and had the room right next to where you enter from the garden (9066). You can choose to walk in from the garden next to the gazebo (it's a shorter walk) or walk down a paved pathway that is considerably longer. I brought a custom cake topper and menu/name cards, and they were happy to accommodate. The flowers, especially my bouquet, were gorgeous. We used our own music - I just created a playlist with the 3 songs I wanted to use (bridesmaids, bride, exit) and it was used and executed perfectly. We wanted to have our cocktail hour at the x-lounge, but there was a competing beach party that night, so we decided on the Spice Terrace - it was lovely and offered a comfortable breeze. Our reception was at the Ceco Terrace. When we first arrived to the reception, mosquitoes were a problem, but the resort provided bug spray and after about 10 min they seemed to disappear. The reception food was some of the best food we had at the resort; we chose the romain salad, the avocado soup, the beef tenderloin, and the jasmine creme brulee. We payed for the sound system but no DJ, and just brought a custom playlist that we set on shuffle - a microphone is also included for speeches, etc. We used the resort photographer, and we got some good and decent and bad shots. My advice if you use the in house photographer is to have a list of shots you want to take, I regrettably did not do this, so we were kind of scrambling in the moment to make sure we got the shots we wanted in the time we had. Overall I am very pleased with how everything was handled and executed, it was an unforgettable weekend.