Like many other brides, I was a little anxious about how everything would go considering my emails with Ana Maria were sporadic and not always very helpful, but I really had nothing to worry about.  Our wedding went EXACTLY as I wanted it to!  We arrived Tuesday 8/2 and Ana Maria met us at check in, told us to relax, and we would go over everything the next day.  During our meeting, she had notes on everything I had told her I wanted and was very accommodating with our last minute requests.  Our final contract was very close to the drafts that she sent a week prior, and also included a few perks! Ana Maria was excellent - she was such a professional and so gracious, we really really could not have been happier! 

A review of everything else :)

Transportation:

We booked the Divine Package which includes a one-way private transfer from the airport (the book doesn't specify that its one-way, FYI).  The resort uses YourCancun DMC for their transportation, which is already highly recommended on this forum.  I had already been in contact with Alex regarding a Bachelorette booze cruise, and she's awesome!  Someone met us at the airport and shuttled us to the resort - it was nice since we didn't have to wait for anyone else.  In addition, Alex also sent along welcome gifts for us - a bottle of wine, a cute little beach bag and 2 evian spray mists.  We used the same company for our transfer back to airport as well for $45.  They have a huge variety of private and shared tours and I would highly recommend them!!

Initial meeting:

We arrived Tuesday 8/2 and then met with Ana Maria on Wednesday 8/3.  I didn't have all of my stuff to give her, but she was okay with that.  We went through the contract line by line and made adjustments and final decisions right then and there.  After settling that, we walked through the grounds and chose our ceremony site (on the Preferred beach) and reception site (Castaways).  It was so hot and humid that we asked if it's possible to have extra fans brought in.  Ana Maria did some research and found a company in Cancun that will rent 3 fans for $720.  Since we came out very under budget, we decided to rent them and it was SO worth it!  Over the course of the next few days, there were many phone calls and trips to Ana's office to deliver the rest of my things.  We did macarons for our wedding favors and Ana let us store them in the hotel's freezer before and after we packaged them.  We also gave her all of our welcome bags to deliver to our guests.  There was a charge of $4/room, if you're interested. 

Welcome event:

In lieu of a traditional rehearsal dinner, we decided to have a welcome event for all of our guests (we paid extra for it).  We originally planned to have it on the beach, but because it was SO HOT AND HUMID, we decided to move it to a corner of the lobby during our initial meeting.  We selected 6 canapes served in buffet style.  When the event came around, they blocked off the entire right side of the lobby for us and brought in high cocktail tables!  We ran out of food at one point, but hey kept refilling it without charge!  They also came around with special drinks, that we didn't ask for - a tamarind margarita which was excellent!  There was also some lobby entertainment (a mexican jazz/opera band) which was unexpected, but people seemed to enjoy.

Big Day Prep:

I hired Adrian Guerrera of Riviera Maya Styling Trio for hair and make-up for myself and my 6 bridesmaids and the 2 moms.  I did a trial the day before - and didn't have to pay any fees to the resort for bringing them in on either day.  Anyway, he came with a girl to do hair and he did makeup - they did an AWESOME job.  I left very little instruction on how I wanted my hair and make-up done, but they made me look exactly how I wanted - natural glamour with a loose bun of some sort.  I'm very happy with how I turned out and how the rest of my bridal party turned out!  During our prep, Ana Maria had sent up 3 bottles of champagne for us, and room service (which messed up our orders a few times) also sent a bottle with chocolate strawberries!  It was a nice treat :)  Me and my bridesmaids waited in my room while all of our guests and the boys met in the lobby.  Ana Maria then led everyone to the ceremony site.

Flowers:

I sent Ana Maria photos of what I wanted for my bouquet and my BM bouquets - what I got was very close and I'm very happy with them!  She came to drop off the bouquets around 3pm and delivered the bouttinieres to the boys and parents while they were all waiting in the lobby.  I picked my centerpieces from the wedding book and they didn't turn out like the photo at all.  It's okay though, they still looked alright.

Ceremony:

Perfect!  We were set up on the Preferred beach right in front of the infinity pool (which meant for a lot of looky-loos).  We had flowers for the chuppuh (included in the package) but opted for nothing else since the beach itself was so pretty.  We made program fans that were put under the seats (we rented white chiavari chairs) but I'm not sure that everyone knew they were there!  The bridal party procession started from the hallway in the 700 building which made for a pretty lengthy walk.  Aside that, everything went beautifully!  We struggled a little to hear the minister, but that's the only complaint!  The ceremony readings were nice and we did the sand ceremony and signed a fake marriage certificate.  Ana Maria met us at the end of the aisle for a champagne toast with our bridal party.  I hired a mariachi band (from Micas de Miralls - 6 piece band for $520 for a 45 minute set plus a $200 vendor fee from the resort).  I wanted them to start playing as we walked back down the aisle and they started right on cue.  They then led our guests to the Mix Bar for cocktail hour! 

Cocktail hour:

We missed the entire thing since we were taking photos, haha!  From what I hear, they served our signature drink, "the shnick" and used the little cocktail flags I made.  We probably didn't need the extra canapes since there was a lot of leftover food.

Reception:

We had it at Castaways and were very happy to have brought in those extra fans because it was HOT.  The place was nicely decorated - all the stuff we brought was put out (guestbook, maracas, menus, table numbers, conversation starters, macaron favors).  The lanterns were all hung and lit (we brought throwies that we made) around the restaurant.  I made a timeline that was pretty much followed to a T - until my dad's 30 minute speech!  Dinner was good - we gave our guests an option of beef filet or salmon - and came out promptly.  After the speeches and cake cutting, the dancing started!  It was so hot that at the end of the night everyone ended up in the pool!

Cake:

I chose something from the book and sent a picture of what I wanted it to look like.  It was lopsided, haha, but it was tasty!  I think it was the bella matrimoniale flavor.

DJ:

We used Ivan from Dorremixx.  Nick was in charge of the playlist (the one thing he was in charge of, lol).  Ivan was excellent - he played most of Nick's playlist and mixed the songs together very very well.  Everyone was up and dancing!  He also brought balloons, glowy-necklaces and masks for fun.  He did a really great job!  He also played the part of emcee and did a fine job with that as well.

Videographer:

We used Mike from Oscar video (I think).  We emailed back and forth before we arrived and I asked him to arrive at 4:30 to get some of the getting ready shots.  He came an hour late!  Otherwise, he kept in the background. 

Photographer:

I brought my own photographer, Lawrence Ha.  He's an old college friend and followed us around the entire weekend!  He even jumped int he pool with us!  And then ended up losing his wallet....

The resort:

We got engaged there last year and that's why we wanted to bring everyone back to the Now Jade.  Everyone was impressed with the resort and the service for the most part.  A lot of people got bitten (ants or mosquitos?) and one couple had to be moved because even after asking to have their room sprayed, they still got bitten.  Room service was slow at times, but that's what we get for ordering 3 of everything at a time, haha.  My only complaint was when we were moving rooms.  We were told to leave everything in the room and the bell man would deliver our things.  After 3 hours, nothing was delivered and I was just sitting there wasting my day waiting for my stuff!  I called Ana Maria, the Preferred concierge, the bell desk - and they kept telling me the same thing - it should be on its way.  We ended up going to the concierge and Enrique (one of the guys at the Preferred concierge - totally awesome), me and Nick went to the room and got everything ourselves!  Everyone was really apologetic at the end.

Overall, everything went exactly as we wanted it to!  Everyone really enjoyed themselves and the resort.  We wouldn't have changed a thing!