2 years ago we visited Valentin for a 5 night vacation.  The resort left such an impression that we knew if the time ever came to get married, it would be here.  In September 2010, my fiancé popped the question and we booked our wedding the day after.

 

Picture of our engagement at Giant’s Stadium

 

 

We were married on October 21, 2011 at Valentin with 50 of our friends and family members as witnesses.  We had the most amazing wedding week.  Everything went so smoothly and the wedding was perfect and exceeded all of my expectations!

 

Wedding Coordinator: After booking our wedding last September, we were assigned Ana Munoz as our coordinator.  I immediately recognized her kindness and professionalism. She was more than helpful during the entire planning process.  Upon our arrival, we met with her and gave her 4 bins worth of centerpieces, bags, favors etc.  We went over all our set up with her and she took everything off her hands.  On the big day, everything came out perfect.

 

Picture with me and Ana before the rehearsal

 

 

Travel and Customs:  After doing some research, we booked with Away to Go Travel.  They provided us with the best group rate we could find.  However, the agent we had, Chuck Joyce (who happens to be the CEO) was difficult to get in touch with and rarely returned phone calls.  He literally was the most stressful part of this whole process.  Many of our guests didn’t even book with him because of his lack of communication skills.  It was to the point that the week before the wedding, the resort didn’t have 3 reservations because he never booked them!  The only way I would ever book with them again is if I didn’t have to deal with him.

            We booked our airfare separately with Continental.  The only complaint that I have with them is they cancelled the non-stop Wednesday flight to Cancun leaving 10 of my guests with needing a new flight.  Many of them changed to my Tuesday flight, but others were forced to use a different airline, or have transfers. Our flight was actually a lot of fun. There were 23 people from my wedding group which made it enjoyable. We had a newer model plane with built in computers in which you could watch movies, TV shows or play games for free.  It was great!  They also put my dress in the first class closet in which it was safe during the whole flight.

            We were extremely lucky with customs.  As mentioned earlier, we had 4 bins filled with our wedding stuff.  After it was X-rayed and sniffed by bomb dogs, they simply asked how much everything was worth and what was in there.  After telling them approximately $500, it was my turn to push the button- luckily it turned green!!  Otherwise, we would have had to go through everything with the customs agent and it would have been very time consuming.

            Our airport transfer to and from the hotel was the Lomas Travel.  They were great!  Clean, cool vans with friendly drivers.  We had 23 people traveling with us on Tuesday and they quickly and efficiently had all of us transferred.

 

Check In: I really thought it was going to be difficult having everyone check in at once being that we were a large party.  However, after being greeted at the resort with a cool towel and champagne, we hung out in the lobby and put together our welcome bags while we waited.  The whole process took less than an hour. 

 

Picture of welcome bag assembly line

 

Rooms:  With our package we were supposed to get a room upgrade.  Because we had already booked an Emerald Suite, and they said there was no availability, we were unable to upgrade to the Diamond Suite.  However, our room was beautiful, was in a central location and we clearly saw the ocean.

Also, the bed was SO big!! The night before my wedding, me and both my matrons of honor comfortably fit in it! 

One more thing, be warned there is very graphic porn on 3 of the channels!!  It was quite amusing to me and the younger guests but rather embarrassing being that my 80 year old grandparents caught a glimpse!

 

Jacuzzi in the Emerald Suite

 

Hotel Grounds:  I have been to several all-inclusive resorts and this is by far the most beautiful I have ever been to.  There are beautiful fountains, flowers and wildlife everywhere.  The beach is also incredible. Although there is a lot of coral and rocks, there is a sufficient amount of places to swim.  We saw a few rays and plenty of fish. 

The pool was also beautiful.  We stayed mostly on the quieter end of the main pool because we were easily able to find enough room for all 50 of us.  We brought an inflatable beer pong table too in which we used almost every day. The bar kept giving us 6 packs of Coors Light which I thought was pretty cool.

 The only thing I would do different next time is I would bring inflatable rafts from home.  They used to have them at the resort but they don’t anymore and its $18 to buy them there!

Otherwise, there was no problem getting a spot for all of us and the waiters/waitresses never left our drinks empty.

 

 

At night there was always entertainment at the Plaza.  We danced there EVERY night!  The DJ was great and took requests.   The Sports bar was a lot of fun too.  There was always some sort of craziness going on at either location.

 

Food: The food at Valentin was delicious.  We had traveled here in the past and knew that we wouldn’t be disappointed.  We were worried that some of the more picky people in our group would complain but surprisingly no one did!  Our favorite meal was Hibachi at Ginger.  We brought 10 people from our bridal party there to eat.  The food was surprisingly fantastic and our Hibachi chef was incredible.  One of my matrons of honor said “This was the best onion volcano I had ever seen!”  Also, they fed us sake bomb after sake bomb! 

 

We also really enjoyed La Hacienda, Il Olivia and La’Alsace for dinner.  My grandfather who is straight off the boat from Italy had no complaints about the Italian food.  The sea bass, shrimp and squid dish was out of this world!! 

All of the fish at the resort is so fresh and doesn’t have that “fishy” taste that seafood sometimes has the tendency to have.

 Breakfast was also incredibly yummy with tons of options to choose from!  In the days before the wedding, I enjoyed their made to order fruit smoothies, yogurt and omelets.  In the days after, their Nutella crepes were unreal!

The biggest complaint I had about dinner time was when it came to seating large parties.  I was extremely annoyed on our last night when I asked for a table of 7 at Il Olivio.  They told me that because I don’t have the privilege package, they can’t seat more than 6.  That threw me over the edge as I had just spent a significant amount of money at the resort for my wedding and brought 50 people there for vacation!  After much arguing with the hostess and manager, I was unsuccessful.

The food at the wedding was fantastic!  We had Caesar salad to start which was better than expected.  We also had a choice of entrée between Surf and Turf and Mahi Mahi. The steak was a little more well done than I like but had a good flavor.  The shrimp was perfectly grilled.  The Mahi Mahi was INCREDIBLE!!!  Seriously, everyone was raving about it.  It was the best fish I ever had and most people at my wedding would agree.  I highly recommend it for your wedding.

Also, they are rather strict about men's dress code for dinner.  At one point my FI didn't have a collared shirt on and they weren't going to let him in.  Luckily, I had a scarf which we tied around his neck...  It  made for a great picture!

 

Rehearsal:  We took our bridal party on an excursion with Adventuras Maya the day before the wedding as a gift to them.  It was a great time. We snorkeled with sea turtles; zip lined, repelled and swam in the Cenotes.  It was a long but beautiful day.  I wish we could have done it a few days before but many people didn’t arrive until late Wednesday night.  It was worth it in the end though.

We had a rehearsal at the beach the day before the wedding for an extra charge (80 USD).  It was well worth it though because we had a large bridal party and I wanted to make sure everyone knew their role. 

Afterwards, we payed for a private cocktail hour at the Mexican Terrace for 21 guests in our bridal party.  We had hot canapés and open bar.  The set up was beautiful and Ana let us use her iPod and speakers for entertainment. 

We passed out the gifts to our bridal party and gave a few speeches.  Needless to say it was rather emotional.  Well worth the money!

 

Walking with my dad at the rehersal

 

My dad, me, mom, grandparents and brother at cocktail rehersal

 

The boys with their new gifts

 

After the cocktail hour, several of us moved inside for dinner.  They made us split up the group because the party was too large.  The boys went one way and the girls went the other. Although it was annoying we couldn’t all sit together, the manager and our waiter were fantastic in calming our nerves.  We had a tequila tasting and wore the big Mexican hats. After laughing so hard our faces hurt, they asked me and one of my MOH’s if we could lift our waiter (he was probably 5 foot tall 80lbs).  Her and I picked him up and carried him around the resteraunt.  I literally almost peed in my pants!!!  It was such a great time and great ending to my last night as a single lady!

 

 

 

 

Hair and Makeup: This was the one thing I was worried about the most!  Who wants to look bad on their wedding day??  However, I was SO wrong to be feeling stressed out.  The girls at the spa were INCREDIBLE!!  6 of us got our hair and makeup done by Itzel, Olivia and Paulina. They easily and quickly made us beautiful.  I’m not lying when I say they were better than some of the girls who have done my hair for weddings back in the states.

The spa was large enough to accommodate all of us.  We had mimosas and club sandwiches as we hung out.  The hairstylists were young too which made me feel a little more comfortable knowing they know the current styles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers: Initially, I wanted an orchid bouquet.  However, the price was a little higher than I wanted.  Therefore, I opted for lilies and I am so glad that I did.  The flowers were beautiful and the colors were so vibrant.  They were even better than I had imagined them. With our package we also received a free centerpiece for our ceremony table which was then transferred to our sweetheart table.  They were gorgeous as well!  I’m so upset that I wasn’t able to bring the flowers home though L

 

 

 

 

Ceremony: We had our ceremony at the beach at 4:30pm.  The weather was beautiful and not too hot.  The wind was a little strong and my veil was blowing everywhere but it made for good pictures.  Our officiant was Kiko Flores who was so kind and caring.   My husband and I wrote the program and emailed it to him several weeks earlier.  He did a great job in following the script just as we wrote.  After saying our handwritten vows and exchanging rings, we had a sand ceremony which symbolized our union.  After being pronounced husband and wife, we had a champagne toast and took pictures on the beach while our guests moved to the cocktail hour.

 

 

 

 

 

Cocktail Hour: We made our cocktail hour Mexican themed.  A Mexican trio which was part of our package played and we had Mexican canapés to eat.  The foot was very good and fit our theme well.  Although my husband and I were taking pictures for a lot of the time, we were still able to enjoy the end of the hour.  The bartenders were great as well and made delicious Mojitos!

 

 

 

Reception: Our reception was the best reception I have ever been too.  I’m not lying.  It was absolutely ridiculous and there is not one picture of someone not smiling during the entire 4 hours!

We hired Ivan from Doremixx who was the best wedding DJ I’ve ever heard. We had our meeting with him 2 days prior in which we went over our song list.  He played every single song and then some.  He and his assistants had us up and dancing the entire time. Even my grandparents were up and moving nonstop!!

As a gift to our groomsmen, we gave them Mexican wrestling masks and Mexican nicknames in which they wore and were announced with at the wedding.  Everyone was cheering so loud when they came out.  It was like something out of a movie and Ivan made it happen perfectly!

The rest of the reception was out of control.  Every man at the reception took their shirts off and was dancing around with the masks on.  It was out of control.  I seriously can’t wait to see the professional pictures. 

The food as mentioned earlier was delicious.  Our centerpieces were designed and brought by us.  Ana and her girls did a great job in assembling them.  They looked better than imagined.  We had maracas as favors which were a HUGE hit.  Everyone danced with them the whole night.

The bar was fully stocked and shots were encouraged.  The bartender did an amazing job and I give him a lot of credit for putting up with the multiple orders we gave him throughout the night.  We really enjoyed all of the service throughout the night.  There was not a time were our wine glasses were empty or our plates weren’t full.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Cake:  Another thing I was leary about was the cake.  As someone who bakes a lot and comes from an Italian household of bakers, I was nervous.  However, yet again, I was wrong to feel that way!  The cake was outstanding. We chose chocolate with strawberry filling.  Our beach theme cake even had white chocolate shells and starfish.  It was seriously beyond expectations!

 

 

Photographers: As part of our package, we were offered Blue Lens Caribe.  However, I wasn’t entirely impressed by their work so I used them for the TTD 2 days later.  (More on that soon)

We used La Luna Photographers for the wedding.  Initially we hired Rachel however a few weeks before the wedding we received a phone call from Matt the owner, stating that Rachel is 7 months pregnant and is going on bed rest.  After some disappointment, we were able to use Melissa instead.  It was a good thing this happened because Melissa was phenomenal.  She showed up right on time and immediately began her photography.  She was there for every moment and never stopped taking pictures. Her enthusiasm, excitement, and easy going attitude made taking those photos the least stressful I could ever imagine.  We couldn't be happier (and have to thank Rachel for getting pregnant) because Melissa was simply amazing. 

We received our pictures within weeks of our wedding and were blown away by how amazing they turned our.  Here is our slideshow. http://lalunaphotographers.com/blog/gallery/melissa/weddings/nicole-brian/

2 days after our wedding, we used Blue Lens for our TTD. (I didn’t use my real dress however). We met with Ashley on the beach and started the hour long shoot.  She was incredible as well and very patient with the lack of modeling skills my husband and I have lol.  She took over 300 pictures of us rolling around in the sand, splashing in the ocean and jumping in the pool. 

The next day, we met her in the lobby and she showed us the final product.  The pictures came out a million times more amazing than we could have ever hoped and couldn’t believe she did all that work in such a short period of time.  We ended up purchasing an edited slideshow of 56 pictures set to music, all 300 unedited pictures and the copyright. Much to our surprise our picture even made it to their Facebook page!!

We were also EXTREMELY surprised of how our ceremony DVD came out.  I knew that part of our package was a 30 min DVD of our ceremony yet I didn’t think it was going to be anything special.  WOW I was wrong!!  They captured every second of the ceremony along with the people arriving, interviews (not cheesy) with several members of our bridal party and about 15 minutes of footage of us taking pictures at the beach after the wedding. It was set to 3 different songs, 1 including our wedding song.  I have watched it 4 times since I’ve been home and have cried all 4 times.  I feel so lucky that we were able to have them capture this beautiful moment in our lives!

 

All of our trash the dress photos can be found here: http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/fe/l=en_US/p/Organizer/AlbumID=8141783014/a=86826271_86826271/s_c=4/s_se=FDR/s_cmpg=hp_2006_registration#state=%7B%22pl%22%3A%7B%22uc%22%3A2%2C%22aid%22%3A8141783014%2C%22vp%22%3A%22g%22%2C%22sb%22%3A5%7D%2C%22ovm%22%3A%7B%22v%22%3A%22s%22%7D%7D

 

Conclusion: I do not regret for one minute anything about the wedding.  Not many brides can say their wedding was perfect, but mine was.  I am truly lucky to have had this experience and end up with a wonderful man for the rest of my life.

The only things I would have done differently are purchase a privilege package and brought more bug spray (use the mosquitos are NASTY).  I plan on writing Ana about the whole privilege thing and think maybe they should include that in their wedding packages. 

Also, having the excursion the day before was a bit much, but like I said it was worth it in the end.

I highly recommend having your wedding at VIM. The resort’s beauty, amazing food and professionalism of the staff made the experience wonderful.  I can’t wait to renew my vows!!