We returned from our wedding at the NOW Sapphire on July 2, 2012.  Words cannot express how amazing the wedding was!  It was truly the best day of our lives!  All of our guests (35 including us) expressed that they had an amazing time as well, even those guests that are hard to please!  I figured I would write a long and extensive review to help future NOW Sapphire brides or those still deciding on a resort for their wedding.  I definitely appreciated all the other bride’s reviews!  I liked the grading format I found in other reviews, so I am going to borrow that idea. I don’t have the pictures back yet from the photographers, so I included pictures that guests took.  I can add some of those once I get them.

 

Liberty Travel: B-

I was undecided on whether to use a travel agent or not at first.  In the end, I did go with one because I did not want the stress of having to be the one to constantly try and contact the resort to negotiate rates or ask questions.  I also was told that travel agents can negotiate group rates, therefore, it would be cheaper for your guests.  Plus, the resort had a deal going on where every 5 rooms purchased, the 6^th room was free (to be discounted for the bride and groom), but guests would all have to book together in order to receive this.  I felt that giving my guests one place to book would be easiest, and they could decide to book through her or another way.

 I went with Liberty Travel, as I had known someone that had worked for them.  They recommended a name, but unfortunately she was unable to work with me.  I ended up working with an agent, who was ok.  My guests had questions I could not answer, so they would email or call her. Many stated that she was rude or cold to them and seemed bothered (isn’t that her job!).  I did not have any difficulty with her and she was always very nice to me, but I guess I also was the one to hire her.  She negotiated group rates, which seemed fair, although also seemed to be pretty equivalent to what was listed on the website (although, the rates she gave us did include the transfer to and from the resort- $40).  I had some single guests staying in the Preferred Rooms and the rates she quoted us were almost $1000 more than what was listed on the resort’s website for the same room.  Those guests had already put a deposit down.  She tried to contact the resort, but they said it was a mistake and would not give her the same rate.  The single guests ended up booking through the resort instead of her, and she did give the deposit back as long as they booked right after they discussed it with her.  The resort also never changed the prices.  However, if you changed your room from a double or single and had to cancel your room, you lost your deposit no matter what.  She also took care of the transfers for guests whether they booked through her or not, which was very helpful.  In the end, she was able to negotiate my husband’s and my room for free for our entire stay (Preferred Club oceanfront room- 7 nights).  I have to say before this, the Liberty Travel rating would have been much lower. 

 

Resort (Overall & Location): A-

One of the main reasons we picked this resort is because it is only 20 minutes from Cancun airport.  Once our guests arrived at the airport, we did not want them to have to travel another 45 minutes or more to the resort.  We did not even look at resorts that were more than 30 minutes from the airport, although I heard there are many nice ones. 

The resort itself is very beautiful.  I particularly love it because it is close to the water so there is always a nice breeze.  The resort has an open layout, so there are no walls in the main bar/hang-out area, which again keeps a constant breeze.  They also often have live music in this area, which was fun for our group to dance to.  There are fountains and water everywhere which is also beautiful.  The main pool is huge and so much fun.  The bartenders there are lively and our group took advantage of “Shot o’clock” every day!  The nightclub was fun and actually played great party music.  The bar there is open the latest, so we often would hang out there or take drinks to go from there.  However, it smells awful and is so hot!  This is not an open area and it smells like sweat, old beer, and feet!  It was ok for a little bit, but I could not handle it longer than an hour.  There was a preferred club pool, which was so quiet and calm and good for a nap, but not all of our guests were preferred, so we were only there the first day while waiting for our room to be ready. 

The beaches are beautiful!  The water is amazing blue colors and is so warm!  The sand is never hot, but is an amazing white powder.  There are always plenty of cabanas and seats, although it was more difficult for us to reserve such a large number of seats in the same area.  Tipping Ivan every day definitely helped!  The only downfall (hence A-) is that there is seaweed.  The 2^nd largest barrier reef is nearby, so you do get seaweed, although the amount varied depending on the day.  Some days were worse than others.  It is a prickly, not slimy seaweed though and didn’t bother us or stop us from hanging out in the ocean. 

 

Check-in: C

We arrived at the resort around 12:00.  We sat in the preferred club lounge for a long time, before they were able to begin working with us.  There was AC, a staff member who made us drinks, and they had snacks we could munch on while we waited, so this helped.  However, there weren’t a lot of options and I wasn’t a fan of the salmon sandwich they put out, so I did not eat much. There were only two people there checking in guests and there was quite a wait.  When we checked out and had other questions, we found that the main lobby was quicker, so we never went back to the preferred club lounge.  We had made special requests through our travel agent.  Trevor’s mother has difficulty walking so we made sure she was on the first floor and we also wanted to be on the third floor.  There also were 7 of us checking in (6 rooms), so we wanted to all be close together.  They said they could accommodate this, but our rooms were not ready so we had to come back at 3.  At 3 p.m., we went back, and still ended up waiting for almost an hour for our rooms.  When they were finally ready for us, the rooms they had promised us before were no longer available.  Trevor’s mother was not on the first floor, we were all scattered, and Trevor and I were put on the first floor (which has no privacy).  We switched his mother back and were able to switch the other rooms so that they were closer together.  We asked them about the governor’s suite, but they said it was not available and they did not have a room for us on the third floor near our guests.  We ended up going to our room, and my husband was so angry.  We kept calling about the governor’s suite and finally they said it was available.  We ended up getting an amazing deal for it as well!!  We paid less for this room than we would have for the preferred club oceanfront room.  I would just like to say that the Governor’s suite is amazing!  The balcony is huge and we have amazing pictures there.  It was well worth the extra money and stress!  It looks just like the pictures online!  In the end, my husband and I, all of our parents, and all of our siblings ended up being in the same building, which made things so much easier (especially since his mom has trouble getting around).  Everyone was happy with their rooms.  The rooms are clean and very beautifully decorated.  However, several guests had the same difficulties as us and had to switch up their rooms a few times before they were satisfied.  In addition, not all of the rooms had the small bottles of liquor and snacks that they were supposed to (including ours).  Our AC was not so effective either, being in the large suite and others too had to get theirs fixed.  However, if you complained, they came to fix the problems. 

 

 

 

 

 

Excursions: A+

I had contacted AMStar ahead of time to reserve excursions for guests, since I knew we would be a big group.  AMStar was one of the groups who sit in the lobby and are associated with the NOW Sapphire.  Miguel gave me several options for excursions that I was looking for via email so that I could ask my guests and not have to stress about it once I was there.  He was so quick to get back to me and was so helpful.  I cannot say enough about Miguel.  He was amazing and accommodated guests, even if they were late to pay.  He ended up giving Trevor and I a beautiful Mexican plate as a wedding gift!  We ended up going with two half day options, because I didn’t want to be gone for a whole day for either of them.

 

Snorkeling Morning Glory: This excursion was from 9-12.  The barrier reef is close by, so it was not a far bus ride.  We did not have any issues with transportation and when we got to the site, it was a smooth process.  The only thing I should warn you about is that, when we got there, they informed us that we cannot use typically sunscreen near the barrier reef because it “bleaches the corral.”  I have no idea if this is true or not, but we had to buy their sunscreen at $15 for a small bottle. Seemed like a scam to me!  In addition, the sunscreen was not very good and I ended up getting sunburned on my back!  They said if your sunscreen says “natural” on it, then it is fine, however they looked at the same bottles and said some were fine and others weren’t.  Just beware!  There were 14 of us, so we were on a boat with only 6 other people outside of our group.  We went to two snorkeling sites.  The first one the reefs were further down, so there weren’t very many fish.  However, this was more leisurely.  The second place had a ton of fish everywhere, but the reefs were so close, that you had to be very careful about not hitting them and they moved us very fast.  There were many other groups around, so I felt like I could have easily gotten lost.  It was a little scary, but the snorkeling was cool!  We saw a sting ray, barracuda, sea turtle, and plenty of fish.  The water was very choppy this day and the current carried you.  While we were sitting on the boat, a few of us almost got sea sick, but we managed.  For just a few hours, it was nice!

 

 

Trip to Tulum: This excursion was from 7:40-2:00.  Tulum is a little more than an hour away, so the bus ride is a little further.  There was 12 of us, so we had a private tour and transfer.  When we got to Tulum, the process was smooth and easy.  They explained everything to us.  Make sure to bring a bathing suit and towel if you go here!  We toured the ruins first.  They are amazing!  You walk into an open field and there are different ruins everywhere.  It is quite a site!  However, there is not much of a breeze and it was so hot!!  We tried to find shade as much as possible. The tour guide was amazing and knew so much about the area, but again, it was so hot and hard to listen after a while.  Once he finished the ruins tour, we were able to go on our own for the last 1.5 hours.  We walked up to the top of the cliff.  The ruins overlook the ocean, and the site is amazing!  It is probably the most beautiful beach I have ever seen!  It is amazing to take pictures of these ancient ruins next to this amazing clear water!  We were able to cool off and go swimming.  This trip was amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff: A+ (for the most part)

I have to say that the staff here is amazing!  They are all so friendly and helpful!  This includes the wait staff, bartenders, bell boys, etc.  They were all hard working!  There were only two people we had difficulty with.  One of them was one of the women that works in the Preferred Club Lounge ( I forget her name).  She was the one that checked us in.  She was the one that messed up our rooms and also was not very friendly when we tried to switch them all back.  In addition, she kept telling us there was no Governor’s suite available, but when I called the front desk, they said there was.  In addition, we had trouble with Mary from Olympus Tours.  Olympus Tours was who my travel agent had arranged our transportation through to get to and from the airport.  They have an office a few doors down from the wedding coordinator at the NOW Sapphire.  Anyway, she was very helpful at first.  She reminded us to check in within 24 hours of arriving and departing to finalize our trip back.  However, she harassed several of my family members regarding excursions. I had already reserved the excursions through Miguel at AMStar and he was so helpful.  Mary promised all of these discounts, but I did not want to deal with switching at this point.  After I told her I had already booked, she became nasty!  She was so rude to all of my guests and myself as we were checking-in and out.  I really think she made it as difficult for possible for everyone.  I would not recommend Olympus just because of her!

 

Rehearsal/Rehearsal Dinner: A+

We planned our rehearsal before the rehearsal dinner.  We did a complete walk through for the event.  We changed our mind a hundred times about who is walking when and standing where, but Ramon was so patient!  He was amazing and calmly offered his advice, which always seemed to be right!  Everything went smoothly!  They even added a special touch, of bringing a blue drink (which matched my colors for the evening) after the rehearsal was done so we could all celebrate and walk to the dinner.

 

 

We were not going to do the formal rehearsal dinner at first, because we were originally quoted at another $3000 for it.  However, Ramon told me about a special they were having which included champagne toast (excellent champagne by the way), a 3 course meal, open bar, IPOD system for music, and a microphone for any toasts.  It was only $20/p, so we went with it.  I have to say, I am so glad we did! The event was amazing! We did one large table and brought our own decorations to save money.  I brought down starfish, sea dollars, tea lights (it was windy, but they attempted to make it work), sea glass, and shells to arrange on the table.  I gave it to Ramon and he arranged it at no extra cost.  He also added a blue ribbon down the table and a centerpiece which matched the decorations!  He picked through the shells and only included the ones that weren’t broken.  I have to say that it looked unbelievable!  I cried when I saw it, because it was beyond what I imagined!  It was on the LLoronas  terrace right next to the waterfalls that go into the pool and you can see part of the ocean.  It was an amazing spot.  We had unbelievable weather as well! 

We were a little late for dinner, and the event was only supposed to be 2 hours, but they worked with us and didn’t rush us at all.  The food was excellent!  We went with a mozzarella/tomato salad appetizer, which was pretty good.  For the main course, we had Supreme of Chicken (stuffed with cheese and sun dried peppers) with rice and in a bell pepper sauce.  It was very good!  Everyone cleared their plates!  Dessert was Mexican Fritters (pretty much cream puffs), and they also were delicious.  We had vegetarians, and we got them a vegetarian lasagna, and they also said it was very good!  Honestly, I tried not to stress about the food, because if people didn’t like it, they could go to the buffet or order room service.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it though! 

I made a playlist for them to play in the background of all soothing music.  It was such a nice touch.  Everyone commented on the atmosphere!  We used the microphone for everyone to introduce themselves and say something funny.  It was so fun!  We also thanked everyone for coming ( I cried again of course). 

The wait staff was amazing!  They brought whatever drinks people wanted (including shots) and were so quick to fill up my champagne or wine glass! 

We had the divine package, which included a photographer for the wedding.  However, we went with an outside photographer.  We had Ramon use the photographer for the rehearsal dinner instead.  We were able to see his pictures the next day and pick the ones for our album.  He did a good job!  The pictures below are not from him though.  We are still waiting for our pictures and album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hair & Make-Up (Spa): A+

I went for a hair and make-up trial a few days before the wedding, because I was super nervous.  I showed Lizeth a picture of the hair and make-up that I wanted, and she was amazing!  As she was working, I would get nervous, but the end result was perfect!  I almost didn’t recognize myself!  She made me look just like the picture, and I felt like a beautiful bride!  I had a headband, and as you can see in the pictures below, she was able to hide it so that you couldn’t see the ties.  She did the same with the other girls that she worked with.  There was another woman helping as well, and she also did an amazing job (I forget her name).  They were both so polite and friendly.  I can’t say enough about them!  Definitely didn’t need a hair/make-up trial.  Rest assured, they will make you look even more beautiful than you already are for your big day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Coordinator & Planning: A+

Ramon was my wedding coordinator.  Words cannot express how thankful I am that I had him!  He did an amazing job and took care of everything!  He had amazing ideas, and really knows what looks best there.  He was very easy to get in contact with in the beginning (i.e. like January/February), however, once the busier wedding months came, I had a difficult time.  I sent my planning form several times, but never heard back from him.  However, a few weeks before the wedding, his communication was good again and he answered all of my questions!  He did an amazing job with the details!  We paid for bows for the ceremony but not the reception, but he had the staff bring the bows up for the reception.  In addition, we paid for hanging lanterns that light up.  He included those and also ones that do not light up over the dance floor!  Everything just looked amazing!  When I arrived, we scheduled a meeting and went through the planning form piece by piece.  We finalized everything, made last minute changes, and he arranged for the blood tests and justice of the peace.  He thought of everything!  We ended up paying for the marriage certificate to be translated there, because we wanted to make sure there are no issues back here in the states.  We are still waiting to receive it in the mail.

 

Wedding Ceremony (Legal- Tequila Terrace Beach): A+

We had a legal ceremony.  We went back and forth, but figured that all of our guests are paying to see us get married, so we just couldn’t get married ahead of time.  We had to get the blood tests there.  Ramon set it up, so it wasn't a big deal.  I bruise so easily, so I had a massive bruise for the wedding, but so far the pictures I have seen, you can't see it.  We did a sand ceremony(bought online), and I had a few close friends say some things about love and marriage(found the quotes online).  The justice of the peace was great!  She was really funny and patient.  The decorations looked amazing!  Ramon did an amazing job of matching the bouquets, with the ceremony flowers, and the centerpieces!  You can’t see it, but we made programs with the light blue ribbon and also brought fans with personalized ribbon in the pinkish/red color.  Ramon put them on all of the chairs.  If there were onlookers, I have no idea.  I was only focused on the ceremony.  We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day!

 

 

 

 

Wedding (cocktail hour & reception) Tequila Terrace: A+

I was so glad to have the reception and cocktail hour on this terrace.  There were guests eating at the restaurant that had seating outside right next to us, but nobody bothered us.  We were probably more annoying for them with our loud music!  There were two people that walked through the wedding to get to the restaurant, but it didn’t bother me.  Most people were respectful.  There was always a really nice breeze, although it was still hot.  This was expected, we were in Mexico!!

 

I was taking pictures during most of the cocktail hour, so I really didn’t get to enjoy it or see much of it.  The set-up was beautiful though!  They had chairs for some guests and high tables, but everyone stood overlooking the terrace at the beach.  I had the bridesmaids put all of the bouquets at the tables for cocktail hour so I didn’t have to buy more flowers and they wrapped the bottom of the table with the same colored blue ribbon.  The cocktail hour was under the pergola.  We paid for light up hanging lanterns, and Ramon had those included by where we eat.  He put the ones that don’t light up by the cocktail hour (which later becomes the dance floor), which looked awesome!  I don’t have any pics yet of the cocktail hour, though!

 

The wedding reception was amazing!  Again, the decorations and centerpieces were amazing! It looked so elegant!  We had the hanging lanterns that light up here.  We originally wanted them over the cocktail hour, thinking we would spend the most time there dancing, but he put them over the dinner and we are so glad!  The DJ had all of these other lights for the dance floor, so they weren’t needed there!  The food was delicious!  We had three options (surf and turf (filet with shrimp), chicken, or risotta for vegetarians).  Everyone said they were all very good.  The appetizer was the seared tuna and it was amazing!  The soup was a mushroom soup (again, vegetarians) and it was very good as well, but it was hot out!  The dessert was a chocolate truffle which I didn’t eat, so I am not sure how it was.  Everyone said all of the food was very good though!  The presentation also was excellent!  We did favors (starfish wine stoppers), which Ramon took care of.  They came in a blue package which matched perfectly.

 

 

 

Sorry, the centerpieces weren’t added yet.

 

Wedding Flowers/Centerpieces: A+

I had given Ramon a picture of the color I wanted for the flowers.  I wanted them to match the dresses that the bridesmaids wore.  They looked amazing and totally matched!  He had my bouquet have more pinkish/red since I was wearing white, and he had the girl’s bouquets more white since they were wearing the pinkish/red color.  The corsages, hanging flowers, and bouttenierres were also beautiful!  The centerpieces matched perfectly too and were just the right size!  I did run into a bride who said they had an outside florist and that there flowers were much bigger and cheaper, but I was so happy with my flowers!  I did a mixture of roses and calla lilies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Cake: A-

We went with tres leches for our wedding cake.  It was very yummy!  Everyone loved it.  Some people who didn’t want to stop dancing, but wanted to eat more cake, brought it on the dance floor!  I thought the cake was very pretty, but I guess it didn’t wow me! Maybe I was thinking more flowers would be on it?  Anyway, I enjoyed it!

 

 

 

 

Spa Services: B+

I was in contact with Zuri from the spa ahead of time.  She was very responsive through email.  I was using spa appointments as gifts for the mothers, a close friend, and my godmother and several of my bridesmaids wanted manicures/pedicures and/or hair and make-up.  Since I had quite a few people who would need appointments, I ended up contacting them ahead of time and scheduling everything.  Zuri got back to me and said we were all set.  When I arrived at the resort, I went to confirm the appointments.  I spent an hour and a half there confirming everything.  I was making sure that everyone was scheduled and made a few updates, as some people had wanted to add make-up when they saw how my trial went!  I was assured that it was all set.  However, that was not the case on the wedding day.  I think because people had the same last name, things got confused (i.e my sister-in-law, mother-in-law, my mom, my sister and I).  In the end, everyone got what they wanted except my sister-in-law was unable to get the manicure.  It worked out fine, as my sister painted her nails.  However, it was a hassle at first and not exactly what I wanted on my wedding day!  Like I said before thought, the people in the spa were amazing.  The make-up, hair, pedicures, manicures all turned out amazing!

As part of our divine package we had a couples massage.   It was one of the best I ever had!  It was amazing!  Highly recommend it! 

 

Private Dinner: A+

As part of the divine package, we also had a private dinner included.  We ended up having it the last night we were there, as our first dinner just the two of us as a married couple!  It was perfect.  We were a little late because we were figuring out the certificate translation with Ramon, but it was not an issue.  Our waiter was polite and responsive and did a great job filling our drinks and bringing cold water.  He was very friendly but not annoying!  It was perfect.  They had nice music playing and lit candles.  The weather was again perfect, and it was almost a full moon which looked amazing over the water!  The food was excellent and again the presentation was beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

Music: B+

We used the resort’s DJ.  I had given Ramon a list of songs with the wedding planning form.  However, I sent that in 2 months before the wedding.  So, I had updated the songs by taking some out and adding others and gave him the IPOD and a written copy of the new songs during our initial meeting in Mexico.  However, the DJ definitely played songs that were taken off the list and didn’t play some of the new ones.  We didn’t have a ton of time to dance, so not all of our songs were played.  They also would play songs by the same band 2 in a row.  However, they did get everyone on the dance floor.  Everyone seemed to like the music!  During dinner, they played more low key songs which was perfect!  In addition, they played the correct songs for our dances.  They had cool lighting effects.  We also brought glow necklaces for everyone and highly recommend it!  The DJ also at first had a spotlight on the dance floor.  The photographers asked them to change it, because it doesn’t look right in pictures but they wouldn’t until we okay’d it.  I guess that is a good thing?!  In the end, it worked out fine!

 

La Luna Photography (Melissa & Diego):A+ so far

As I said before, we do not have our pictures back yet, so all I can comment on is their professionalism and what we saw before and during the wedding.  With that said, I am so glad that we went with them!  They were amazing!  We got so many comments from guests about how awesome they were.  They were there for every important moment, but weren’t intrusive or annoying.  They focused on us, but also got our guests having fun which was so important to us!  Melissa was the main photographer and she showed us a few pictures, and they were absolutely stunning.  The way she handled the lighting was so cool!  She knew exactly what to do!  Melissa was with me before the ceremony and she had me pose in so many different spots.  She came to the spa too and was doing some crazy effects with the flash!  My husband was with Diego before the ceremony and he has only good things to say about him as well.  They were in our suite while we were at the spa, and then they left so we could get pictures with the amazing views.   I am so excited to see the pictures!

They were so professional as well.  They were very polite and friendly!  At one point during a song, someone got a bottle and we would spin the bottle and whoever it landed on would go to the middle of the circle and dance by themselves.  It landed on Melissa at one point and she went in the middle and danced!  I thought that was awesome!  I cannot say enough about the two of them.  I will add more about them though, once I receive pictures, but I have confidence they will be beautiful!

 

 

As a last note, we had the divine package.  Since we had 35 guests, it made a lot of sense. We loved all the things included in it (private transfer, massage, private dinner, etc.).  We had a special turndown after the wedding (i.e. champagne, rose petals, chocolate covered strawberries, etc.) and also champagne on our arrival.  I felt it was all totally worth it!

I think that is it!  I can’t believe how much I wrote, and probably no one made it to the end!  However, I just want everyone to know that I had absolutely no regrets!  I would do everything exactly the same, if I had to do it over.  My advice is to make sure you take a few minutes throughout the day to take it all in, because it goes so fast!  I had the best day of my life and feel confident you all will too!  Happy planning!