We had a large destination wedding with 92 guests...all but 6 of them stayed at the resort.

RESORT:

The resort itself is the perfect spot for a wedding, the layout makes it easy to find people since there is only one pool and one spot to hang out at night.  I loved how it was a "U" shape, because it made it so you could actually find your guests and spend time with them.  The grounds were beautiful and spotless.  There was no smell and no bugs at all.  We were upgraded to a larger room with a jacuzzi tub and walk in closet.  This was much appreciated, but we were never in our room except to sleep!

WELCOME DINNER:

We arranged with Nancy to have a "private" welcome dinner at the buffet on Friday night.  Although it was technically "semi-private" because it was just in one of the rooms at the main buffet, because our group was so large, no one else was seated there.  The staff surprised us with fresh flowers on all the tables, fancy napkin decor and a head table for two.  None of this was asked for...the staff was so excited for us, that they took extra care to make things extra special.  It was so amazing.  We did all or toasts at the welcome dinner.  Then people just went to the buffet.

CEREMONY:

We got married at 4pm in the gazebo, located right next to the pool.  They set up all 90 chairs for us and they were covered in white.  They hung two tropical flower displays that matched my beautiful bouquet.  I gave Nancy my ipod and they played all the songs I wanted at the exact right moment.  We had no bridal party, so we just had one song for both me and my husband.  We brought our own rabbi to do the wedding. At 11am that day we met Nancy and the Mexican judge in our hotel room for our legal ceremony.  I was worried this was not going to work out, but it went just perfectly!!!  The judge was a little late, but once he showed up the whole thing took about 20 mins.  It was just us and our parents.  honestly, once the legal part was over, I felt so much more relaxed.  It was also fun to go back to chill by the pool knowing we just had a little "secret" wedding.

COCKTAIL:

We had cocktails in the courtyard/lyrico bar.  Once again, I was surprised by blue table cloths on all "our" tables.  We paid for the "Mexican appetizers"--tacos, nachos, tortas...I had no idea, but they set up a beautiful table with the hot apps, decorated to the max.  I was not expecting this and was thrilled when I saw it.  Staff was on hand to take drink orders.  There was the nightly entertainment later, so people started to dance there.  I was worried the cocktail was going to be too long, but no one had anywhere to be, there was plenty of food and drinks and every had a great time.

RECEPTION:

We had paid for a private reception at Chilis at 8:30pm (they were ready for us early).  We had 10 tables of 9 and one table of 2 for me and my husband.  The place looked amazing and the staff was eager to serve us.  We paid $1000 for the DJ to play till 11pm.  He was AMAZING!!  I gave him my ipod for our first dance and for the traditional hora---which he already knew.  The guy was a total pro.  David was his name.  He quickly asked what kind of music I liked (pop!!), and did not disappoint.  People danced ALL night.  The food was great, everyone ordered their main course off the menu (three or four options).  Salad, sides and seafood platter was brought to each table.  The staff even had to kick out other hotel guests because people wanted to join our party!

FOOD:

Food at the resort was crazy good!  So much all the time.  You never went hungry!  As soon as breakfast ended, lunch began.  We only ate at two of the special restaurants, mostly because we liked being with most of our guests at the buffet. 

WEDDING PLANNER:

Nancy and her staff are pros.  They know what they are doing and have done it many times.  Everything was on time and easy!  We must have seen at least 4 other weddings over the week we were there.  At our meeting Nancy answered all of our questions and took notes to make sure we got everything we wanted.  We saw her around the resort and she was always very helpful.  Just perfect!

CALYPSO PHOTO:

We met with calypso right before our meeting with Nancy.  We got to pick our package (2 hours, 70 photos).  The photographer came to my room at 3pm right when I was done getting ready.  We got met the groom outside and headed to the beach for about 45 mins of pre-wedding pics. I am so glad we did this because the light was amazing at this time of day.  She was amazing.  She took picks at the ceremony and left directly after.  We then went to their office the next day to look at about 200+ photos she took.  We picked the 70 we wanted and came back the next day for our printed album and CD.  At first I was worried 70 was not going to be enough, but honestly, who needs 100's of photos (our friends too tons), it was nice to have an edited collection of professional photos right away.  She got amazing shots!!

SPA:

Included in our package was two 80min massages, two 25 min exfoliate treatment, and bride hair.  We did the massage the day before the wedding and the exfoliation the day after.  I am happy we split up the treatments.  I have never ever had my hair professionally done in my life.  I was very happy with how it turned out.  I brought a photo and she did a great job.

OVERALL:

AMAZING!!!!!