Catalonia Riviera Maya

[josietoms]

Hey ladies

I finally have some time to myself - it was an absolute whirlwind before we left and has been since we returned as we have our AHR just a week after we got back.  I am soooooooo pleased we got married in Mexico and wouldnt have changed it for a thing.  Heres a quick run down of my day.

 

I shared the bed the night before our wedding with my 'HUSBANDS' sister she was one of your BMs and he spent the night in his brother room.  We woke up and it was very warm but very overcast. I didnt really care as long as it wasnt raining!  I went and got my nails done at the hotel spa at 9am as this was the only appointment they had and then met all the other ladies at 11am and we went down to the marina and watched the dolphins etc and had a spot of lunch.  By lunch time a few in the group had a bit of the mexico tummy so were popping the immodiums - I suddenly got a very 'bubbly' feeling in my tummy which I convinced myself I should take an immodium for but everyone told me it was nerves.  I hadnt felt nervous all week; we were getting married on the 10th day; then all of the sudden I was quite literally feeling like I was gonna poop my pants!  Yes it was happening I was getting married today and it felt very surreal like it wasnt happening to me.  Our WC told us they would come to my room at 3.45 and get me, my dad and 2 BMs so we went to the room at 1.30 to get ready.  Honestly girls leave yourself so much time we only left 2 hours as the photographer was arriving at 3.30 and it flew by.  So we waited for the WC assistant to walk us to the wedding ceremony site but the judge hadnt turned up yet!!!  We were due to get married at 4pm and the judge turned up at 4.10.  Then I had to walk around the pool area to get to the wedding ceremony site - soooooooooo embarassing everyone woo hooing and shouting things like 'go girl' - before I knew it - my shoes were off and I was walking barefoot down the aisle on my way to MY wedding.  I couldnt tell u anything about walking down the aisle - its all a bit of a blur as I was pooping my pants.  As soon as I got there it was fab; a relaxed ceremony lovely words and a few laughs as well.  Buster tried to put my wedding ring on the wrong hand as I had moved my engagement ring to my right hand; he said 'u told me it goes on the same ring as your engagement ring' right in the middle of the service - everyone including the judge was laughing.  

 

The ceremony lasted approximately 20 minutes, we then had champagne on the beach, followed by the photos.  We paid extra to have a private reception in the pure chill out bar.  It was perfect, BBQ on the beach, then the speeches, cutting of the cake and our first dance.  We then had a disco from music i downloaded onto the ipod; numerous shots and then onto the hotel disco.  It was perfect.  The sun came out for our wedding and our pictures are amazing and I can honestly say the 15 people who came with us all said it is the best wedding they have ever been to.  Relaxed, sun and a perfect setting.  Honestly your guests will love it.

 

For me getting married at 4pm was fab; you have the day to relax and as the sun is setting you can get some amazing pictures.  One thing I would say is try and make some time for you and your husband on your wedding day as everyone will want a piece of you.  We did something quite unique and unplanned and will stay with us forever.  After leaving the nightclub at 3am - we went down to the beach and threw Busters wedding ring into the sea; some of you may remember we got one for £5 from Argos as he wasnt going to wear it - he threw it into the sea at about 4am and we layed on the beach talking about how we felt leading up to the day and how the day went - yes we had a bit too much to drink - lol - but it was a full moon, the stars were out and we could hear the sea in the background.  We then headed to the 24hr snack hut and ate a mountain of food, went back to our room which had a bath on the balcony; by this time it was 5am; sat in the bath drinking champagne and calling our friends back at home to tell them we were now married as they were all at work at it was 11am back here in the UK.

 

We took loads of things with us but didnt have anything for the tables; word of advice dont bother trying to transport centre pieces etc; buy them out there - we got some mini mexican hats; one for each table and then got some maracas and a shot glass for everyone with a hand painted mexican design and put them in a circle around the hat - everyone loved it including Pilar.  Also dont worry about anything - if it goes wrong you honestly wont notice - as I was walking down the aisle Pilar who was the sweetest person I have ever met started cyring, Buster asked her what was wrong and she said she had forgotten to put the coloured chair sashes I had given her on the chairs.  He told her not to worry - I didnt even bloody notice until they told me afterwards.  Getting married in Mexico was the best decision we ever made and is the happiest day of my life; I didnt care about the small details that I was worried about before - no-one will notice honestly.    I will try and add a few photos for those of you who havent seen them on FB.

 

Any questions please just ask - I've been there and done it - woo hoo - love Mrs Stopps!! xx

 

Hope all your plans are coming together and hope you have half as much fun as I did x 

[josietoms]

Heres a few photos - if any of you are on Facebook please feel free to add me Jo 'Thomas' Stopps as you can then have a proper look at all the photos.  Just let me know who you are :-)

[L&C In Love]

Josie, your wedding sounded beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your day with us! You look so happy and beautiful! Did you get your hair done at the salon?

I didn't realize the hotel has a 24hr snack bar, thats so awesome! I added you on Facebook so I can see more of your pictures. Its like only two more months until we go!

[Kplanta]

Josie,

Your wedding sounded fantastic, and I love your dress! Thanks so much for putting up the pics! I will also try to add you to facebook to see more:)

I wish I would have thought about buying table decorations down there...I have already bought my stuff here, but it is going to be more work to transport down there. Oh well, I guess I already bought it, so i may as well bring it:)

we leave in a month! Cant wait!!

 

Kristen

[wed101911]

WOW, Beautiful pic's! Thanks for sharing

[baezas]

Hello Ladies!

 

I am just back from the Cat - got married there last week :-)

 

Not much to add to what Josie said already, every thing was wonderful, the wedding day was fantastic. When I arrived to Mexico I got a bit worried because the Mexican way of doing things is very laid back and punctuality is not their best quality whatsoever, but you shouldnt worry because Pilar has every thing under control and in the wedding day everything worked brilliantly.

 

My wedding was at 3.30, I got my hair done in the salon and I have to say I was veery happy with the results. I had a picture of the hair do I wanted and because I speak Spanish it was very easy for me to explain exactly what I wanted. The woman who did my hair was Lilia, she was really very good. My mom had other lady and it wasn't as good though. The prices were ridiculously cheap, think it was about 40 dollars for my hair and my pedicure! I did my own make up, they do not provide make up services in the hotel, although Lilia was saying that the reason is because they dont have the make up items but if you bring your own Lilia will do it for you.

 

We hired Mariachis for the cocktail in the beach during the ceremony- they were awesome, every one loved them.

 

I had the private reception too in the Pure chill out bar and it was worth every penny, it was nice to have the privacy. Also hired the DJ of the hotel for the reception and he was very good.

 

We ended up in the disco which was great fun and finished the night on the beach having a few more drinks, it was a really good day :-)

 

If you have any questions please ask....I wish was still in Mexico!

 

 

 

[Kplanta]

Hey Baezas,

 

I am also hiring the Dj at the PCB. Everyone seems to say that he is good, but I am just curious what kind of music he plays? For example is it more mexican style, is it current top 40 type stuff, is it classic old school wedding stuff? I am hoping to be able to bring specific songs for him to play for our 1st dance, and dances with our parents...but I was also going to bring other songs, depending on what kind of music he plays/has available.

Also, does he speak english well? And is he there for the whole reception, or does he arrive after dinner? I need someone to make a few announcements and introuce speeches during dinner; do you think he could do that, or should I ask another guest?

 

Thanks a lot to EVERYONE for all the helpful information you have all offered! It has been such a help for my nerves

 

Kristen

[L&C In Love]

Hahaha kplanta, I have all the same questions about the DJ. Don't worry girl I am in the same boat as you One more, would be could he play some songs from a IPOD, for like the first dance, etc.? 

 

Its good to know they don't do makeup. I think I am just going to practice with my girlfriends before hand and do my own makeup there. Did lilia speak good english, I don't speak spanish ad I am worried about getting my hair done. I think I might go there before and do a little trial do....I know sounds picky but I always have bad experiences when I get my hair done. Good to know about the prices. I think I am going to book the salon before we go to ensure we have a people doing hair for everyone, I think there will be at least 5-6 girls.

 

Oh one more question is how is the disco, do they play decent music?

 

Thanks for sharing Baezas!

 

[josietoms]

The disco is quite bad!!!  But after a few drinks it seems ok! They played Michael Jacksons Black or White followed by a Gloria Estefan track - theres no mixing - lol!

 

I'm sure your DJ could play some tracks from your ipod as we didnt have a DJ but played the ipod from the hotels speaker system and it was as good as any DJ.

 

I had my acrylic nails done at the salon and they were quite good - not as good as back home - but she knew it was my wedding day and went that extra mile - the lady who did my nails spoke quite good english and she did a lot of the translating for another bride who was getting her hair done at the same time as the hairdresser didnt speak any english.  I was lucky one of our BMs was a hairdresser!  The prices in the salon are quite good about the same as here in London; as the prices in UK hotels are always ridiculous. x

[baezas]

Hey,

 

I decided how long I wanted to hire the DJ for, can not remember now exactly how much it was per hour (I could dig it out if you want) - i hired him from 7 to 11pm (dinner started at 6pm). We did bring some music in an ipod and he played some songs that we asked him to. During 6 to 7, they played some of the songs from our Ipod. In relation to the music that the DJ plays, there were different opinions, the Spanish side of the wedding loved it, as he played loads of Spanish music, salsa, reggaeton, etc....the Irish side of the wedding weren't that mad about it though.... I anticipated this was going to happen, thats why I brought a few English songs and the DJ was only happy to play what we asked him. He did play some of the old  wedding classics as well..... As far as I remember the DJ did speak English, although as most of them it was more of a Spanglish kind of thing!

 

I dont think it will be a problem getting him to introduce the speeches, plus so that you know either Pilar or one of the managers from the hotel will supervise the reception during dinner, so you could always get them to do it. i am sure if you ask Pilar by email, she will organize everything in advance, I have to say that she was veeery good.

 

I agree with Josietoms, the Disco is not the best although after a few tequilas we ended up dancing every single night we were there. 

 

I did book the salon before I got there, my wedding was on Monday and it wasnt that busy but it does get busy over the weekend.