aventura spa palace

[amberm390]

Also, forgot to mention this before...they don't always set up 5 tables for cocktail hour...they will set up as many tables as your group requires. So if you have a bigger party, then they will set up more for you and vice versa. My WC asked me how many tables we wanted and I just said whatever she thought was best, since they do this all the time! There will not be enough chairs for everyone because cocktail hour is basically a time where people mingle...it is so much fun! I wish we could do it all over again:)

[jszy10]

dont forget that you dont HAVE to have your cocktail party after the wedding...i am so happy that we did ours as a welcome party instead! and our guests enjoyed cocktails and appetizers at our reception site with no care at all!

 

[SarahWitt]

I am sure it will all work out, and the people who come are the people who are making the effort and truely care about you. I know with my immediate family, wedding party and fiance's immediate family who is coming we should have about 30 people, but our friends/family are very last minute planners, so they probably wont book until it gets down to the wire. Which is frustrating when you are trying to plan! . But you just have to know its an expense maybe not everyone can afford, and even though you gave them proper timing, the ones who truely care, will not see it as a cost as much as others.

 

I am going to do my OOT bags, but probably not until April. I dont see the need in taking all of that stuff down there, when half the time no one uses it or just ends up throwing it away. I am going to do something simple, like get koozies, fill them with mexican candy, and get fun fake ray ban sunglasses for everyone to wear around the resort, week intinerary/thank you letter and tahts it so far. I want it to be small and meaningful, versus a bunch of random stuff that I know people wont use. And plus, I really dont want to bring a lot to mexico that I dont have to or feel is unnecessary or even I can get through the resort at an extra cost just to save the hassle. My friends got questioned at customs, luckily her fiance is hispanic, so talked the guys out of it and you are only allowed $300 worth of merchandise, which you need to bring the receipts for, so its not worth the hassle to me.

 

I have stuff in mind that i want, and pictures printed of them , but mainly I am going to have a cocktail/welcome party on Friday night, as a private event, so everyone can mingle and introduce each other if they already havent met. Then on Friday, basically we have the cermony, I am going to let people know they can go to the lobby bars, or pool bars near by, or even go freshen up depending on how hot it is. Then we are going to take pictures with the wedding party, family and such. Then after have an outdoor private dinner buffet with everyone which also will have Mariachi's playing. Then we are going to have a very long reception/dance. We are going to go inside to one of the ball rooms, and have a DJ/Bar/Cake/Speeches and dance the night away until 1 or 2am. You only can have a reception so long outside due to noise ordinances, which our friends and family are the type to party all day/night, so I dont want to end it early because we are outside.

 

I am not bringing extra decorations. I am going to reuse my bridesmaids flowers as centerpeices since they really only need them for the wedding. I am going to make a guest book that I will bring from shutterfly with pictures of us, friends & family, but honestly from being at my friends destination wedding at the palace resorts, and hearing everything about her experience and answering my questions & reading this forum, you barely notice the little things so to me its not worth bringing it, especially because of customs and bringing the OOT bags, bridesmaids presents,  my own things I will need. So I am using the decorations from the Saphire Package, then just add some things for the dinner/reception and have the resort take care of it.

 

If you do have questions, honestly I am sure I have asked it or know the answer, since my close friend went through this also. I feel like I am prepared and know everything just have to lock it down. So feel free to ask away. I have asked Yesenia a million questions, so feel free to ask away and I will tell you everything I know. I am nervous about everything coming together, yet feel so much at ease with everyone on this forum saying how fabulous it turned out.

[J-me]

This is really random, but do any of you know the length (aka the dimensions) of the round tables at the reception and/or how many people they seat? I'm trying to order fabric for table runners (same fabric from my bridesmaid dresses) and need to know the yardage to buy. I emailed Renee/Miami office last week but haven't heard back from her....

 

[sxcT]

Wow I sure have missed a lot in the past few days.  For those newer brides you can also take a look at my photos.

 

http://lalunaphotographers.com/blog/gallery/melissa/weddings/taryn-david/

 

 

In case this helps:

 

Welcome dinner - Spa Terrace

Ceremony - Coba Gazebo

Cocktail Hour - none

Reception - Solarium Mundaca

Wedding Package - Complimentary

Photographer - La Luna

Ceremony Music - CDs

Reception Music - iPod/dock

Table setup - U-shape

Guests - 24

WC - Cristina (AWESOME!!!!)

 

Hope this helps. 

 

 

[SarahWitt]

Your pictures are so great!! That makes me feel so much better about the photography!!

[SarahWitt]

Sorry...I meant Saturday is our Ceremony, not "Then on Friday, basically we have the cermony......" and me blabbing on about everything...

[SarahWitt]

Also, This forum offers a lot of great information, I know most of this is about the SPA side of Aventura, but I was wondering if anyone actually stayed and got married on the cove side & How everything went? I have been reading a few tripadvisor reviews of the Cove specifically and there have been mixed good and bad reviews in general of peoples experiences, and its starting to make me a little nervous for choosing the Cove side, even though I have to for the families with kids. If anyone has any feedback, its appreciated:)

[jszy10]

Hey Sarah! The resorts are "separate" but really are managed the same.  The WC's are the same, ceremonies and restaurants are managed the same.  The only difference in these two are that one area allows children and the other does not.  They are connected and you can walk back and forth and use them, as an adult, interchangeably.  I had my cocktail party on the cove side, my wedding on the spa side, and my reception on the cove side.  To me it was all the same!

 

Hope that helps!

 

Originally Posted by SarahWitt 

Also, This forum offers a lot of great information, I know most of this is about the SPA side of Aventura, but I was wondering if anyone actually stayed and got married on the cove side & How everything went? I have been reading a few tripadvisor reviews of the Cove specifically and there have been mixed good and bad reviews in general of peoples experiences, and its starting to make me a little nervous for choosing the Cove side, even though I have to for the families with kids. If anyone has any feedback, its appreciated:)

 

[jszy10]

Also, if you or any of your adult guests wanted, you could really stay on either side! It is only a matter of walking to the middle and opening up a door to get to the cove side from the spa and vice versa!  It really is just like having one really large resort!