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aventura spa palace

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NatalkaC

NatalkaC

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Hey Everyone

Got back on Friday and let me tell you our week there was PERFECT - and  i was SCARED after reading trip advisor. We had a welcome dinner on Friday night and it got moved to the ballroom in the convention center because it was expected to rain. They did a great job. There was 35 of us and everyone was impressed. We had our ceremony in the Cove Gazebo - it was a breathtaking setting and everyone appreciated the cover from the sun. We had our cocktail on the pandero terrace. It was beautiful. The pictures that we have from there are great. Dinner was on the Meracus (?) terrace. It was great!!!!! They did an amazing job with the decorations and food. The only decorations we paid for was chair ribbons and we had the 'ipod station' which is pretty much a dj and speaker system - you just provide the music. Everything went sooooo smoothly and looked GREAT. We had Edith as our wedding coordinator - she did an amazing job of making sure I didn't have to think about anything!

At the last minute I added the horse and carriage- I saw it the day before and I loved the look of it. I was sooooo happy I added it - everyone (including my fiance) were shocked and loved it. We also added the fireshow - this is a MUST!!! Everyone was so impressed by it - we did not add lights or music (they try to sell it to you as an extra) and it definitely didn't need it. This is one of my favorite memories of the week.

I had read on this blog about adding maracas to the day. We went to the gift shop on the spa side and they sold us 35 pairs for $3 a pair. I know we could have gone to playa and paid less, but the convenience was worth it. Edith had pair put on each chair at the wedding (at no cost) and the rest put at the head table at the reception. This was a big hit - we used them to have people make us kiss at the reception and people loved that they got a souvenir.

The reception was supposed to be over at 830pm, however the staff was having a great time as well, and it was definitely after 930 before we left (we tipped well too :) ) Then we went to the disco were we had a great time!!! The poor bartender didn't know what hit him hahahahaha ....

Overall the wedding was amazing.

We also had a surprise birthday party for my dad while we were there. Edith put up a fake sign, so he wouldn't know walking up to it that it was for him. She also had a small cake made that said Happy Birthday - all at no extra cost. Everything was perfect. This was at the far end of the pools - it was the perfect relaxed setting.

 

The resort itself is amazing. The staff was so kind and helpful. By the time we left everyone knew my daughter and were teaching her spanish - she know waves when she hears Hola :) The rooms are great, the grounds are great, the food was great. The spa side was packed and people were coming to the cove side from there complaining about how busy it was and if there was another 100 people on top of our 35 I would be surprised. It was perfect. We never waited for food or service.

 

oh - and we used the resort Smile Photography - I couldn't be happier .. I was nervous about it and for no reason - we got the Deluxe pkg and have tons of prints, books and a disc. The photographer got some great photos and I don't have to worry about putting together any books - they were ready before we left :)

and for hair and makeup I used Sara Tarango (?) and her hair assistant - UNBELIEVABLE job - worth EVERY penny! - she is the sister of the people from Del Sol photography and thats how I found her - sooooo glad I spent the money on her and not the cost of that photography.

 

Noone needs to worry going to this resort - especially for a wedding.

 

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J-me

J-me

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Hi ladies!!! We're BAAACK!!!

 

Lots of catching up with work, unpacking, etc. but I will definitely post my reviews and planning thread this weekend.

 

To recap, the resort is BEAUTIFUL, every single staff member was SO accommodating & friendly, but (and please don't let this scare you May brides bc I'll get to the positive too) there were a LOT of things that went wrong during our visit unfortunately. A few to note, the three 'major' things we brought were centerpieces, runners, and maracas and somehow they messed this up. The buffet at the reception was wrong (we ordered Yucatan and they served the Cajun, which was still tasty, but it's what our guests had the night before at the rehearsal dinner and we were looking forward to something more 'Caribbean'), several rooms flooded (including ours) after some rain the first two days, they misplaced our toasting flute/cake cutting set and had to send it to us at our honeymoon resort, they messed up all of my bridesmaids' (pre-confirmed) salon appts, and at least 5-6 guests (that we know of) had major check out/incorrect billing issues which delayed their shuttle to the airport (I'll elaborate more in my review and tips to avoid).

 

Hiccups are inevitable, so the above probably would've been more easily brushed off but....the one thing that made this a less than stellar experience is their weather/back up procedure. Our contract/site visit assured there would be a back up in case of rain. Well, there was, but what they DON'T tell you is you have to make that judgement call hours beforehand. Edith called me in room on wedding day to tell me there was 60% chance of rain and I had two choices: move my ceremony & reception to the ballroom (whole reason we chose Aventura was venue) or keep it outside, but IF it rained, EVERYTHING would be cancelled, not able to be moved inside, and nonrefundable-food,dj, toasts, cake, EVERYTHING. I had to make the decision at 12pm for a 5pm ceremony (at 12pm it was GORGEOUS outside too) I wasn't going to let anything ruin the day, but I will say it robbed me of a bit of enjoyment, bc I spent most of that day upset at the thought of that serious gamble msncry.gif no one can predict/control the weather, but I felt like it was insensitively handled. We kept it outside, the weather was PERFECT, but I spend half the day w/my stomach in knots.

 

It could've just been our experience, and/or maybe the Hard Rock transition, but after all the fabulous reviews of past brides I expected a lil more - but it was a bit evident their wedding department is unorganized. EVERYTHING else w/our trip though was great, our guests had a fun week, and a few must do's: La Hacienda, the Spa (treatments & hydrotherapy), & Playacrawl if you have any partiers in your group msnwink.gif

 

But MOST importantly, WE ARE MARRIED and overall, made it a great week!!!

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