DREAMS PUERTO VALLARTA "thread"

[b gardner]

Getting everything in place, I have a lady from Vancouver island(where i live) coming to take our wedding pictures islandexpressionsphoto.com

anyone getting married between nov.20-27th needing a photographer, im already paying her to stay at the resort- contact her if you like her photo's and im sure she would love to do some extra work while she's down there, she is AMAZING, her talent is incredible...

just wondering, will the wedding co-ordinator ask at a later date which location we wish to have?(oceana or seaside) i didnt get that option when i was filling out the forms.

[kerrib]

I just told her what I wanted, but it will also be in your contract. I'd let her know sooner than later because if there is another wedding or event going on, they might be on the beach that you want.

[mllek1986]

Hey girls,

A few questions and a couple of tips on how to save some cash...

So I was just looking over my contract and realized that I was paying for 15 extra people (wedding party) for the cocktail hour (totaling $450) when we wouldn't even be attending it because we would be taking pictures. I adjusted the amount on the contract and resent it to Fatima and she agreed, so if you are in the same boat as me and are only having the cocktail hour for your guests and not your wedding party then you can save some money by making the adjustment.

 

Ideally I would like to attend the cocktail hour though but it doesn't seem to work with our schedule:

4:30pm ceremony

5:00pm group picture, pictures with family

5:30pm cocktail hour starts, wedding party pictures

6:30pm-10:30pm Reception

What are the rest of you doing? Are you attending your cocktail hour? How are you making it work with taking pictures?

 

I thought we could maybe have a few drinks and some appys with our guests at the cocktail hour then head out for pictures but then I didn't think this left us enough time. Or we could do pictures then come back for the end of the cocktail hour but we're planning to have a grand entrance and I would find it kind of weird if we were there hanging out with everyone then all of a sudden disappear so we could make a grand entrance. Either way I'm not sure 20 minutes of a cocktail hour is really worth $450. What are your thoughts or suggestions?

 

One more thing- I find the $6 per glass of sparkling wine to be pretty ridiculous so we are keeping the 20 included in the Ultimate package for the head table and doing toasts with a signature margarita and a tequila shot for the best man speech instead which is included in the package - they originally tried to charge me for having a shot glass at each seat which I refused to pay as set up is included in the package so they said they wouldn't charge us.

 

Anyone else have any tips on saving some cash or just tips in general?

[Dreams2011]

In regards to you schedule... why don't you have your ceremony earlier if you can? We had ours at 3pm and if we were to replay the day we would not do it any later (we actually asked if we could bump it up to 2pm, but 3pm was the earliest they'd allow). Even at 3pm it seems rushed... here was our schedule.

 

• 3pm ceremony
• 3:30-4 - bride/groom photos
• 4pm - cocktail hour (we wanted to attend this)
• 5pm - group photos
• 6pm - dinner reception commeced
• 10:30 - reception ended (could have gone on all night if the resort allowed... If we had no kids at our wedding we would have opted for an adults only resort that allowed the party to go on longer...)

 

The judge was 30-40 minutes late as well so the ceremony didn't actually start till 3:30-3:40 which pushed everything else later as well.

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

Hey girls,

A few questions and a couple of tips on how to save some cash...

So I was just looking over my contract and realized that I was paying for 15 extra people (wedding party) for the cocktail hour (totaling $450) when we wouldn't even be attending it because we would be taking pictures. I adjusted the amount on the contract and resent it to Fatima and she agreed, so if you are in the same boat as me and are only having the cocktail hour for your guests and not your wedding party then you can save some money by making the adjustment.

 

Ideally I would like to attend the cocktail hour though but it doesn't seem to work with our schedule:

4:30pm ceremony

5:00pm group picture, pictures with family

5:30pm cocktail hour starts, wedding party pictures

6:30pm-10:30pm Reception

What are the rest of you doing? Are you attending your cocktail hour? How are you making it work with taking pictures?

 

I thought we could maybe have a few drinks and some appys with our guests at the cocktail hour then head out for pictures but then I didn't think this left us enough time. Or we could do pictures then come back for the end of the cocktail hour but we're planning to have a grand entrance and I would find it kind of weird if we were there hanging out with everyone then all of a sudden disappear so we could make a grand entrance. Either way I'm not sure 20 minutes of a cocktail hour is really worth $450. What are your thoughts or suggestions?

 

 

[mllek1986]

 

Hi Dreams2011,

 

We decided to have our ceremony so late due to a few factors: flow of events (didn't want people to be bored), heat (my fiance is a "sweater" lol) and because of our vendors - we have 7 hours with our videographer which we wanted from 3pm to 10pm which would include getting ready, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, dance etc. and 6 hours with our DJ (4:30 to 10:30). I guess we could always add an hour or two onto each though if need be.

 

A couple of questions for you:

What did everyone do while you were taking pictures with you husband and for the hour of group photos? Was this full group photos or you and your bridal party?

My main fear is that people are bored waiting around and not knowing what to do. We were at a destination wedding last year where nothing was structured and everyone was confused on where to go and what to do, people got bored of sitting around and the wedding coordinator didn't explain anything to anybody etc.

 

I appreciate your help,

Kate

 

Originally Posted by Dreams2011 

In regards to you schedule... why don't you have your ceremony earlier if you can? We had ours at 3pm and if we were to replay the day we would not do it any later (we actually asked if we could bump it up to 2pm, but 3pm was the earliest they'd allow). Even at 3pm it seems rushed... here was our schedule.

 

• 3pm ceremony
• 3:30-4 - bride/groom photos
• 4pm - cocktail hour (we wanted to attend this)
• 5pm - group photos
• 6pm - dinner reception commeced
• 10:30 - reception ended (could have gone on all night if the resort allowed... If we had no kids at our wedding we would have opted for an adults only resort that allowed the party to go on longer...)

 

The judge was 30-40 minutes late as well so the ceremony didn't actually start till 3:30-3:40 which pushed everything else later as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mllek1986]

One more thing-

Was your cocktail hour and reception at the same location? We are having our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception all at Oceana Beach so was just curious that if people were at the cocktail hour from 4pm-5pm then dinner didn't start until 6 did they just return to the site and visit/have cocktails after the group photo or did you send them to one of the bars for half an hour and told them to be back for the 6pm reception?

If they went back to the reception site, how did this work with the bar service as we are only allowed 4 hours of bar service (we are already adding an extra hour of bar service onto our bill to stay til 10:30)? Or am I mistaken and the $30 per person for the cocktail hour includes 1 hour of bar service then you get 4 for the reception?

 

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Dreams2011 

In regards to you schedule... why don't you have your ceremony earlier if you can? We had ours at 3pm and if we were to replay the day we would not do it any later (we actually asked if we could bump it up to 2pm, but 3pm was the earliest they'd allow). Even at 3pm it seems rushed... here was our schedule.

 

• 3pm ceremony
• 3:30-4 - bride/groom photos
• 4pm - cocktail hour (we wanted to attend this)
• 5pm - group photos
• 6pm - dinner reception commeced
• 10:30 - reception ended (could have gone on all night if the resort allowed... If we had no kids at our wedding we would have opted for an adults only resort that allowed the party to go on longer...)

 

The judge was 30-40 minutes late as well so the ceremony didn't actually start till 3:30-3:40 which pushed everything else later as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SarahBen2011]

Here's our timeline:

 

4:30 - Ceremony

5:00 - Group Toast on the beach / group photo

5:15 - Family/Bridal Party pictures

5:45 - Bride & Groom Photos on the beach

6:30 - Reception starts on Las Palmas

 

We're not doing a cocktail hour.  $30 a person when we're already at an all-inclusive place was just too much for us.  Guest can drink their champagne, watch us take pictures, go to the Dreams bar, etc. 

 

The sun sets at 6:15 in November so we'll get some great sun-setting pictures and let everyone sit down at 6:30, then make our entrance at 6:45.

 

I'm hoping it's enough time for pictures with my and my hubby after the wedding!

[Dreams2011]

No one was bored... In our situation with the judge being 30 minutes or so late our schedule was pushed back and wished it had started on time as we felt rushed at times. Since there was a delay the cocktail hour did start before we were done our photos, which was ok... we had about 30 min at the cocktail hour which was enough. Everyone else started mingling, signing the guest book, and having cocktails. We had some issues with the wedding coordinator screwing up our schedule as well. For one we had asked and it was agreed on that we were going to have a champagne toast at the ceremony site right after the ceremony then go to the gazebo after our photos for cocktail hour. We stood around and the champagne never arrived. We waited for the photographer while others went to the gazebo to see if it was there. The photographer finally came back as she had gone to the gazebo as well and the guests stayed at the gazebo. We wasted about 30 minutes here and everyone was served champagne long before we arrived (was irritated and this was only the start of the coordinators screw ups... all in all it was a wonderful wedding and very memorable, but a few less hiccups would have been nice ;o). Then from here on it was more rushed. Dinner was served on time when we were still taking group shots because of the 1 hour delay elsewhere (30 min before ceremony and 30 min after). We told them to hold off as we wanted time for our pics, which we thought would have been a 'no brainer' since there was already a huge delay. Before we knew it, it was 10:30 and no one was ready for the party to end. I really recommend starting earlier if you can. More time is better than not enough (we are going to a wedding next weekend where the ceremony is at 11 then the reception doesn't start till 4pm, which is a little much, but like I said... more time is better than not enough). Be prepared for things not to run as smoothly as you would like. They constantly have issues with wedding coordinators so just take it in stride and if there are lots of hiccups demand a discount (that's what we did and it made up for some of the issues... now we're using the savings towards our honeymoon ;o)

 

While the group photos were taking place everyone else just hung around and watched (and took their own photos). The group shots consisted of the entire wedding party as well as just the bridal and just the grooms.
 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

 

Hi Dreams2011,

 

We decided to have our ceremony so late due to a few factors: flow of events (didn't want people to be bored), heat (my fiance is a "sweater" lol) and because of our vendors - we have 7 hours with our videographer which we wanted from 3pm to 10pm which would include getting ready, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, dance etc. and 6 hours with our DJ (4:30 to 10:30). I guess we could always add an hour or two onto each though if need be.

 

A couple of questions for you:

What did everyone do while you were taking pictures with you husband and for the hour of group photos? Was this full group photos or you and your bridal party?

My main fear is that people are bored waiting around and not knowing what to do. We were at a destination wedding last year where nothing was structured and everyone was confused on where to go and what to do, people got bored of sitting around and the wedding coordinator didn't explain anything to anybody etc.

 

I appreciate your help,

Kate

 

 

 

[Dreams2011]

We had our ceremony at the Seaside Beach then cocktail hour at the gazebo (for a little change of scenery), then back to the Seaside Beach for the main reception. The entire reception (cocktail and dinner) is 4 hours. We then added 1.5 hours on to the reception.
 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

One more thing-

Was your cocktail hour and reception at the same location? We are having our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception all at Oceana Beach so was just curious that if people were at the cocktail hour from 4pm-5pm then dinner didn't start until 6 did they just return to the site and visit/have cocktails after the group photo or did you send them to one of the bars for half an hour and told them to be back for the 6pm reception?

If they went back to the reception site, how did this work with the bar service as we are only allowed 4 hours of bar service (we are already adding an extra hour of bar service onto our bill to stay til 10:30)? Or am I mistaken and the $30 per person for the cocktail hour includes 1 hour of bar service then you get 4 for the reception?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[mllek1986]

Oh I love the idea of changing locations for the cocktail hour, I'm going to ask Fatima if its available to use. Did they decorate it for you? was there seating?

I also realized that I wrote we were getting married etc at Oceana beach, I meant Seaside

 

So we did decide to move the time back an hour so we could attend the cocktail hour with our guests- great idea, thank you.

Here's our schedule now:

3:30pm

• Ceremony begins (Location: Seaside beach)

4:00pm

• Photography with immediate family (20 min)
• Photography with wedding party (20 min)

4:30pm/4:45pm

• Cocktail Hour begins (Location: Gazebo)

5:30pm

• Group Photo (20 min)
• Bride/Groom Pictures (40min)

• Guests can go to Barracuda bar for half an hour after group photo

6:30pm

• Reception  (Location: Seaside Beach)

Originally Posted by Dreams2011 

We had our ceremony at the Seaside Beach then cocktail hour at the gazebo (for a little change of scenery), then back to the Seaside Beach for the main reception. The entire reception (cocktail and dinner) is 4 hours. We then added 1.5 hours on to the reception.