Las Caletas wedding review Nov 12, 2008

[HolleyC]

I just want to say up front that November 12 was by far the best day I have ever had! The wedding went off without a hitch and was absolutely perfect!!

 

Nicole met with my fiance and I the day before the wedding to go over any last minute details and such. She was so thorough and listened to everything we had to say and answered all of our questions. She is so pleasant and sweet and a total pleasure to deal with!

 

My 2 bridesmaids and a friend went to the boat launch in Nuevo Vallarta and Nicole met us right away and took my dress and our bags while us ladies had a cup of coffee. We were guided onto the boat first and we had first pick of where to sit. We decided that sitting right in front of the captains seat was the best view and we were not disappointed...it was perfect for picture taking! We were given juice and danishes on the ride over. The whole boat crew came over to introduce themselves including Brad the minister and everyone made sure that we were comfortable! The boat staff did their silly show but we had fun watching them goof around and dance. Us 4 girls were a sight to see with our hair in rollers on a boat full of 200 tourists!

 

We arrived in LC around 10:30am and were taken straight to the bridal suit. What a hike! The suit is way steeper than it looks! I fell in love the minute we walked in. It is picture perfect and totally unique in every way. There was a bottle of champagne chilling and a fruit plate so us 4 girls broke it open and had a toast. We hung our stuff and snooped around for a bit. We all had massages and they were nice. My only complaint was that the lady I had really like to use oil and I was soooo greasy when it was all over that I had to shower right away.

 

The boys came over around 1 and joined us for lunch. Our meal was great and we all enjoyed a drink and lazing around for a bit. Us ladies went upstairs to get ready while the boys went snorkeling for a bit. The bridal suit was getting a little warm at this point so we snooped around and found a fan in the bathroom and pulled it out...it definitely cooled the place down.

 

My photographers arrived around 4pm and started taking the “getting ready†pictures. We used Bridge Color photography. Although I have beautiful pictures, I am not sure if I would recommend her services. I will explain more later...

 

We paid to have the ceremony start an hour earlier and suddenly Nicole was in our suit telling us it was time to go! She brought me a margarita to cool off and guided us to the stairs. Everyone was down the aisle and then it was my turn to go....I was really nervous about tripping on the stairs but some how I made it! My dad was waiting for me at the bottom and I was greeted with a huge hug and tears The rest was quite a blur. We had the hand ceremony along with the rose ceremony and Brad did a fantastic job! Everyone heard the whole ceremony (they must of turned up the microphone and speakers because the waves were really loud) and we somehow made it thru without too many tears! We were now husband and wife and Brad made sure to announce it to everyone! The whole crowd was in tears and it was truly beautiful!

 

We then had a bit of time to take pictures and such while our guests were treated to refreshments and appetizers. We gathered for dinner and everyone was raving how great the food was and how it was the best meal that they had ever had a wedding. I didn't eat too much as I think I was overheated and a little tired by that point! We had our speeches/toasts and then we were off to sign our marriage certificate! A few moments later, we cut the cake and then were ushered down the stairs to the dance floor. We did our music on the ipod and I highly recommend doing this...just make sure that you organize your music into individual folds like “Pre-ceremonyâ€, “Wedding march†etc. The announcement was made that it was “Mr and Mrs Paul and Holley Baron's†first dance as husband and wife and invited everyone to sit down to watch. Our first dance was under a full moon on the beach with torches and a bon fire and I couldn't help but be taken away with the beauty of the place! We then had the Father/Daughter, Mother/Son dance put together and then the festivities began! We hired the fire dancers and they were worth every penny! Our guests had no idea what was going on and they were all in awe when they came out. You ladies are soooo right...that flame was intense and I thought my hair and dress were going to catch on fire! The whole evening went by so fast and couldn't believe it was 11pm and time to head back! The party continued on the ride back and the bar tenders were making sure everyone had drinks and were dancing. The staff even joined the ladies on the dance floor and were making sure that everyone was taken care of.

 

I guess the boat ride over was a little bit choppy and we had a few people feel sick when they arrived but the majority of our guests took “Dramamine†before they caught the boat and were fine. The boat arrived on time and our guests were entertained during their trip over.

 

My photographer did an excellent job like I said, but I have a few reservations. Although they provided me with 2 photographers and a videographer (I didn't ask for him), I felt that more could have been done. She didn't respect my wishes when it came to the kinds of shots I wanted which pissed me off a few times and Nicole had to straighten her out. She wanted cheezy pictures like my girls feeding me fruit and stuff and I told her that I didn't want those kind of pictures for my album. A lot of the pictures she gave me had her staff in them at some point so she didn't really edit them well. We got pictures taken before the wedding on the beach before our guests arrived and they carried on a little late. The boat was coming in and people could see us and she kept shooting, telling us not to worry about the boat. I don't know about you ladies, but I wanted to keep somethings a surprise so I got mad and took off running back up that steep slope! Her staff was also a little drunk by the end of the night and that bothered me a bit but over all, I guess I would say, if you have a lot of patience, she is the way to go but if you don't, I would skip over her!

 

There were a few things that went wrong like the tide coming in and taking some chairs with it and getting some guests wet that were sitting in the chairs. My fiance wished that he would have come over early in the morning with us girls because he felt rushed while he was there. Otherwise, in all honestly, it was the most stress free day of my life and I felt calm the whole time thanks to Nicole. She was amazing with all of our guests and she is super fast at setting up the ceremony and dinner tables! She did everything that we asked for and at the end of the night her and I had a tequila shooter to celebrate the evening! If you are questioning whether or not to have your wedding at LC, I would recommend it in a heart beat. We stayed at 2 different resorts during our 2 weeks and saw a few weddings and it is so worth it to not have a bunch of unwanted people watching your ceremony or hearing “BINGO†being shouted across the pool during your vows. It cost a bit more, but it is by far the best choice. All of our guests were totally blown away and were gushing for the last couple of days about how it was the best wedding that they have ever been to. That really means a lot to both Paul and I who worked really hard at making the day special for both us and our guests. They were all happy that they paid the money to come and see us get married and that was the most important thing!

 

Now for the hotel review....

 

Club/Grand Marival: It is over in Nuevo and only a 15 minute drive from the airport. Our room was nice, nothing too special but great for the two of us. The beds were a little hard but this is the thing in Mexico. Our room was spotless every day and smelt like Mr. Clean the whole time! The food was pretty good at this resort. They have 5 a la cartes that you can make unlimited reservations at and you can also buy bottles of wine of their menu to take to you room They have 4 pools, 1 for the kids, 1 common pool and 2 quiet adult pools. If you are pool people, you will enjoy this feature! We had a fantastic stay at the Marival and would go back again! They even have a martini bar on the upper floor away from all the hustle of the resort. The entertainment area is also towards the front of the resort so if you don't like to attend the shows, you don't even hear them during the evening!

 

The Riu Vallarta is where we went for our honeymoon....our first day there they carted out 3 people in wheel chairs because they were so drunk. We got a suit overlooking the ocean and it was absolutely beautiful except for the ants in our room. This proved to be a big deal when we finally got our fruit basket 3 days later and all the ants decided to visit the fruit plate and were up the walls and all over the floors...we complained and we were told that someone would be up to clean our room....an hour later we finally went up there and cleaned it our selves. The 3 restaurants were horrible and totally not worth the food poisoning that the 2 of us received. We ended up eating off the resort for the remainder of our trip and the resort did nothing about any of it. It was really loud and rowdy the whole week were there and the people in the buffet line ups were horrible! They would cut in front of you and take the thongs right out of your hand if they wanted something and I am not exaggerating one bit! It felt like a feed barn and we were pigs eating out of a trough...maybe it was the type of people that were there but I mean come on people, there is a lot of food to go around and wait your turn!! I am sure that it is a great resort but for your honeymoon, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

I would recommend the following places to eat:

1.Fajita Republic...by far the BEST place to eat and the fajitas are so delicious. We had our meet and greet dinner here and went well with all of our guests. Keep in mind we ate at the one in Nuevo and Paul and I came back here again before we flew out (so did my parents).

2.Daiquiri Dicks...we had a fantastic meal here but remember if you go, it is more American style food and it is gourmet!

3.8 Tostados...we ate there because our cab driver recommended it and they have awesome ceviche tostados!

4.PiPi's...we held a surprise birthday party here and we not disappointed at all. It is really loud and crazy at times but so much fun.

5.Menson Bay...they have a fabulous seafood platter for 2 people for $50. We had the crab tacos to start and they were yummy! This restaurant is in Bucerias and totally worth the trip!

 

Another thing I would recommend and this is totally my own opinion, is getting in touch with Scott Tours in Bucerias if you want to do any excursions. He is way cheaper than the hotel vendors and is very accommodating. He planned our co-ed stag/stagette pub crawl and it was a fun night!!

 

If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to help out! I am so happy that we went with LC as our wedding destination and Nicole made it all worth it for us!

 

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

 

These are just a few pictures for now...we are still sorting through all 900 of them!

[Yari]

Great review and fab pics!

 

I am so happy everything went off without a hitch!

[HolleyC]

Thanks Yari! Your ceremony set up made me change my plain chairs to ones wrapped in bows and the fern setup to the chuppa with linens! I fell in love with your pictures and sent Nicole a last minute change request!

[Pazoop]

Thanks for the great review holley! You looked beautiful on your wedding day and I'm glad things went off so well!

[MsShelley]

thanks for haring your great review and beautiful pictures!

[tvt]

wonderful review!! Yari's chairs made us get the chair ties too Off to look at your pics!

[tvt]

aw, your pictures are great. Makes me all teary eyed!

[brittbrodin]

Great Review Holley! It makes me want to get married at LC tomorrow!! Congrats!

[Jen_S]

Congrats and welcome back! Glad you had a great wedding!!!

[Andi]

Good Review Holley!

 

Reading everyones reviews makes me so teary eyed! I think I am going to be a total basket case come our wedding day!

 

I really do like the chair sashes...the brown looks really good! brown is one of my colors I think I might just have to use the brown sashes!

 

congrats on everything!