Ocean Turquesa & Coral Brides?

[~Katie~]

pics from my wedding (taken by my brother, not our official photogs) - JD Photographs - Kate and Chris' Wedding

 

pics from my AHR - JD Photographs - Kate and Chris's Wedding - UK Reception

 

more photos on my facebook if anyone wants to see... xx

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Katie~ hey Whit. ok here's some answers to your questions.... 1. our guests were out with us the whole 2 weeks (coming from as far as here people don't really do such a long haul flight for less than a 2 week holiday). My tip on this is either have them with you but be disciplined to not try and run around after everybody, or go somewhere else for a week just the 2 of you. It was great having our loved ones round us, but we couldn't stop ourselves trying to look after everyone and spend time with everyone the whole time we were there, so we didn't really get a honeymoon, or any time alone. re: excursions we went on what we wanted to, and if other people were doing the same things we all went together, but we wanted people to spend their money on what they wanted to do. this did work out as we got to do different things with different people. 2. the hairdressers are brilliant. I'd given my trial pics from the UK to Ana and they were there with the hairdresser when I turned up for my appointment. and they used them to refer to to make sure they got it right...not just make up what they wanted to. I was very happy with the results. 3. My makeup I didn't really know what to do about...just in that I didn't really have much of an opinion! I just said I wanted it to look quite natural....and the results were stunning. The were also brilliant with my BM who got her hair and make up done and she hadn't had a trial in the UK and didn't know what she wanted doing but they gave her magazines to look through and she ended up asking them to do a cross between 2 styles - which they did perfectly. again, her make up was fab and lasted the whole day. 4. I ate at the villa marina once as just an evening meal and had the steak, and then the romantic meal on the beach was chicken, served from the Villa Marina. Both meals were absolutely gorgeous. just remember to ask for the steak well done - anything less than that has a lot of blood! Our meal we chose for our reception in the banquet hall was beef and was gorgeous - everyone said how great it tasted and really good quality food. 5. yes we did it all in the banquet hall and had our 3 hrs of DJ in there as well. then at 10pm when it finished we all went to the lobby bar. in all honesty, where you have it is your call, but just remember the entertainment happens in the lobby bar (such as karoke - sp?!!) BUT we didn't change our mind about where we had ours until we got there and that was no problem at all - it wasn't even mentioned. ana just offered to show us round the options and we made a decision from there. All i'm saying is, don't panic that you have to decide now. There is absolutely nothing wrong with finalising it with Ana once you get there, and it won't cause a panic or stress as ana sorts every single bit of detail out. 6. we chose the vanilla cake and it looked beautiful. unfortunately we never got round to doing anything with it as husband's niece got rushed to hospital during the meal and everyone, including us, was a bit preoccupied and forgot about the cake. but we didn't ask to try the cake so couldn't say either way if you would be able to or not. always worth asking! 7. answered in question 1! lol hope that all helps. I'll do a post with the links for photos on after I've posted this.... so excited for you!!! wish i was doing it all again!! did you see my pics on facebook Whit? welcome back Mrs!!!! hey, feel free to add me too - I'm Katie Day and already have some of these girls on my account so it should show up as having friends in common. Feel free to look through the pics on my facebook - the albums are our official photographer pics and the links on my page are from my brother. hope this all helps.

Hey Katie!

Thanks for answering all the questions and giving some pointers!

What excursion(s) did you or any of your guests go on? Any good or bad reviews? - We are planning one group excursion for everyone to go on together, and Dawson and I are going to go on an excursion the day after the wedding (one of the dinner/sunset cruise ones to get a little alone time).

I'm so happy that you loved your hair and makeup! I have been worried about that and trying to come up with a plan incase I hate it! lol So your good review makes me feel much better!

I checked out all of your pictures! On here and on FB! You looked incredible! You have a ton of great pictures! Did you have your UK reception as soon as you got back? I gotta ask... did you have 2 dresses? lol I saw the pics of you in the water in Mexico... then you had a UK Reception!?

Thanks again,
Whit

[whit-Bride]

Hey Everyone!

 

Just wondering.... who is getting married at OCT next?

[lisafleury]

I'm guess that may be you Whit!!! I have 239 more sleeps to go

 

Do you mind me asking who you booked your excursion with for the day after your wedding? A friend of mine told me just to wait until we got there are they have lots of excursions offered through the hotel, apparently Air Transat has a rep there which is the tour company we booked through... any suggestions? I've never been on a AI so not only is planning a wedding foreign to me but everything related to AI will be new too - so exciting!!!

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisafleury I'm guess that may be you Whit!!! I have 239 more sleeps to go Do you mind me asking who you booked your excursion with for the day after your wedding? A friend of mine told me just to wait until we got there are they have lots of excursions offered through the hotel, apparently Air Transat has a rep there which is the tour company we booked through... any suggestions? I've never been on a AI so not only is planning a wedding foreign to me but everything related to AI will be new too - so exciting!!!

WOW! I can't believe I'm next... thought there would be atleast one or two more before me! lol

I am at 77 more days until the Wedding! I can't believe it! I have been counting down since around 260 days!

I have been looking at a website that has a list of all the local excursions ( playa del carmen, mayan riviera, playacar, tours, excursions, activities information, Mexico, guide, on line) but I plan on booking through the hotel (just to be safe because it is Mexico lol). We have narrowed our choices down, and once I get a few more responses from Ana about the legal documents we need to get in order, then I am going to start asking her about booking/planning group things. I want to plan a rehearsal dinner and ask about booking a group excursion. I will let you know what she says.

Every other time I have gone away I have just booked excursions when I get there... but I want to plan this ahead of time if possible because it is a group excursion and I want to try to get everyone involved.

Whit

[~Katie~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whit-Bride Hey Katie! Thanks for answering all the questions and giving some pointers! What excursion(s) did you or any of your guests go on? Any good or bad reviews? - We are planning one group excursion for everyone to go on together, and Dawson and I are going to go on an excursion the day after the wedding (one of the dinner/sunset cruise ones to get a little alone time). I'm so happy that you loved your hair and makeup! I have been worried about that and trying to come up with a plan incase I hate it! lol So your good review makes me feel much better! I checked out all of your pictures! On here and on FB! You looked incredible! You have a ton of great pictures! Did you have your UK reception as soon as you got back? I gotta ask... did you have 2 dresses? lol I saw the pics of you in the water in Mexico... then you had a UK Reception!? Thanks again, Whit

we did a few...some did the Mayan village excursion where we went and climbed the highest temple in Mexico (which was a great accomplishment), visited a mayan village and people, and went to swim in a cenote on the way back. was good but for us the group was too large to get as much as we wanted out of it, but it was good.

we also did the swimming with dolphins. the best by far is the Dolphin Encounter in Riviera Maya - you get nearly a whole hour with the dolphins and the groups are only of 8. we did this last time we went to mexico as well and it was just as brilliant this time as it was last time.

4 of us did the pub crawl in cancun...it's a one-off payment and then it's all inclusive for the whole night. the clubs were absolutely brilliant and we all had a totally amazing night. it included a trip to coco bongos too which is a must to go to if you're in Mexico!

on a previous trip Chris and I went to xel-Ha which was lovely. a whole day around the resort with as much amazing snorkelling as we wanted and things to do the whole way round. may be a bit difficult to do with a big group, unless you just took everyone there and got them to go round on their own and just told them when to be back for....

also done the Jungle tour which is a good one for a group....2 people per speedboat (you get to drive your own) and you drive it to a reef and then spend some time altogether snorkelling around there.

on this trip, my dad actually went down to porto morelos and spoke to some locals down there and arranged a snorkelling trip where they came and picked us up from our beach (!!) and took us to 2 spots for some amazing snorkelling. they had us for 4 hours and it was much cheaper than booking through any tour operators.

we landed back in the Uk on the Monday and our AHR was on the Saturday... and it was perfect. the sun even came out for us and it was a gorgeous day. made it all feel more real.

and yep, i did have 2 dresses! I bought a cheap one off of ebay from a shop that made them to measure in China...it was actually a really nice dress but only cost about $49! i didn't want to risk my dress when I was going to wear it again when I got home!

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Katie~ we did a few...some did the Mayan village excursion where we went and climbed the highest temple in Mexico (which was a great accomplishment), visited a mayan village and people, and went to swim in a cenote on the way back. was good but for us the group was too large to get as much as we wanted out of it, but it was good. we also did the swimming with dolphins. the best by far is the Dolphin Encounter in Riviera Maya - you get nearly a whole hour with the dolphins and the groups are only of 8. we did this last time we went to mexico as well and it was just as brilliant this time as it was last time. 4 of us did the pub crawl in cancun...it's a one-off payment and then it's all inclusive for the whole night. the clubs were absolutely brilliant and we all had a totally amazing night. it included a trip to coco bongos too which is a must to go to if you're in Mexico! on a previous trip Chris and I went to xel-Ha which was lovely. a whole day around the resort with as much amazing snorkelling as we wanted and things to do the whole way round. may be a bit difficult to do with a big group, unless you just took everyone there and got them to go round on their own and just told them when to be back for.... also done the Jungle tour which is a good one for a group....2 people per speedboat (you get to drive your own) and you drive it to a reef and then spend some time altogether snorkelling around there. on this trip, my dad actually went down to porto morelos and spoke to some locals down there and arranged a snorkelling trip where they came and picked us up from our beach (!!) and took us to 2 spots for some amazing snorkelling. they had us for 4 hours and it was much cheaper than booking through any tour operators. we landed back in the Uk on the Monday and our AHR was on the Saturday... and it was perfect. the sun even came out for us and it was a gorgeous day. made it all feel more real. and yep, i did have 2 dresses! I bought a cheap one off of ebay from a shop that made them to measure in China...it was actually a really nice dress but only cost about $49! i didn't want to risk my dress when I was going to wear it again when I got home!

Wow you have done a ton of excursions! lol I think we have decided on the Mayan Ruins/Catamaran tour with the whole group, and the sunset adult only dinner cruise for just the two of us the day after our wedding. If we decide to do another one... then it would definitely be the dolphin encounter because I love dolphins!

The second dress was a good plan for you... especially considering what you did to yours in Mexico! lol

Thanks for sharing all of your info!

Whit

[~Katie~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whit-Bride Wow you have done a ton of excursions! lol I think we have decided on the Mayan Ruins/Catamaran tour with the whole group, and the sunset adult only dinner cruise for just the two of us the day after our wedding. If we decide to do another one... then it would definitely be the dolphin encounter because I love dolphins! The second dress was a good plan for you... especially considering what you did to yours in Mexico! lol Thanks for sharing all of your info! Whit

ah thanks, and you're more than welcome!

I am loving seeing your status countdowns on facebook!! I want to do it all again!!!!!!!!!!

DH wants to go back to renew our vows....for our 1 year anniversary (!!) he loved it so much! lol

enjoy it. it's all over way too quick

[whit-Bride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Katie~ ah thanks, and you're more than welcome! I am loving seeing your status countdowns on facebook!! I want to do it all again!!!!!!!!!! DH wants to go back to renew our vows....for our 1 year anniversary (!!) he loved it so much! lol enjoy it. it's all over way too quick

I want it to get here so bad... but at the same time I don't want it to be over! lol So I am trying to enjoy all the other Wedding things going on between now and August.

My friends/family had a bridal shower for me last weekend which was fun! Next month we have a stag and doe plus my bacheloret! So I have other things to look forward to before the wedding!

Everytime I look at pictures from OCT I want to be there right now though!

Whit

[whit-Bride]

Help/Advance needed.... lol

 

My Travel Agent and I have been emailing Ana a lot of questions over the past few months and even though Ana is responding (in approximately a week each time) I still feel like I don't have any straight answers. There are some details I have decided to sort out when we get to Mexico (which means I will probably worry about them for the next 2 months), but there are some other details we need asap. For example... trying to get straight answers about what Documentation we need has been an ongoing process for 3-4 weeks and its at the point that my Travel Agent and I are guessing! :S

 

We have decided to make an appointment with Ana to call her and discuss some of these things over the phone. Have any of you past OCT brides called Ana before? Was it helpful?

 

I'm rally hoping we can sort these things out soon.

 

Thanks,

Whit