Casa Magna/ Cancun Wedding Video/ Ivan Luckie Wedding Vendor Review_06261009

[LadyN]

Hello Brides!!

 

Sorry it has taken me SO long to post my wedding vendor review. I hope you find my review helpful. I am almost done with it. I am only missing my review for Casa Magna. I will post tomorrow. I wanted to go ahead and post because I have been contacted by a few brides regarding Ivan Luckie Photography. Please email me if you would like some extra pictures, or have any other questions. This forum has been SO amazingly helpful. I have recommended it to so many brides. Now I am so happy to help other forum brides with my review. ENJOY

 

Vendors:

 

Celebracion (Even Planner): B

Alejandra was recommended to me by Casa Magna Marriott. We wanted to have a Catholic ceremony held at the Capilla de San Juan Bautista de La Universidad la Salle. I was told I needed to go through her in order to have the date set and paper work taken care of. All her prices were VERY reasonable. We went through her to set up and confirm the date and time of ceremony, Pianist and Soprano singer for ceremony, and

floral arrangements for the church. I also ordered a white rose bouquet for the offering to the Virgen Mary (Catholic tradition. I’m not sure if I’m explaining myself correctly.) and for the tossing bouquet.

•Alejandra Chavez (Coordinator): B

She was very very nice. Her emails aren’t as organized as I like, but I am very picky. I prefer to keep replying to one email so that we can both keep all information on one continuous email. She liked sending new emails, sometimes with subject lines, sometimes without. She wasn’t the quickest at replying, and would sometimes forget about my emails and questions all together. I was emailing with her for about 8 months, so I didn’t panic if she forgot something. We were both on the same page with information and pricing about 1 or 2 months before the wedding. When meeting with her in person she was very sweet and polite. We met her in person a few days before our wedding to take care of our bill. She gave us a list that broke down every detail. She had also included, as an option, to have her services for the day of. I believe the price was about $400 USD. Since we were only using her services for the ceremony, we felt that this price was steep. We asked what she was offering to do for us for our hour ceremony. She said she would physically be there for any questions and to help organize anything we needed. We passed on this service. We didn’t end up needing her after all.

•Floral Arrangements: A+

The prices she was able to give us were AMAZING. Very well priced. I wasn’t too picky about the flowers. I just didn’t want the church to look bare. They were very very nice. After the ceremony my sister grabbed the floral arrangements that were placed down the isle and brought them to the reception. She had them set up on some empty tables we had for gifts. They were PERFECT!

•Pianist and Soprano singer: B

Initially VERY upset. I believe we paid about $350 USD for a Pianist and Soprano singer to be there for the entire ceremony. There were suppose to arrive there before I did so that I would have music playing as my wedding party and I walked down the isle. It was total SILENCE. They had not arrived. I wasn’t told they were late by anyone. There was a very nice lady there, not sure who she was, that informed me (as I’m steps away from walking down the isle) that they weren’t going to be on time. Apparently they had a break in that morning in their home. I wish they had sent a replacement or at least called Alejandra to let me know. I had no choice but to walk down the isle is total silence. It felt creepy. About half way through our ceremony I FINALLY heard them. She has the voice of an ANGEL. She was signing Ave Maria, which is the song I had requested to walk down the isle. They stayed through to the end. Things are bound to go wrong. Initially I was going to call Alejandra and ask for some kind of discount, but after the wedding I was so tired I just didn’t have the energy to argue.

 

Cancun Transportation Services: A

Cancun Transportation, Cancun Airport Shuttle, Cancun Limo Rental & Cancun Bus Charters

We needed to rent a charter bus to transport our guest’s from our hotel, to the church, to the reception, and back to the hotel. I had read about Cancun Transportation Services on the forum and the reviews were great. I contacted them for a quote. Their prices are different for a Wedding/All day event then what their hourly rate is. You will need to specify that you will need transportation for an all day event. The prices are better this way. I dealt with Robert Sommers through email and over the phone. He’s super quick to respond and FULL of energy.

I also chose to rent a limo for my bridesmaids and me from the hotel to the church. Then my new Hubby and I took the limo alone from the church to the reception. It was VERY important that we have a moment to ourselves and the ride from the church to the reception was perfect. We had a chance to reflect on just being married, bloopers and each other.

The charter bus was clean and on time. They supplied it with waters, which was great! It was a HOT day. Our limo was also very nice, clean and on time. We even had a bottle of champagne in there that we popped immediately! The charter bus picked us all up on time after the reception. It was perfect.

 

Planner1Events: A+

Planner1Events

Gabi Lavor (Coordinator) A++

We met Gabi through Casa Magna Marriott. She supplies almost anything you need. We first met her during our first meeting with Josephina Luna. Josephina had a table set up for us to get an idea of what our set up would look like. Gabi brought her beautiful linen options and had floral arrangement options as well. Gabi was very well prepared with brochures and pictures on her laptop of other services she provided. After many many emails months in advanced, we chose to only use her for her beautiful lounge furniture. She is so incredibly professional, detail oriented and sweet. She was very quick at replying to my emails and questions. She also provided pictures for my reference. She was great to work with. The reason we didn’t use her for linen’s was because we chose to go through Casa Magna for those rentals instead. We rented 3 sets of all white lounge furniture for our beach set up. It looked absolutely beautiful and was a hit at the wedding. I HIGHLY recommend her to any bride.

 

Cancun Wedding Video by Mike Cantarell: A++

Cancun Wedding Videos | Mayan Riviera Wedding Videographer | Mike Cantarell

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE our wedding video. We couldn’t be happier. I checked out their website, watched their highlights wedding video’s and knew I needed them to capture our special day.

•Mike Cantarell: A

My emails went through Mike to reserve our date and schedule payment. We actually had Gerardo “Jerry†Guzman film our wedding. Mike was great at responding to my emails very professionally and quickly. He was very understanding and patient with all of my questions and requests. He also let me know exactly what I should be expecting the day of. He let me know what time Jerry would be arriving and what he would be filming. He also provided his office and cell number if we had any questions.

•Jerry Guzman: A++

We chose the Wedding Video III Package. Since his services were reserved for 5 hours, I chose for him to first meet us at the church for the ceremony. I figured since I had the photographer take pictures of me getting ready, I’d rather have our video begin at the church and have him available for more time during the reception. Jerry was so sweet and introduced himself as soon as he had a chance when I arrived at the church. Throughout the entire wedding he was always very close by and capturing every important moment. We just received our video and I couldn’t be more impressed or happier with Jerry and his work. He has such an incredibly creative eye. I have watched the video over and over again. I never imagined having such a beautiful video that captured every moment I enjoyed and missed. (Being the Bride kept me busy busy busy) He asked me to choose 5 songs and he would chose from my choices to add to the video. He was very open to all my suggestions and requests. He turned around the video in a very reasonable amount of time. I will forever cherish our wedding video!

 

Ivan Luckie Photography: A+++

www.luckiephotography.com

Ivan Luckie: A+++

I was so fortunate to come across Ivan’s name through this forum. I believe that during the time that I booked him, there were 2 other brave forum brides who booked him as well. We all went off of the work he has on his website, crossed our fingers, and hoped for the best. I had read on the forum the reviews the 2 other brides gave him when they set up a meeting to meet in person. They had nothing but great things to say from the first meeting. Now I’m so happy to be able to post a review on this forum about Ivan for other brides to read.

When I first contacted Ivan I was very impressed by how quickly he responded to my questions and emails. Sometimes, please be patient, he takes a little longer to reply…just a few days. This usually means he’s working and will respond as soon as he gets a chance. Sometimes even very very late at night.

Wedding day: We had arranged to meet before the wedding, but since he had just finished up a Cancun wedding the weekend before, we arranged to meet the morning of. I felt totally comfortable meeting with Ivan the day of, since we had emailed so much and he had already answered all of my questions. We met in my room early in the morning, and then he came back a few hours later, per my request. I wanted him to start taking pictures of me after I was done with hair and makeup. Ivan is so easy going and relaxed. For a stressed out bride, it’s a breath of fresh air from all the other chaos going on around.

At one point, I mentioned how hungry I was and asked someone to run downstairs to grab me something to eat. Ivan gave me his Snickers Bar! You can see in some of my pictures that I’m holding it in my hands The rest of the day/night went perfectly. He captured such beautiful moments. He was always just an arms length away. ALL of my wedding guest’s loved him and said they knew the pictures would be perfect.

I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with. Ivan is so incredibly talented and professional. I would HIGHLY recommend him to any bride.

Here is the link to our wedding photos Nereida & Hugo Photo Gallery by Ivan Luckie at pbase.com

[*Nadine*]

Thanks for the review! I love your colors and your pics are beautiful!!! You made a gorgeous bride! I think my FI has the same suit your hubby wore

[*Karla*]

Thanks for taking the time ti write such a detailed review! You were a beautiful bride Your photos are amazing!

[Marriott Cancun Weddings]

Great Review Nereida!

Congratulations!

We were proud to share this unqiue moment with you!

Looking forward to welcome you back in Cancun soon!

[slandro06]

Thanks for writing a great review. We just booked Ivan and I am so glad you liked him!