Hacienda Tres Rios Brides Post Here!

[Samantha88k]

How exciting!!! Congratulations to you and you FI as well!! I'm so jealous that you get to do a site visit! We opted for a 2 week vacation + our wedding instead of a site visit since my family has been there before. Derek & Lorena will be our photographers from Photos In Cancun and we will also be doing our TTD with them on the property (can't pass up the cenotes!!) during out stay.

 

Marissa, How many guests are you expecting? I would love to hear what you learn from your visit!!

 

 

Samantha

Originally Posted by Riss520 

Hey everyone! I'm also a H3R bride. We're getting married on May 20,2012. (1 week after you, Samantha). My FI's parents are also owners and we are working with Luis, who is slow to get back to us, but he has been a little better. We are going to H3R this week to meet with vendors. So far we know we want DJ Doremixx for the wedding. We haven't chosen a photographer or florist yet, we are trying to look for an affordable florist if anyone knows of one. For hair and make-up I've been in contact with Adrian from Styling Trio Riviera Maya. His prices are pretty good and I like his work, he does the airbrush make-up. 

 

Becky: Your wedding was beautiful. Your photographer was amazing. We are also having purple as our color.

 

Good luck with planning everyone! If anyone knows of any good photographers too, please let me know. Thanks!! 

 

Marissa

 

[damitAPRILurCOOL]

Congratulations Samantha and Marissa! So excited to hear all about your planning!

 

Marissa, you're so lucky you get to go on a site visit! My fiance and I didn't, so I would LOVE to hear about it and see any pictures you take?

[aquabride]

 

Hi girls!!

 

I'm booking Samuel Luna for photography.  He was recommended to me by a friend of a friend.  I like his photojournalistic style and he has fair prices.  I'm determining whether or not to get a videographer.  Also, I want simple flowers (cala lily bouquets and center pieces with some candles) so I guess I'm deciding who to use for flowers.  Any suggestions.  Allibe sent me who they normally work with: www.floresbodacancun.com

 

Is anyone having a band or a musician during the ceremony?  Anything besides mariachi?  Allibe said she does not recommend Ivan  I don't know who to listen too cause he has such good reviews on here.  She said he is not flexible and does not like last minute changes.  But like I said he has such great reviews on here.  

 

We are doing a cocktail party the night before... to welcome all the guests, then having the rehearsal, and then a small rehearsal dinner in playa del carmen (Still have to find a restaurant).  

 

As far as hair and make up I checked out the airbrush guy you just recommended and unfortunately I cant justify paying $375 for hair and make up just for me.  Any other suggestions?  I saw some people recommended fernando?  whats his website? 

 

My FI and I are looking into menswear options, and I think we are going to buy a sand colored dress suit for all the guys as a gift... but have my FI be the only one wearing a tie.  

 

Has anyone booked an officiant for a legal nonreligious wedding?  

 

Anyone have any sweet traditions they are incorporating into their ceremony?  I love the joining of the sand.  

 

How has the cocktail hour on the beach been?  Too much sand?  wish you would have done it somewhere else? 

Our ceremony will be on the sand then the reception next to the pool.  

 

As far as Luis, he does take a while to get back.  Allibe is better at getting back.  I also found if you ask a specific question they are more likely to respond than if as a general one.

 

Look forward to hearing from you all!

 

Well be doing our vendor visit hopefully in Oct.  Any advice on how to be prepared?  

Amy

 

[aquabride]

Also-

Since I posted I've been emailing a lot with Saku from flores boda cancun (Latin asia flowers) and she has been GREAT!  I have sent her pictures of what I'm looking for, she has given me money saving tips and advice, and given me quotes.  She is the florist Allibe recommended!  

 

I have also been emailing with gamanteles... for chair quotes.  I speak spanish so no communication break down.  They have also been relatively good at getting back to me.

 

I have been thinking about an aisle runner and scouring the internet for a roll of seagrass or some kind of woven one piece mat.  I see most people use those individual mats that the resort provides, but I dont like the look.  This is kind of what I'm looking for (the company is from australia and doesn't ship).  But i found a solution.  I think I'm going to order a custom rug in seagrass and use it as my aisle runner from http://www.naturalarearugs.com/customsizes ... If anyone is interested I can keep you updated on what I do, and maybe we could share the price (its not very expensive) if your wedding is after 3/30/12.  I'd have to talk to Luis to see if I could ship it to H3R. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Has anyone booked live music?  

 

What do you do for place cards, menu cards, etc .....print them at home and bring them down?  

 

We are about to buy the tan suits today!  We found Michael Kors suits in a sand color for $123 from macys on clearance (originally $475!).  and shockingly they have all 6 sizes we need!  So yup a practical groomsmen gift... a new suit!  (I did the same for the bridesmaids, and bought their dresses for them as their gift an nice gesture to thank them and recognize flying and staying at H3R for the wedding will not be cheap)... total cost of $1500 for both girls and guys, but I think worth it.  

 

Amy

 

 

[Riss520]

Hey Everyone! We just got back from H3R late last night. We had a great time, the place is beautiful. Tuesday we met with Allibe because Luis was out of town. The only vendor of her's that we met with were for linens (gamanteles) and the DJ. I think we are only going to do a light purple table cloth (they're only $15 ea) and the white napkins and white chairs for the reception. We want large round centerpieces, so we don't want the table decor to override the flowers. We are using Marvin from Diseno Floral. He was so nice and really accommodating to what we want to spend. We also met with Juan Navarro. He has a great personality and I really like is photographing style. We are between him and another photographer Gonzalo Nunez, so we'll have to decide on that soon. Unfortunately Gonzalo was unable to meet with us when we were there.

 

We did meet with Ivan from DJ Doremixx, and we loved his personality, he definitely is very organized and knows what he's doing. I'm not sure what happened with him and Tres Rios, because Allibe also told us that she did not recommend him, but we wanted to make our own decision and meet him for ourselves. As long as they let him in, we are putting our deposit down for him this week.

 

H3R has a DJ and he's the same price as Ivan. His name is Jaime and from our meeting with him he really has no personality. I don't know if it is because he doesn't speak a lot of english or what, but he didn't speak at all the whole time we were meeting with him. He didn't even ask if we had songs we liked. I had to ask him for his contact information and he did not have a website or anything. 

 

We are doing a Welcome BBQ the night before our wedding at the beach area that is by the Pizzeria and the river. We are renting a light ball that is $350 and tiki torches, and also getting candles for the tables. Right now we have at least 75 people coming, but we did invite 200 so who knows yet. We were going to have the BBQ on the beach by the volley ball court, but the sand is pretty deep and not so great to walk around/dance in. Also, at night there are sometimes little mosquito like bugs. We are also bringing our own IPOD and speakers for this, and renting a Trio band ($350 for 45 mins). 

 

The Ceremony we are having on the beach by the river and the ocean. We are getting a chuppah with flowers from Marvin and also a runner and flower petals for the aisles. We are flying our rabbi down for the ceremony. They did tell us though that we should rent the speaker and microphone for $175 for this because no one will be able to hear the ceremony over the wind. I was wondering if anyone didn't use the microphone and if people could still hear.

 

The cocktail hour we are having at the Martini Bar. They said it could fit up to 120 people. We really liked the lighting and ambiance there. You can only chose 5 appetizers for this. Unfortunately, it is too much moving around for the DJ to set his stuff up there and then bring it back down to the pool for the reception. So, Ivan said he would bring an extra speaker, no extra charge, so we can plug in our IPOD. The resort wanted $175 for speakers.

 

The reception will be on the pool terrace, right by the beach. For 30 lanterns to light up the area they wanted $1200 (which we thought was ridiculous), so we are only using 15 lanterns and the lamp posts by the pool. Allibe was very weird about the lighting, we kept asking why we just couldn't use the lamp posts there since it is free, and she said that people would not be able to see what they were eating. We had one of the workers turn them on at night, and they definitely gave off enough light. So, we're mostly just doing the 15 lanterns just for the look. Also, just to let you know they only give you one option for an entree at the wedding, which is crazy. Not everyone eats chicken, meat, or fish, especially since some people are vegetarians. We fought with them on this and we're hoping to have 3 entree choices as long as we give them notice at the resort beforehand of what each person is ordering. 

 

We did the menu tasting on Thursday. It was a lot of fun. The food is great! We chose the tenderloin, 7 chilies chicken, and the San Juan fish. All come with rice (like a risotto) and vegetables. For the salad we are between the Campanario and the Three Maria. The desserts were amazing too. We are having them make us a cupcake wedding cake, where the top is a small cake we can cut. We haven't picked a flavor yet. The price is $250.

 

As for place cards we are still trying to think of ideas. We were going to have sand dollars with calligraphy of each guests name and table, but we're afraid they will break. My FI's parents are going to H3R again in December so they said they'll look around in Playa when they are there too. 

 

Does anyone know of any places I can buy Welcome Bags that our guests can re-use again?

 

I did e-mail 5 different people in the area that I found through blogs, that do make-up and hair, and the cheapest was Sara Tamargo. She is the sister of Sol from Del Sol Photography. She is $180 for hair and make up on the wedding day, and $70 for the trial. I think you need at least 4 other people getting their make-up done though for her to come since she has to fly there. There is no travel fee otherwise. Fernando Fuentes was $180 for trial hair and make-up and then $350 on the Wedding day.

 

I hope this helps! Sorry it's so long. Let me know if anyone has any other questions. I'll try and put pictures up once I put them onto my computer. 

 

~Marissa

[Samantha88k]

I really like the aisle runner! If he would be willing to hold it after your wedding for me (5-13-12) I would definitely consider going in on it with you! As for the place cards/menus I'm torn on that. I will for sure do place cards for the parents/bridal party but I'm not sure I care much about where everyone else sits as we will be a small group.

 

I've also been considering the live music but I'm not sure how to incorporate it and for a reasonable cost.

 

I'm so glad to hear you got a flower vendor recommendation!! I emailed Luis a couple weeks ago and haven't heard back..would you mind sharing the email address you have for her?

 

Samantha

Originally Posted by aquabride 

Also-

Since I posted I've been emailing a lot with Saku from flores boda cancun (Latin asia flowers) and she has been GREAT!  I have sent her pictures of what I'm looking for, she has given me money saving tips and advice, and given me quotes.  She is the florist Allibe recommended!  

 

I have also been emailing with gamanteles... for chair quotes.  I speak spanish so no communication break down.  They have also been relatively good at getting back to me.

 

I have been thinking about an aisle runner and scouring the internet for a roll of seagrass or some kind of woven one piece mat.  I see most people use those individual mats that the resort provides, but I dont like the look.  This is kind of what I'm looking for (the company is from australia and doesn't ship).  But i found a solution.  I think I'm going to order a custom rug in seagrass and use it as my aisle runner from http://www.naturalarearugs.com/customsizes ... If anyone is interested I can keep you updated on what I do, and maybe we could share the price (its not very expensive) if your wedding is after 3/30/12.  I'd have to talk to Luis to see if I could ship it to H3R. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Has anyone booked live music?  

 

What do you do for place cards, menu cards, etc .....print them at home and bring them down?  

 

We are about to buy the tan suits today!  We found Michael Kors suits in a sand color for $123 from macys on clearance (originally $475!).  and shockingly they have all 6 sizes we need!  So yup a practical groomsmen gift... a new suit!  (I did the same for the bridesmaids, and bought their dresses for them as their gift an nice gesture to thank them and recognize flying and staying at H3R for the wedding will not be cheap)... total cost of $1500 for both girls and guys, but I think worth it.  

 

Amy

 

 

 

[Samantha88k]

Thanks for all the info Marissa!! I think the pricing for the lanterns is ridiculous! If you don't mind me asking, what was the price they quoted you for the 15 lanterns instead of 30? Also, who are you planning to use for the trio? I would love their contact info as the one I spoke with was $900 for 45min! Did you learn whether the $175 for the speakers/microphone would also be able to be used at the reception?

 

Samantha
 

Originally Posted by Riss520 

Hey Everyone! We just got back from H3R late last night. We had a great time, the place is beautiful. Tuesday we met with Allibe because Luis was out of town. The only vendor of her's that we met with were for linens (gamanteles) and the DJ. I think we are only going to do a light purple table cloth (they're only $15 ea) and the white napkins and white chairs for the reception. We want large round centerpieces, so we don't want the table decor to override the flowers. We are using Marvin from Diseno Floral. He was so nice and really accommodating to what we want to spend. We also met with Juan Navarro. He has a great personality and I really like is photographing style. We are between him and another photographer Gonzalo Nunez, so we'll have to decide on that soon. Unfortunately Gonzalo was unable to meet with us when we were there.

 

We did meet with Ivan from DJ Doremixx, and we loved his personality, he definitely is very organized and knows what he's doing. I'm not sure what happened with him and Tres Rios, because Allibe also told us that she did not recommend him, but we wanted to make our own decision and meet him for ourselves. As long as they let him in, we are putting our deposit down for him this week.

 

H3R has a DJ and he's the same price as Ivan. His name is Jaime and from our meeting with him he really has no personality. I don't know if it is because he doesn't speak a lot of english or what, but he didn't speak at all the whole time we were meeting with him. He didn't even ask if we had songs we liked. I had to ask him for his contact information and he did not have a website or anything. 

 

We are doing a Welcome BBQ the night before our wedding at the beach area that is by the Pizzeria and the river. We are renting a light ball that is $350 and tiki torches, and also getting candles for the tables. Right now we have at least 75 people coming, but we did invite 200 so who knows yet. We were going to have the BBQ on the beach by the volley ball court, but the sand is pretty deep and not so great to walk around/dance in. Also, at night there are sometimes little mosquito like bugs. We are also bringing our own IPOD and speakers for this, and renting a Trio band ($350 for 45 mins). 

 

The Ceremony we are having on the beach by the river and the ocean. We are getting a chuppah with flowers from Marvin and also a runner and flower petals for the aisles. We are flying our rabbi down for the ceremony. They did tell us though that we should rent the speaker and microphone for $175 for this because no one will be able to hear the ceremony over the wind. I was wondering if anyone didn't use the microphone and if people could still hear.

 

The cocktail hour we are having at the Martini Bar. They said it could fit up to 120 people. We really liked the lighting and ambiance there. You can only chose 5 appetizers for this. Unfortunately, it is too much moving around for the DJ to set his stuff up there and then bring it back down to the pool for the reception. So, Ivan said he would bring an extra speaker, no extra charge, so we can plug in our IPOD. The resort wanted $175 for speakers.

 

The reception will be on the pool terrace, right by the beach. For 30 lanterns to light up the area they wanted $1200 (which we thought was ridiculous), so we are only using 15 lanterns and the lamp posts by the pool. Allibe was very weird about the lighting, we kept asking why we just couldn't use the lamp posts there since it is free, and she said that people would not be able to see what they were eating. We had one of the workers turn them on at night, and they definitely gave off enough light. So, we're mostly just doing the 15 lanterns just for the look. Also, just to let you know they only give you one option for an entree at the wedding, which is crazy. Not everyone eats chicken, meat, or fish, especially since some people are vegetarians. We fought with them on this and we're hoping to have 3 entree choices as long as we give them notice at the resort beforehand of what each person is ordering. 

 

We did the menu tasting on Thursday. It was a lot of fun. The food is great! We chose the tenderloin, 7 chilies chicken, and the San Juan fish. All come with rice (like a risotto) and vegetables. For the salad we are between the Campanario and the Three Maria. The desserts were amazing too. We are having them make us a cupcake wedding cake, where the top is a small cake we can cut. We haven't picked a flavor yet. The price is $250.

 

As for place cards we are still trying to think of ideas. We were going to have sand dollars with calligraphy of each guests name and table, but we're afraid they will break. My FI's parents are going to H3R again in December so they said they'll look around in Playa when they are there too. 

 

Does anyone know of any places I can buy Welcome Bags that our guests can re-use again?

 

I did e-mail 5 different people in the area that I found through blogs, that do make-up and hair, and the cheapest was Sara Tamargo. She is the sister of Sol from Del Sol Photography. She is $180 for hair and make up on the wedding day, and $70 for the trial. I think you need at least 4 other people getting their make-up done though for her to come since she has to fly there. There is no travel fee otherwise. Fernando Fuentes was $180 for trial hair and make-up and then $350 on the Wedding day.

 

I hope this helps! Sorry it's so long. Let me know if anyone has any other questions. I'll try and put pictures up once I put them onto my computer. 

 

~Marissa

 

[Riss520]

Samantha-

 Yeah I know $1200 is insane! She said it would be half the price (so $600) for 15 lanterns, but she said she would speak to Luis just to make sure. The only places that you don't need to rent lighting for is the martini bar and the rotundra (I think it's called), that is right over the bridge from the lobby. It's very large with a cement wall there though.

 

The Trio band Allibe said she could get, if we decide on that. So I would ask her or Luis about them. Sorry, I'm not sure about the speakers and microphone though. I'm sure you could, but I'm not 100% positive. 

 

~Marissa

[Samantha88k]

Awesome, thanks for the help! We had an engagement party last night and it was so much fun to listen to everyone talking about how excited they were to go to Mexico!!

Originally Posted by Riss520 

Samantha-

 Yeah I know $1200 is insane! She said it would be half the price (so $600) for 15 lanterns, but she said she would speak to Luis just to make sure. The only places that you don't need to rent lighting for is the martini bar and the rotundra (I think it's called), that is right over the bridge from the lobby. It's very large with a cement wall there though.

 

The Trio band Allibe said she could get, if we decide on that. So I would ask her or Luis about them. Sorry, I'm not sure about the speakers and microphone though. I'm sure you could, but I'm not 100% positive. 

 

~Marissa

 

[aquabride]

The email of the florist is 

 

[email protected]

 

I actually asked her if she has hanging lanterns and she said yes and quoted these prices which are MUCH lower then H3R... might be worth going with her for lanterns

 

10 pz $2,200 pesos  approx $177USD

20pz $3,600 pesos approx $291USD

30pz $5,400 pesos approx $436USD

 

 

She also told me they might be getting a light bamboo aisle runner... which would be easier then buying the rug.  Samantha if it doesn't work out with the bamboo then I'm most likely gonna buy the seagrass rug.  I'll keep u updated

 

Marissa you are on top of stuff... ur weddings after mine and u have it all worked out!  impressive.  What are you putting in your welcome bags?  Did you know there is a $3 charge to the bell boys for delivering them (said on my contract).  I'm deciding if I'll do one.  It is a really nice touch.  Also, I thought the cake was included...or did i make that up?  

So weird about the entrees, I asked the same question when I was there.  I might ask if they'd do family style so that each table has some of each entree type and people can try what they'd like.  

 

Thanks for the info on Ivan ...I might end up going with him too!