ILA Brides, what do you have planned so far for your big day?

[truelove4life]

Hey Chevy14!

I asked Yahimara the other day if there was any way to have a beach reception. The answer was no. I also asked her about having the dinner/reception somewhere other than in one of the restaurants. She said no. lol. She said that after dinner, I could "rent" out the disco or the conference room from 9-11 for an additional $150. On top of that price, if you want drinks served in the disco or the conference room, you need to pay an extra $8cuc per person, which didn't make any sense to me since it is an all inclusive resort and you would already be paying $150 to use the facility. If anyone can clarify that for me, or has any additional information, please let me know!! I am starting to realize that this is going to cost me a bit more than I expected in order to have the day that I want!! I'm sure it will all be worth it and turn out perfect in the end.

[RonNMel]

Not only is it 8 cuc per person to get drinks served at the private reception, but it's 8 cuc per person per hour. So if you want a 2 hour private reception, you have to double the price.

[Tilly in the Sun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chevy14 Tilly, you mention your guests will have the option of lobster or chicken....are you paying the extra $25 per person then? When does the resort need to know who is having what? And what is this about an $8 per person charge for drinks at the private reception I haven't heard a word about that!

As far as I know, it's 18CUC per person for lobster and I thought it was a lower price for chicken. I will have to check through older emails to see what was actually quoted. I think I will try to have everyone's choice in by no later than one week before, but that is just my thought...I will let you know if I am told anything different.

And for the private reception (after dinner, the 'dance' part) It is 8CUC extra per person plus 150CUC to rent it from 9-11. I like you you are having your dinner from 7-9. How were you able to get that time slot...I was only given from 6:30 - 8:00 or 8:30-10:00. Maybe that's what the gala reception is?

[Tilly in the Sun]

This is what was sent to me in Sept about the dinner and private reception. Ron n Mel I didn't realize it was 8CUC per person per HOUR!! That's a little (ok a lot) ridiculous!! We'd be better off grabbing trays of drinks from the hotel and bringing them to the disco.

 

 

If you want a private dinner reception we have three different a la carte restaurants with different menus:

 

Steak House Restaurant “Monserrateâ€

 

Healthy Meals Restaurant “Basoraâ€

 

Cuban Restaurant “ La Insularâ€

 

Times tables:

 

From 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm (with extra charge 15.00 CUC/pax)

 

From 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm (free of charge)

 

 

 

The lobster offer is available in all the restaurants.

 

 

 

If you want a private party after dinner for dancing you can reserve the disco/aqua bar or

 

meeting room from 9.00 pm to 11.00 pm. For that you should pay 150.00 CUC for the location

 

and 8.00 CUC/Pax for the opened bar.

[PaulsGirl]

I just wanted to say thank you all so much for the info in the previous posts...but i am now SOOO CONFUSED!!!!

 

I had originally set up our wedding when Maydelina (sp?) was the wedding coordinator before resort opened. We had arranged our wedding at 3:00pm on May 5th with a private "poolside" resception at 6:00ish. I was told this was a charge of $150 per hour to rent the "private poolside reception".

 

After my last few emails back and forth to Yahimara, I am now very uneasy. We've confirmed the ceremony so that is no issue, but she has asked me to choose a restaurant and said "poolside reception, what is this?". I'M NERVOUS!

 

She sent me some menus and the Steakhouse option sounded the best, but does anyone know if this restaurant is outdoor/indoor?

 

I had also asked if the speakers were available to rent to hookup t our ipod to do our first dances, but now, if the dinner is in the middle of a closed retaurant with other people, I'm nervous the dancing/private dance for our group won't work out as planned. After that we'll just go grab drinks at one of the bars and head to the disco for 11pm.

[truelove4life]

I am really confused now, too.

I had no idea it was an additional 150 to have dinner at 6:30. I would rather eat at 8:00 if that is the case! My head is spinning. lol.

[chevy14]

Wow, this IS getting confusing!!

 

Thanks Tilly!

 

Lisa, the steak restaurant (Monserrate) is indoor/outdoor, just like the Basora...it seats 200 people according to Yahimara and you can see a pic of it on the Facebook ILA page in the photos...I tagged the steakhouse.

 

truelove4life, my friend Samantha (who is getting married the day after me at ILA!) did exactly that - she moved her ceremony to 5pm (she has to pay $150) and is having her dinner at 8pm as we were told that it is $15 per person extra to have your dinner during the hours of 6:30 - 8pm.......but it really seems like we are being told a few different things!

 

Times tables:

 

From 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm (with extra charge 15.00 CUC/pax)

From 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm (free of charge)

 

I agree with you girls, that $8 per person, per HOUR charge is RIDICULOUS!

[chevy14]

Oh yeah, and the Japanese restaurant is now open! Yay!

[truelove4life]

I'm wondering if a section of the steak house, for example, could be reserved.(i.e. the outside area)

I am also wondering if an hour and a half is enough time to do a few short speeches, the traditional dances, and eat the meal. ??

I am now considering a private dinner and paying the extra $150, which may be better than having a dinner at 8:30 with other resort guests plus renting out the disco or conference room for some privacy. Especially with this crazy charge of $8pp.

[Barrierunner]

Wow so much confusion. We all have to make sure that we request an invoice from Yahimara that shows all the pricing (and bring all printouts of emails). I don't want to get to Cuba and be told that I have to pay more than expected!!!

 

From what I understood (and correct me if I am wrong) is that for the private dinner, it is 15CUC per person no matter what from 6:30-8. If you want lobster for the guests, it is an additional 18CUC per person, so for those guests requesting lobster, you will be paying 33CUC per person. Is this right?

 

After much discussion with my fiance we decided to not book the private disco. He wasn't too happy (and neither was I) that we had to pay for drinks when they are free at the resort and for 2 hours for 30 people, it just doesn't make sense. So what we have decided to do is after our dinner and speeches are done at 8, we will announce that we will be hanging out at one of the bars on the resort (usually they are big enough to accomodate quite a few people to sit around and hopefully we can figure which one ahead of time) and we will wait for the disco at 11. This gives people time to go back to their rooms and freshen up etc. We aren't being that traditional in the sense that we have to have a first dance etc etc. We rather spend our time with our guests and we figure by hanging out at a bar or by the beach, it would add to the atmosphere. This kinda screws up any preplanning or preparing an itinerary for our guests.

 

Does anyone know anybody who has been to this resort that can give a description of the bars etc?

 

Does anyone know how big the junior suite rooms are? Depending on how many people you have going down, you could have a little after party in the room before the disco starts.

 

I asked Yahimara if it was possible to book the pool area or somewhere on the beach after dinner and she said she won't know until May...fingers crossed but I am sure they will be nickel and dimeing us for that too!