Any Ceiba del Mar Brides?

[Planner1Events]

Great we a re having a wedding today at Ceiba, so if you want to take  look in our set ups, the wedding will start at 3h30 pm
 

Originally Posted by 1106wedding 

Thank you to all of you for the quick information. I made a last minute appointment with Diana for tomorrow at 3pm! I couldn't resist. We're seeing 6 resorts, yikes! We have deposits down at 4 but Ceiba isn't one of them (mostly because I didn't know enough about it and thought it might be too small for our group). I'll report back next week! Thanks again!

[savvybride2010]

We only offered the all-inclusive rate to our guests.  Mainly because our Travel Agent insisted it was a better deal then the European Plan and paying extra for food and drinks.  Initially we were a little reluctant but we are so happy we went that route now.  Our guests definitely would have paid more and had less fun counting up the drinks.  I think it made things significantly easier on everyone because you knew all of your costs up front, and there wasn't a need to take an excessive amount of cash abroad.  I would highly recommend it because as quaint as Puerto Morelos is, it really isn't a great alternative dining option for your guests.  Hope that answers your question?

 

Originally Posted by lshaef 

savvybride2010 - Didn't the guests have the option to do the all - inclusive??  I was just wondering because we are encouraging everyone to do the AI since the prices of food and drinks will well exceed the difference between the European Plan and the AI plan.

[tweets.13]

Question for you - we currently have a civil ceremony scheduled for our wedding.  We learned that we cannot personalize it (readings, prayers, etc.), so we are contemplating doing a civil ceremony followed by a symbolic ceremony.  Do any of you have any experience, suggestions, comments?

 

Thanks!

 

Theresa

[savvybride2010]

Hi Theresa,

 

We did the symbolic ceremony for many reasons, but the main one being the personalization.  We wrote our entire ceremony from start to finish (not just the vows) for something that really reflected what this day meant to both of us.  But here are a few other practical reasons why we opted for the symbolic over the civil ceremony. 

 

Cost - there is a significant cost difference between the civil and symbolic ceremony.  We were told for the civil ceremony that you need to arrive in Yucatan 5 full business days prior to the wedding day in order to obtain the marriage certificate. That means arriving Sunday night if your wedding is on the following Saturday.  You are also required to have blood tests done by a local doctor no less than 2 days prior to the wedding.  The wedding needs to be performed by a licensed judge.  And finally the marriage certificate would need to be translated (for an additional fee) if you wanted it to be recognized in the US.  All together we found that it would have cost us about $2000 extra between additional hotel nights, judge fees, blood test fees, certificate fees, translations fees, etc., over the symbolic ceremony. 

 

Time - we didn't want to take more than 12 days off from our jobs, so we flew in on a wednesday before our wedding (Sunday) so we could have a longer honeymoon. 

 

Length of Ceremony - besides customizing the ceremony, we really wanted to keep it short (10-15 min) since we were getting married outside. 

 

Legal Certificate - we have had many friends get married abroad (Mexico, Bahamas, Fiji, etc.) and everyone of them had to get married again in the states when they got back.  What we found in Colorado was that even though the Federal government (Social Security Card, Passport, etc.) will recognize the marriage certificate from another country,  the state government (Driver's License, Car Registration, etc.) would not, requiring you to go to the judge locally for a marriage certificate in order to change your name.  I guess its not a problem if you don't plan on changing your name, but you might want to check with your local DMV to see if they would take a Mexican Marriage Certificate. 

 

That said, we opted to get married at the court house the week before.  I will say I thought I would be a little bummed by legally being married before we got to MX but it really turned out not to be a big deal at all.  Our wedding anniversary is still the day we stood on the pier together surrounded by our family and friends, not what the Colorado Marriage Certificate says.  But if that bothers you it might be worth the extra dollars for the civil ceremony, just be prepared to get married again when you get back if your state won't recognize it.   

 

Sorry for the novel, hope it helps you!  Remember, this is your day so do what you want to do, not what you think you are expected to do! 

 

Good luck!

Lauren

 

Ps I'm happy to PM you a copy of our ceremony if you are looking for some ideas or wording.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by tweets.13 

Question for you - we currently have a civil ceremony scheduled for our wedding.  We learned that we cannot personalize it (readings, prayers, etc.), so we are contemplating doing a civil ceremony followed by a symbolic ceremony.  Do any of you have any experience, suggestions, comments?

 

Thanks!

 

Theresa

[1106wedding]

Side note:

savvybride2010 - I'm obsessed with your calla lillies! Your bouquet is one of the most gorgeous I've seen!

[savvybride2010]

Thanks so much!  I absolutely loved my bouquet, they were really unbelievable in person. They almost seemed fake like someone had painted them plus they lasted for several days, so nice!  Gabi from Planner1events did all my flowers (the white orchids for my hair were beautiful too!) I highly recommend her!  Thanks again! 

[1106wedding]

They really do look fake. Lovely!

I had the pleasure of meeting Gaby when we went for our site visit and she was SOOOOO nice! It was extremely hard to let Ceiba go - it's such a special place. Maybe we'll go for our honeymoon!?

I love the idea of writing our own ceremony (actually, it's the ONLY way). If you wouldn't mind sharing some "starters" I would be forever grateful.  

[KPSouthie]

Hi Ladies! 

 

I'm new to the board so it's nice to find other Ceiba brides and all of the board’s useful information. We’re booked for July of 2011 and expecting 100 people.  I have to say a piece of me is nervous after reading a couple of the reviews, especially one in particular.  It’s hard not to second guess our choice after reading the negative ones.  However prior to booking we did go down for a site visit to 5 resorts (stayed at Ceiba overnight), spoke to other recent Ceiba brides who had excellent experiences and I’ve read a ton of positive reviews on trip advisor.  To date, I’ve had nothing but a positive experience with the hotel and especially when working with Dians so I’m praying they have since taken care of any problems or issues they were having. 

 

savvybride2010 –Sounds &looks like you planned an amazing wedding & weekend!  Do you have any additional photos from your other events that you’d be willing to share?  I’m trying to get ideas for décor.  Also I apologize if I missed it, but who did you use for your DJ?  We haven’t booked anyone yet but it’s really important for us to have someone who can keep everyone out on the dance floor.

 

Thanks in advance!

[savvybride2010]

1106 - I'll PM you our ceremony! 

[lshaef]

From reading reviews on this site, we also decided to do the legal ceremony in the states and are doing a symbolic wedding.  My FI's uncle will be the offciant so it will be very personalized.  There's a thread already started with ceremony scripts so savvybride2010 maybe you could add it there if you want to share.

 

I think doing the legal part here would just make the whole experience of getting married in Mexico less stressful.  You don't have to tell your guests that you legally did it in the States...no one will ever know!