The Now Riviera Cancun

[mkennedy]

EXCITING! Cant wait...see you in a few months!!

[Charneice]

Wow! Bookit.com is great! Thanks ladies - I have been looking all over the internet for tickets as I have folks coming in from everywhere.  Is anyone getting married the last week of July?  We will be there from July 26 - Aug. 2.  How far have you all gotten with planning those who have 4 months or less?  I have a dress (that took a lot but I found the perfect dress :-) and I have about 20 people booked, My TA has actually been great! I found her on line and was a little scared at first because she is in PA and I am in DC but it has been pretty cool,  and I have been talking to Pilar.  I am trying to swap stuff out of the package( I read the board I know it use to be possible and now not so much but it never hurts to ask as I have no use for hair and make up and my friends are photographers professionally, and I am thinking of hiring one)   She hasn't answered me so far, but has been averaging 3 days to 7 days to respond and I just asked on Tuesday.  My FI is vegan (he now eats fish occasionally but NO DAIRY at all)  so I am looking to have a cake shipped.  Nothing really fancy - A grooms cake, but something so that he can eat too :-). I am a part time vegan lol if that is possible.  No meat at all, some fish, and some cheese from time to time. No eggs. So this is going to really interesting as far as food goes.  

 

I also got a group rate on some of the excursions and day trips to the ruins if anyone is interested, and I have rates for outside photographers for the trash the dress. Not sure if I am going to do that. I might order a 100 dress just for the pictures.

 

So much to do! So thankful for this site.  Take care ladies.

 

Charneice

[hammy0426]

Hi jacqjade, I'm not sure if I am reading your question right but i did not end up using the Ipod for the reception.  I thought that I would need to and had my sister make a "dinner play list" on her Ipod but the DJ just played some soft dinner music while we ate.  I'm sure he would let you hook up your Ipod if you want to play your own songs but to me, it was just background music and I would rather have them chose instead of having myself or someone else get up to manage it.

 

I had two people for the DJ service (both were included).  One was the MC or head DJ and he did the announcing and then the DJ or assistant played and cued the music.  When we arrived to the reception site, the MC announced the wedding party, we had our first dance, father/daughter dance and mother/son dance.  then the MC/DJ played dinner music and left while we ate dinner.  He came back right after dinner and he announced the cake cutting, did a bouquet toss and garter toss.  Then he started his 3 hours of DJ music so I feel like I got a lot more time and service than I was expecting.
 

Originally Posted by jacqjade 

Did you have one of your family members/friends managing the Ipod during the reception when the MC was welcoming the bridal party and doing the first dance? I assume this was before the DJ started working?
 

 

 

[hammy0426]

Irishdonna, long story but I will make it as short as possible.  I originally had a TA and my party was originally booked at another resort.  Meanwhile my meddling aunt thought that she could get better pricing so you went to a different TA with about half my party.  Annoying because the 2nd TA could not get close to the pricing that I had so I had to get involved with the 2nd TA also just so the rest of my party could have the same pricing.  Part of the resort we were originally booked at blew-up and I did not feel comfortable going there anymore.  We had already booked our flights.  I decided on Now Jade and the 1st TA could not match the pricing I found on bookit.com.  We canceled with her and got our deposits back and we booked directly through the website.

 

The other half of my party with the 2nd TA could not give the deposit back if they canceled so I worked with her to match the pricing on bookit.com.  That TA ended up calling the resort directly and getting them to match bookit's pricing for the group.  This may help work for you if you can get your TA to call the resort directly....

 

This worked for myself and my party because we had people coming from many different places and arriving and departing on various days so we did not care about being all together on the same flight.

 

Also, my now husband found the cheapest flights from Cheapo-Air.com.  We originally found air from Syracuse NY to Cancun with one stop for only $390 round trip per person!  but we had to fly out of Rochester so the mother-in-law did not have to fly alone and we found flights for $495 per person the next day.  We booked our flights in Aug or Sep for February travel.  We were all pretty flexible on travel dates so that we could get good pricing (hence people arriving anywhere from Wed to Sat and leaving Wed to Friday).  The pricing for the airfare steadily increased for months but the rest of the party found ok pricing after Thanksgiving.  Kind-of a guessing game and somewhat stressful to deal with but in the end I was happy that we did it because we ended up saving enough for us to stay at the resort 12 days instead of 10.

 

Tip #4:  It is AWESOME to have close family and friends celebrate the wedding but I highly recommend staying a few days after everyone leaves so that you and your new hubby can enjoy each other alone.  With everybody there to celebrate your wedding, sometimes I felt obligated to have dinner with certain people or at certain restaurants so that we could spend enough time with each guest.  Besides the actual wedding, the extra 4 days alone that we had was so nice and very relaxing.  Highly recommend it.
 

Originally Posted by irishdonna 

I feel so ripped off! I hired a wedding planner who pretty much is just a middle man who also is a TA, i payed $$$$ for their services and there's no way of getting it back=( I wish i found this website along time ago! I'm finding prices on bookit for super cheap! Are all your guest booking on their own then? Or how does that work?

 

 

 

[irishdonna]

Hi there=)

Bookit.com has some amazing prices but i notice there never non-stop flights. I ended up getting the price i agreed on with my TA today and it's $1567 all in with airport transfers as well. The one thing i think is a bit crazy is kids 5-15 i believe, have to pay $1262, that seems a bit high? My FI were talking about staying an extra couple days, just last night so we can unwind a bit.

 

That's crappy you had to deal with 2 TA! I have my guests asking me 100 questions and giving funny looks when i tell them the price, but i'm going to stop stressing about it, if they come they come.

 

The one good thing is, i have a one time only price drop! So if i notice prices have dropped i can save my guests some money=) i just hope that works out for me in the end.

Originally Posted by hammy0426 

Irishdonna, long story but I will make it as short as possible.  I originally had a TA and my party was originally booked at another resort.  Meanwhile my meddling aunt thought that she could get better pricing so you went to a different TA with about half my party.  Annoying because the 2nd TA could not get close to the pricing that I had so I had to get involved with the 2nd TA also just so the rest of my party could have the same pricing.  Part of the resort we were originally booked at blew-up and I did not feel comfortable going there anymore.  We had already booked our flights.  I decided on Now Jade and the 1st TA could not match the pricing I found on bookit.com.  We canceled with her and got our deposits back and we booked directly through the website.

 

The other half of my party with the 2nd TA could not give the deposit back if they canceled so I worked with her to match the pricing on bookit.com.  That TA ended up calling the resort directly and getting them to match bookit's pricing for the group.  This may help work for you if you can get your TA to call the resort directly....

 

This worked for myself and my party because we had people coming from many different places and arriving and departing on various days so we did not care about being all together on the same flight.

 

Also, my now husband found the cheapest flights from Cheapo-Air.com.  We originally found air from Syracuse NY to Cancun with one stop for only $390 round trip per person!  but we had to fly out of Rochester so the mother-in-law did not have to fly alone and we found flights for $495 per person the next day.  We booked our flights in Aug or Sep for February travel.  We were all pretty flexible on travel dates so that we could get good pricing (hence people arriving anywhere from Wed to Sat and leaving Wed to Friday).  The pricing for the airfare steadily increased for months but the rest of the party found ok pricing after Thanksgiving.  Kind-of a guessing game and somewhat stressful to deal with but in the end I was happy that we did it because we ended up saving enough for us to stay at the resort 12 days instead of 10.

 

Tip #4:  It is AWESOME to have close family and friends celebrate the wedding but I highly recommend staying a few days after everyone leaves so that you and your new hubby can enjoy each other alone.  With everybody there to celebrate your wedding, sometimes I felt obligated to have dinner with certain people or at certain restaurants so that we could spend enough time with each guest.  Besides the actual wedding, the extra 4 days alone that we had was so nice and very relaxing.  Highly recommend it.
 

 

 

 

[Kmart48]

Hammy--What package did you have?  Did the DJ play through dinner aaand and then 3 hrs of dancing music?  I really want 3 hrs of music for dancing after dinner. ($350 is a lil ridiculous or 1 hr).   I don't know if I should try to ask Pilar to add it for free now or wait til we get there and then try to negotiate.  What are your thoughts? Thanks!

[hammy0426]

Kmart, I has the Devine package.  the DJ did the announcing and first dance, etc prior to dinner being served.  Then he put an auto music selection to play during dinner.  The Dj and MC left during dinner and came back at the last course.  Then the DJ hours began and we did cake cutting and then 3 hours of dancing.

 

I am not sure what to suggest to Pilar about the extra DJ hour.  I never even mentioned it to her as I did not think that would even be an option of a free DJ hour and I was not going to pay the extra $350 for one hour.  Glad I had it because my family likes to dance and drink and we had so much fun.

 

FYI: the DJ/MC brings colored lights to use and flash during dancing. FUN! and it looked great.
 

Originally Posted by Kmart48 

Hammy--What package did you have?  Did the DJ play through dinner aaand and then 3 hrs of dancing music?  I really want 3 hrs of music for dancing after dinner. ($350 is a lil ridiculous or 1 hr).   I don't know if I should try to ask Pilar to add it for free now or wait til we get there and then try to negotiate.  What are your thoughts? Thanks!

 

[hammy0426]

Irishdonna, your pricing sounds comparable and it is awesome to have a direct flight.  Also great to have a one time price reduction option...

 

I know it is hard to believe in the stage of planning the weeding but from what I found after planning the wedding and then having it, everything has a way of working itself out in the end.  and if it doesn't...you will be so relaxed and happy while you are there, that you will not care.

 

I am so excited for everyone because I know that you will have the absolute BEST time while you are there.  sigh...I wish I could have my wedding and that week all over again.

[irishdonna]

You just made me feel so much better=) thank you!

 

What wedding package did you go with? I finally get to start the fun stuff now=) And i'm horrible and organizing and making choices...:s

Originally Posted by hammy0426 

Irishdonna, your pricing sounds comparable and it is awesome to have a direct flight.  Also great to have a one time price reduction option...

 

I know it is hard to believe in the stage of planning the weeding but from what I found after planning the wedding and then having it, everything has a way of working itself out in the end.  and if it doesn't...you will be so relaxed and happy while you are there, that you will not care.

 

I am so excited for everyone because I know that you will have the absolute BEST time while you are there.  sigh...I wish I could have my wedding and that week all over again.

 

[ChristieAnn]

What quotes did you get for the TTD?? I am going to get a 100.00 dress. DHGate.com has a lot of cheap ones!  I got a quote for around 1000.00 for a TTD