The Now Riviera Cancun

[lisadias]

Hey Hanna

Wow you poor thing, i would be going crazy! I am not really leaving anything because I am using it all at my AHR but you can certainly us however many chair sashes you need of mine. Actually another bride left some vases and chair sashes so i would just talk to the wedding coordinator when you get there and ask if you can use them for free since they didn't pay for them. What kind of stuff are you looking for again. I am pretty sure we have the same color scheme. Aqua, lime and white. If I remember correctly you wedding is on the friday and I leave saturday morning so as long as I have the stuff back in time to pack it then you are welcome to use it. Are you getting there the 27th? My wedding is the 26th of April.

[primavera]

Yes, I am def. going crazy!! So stressful, and my FI tells everyone that the only thing you have to do when you have a DW is to show up. HA!! That is all HE has to do!

We have the same color scheme as you. Not really sure what I'm looking for, our wedding will be very laid back since we don't have that many guests. I'm just worried that the reception tables will look very empty if we don't have any decorations at all, like candles or something you know. I f I can use your chair sashes or the ones the other bride left there that would be awesome! We get there on the 27th.

[lisadias]

Are you with pilar or ana?

The resort has some items there that they will let you use for free. Small vases for votive or you can even go into town and grab some cheap flowers and spread them amongst the vases. I think I might have a pic of the free stuff that pilar sent me that you can use. I will try and find them and attach them here

[primavera]

I am with Ana. That would be great if you have pics. Ana has not told me about any free stuff (but then again I have not asked lol). Thanks Lisa!

[lisadias]

ok I suck, I just spent an hour and i can't find those pictures of the stuff they have available for use. sorry

[hammy0426]

jacqjade, hmmmm well my bookings were different than yours -long story about being first booked at another resort and then firing our travel agent...so we all booked around the same time through bookit as it was only about 3 months before the wedding!  We had many different departure cities and we also had people staying from 5-10 days and arriving and leaving all different days.  Because of all the drama with our bookings, I just told everyone to go to the site and book themselves.  I did not block off rooms or talk to the hotel about at all.  The resort was fully booked that week to the point that they were sending people to other resorts and we had no problem booking or getting into the resort.  Sorry I can't be more help...

 

I regret going through a travel agent to begin with at all.  I was trying to make to seemless and stress=free for my guests but everyone wanted to search themselves for better pricing.  (not that they could find better pricing than what we originally had because believe me, I searched long and hard to find the best rates for everyone).  trying to coordinate everyone else's vacation was the most stressful part of my planning.  I told my sister who is considering a DW that if she does it, to tell people the location and allow them to book themselves.  A lot less stress!

 

One hint for bookit is that some days they have "sales" on the resort pricing and it tells you there is only one day left...the sale will end but it came right back the following day for the same sale price.
 

Originally Posted by jacqjade 

Thanks biehnbag! Your wedding looks awesome and it really helps me get ideas for what to do for my wedding!!

 

Hammy, I have a question about bookit.com . How did your organize all of your group? My mind is just boggled on how to organize all of my guests!!!!! My problem is that I have guests coming from all over the place, but I also have guests who are staying for 7 nights, 6, 5, 4, 3, etc..! I think I would like to encourage everyone to book it through bookit.com since it seems like its the best deal. But not everyone will want to book instantly for whatever reason, but I think I should still block rooms for them in case they book 2-3 month before the wedding right? Also, some people may not want to use bookit.com and therefore I would need to block rooms for them too. SOOOO...do you think its possible for me to block rooms for EVERYONE (those who book online with packages AND those who book hotel only direct) and if they book online, I can just tell the hotel to consider them as part of my group block?

 

Sorry, does that even make sense what I just typed?! AH! How did you do it?!? HELP!!

 

Jacqueline

 

[hammy0426]

Primavera, it does seem that there is always a lot going on right before the wedding and it ends up with a lot of added stress.  Don't worry, it will all work out.

 

I left my turquoise chair sash's with Pilar.  I know you said that you are having aqua and the turquoise color would be almost the same.  I like there was 50 of them.  I left 8 sand colored table runners.  I also left 12 vases that were 9 inches tall, 12 vases that were 7 inches tall and 12 vases that were 4 inches tall (Pilar told me that 4 vases broke but I am not sure what sizes broke).  I left 4 picture frames that I used for table numbers and also about 50 raffia fans that I used for the chairs for the ceremony. 

 

If you are going to use candles in the vases, I recommend ones that I found at DollarTree -I found oversized tealights that fit perfectly in the bottom of the 4 inch vases.  Even being at Castaways which is outside, they stayed light.  I wrapped the small and large vases with eyelet fabric and trimmed the bottoms with sand colored ribbon.  the candle light flickered through the holes in the fabric.  everything that I put on the vases was used with double-sided sticky tape so someone else could peel them off.  The star of my vases were the ones that I spent the least amount of time on...in the middle vases, I put small starfish that I bought on line, filled the vase with water and put a waterproof light in the bottom which makes everything illuminated and magnified the size of the small starfish.  Pilar put some of my crystal rocks on the bottom and a floating flower on top.  It looked awesome, provided more light when it gets dark and looked great in pictures in too.  Just trying to give you some ideas...
 

Originally Posted by primavera 

Thanks Biehnbag!!

 

Lisa (and other getting married in the end of April), what are you bringing down with you to the resort and what (if any) will you be leaving there?

 

My wedding is getting real close and I still have gotten nothing done :S We just moved from TX to FL and I started a new job, we have to find an apt within the next to weeks and move, so lots of other things going on! To add to that stress out budget has been very tight and I won't get paid until the end of month...aaargh!! We have chosen the Eternity package since our wedding is pretty small (about 20 ppl) and I don't feel like we will need a lot of the extras. I still have to find a dress though!! Because of out small budget I will probably order a knock-off.... Sorry for the rant, starting to freak out a little and needed to vent....

 

[hammy0426]

Hi Jenn, I recently had my wedding there and had the Divine package also.  I can't help with the appetizers because I busy getting pics taken and never got any.  Most people said they were good but not enough -my guests only got 2-4 pieces each and I swear either Pilar or the wedding brochure told me that you get 7 pieces per person for the included 25 guests.  this might not matter for most parties but we had a long break between the ceremony and the dinner and people were hungry.

 

For the dinner, what ever you do, DO NOT order the beef carpacio!  I don't know what it is like here in the states but it was like some gelatinous red goo on our plates -yuck.  I think only 2 or 3 people ate it.  we had the spinach ravioli for 2nd course and it was good -everyone liked it and ate it.  It was served with a green basil/spinach cream sauce over the top.  For the entrees, I let the guests "pre-order" what they wanted and supplied the entree count to Pilar before I left for NJ.  I had the tuna and although it was overcooked, it still tasted good and everybody else liked the beef and the salmon.  For the dessert, we had the almond thing and it was hard as a rock.  Nobody ate it because we had cake and then the dancing started.  I would recommend trying to substitute the dessert cause you already have one with the cake.  If you wanted something light so people are not so full that they cannot eat the dinner, I know the Eternity package has a salad as an option and I wish I had thought about substituting the dessert with a different starter choice.
 

Hope this helps

Meg

Originally Posted by JennandDylan 

Since everyone has such wonderful advise, I figured I would ask what previous brides thought of the food for their wedding? I will be going with the "Devine" Package and wondered if anyone could suggest what's good and what wasn't so good.

 

 

 

 

[hammy0426]

Carly, great pictures!  doesn't it make you want to do it all over again when you look at the pictures...? 

 

Originally Posted by biehnbag 

 

Here is the link to my Photo Albums--finally! Hopefully I picked out pictures that help you get a better sense of the resort and what you can get for decorations!

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/gallery/album/index/id/22650

 

[jacqjade]

Thanks Hammy! I think I'll just have to talk it out with the hotel! Wish me luck!