2012 Cabo Bride... Help Please?! :)

[AZKimberly]

Hi everyone!

My fiance and I just got engaged a week ago and are leaning towards a Cabo wedding over a Hawaii wedding. We REALLY want a toes in the sand wedding, with chairs and an arch set up, (Which is why we are now leaning towards Cabo since from our understanding we cannot do that in Hawaii....)

If any of you experienced brides could please help me with information and answers to questions, I would appreciate it so so much!!!

1. We have family who are not too happy with a Cabo wedding because they think it will not be safe. Any advice?

2. Which resorts are the most affordable for sand in the toes weddings with a dinner reception following?
 3. How did you keep costs low?
4. Can you bring party favors and decorations with you on the plane?
5. What did you do or spend money on that you wish you hadn't?
6. What do you wish you would have done differently?
7. Did you do any fun activities and were they worth it? Deep sea fishing, Zip line, Swim with dolphins, etc.
8. Do I need a wedding planner different than what the resort provides?
9. Who do you recommend for flowers, cake, photographer, music, entertainment, etc. (Or do you just use what the hotel provides in packages)
10. Which restaurants did you go to outside of the resort and how were they?
11. What was your at home reception/party like? How much money should be spent on that?

Any pictures you can share with me?!?! I am on facebook also if that is an easier way to communicate. I have only been to Cabo once. I stayed at the Playa Grande and loved it. That is when I knew I wanted to get married in Cabo I am super excited to start planning, I am just nervous because I have so many questions and I want to make sure that I can have my dream wedding on the beach without having to spend a fortune. We are avoiding a wedding here because we would have to invite SOOOO many people since our families are huge and we have lots of friends here. Does DW really cut the costs as much as I am thinking it will... or is that wishful thinking?!

Thanks for your help and advice in advance!!

xoxo
Kimberly

[kiwibride]

HI Kimberly,

My wedding is at Dreams cabo, I visited cabo in Dec 2009 with my mother and it was very safe, we had no problems at all. My photographer is Gabriel Garcia, who i found to have the best prices, he is lovely and his work is fantastic. My d.j is D.j Ricardo Flowers are florenta as that is who dreams use. We are doing the Dreams of love package but are not using there photographer instead we are swapping that service for a videographer. Remember it is your wedding not your family's and it should be everything you want it to be, your family should be there to support you where ever you decide. I can give you more information in a few months when we are back from our Wedding. Good luck Victoria

 

 

[Pucca]

Congratulations Kimberly!
 

Originally Posted by AZKimberly 

Hi everyone!

My fiance and I just got engaged a week ago and are leaning towards a Cabo wedding over a Hawaii wedding. We REALLY want a toes in the sand wedding, with chairs and an arch set up, (Which is why we are now leaning towards Cabo since from our understanding we cannot do that in Hawaii....)

If any of you experienced brides could please help me with information and answers to questions, I would appreciate it so so much!!!

1. We have family who are not too happy with a Cabo wedding because they think it will not be safe. Any advice?

2. Which resorts are the most affordable for sand in the toes weddings with a dinner reception following?
3. How did you keep costs low?
4. Can you bring party favors and decorations with you on the plane?
5. What did you do or spend money on that you wish you hadn't?
6. What do you wish you would have done differently?
7. Did you do any fun activities and were they worth it? Deep sea fishing, Zip line, Swim with dolphins, etc.
8. Do I need a wedding planner different than what the resort provides?
9. Who do you recommend for flowers, cake, photographer, music, entertainment, etc. (Or do you just use what the hotel provides in packages)
10. Which restaurants did you go to outside of the resort and how were they?
11. What was your at home reception/party like? How much money should be spent on that?

Any pictures you can share with me?!?! I am on facebook also if that is an easier way to communicate. I have only been to Cabo once. I stayed at the Playa Grande and loved it. That is when I knew I wanted to get married in Cabo I am super excited to start planning, I am just nervous because I have so many questions and I want to make sure that I can have my dream wedding on the beach without having to spend a fortune. We are avoiding a wedding here because we would have to invite SOOOO many people since our families are huge and we have lots of friends here. Does DW really cut the costs as much as I am thinking it will... or is that wishful thinking?!

Thanks for your help and advice in advance!!

xoxo
Kimberly

I'm getting married in Cabo, with literally toes in the sand for ceremony and reception - a "shoes optional" affair! I'm obviously not an experienced bride as I'm planning my own DW for this November, but I just wanted to share what I've experienced thus far. In responding to your questions:

 

1. As kiwibride mentioned, Los Cabos is safe, so there shouldn't be anxiety about that. All you can do is reassure people who are concerned that there are plenty of brides still happily planning their weddings for, and currently getting married in, the Los Cabos area; the final decision is theirs but it shouldn't hinder you from having your wedding somewhere beautiful and affordable as long as it's where you want it to be.
2. I'm actually not getting married at a "resort" per se. I'm getting married on the beach where my timeshare is located. So it's not part of the resort package like Dreams or Riu or anything like that. For me it was the most affordable for both myself and the guests - I felt I couldn't possibly suggest all-inclusive resorts for my guests knowing that some of them are coming with their entire family and it would be very costly for them; on the other hand, I wasn't sure if I could afford all the extra charges that a resort asks for if the guests aren't staying on the premises. So this way the choice is up to them and I don't have to feel bad that people are obligated to spend a lot. So that was my decision. I suggest you take a look at the planning threads here on BDW to see if you like the resorts, go to the resort websites, do some research, and then figure out what you want. I would say though that having your wedding at these resorts does help you on the planning end since they have a designated coordinator to help you out, which means less stress and anxiety on your part.
3. To keep costs low we are shopping around a lot and trying to keep things as simple as possible. I've got a couple of DIY projects lined up. I try to make sure I've got the big things covered and then the little things I can do without or do if I have extra money and time. This minimizes complications and stress too. Oh, and we don't have a wedding party so that helps as well.
4. I'm sure you can bring party favors and decorations on the plane. I just read a planning thread today where a bride took plastic sand-castle buckets and a bunch of stuff for OOT bags! I'm amazed at how she packed everything! But she also said they had 5 or 6 suitcases total I think. But I'm sure there are things you can purchase there. We are purchasing party favors there that will be unique to Mexico so that we don't have to worry about taking them there, and then the guests have a souvenir without having to go shopping for one! And I'll probably ship a box of decorations prior to flying out, just so I don't have to stuff them in my bag and make it extra heavy.
5. I can't answer this one because I'm still in the process. Maybe after November I can answer this.
6. Same answer as #5.
7. I've seen some other people's planning threads and having been to Los Cabos once, we've decided on a few group activities, taking into account the personalities of guests that are coming as well as things we personally would like to do. We will do a group surf lesson at the Cabo Surf School, a sailing-snorkeling trip, a meet-and-greet cocktail hour somewhere, a mani-pedi time with all the ladies (and those gentlemen who want one too), and a sight-seeing excursion. And we'll do a post-wedding brunch for those who want to hang out.
8. I've read some of the reviews for resorts here and they lead me to believe that it is sufficient to use the resort's planning services.
9. Most of the resorts have vendors that they work with, so I'm reading that most people just go with those vendors. I personally am still looking for some of those services. We've been trying to contact a few florists so I can tell you later what the outcome of all that is. Kiwibride actually suggested one of the florists that we are contacting. Still looking for cake. I don't remember who our photographer is because my fiance is taking care of that. All I know is that I really like his pictures and his rates! We're looking for a live band for the ceremony and transition to the reception. Otherwise, we'll probably play our iPod music through speakers for the reception and onwards. I'm not too fond of the whole DJ thing. If the band ends up being reasonable, we may just keep them for the whole affair.
10. I can't remember much of the restaurants but I like the one that's catering our food for the reception! It's called Mama Mia, and they have various events going on throughout the week. I'll probably take some of our guests to my favorite local taco place - El Hangman. But other than that, I don't really have any idea about restaurants and will probably look through BDW threads for suggestions or ask around when I'm in Los Cabos.
11. I'm not having an at-home-reception. We're getting married legally prior to the DW so that we don't have to worry about the requirements; so we'll probably have a small party with our closest friends who will be our witnesses.

 

Personally, having a DW is definitely cutting costs for me. And it really cuts down on the guest list, as we're expecting 60 max which includes children. And I always knew I wanted a DW because I wanted it to be more intimate and one where I can spend more than 5 minutes interacting with my friends and family. Plus it enables us to invite only our close circle of friends and family -- people who have been through it all with us and will be through it all with us in the future.

 

Final note: Thanks for making it to the end of this reply! I think that it's most important for you to figure out what you want and what you can and cannot deal with, whatever it may be - from stress to weather to location to mood. Then you can figure out your budget and go from there. I wish you all the best in planning your beautiful day!

[CanadianLindsey]

While I was married near Cancun at an AI resort and can't answer any Cabo specific questions, I can tell you I had my parents and my own suitcase filled with wedding stuff and had no problem entering Mexico.  We brought candles, favors, a slide show projector, disposable cameras, fabric for decor, vases, wooden trays for our programs, etc and I brought receipts just in case but had no problem.

 

We used the WC onsite and had no problem, but did get a friend to over see everything for us.

 

To keep costs down we didn't have an AHR, had minimal decor-since the scenery it self is so beautiful-and reused our gazebo flowers and bouqets as centrepieces at the reception.  We also didn't hire a dj and just had our guests pick a few songs each and made an ipod playlist that we played on a rented stereo.  It was one of our best moneysavers($250 to rent stereo versus $1000+ for a dj) and everyone loved the personalized music!  We splurged on a photographer and it was well worth it.  We do wish we would have gotten a video made too since we can't remember any of our ceremony, we were so excited and nervous it was a blur!

 

We did one optional day trip to a snorkelling spot but otherwise just made informal meeting places at the beach or pools and let everyone meet up when they wanted and just enjoy the resort.  We tried to have at least one dinner with each group/couple too.

 

As for your famillies travel fears, check out other threads on travel to Mexico and you'll see this is a common problem with wedding guests.  As long as you and your FI are ok with your location, there is not a lot you can do.  Some people are just nervous to travel and all you can do is answer their questions and let them figure it out. Honestly the part of Mexico your going to is pretty safe, all the tourist locations are well policed and run since that is their main industry. Good luck and congrats on becoming a DW bride, it's so much fun!!    I wish I could do it again tomorrow!