Now Sapphire recent reviews?! Please help! Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[MNtoMX]

My fiance and I are considering Now Sapphire for our choice for a destination wedding in January or April (still undecided!) I have reviewed the packages online but I still have several questions. I emailed the resort about a week ago and still have not heard a response. We are considering the Divine Wedding Packages. I have serveral questions for those that have had a wedding at Now Sapphire recently

1) Does the package include the chairs for the ceremony on the beach? I see that they have "beach chairs" as an added option so I am unclear on this

2)Does the Divine package include a private ceremony location (tequilla terrace) or do you still pay the $500 extra to have the private location?

3) What was your experience coordinating with the resort before your arrival? Everything I read makes it sound like there is little contact with the coordinators at the resort before.

 

The cost of the package might sway the resort that we chose so I want to try to answer the questions before committing. Thank you in advance for any advice!!

 

[MirandaandJedd]

I recently went on site visits to both of the NOW Resorts. The Sapphire is a very beautiful resort and def. has a WOW factor when you arrive. The Divine package includes the chairs and the option to be married at any of their wedding locations.  You would have to pay for the private locations if you were not picking a package or doing the free package. I really liked the wedding coordinator there. She was very prepared for my visit and was able to answer all of my questions on the spot. She also had a really cute wedding office ( unlike most other places I went) where you could see examples of cakes and flowers. As for email, every single resort I have emailed is ex termly slow to respond. 

 

Hope this helps,

 

Miranda 

[lianee]

I don't have any info from experience, but I will be getting married at the Now Sapphire on Jan 19, 2012.  

1) From what I understand, you get some beach chairs for the ceremony, and extras are $5 per person.  The Moments package comes with 10 (I think) and the others come with 25. 

2) All the ceremony locations are semi-private, but aside from having them in a ballroom, it would be hard to stop other guests from coming to check it out.  Reception locations are private, and that's where you pay the $500 booking fee (unless you pick the Divine or Eternity packages.

3) From my experience with the wedding coordinator so far, it's pretty hard to get her to reply to emails very promptly.  I was a bridesmaid at Dreams Tulum, and most of the planning was done on resort a couple of days before the wedding, but that wedding required very little planning.

 

My plan is to go with the Moments package as long as we have less than 35 people coming, and have the reception in the Market Cafe.  If we have over the 35 people and can't have the reception in the restaurant, we will probably go with the Divine package.

 

Hope that helps!

[drmunoz]

Hi Lianee,

 

I am in the process of getting our date confirmed for our wedding at Now Sapphire, during the same week of your wedding. We are hoping for January 20, 2012 but have yet to hear back. Since you seem to be further down the planning process - can I ask you a few questions please? Did you have to commit to your reception and ceremony reception when you requested your wedding date? I was told that I have to submit my selection now even without seeing it. Any info on that??

 

Thanks!

 

 

[lianee]

drmunoz,

If you find that you're waiting a long time (a few days or more) for Sandra to confirm your date, send Olivia an email (I gave you her address in the other thread you started) and she will get Sandra to respond asap.

 

I did confirm my ceremony and reception locations when I sent in the deposit.  I'm hoping that they'll be flexible with the reception locations, but I don't really know.  We chose the moments package and we're planning to have a simple reception at the market cafe, as long as we have 35 or fewer guests and the restaurant isn't closed for the day.  So I think there has to be some flexibility there.  If the restaurant happens to be closed that day, they will have to provide us with another option.  Also, if we end up with more than 35 guests we will probably want to upgrade our package and then we will have to consider a cocktail party location and a different reception location.

 

Hopefully that kind of answers your question...

[82turtles]

They have you pick your ceremony and reception location just so they don't double book the same spot. They try to limit to one wedding a day, but they will do a max of 2 in a day if necessary (which is why you have to pick the locations up front). If you get down there and there isn't another wedding scheduled for your same day, I'm sure they would let you switch after you take a look at the options in person.

 

Sandra sent me a document with pictures of the 2 main selections - Tequila Terrace or Beach Terrace. Let me know if you want me to email you that document so you can get a better idea of what each place looks like for a wedding.

 

As for your other questions:

1) In the Divine or Eternity package, 25 basic chairs with white covers are included. If you need more chairs of that type it is $5 each. There is an upgrade option to "tiffany" chairs, which would be $10 each (would have to pay for all chairs of this type, none included already).

 

2) If doing the Divine or Eternity packages, there is no $500 private event fee for the reception. However, if you wanted a private event for a rehearsal dinner or welcome dinner or something, the fee would apply.

 

3) To be honest, I've had pretty good communication so far with Sandra. When I was booking and confirming my date, she would reply within a couple days usually. I was pleasantly surprised, given what I'd heard about slow communication. Then later with asking specific questions, I would just send one big email with the questions, and usually got a response within 3-4 days with answers to everything. I haven't had to email or contact her in a few months, since most of my questions have been answered at this point. I'm trying to be pretty laid back about things, and realize that as long as I have my stuff in order for our meeting on site once I get down there, everything will end up just fine!!

 

Let me know if you have any other questions! It looks like an absolutely fabulous resort, and I can't wait to get there! Just under 4 months for me

[preciosa41987]

DO THEY ALLOW YOU TO BRING YOUR VENDORS OR IS THERE A FEE?..IAM KINDA ON A BUDJET AND I SAW A GREAT DEAL FOR THIS PLACE, WHAT MADE YOU GO WITH THIS RESORT?

 

THANK YOU! :]

[82turtles]

You may bring in your own vendors, but there is a fee of $350 for each category (i.e. you'd pay that fee for an outside florist, again for an outside DJ, etc). For outside photographers though the fee is only $65. I am using an outside photog, but just using everything else through the resort (flowers, decorations, etc, etc).

 

Why did I pick this resort.. many, many reasons. Primarily it was because compared to other resort brands I was considering, it seemed to have wedding packages that included a lot for a good price, given that you get the ceremony, cocktail hour with appetizers, and private seated dinner reception for 25 people included in the price, plus extras like the massage, hair/make-up, and stuff. Granted if you go over that 25 guest number, it gets VERY pricey, as I'm finding out since we have more coming than I expected, but I'm still happy with the choice of resort. It looks beautiful and all the wedding reviews have been positive. Some other reasons: the reviews of the resort itself overall were very positive, it's family friendly (we have kids coming), affordable for guests but still a very upscale/luxurious resort, no wristbands, no reservations, close to the airport, more private-feeling beach compared to the Cancun area, among other reasons.
 

Good luck with your decision!
 

Originally Posted by preciosa41987 

DO THEY ALLOW YOU TO BRING YOUR VENDORS OR IS THERE A FEE?..IAM KINDA ON A BUDJET AND I SAW A GREAT DEAL FOR THIS PLACE, WHAT MADE YOU GO WITH THIS RESORT?

 

THANK YOU! :]

 

[drmunoz]

My reasons for booking are pretty much the same as 82turtles. It seems like a great resort for the price and the wedding package was quite reasonable in comparison to others. Good luck with your decision making preciosa41987

[preciosa41987]

thank you ladies!!!! i really like this place, and you guys just made me feel even better. lol...do you guys know if you can switch things out in their packages?..like for example trade their cocktail hr for videographer?,etc?..

i like most of the things in the packages, but dont like or need other stuff that why iam wondering. Dont want to spend money on somehting i dont want!