Now Sapphire Weddings Formerly Paradisus Riviera

[niknic456]

I'm hoping one of you can help me with this...

 

I am having my wedding at the Now Sapphire on April 18,2015 and need to know the best way to block off the rooms. When I asked the hotel for a room block/discounted group rate they sent me a contract with the same rates that were on their website, and the contract wouldn't even guarantee that rooms would be available (just that the rate wouldn't increase for the first 20 rooms booked). It seems a little weird to me how they don't offer any special deals for a group when we are looking to book 20-40 rooms.

 

How are you all reserving your rooms for your guest and if you're going through a travel agent do you mind sending me their contact? 

 

Thanks for your help!

I went through destinationweddings.com and I only paid a $50 fee and they did all of the work with blocking rooms and arranging transportation for all of my guests. They get paid from the hotel so it worked out great for me to only pay $50 for a great travel agent.

Thank you!!!  $800 is RIDICULOUS for $12 lights!!!  haha  oyyyyy

Any recommendation on where to buy chair sashes and napkins??

I purchased all of my supplies from ebay. And the cost was super cheap because it was coming from China, but I spent $45 for sashes and matching napkins...everything is imported from China anyway so if you have time I would order from ebay to save money and shipping was super fast, less than a week in most cases.

[vanessav53]

@@tcaurie07 - I used www.tablelinensdirect.com and the sashes and linens were very cheap.
I did order a few more sashes and my wedding coordinator is going to tie around the cocktail tables as you mentioned. Just to brighten it up a bit. Also he is going to put little white lanterns on the table that he had left over from another wedding for no charge just to make it a bit fancier. I am not going  crazy on cocktail hour décor because it's only an hour and I really want to focus on the welcome BBQ and reception but I figure a little punch of color around the stems of cocktail table will be great.

 

I'll end up leaving my stuff there anyway so hopefully someone can use them when it's their turn. My colors are navy and fushcia.

The tables come Plain white so I am adding the following:

Pink Chair sashes on the back of the white chair cover

Navy blue linens which will be placed like a sash under the plate setting just to give it a little pop

My centerpieces will be bright pink flowers with a  navy ribbon wrapped around the square vase with a small lantern next to the centerpiece

 

For the welcome BBQ My tables will have the following:

Navy organza overlay tablecloth - see through so just gives it enough color over the plain white tablecloth

3 cylindrical vases ( renting from florist) I'm filling them with water and seashells and a floating candle on top as centerpiece for each table.

Again, keeping it simple since we will be on the beach.

[GingerJ228]

@vanessav53  Are you doing seating arrangements for your welcome dinner?  Good idea for some decor.  I completely forgot about picking a little something up for decor atthe Beach BBQ/Welcome dinner.

[vanessav53]

@GingerJ228- No seating arrangements at welcome BBQ. I"ll let people mingle. It's only 2 hours and we are having a live band  ( in lieu of the calypso band that canceled ) so hoping people are up and dancing a little bit,etc. At this point my friends have met johns family and friend at the bachelorette party and bridal shower and a lot of people coming Thursday so people will have mingled a bit prior to getting to BBQ.

 

Here are some photos of the centerpieces I was talking about. It's so super simple. Also I would ask your WC what they have that you can use to throw on the tables because so many brides leave stuff behind they might have stuff for no charge that they can put on the tables to just "spice" it up a bit. I'll have my tablecloths that you can use if you want. Ill have 8 navy organza overlays to cover the white table cloth. I have no idea if those are your colors but you are welcome to use for your welcome BBQ on Saturday since I'll be done with them on Friday night. I'm renting the vases from the florist but if you want anything else of mine let me know. Same with wedding stuff. I'll likely leave my chair sashes,etc with juan afterwards in hopes that another bride can utilize!

[KathyandEthan]

Hi ladies!

I'm working on my wedding budget and the wedding book say cocktails are $15 per hour. I'm planning my cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30 and reception from 7:30-11:30 which is 5  hours long= $75 per person! Please tell me this is not right...

 

Do the dinner prices include any cocktails? It seems a little crazy if the bar price is higher than the cost of the food. 

 

For the past brides with the divine package- what was the price per person for you and how long was your reception? 

 

Thanks for your help!

[JaxBchKay]

Hi ladies!

I'm working on my wedding budget and the wedding book say cocktails are $15 per hour. I'm planning my cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30 and reception from 7:30-11:30 which is 5  hours long= $75 per person! Please tell me this is not right...

              The Divine Package price includes your cocktail hour and a three hour reception for up to 25 people (you and your fiance count in the 25).  You have to pay per person after that and then if you want to extend the reception past the 3 hours you pay extra per person/per hour after that.  I think some of the ladies said it was $15 per person per hour to make the reception longer. 

 

Do the dinner prices include any cocktails? It seems a little crazy if the bar price is higher than the cost of the food. 

             The Divine package includes food and drinks for both the cocktail hour and reception. Your wedding book they send you with your confirmation has the menu options for food.  The drinks are whatever they have at the resort and they will make a signature cocktail for you as well if you want, just talk to your wedding coordinator about it.

 

For the past brides with the divine package- what was the price per person for you and how long was your reception? 

 

Thanks for your help!

I think these are questions we all have had along the planning way   Try to take a deep breath and know you are in the right place.  I have had a couple panic attacks already but the ladies here answered my questions and calmed me down.  I have also found that the wedding coordinators are a lot better about communication then they used to be.  Juan Carlos always answers me within a couple days and is really sweet.  He is also great about offering suggestions for ways to get what I want for the least amount of money. 

[KathyandEthan]

Thanks @@JaxBchKay I was basically charging myself double for the drinks in my budget sheet since i wasn't including any hours with the dinner package. Juan also responded to me last night and said he would send me my wedding price next week. When i saw the drinks would be more than the dinner i knew something couldn't be right but i couldn't help but panic a little!

 

Thanks for your help! 

[tcaurie07]

For those that hired an outside DJ, did you have to pay to use a power generator?  The following is in the contract for one of the DJ's we are talking to and I am not sure what it means:  (I hope I can assume that we will not need a generator and that there will be a power supply for the DJ to use on the Tequila Terrace???)  Anyone have any experience with this??

 

We do not take an electric generator for the reception, in case you need one the price is $800 US per event.

[JaxBchKay]

Has anyone webcast your wedding? If you have, did you use a service or use your videographer do it? We would like to do a live webcast but the resort doesn't offer it yet

Edited May 14, 2014 by JaxBchKay

[GingerJ228]

@@Pitita Make sure you have all of your  reciepts with you when you go through customs