Now Sapphire Weddings Formerly Paradisus Riviera

[niknic456]

Thanks for your help! Isn't the DJ $350 per hour though? I've found a DJ for a better price but with the outside vendor fee it's hard to know what to do! How many hours do you think you will use the DJ for?

Yes, the resort DJ is $350/hr. I looked into other DJ's but with the resort fee it was not worth it to me and I have a small wedding (30ppl). So I plan to use the resort DJ for 2hrs and he will start his set after dinner when we begin the bouquet/garter toss, cake cutting etc....During dinner we will not have music because we have toast, speeches, etc...the waves of the ocean will be our dinner music!!

[DinaQtobe]

Perfect! That sounds great. Did you use a DJ for the reception? Or what did you do? 

 

Do Anel and Ramon arrange the meeting time before you arrive at the resort? Also did you pick flowers before you arrived or just when you were there? On the form it says to pick the flowers but I have also read from others that they just picked them at the meeting.

 

Thanks for your help!!

We did not use a DJ.  We brought along our own wireless and blue-tooth speakers for the dinner and dance.  This worked very well for us as we did not have to pay the additional speaker rental fee (and now get to keep the speakers ourselves!)

 

After the dinner, speeches, cake cutting, first dance, mother/son and father/daughter dances there was little time left in our reception of 3 hours (approximately 45 minutes), so I am very glad that we did not pay the extra money for a DJ.  When the bar closed (after our 3 hour reception) we still danced for another half hour or so and then went to the disco, which was a lot of fun!

 

Our meeting time was arranged after we got to the resort.  They left an envelope in our room to tell us when to meet.  I had filled out the planning form with the type of flowers I wanted, and listed the specific colors.  I also attached a picture into the word document to help.  In the meeting Ramon went over all of this in great detail.  I also showed him pictures on google on his computer of what I wanted, so you could definitely pick them that day.

 

I have to add that I left a lot blank on the planning form that I was unsure of.  In the meeting they go over everything with you, and can help you make those little decisions that you were unsure of at the time of filling it out.  Ramon was awesome, I felt like everything was going to be perfect after our meeting - and it was!  They do so many weddings every week they are pros! 

 

I hope that helps!

[van83]

Yes, the resort DJ is $350/hr. I looked into other DJ's but with the resort fee it was not worth it to me and I have a small wedding (30ppl). So I plan to use the resort DJ for 2hrs and he will start his set after dinner when we begin the bouquet/garter toss, cake cutting etc....During dinner we will not have music because we have toast, speeches, etc...the waves of the ocean will be our dinner music!!

 

But then for the speeches do you have to rent the speakers for $150 an hour? This is what I am unclear on! I'm not sure what to do!

We did not use a DJ.  We brought along our own wireless and blue-tooth speakers for the dinner and dance.  This worked very well for us as we did not have to pay the additional speaker rental fee (and now get to keep the speakers ourselves!)

 

After the dinner, speeches, cake cutting, first dance, mother/son and father/daughter dances there was little time left in our reception of 3 hours (approximately 45 minutes), so I am very glad that we did not pay the extra money for a DJ.  When the bar closed (after our 3 hour reception) we still danced for another half hour or so and then went to the disco, which was a lot of fun!

 

Our meeting time was arranged after we got to the resort.  They left an envelope in our room to tell us when to meet.  I had filled out the planning form with the type of flowers I wanted, and listed the specific colors.  I also attached a picture into the word document to help.  In the meeting Ramon went over all of this in great detail.  I also showed him pictures on google on his computer of what I wanted, so you could definitely pick them that day.

 

I have to add that I left a lot blank on the planning form that I was unsure of.  In the meeting they go over everything with you, and can help you make those little decisions that you were unsure of at the time of filling it out.  Ramon was awesome, I felt like everything was going to be perfect after our meeting - and it was!  They do so many weddings every week they are pros! 

 

I hope that helps!

 

Very helpful! Thanks so much! What time was your ceremony, cocktail hour and reception at?

[DinaQtobe]

But then for the speeches do you have to rent the speakers for $150 an hour? This is what I am unclear on! I'm not sure what to do!

 

Very helpful! Thanks so much! What time was your ceremony, cocktail hour and reception at?

 

We did not use a microphone for our speeches.  We only had 19 people total and it wasn't necessary for us.

 

Our ceremony was at 3:30, cocktail hour at 4:30-5:30, and then reception 5:30-8:30.  Keep in mind this was in November when the sun sets quite a bit earlier than other parts of the year.  We wanted to be able to have sunlight for our photos, which I think turned out great.  By the time we sat down for dinner at 5:30 it was completely dark. 

 

We chose to have our cocktail hour and dinner back-to-back, but you could have chosen differently if you wanted.  It was perfect for us.  Ramon helped us with the "schedule" during our planning meeting as we were unsure of what would work best.

[vanessav53]

@@DinaQtobe, I have a question for you: Did you find that booking on the wedding planning a month before was enough time to get things confirmed? For example we are going to have a photo booth for our reception but anel is horrible at responding to emails yet ( our wedding is in june) do you think that's ok? I dont want it to not be available for us if we wait until a month before?

 

Thanks

[DinaQtobe]

@@DinaQtobe, I have a question for you: Did you find that booking on the wedding planning a month before was enough time to get things confirmed? For example we are going to have a photo booth for our reception but anel is horrible at responding to emails yet ( our wedding is in june) do you think that's ok? I dont want it to not be available for us if we wait until a month before?

 

Thanks

We sent in our wedding planning form 30 days prior to our wedding.  This seemed to be enough time for everything to come together, however, our wedding was in a low-wedding season and we did not have any add-ons other than what was included in our package.  I would send in your planning form when they indicate, usually 45 days prior.  You can always send Anel and Ramon an e-mail indicating the extras that you want prior to the 45 days ahead.  I believe the photobooth is with Adventure Photos so I can't imagine that it wouldn't be available.

 

Does that help?

[vanessav53]

How did everyone distribute their OOT/Welcome Bags? Did you pay the resort for them to deliver them to the rooms? or did you leave them behind the front desk to be handed out ( which I heard is no fee?) I think it's a waste to pay $4/bag to distribute BUT I also want to make sure the guests get them. Maybe I will go drop them off Thursday AM? I can put them on the door handle? But Do you think they would give me the room #'s?

 

Such a small detail but an important one! Any ideas are appreciated! @@GingerJ228 what are you doing?

[GingerJ228]

@@vanessav53  I think its a waste to pay $4 a bag.  I am going to hand deliver them to my guests room or or distribute them at the welcome dinner. 

[vanessav53]

@@GingerJ228 you are right. I don't want to give teh resort any more money than I already am Are you going to deliver them after the arrive? or before they arrive? How many people are you having? We are having almost 80 so about 40 rooms! Either way I am going to figure out to avoid the $4/bag charge. Keep me posted. Have you talked to Anel lately? I emailed her 3 times about details about a band or steel drum for welcome reception but haven't heard. I know we still have 5 months but I hate the lack of communication makes me feel weird that I'm just going to talk to her 30 days before BUT i'm going to trust all the ladies on this site and just go with the flow and trust that it will all work out!

[GingerJ228]

@@vanessav53 I sent Anel an e-mail about a month ago telling her that I wanted to book their cigar roller and I also had asked her a ton of questions and she still hasn't responded.   This was frustrating me before I booked this hotel  and I was told not to worry but I am going to meet with my invitation person this weekend and I need to know if I need to add meal choices on the RSVP cards.  What are you doing?  I want my guests to have a menu choice but I need to know if the hotel needs to know who is eating what.  My fiancee and his friends drink Johnnie Walker Blue  -which I doubt the hotel stocks and I need it special ordered for our wedding but can;t get an answer on that. I have a ton of questions and i'm getting a little frustrated at this point