Now Sapphire Weddings Formerly Paradisus Riviera

[GingerJ228]

@gingerJ228- That's good to hear. We are starting to do our planning form now to submit by April 15th so I'm hoping once we complete that we will at leat be able to communicate with them 1 or 2 times before we get down there!

 

 

I havent even looked at that form in  onths.  I should try to find it tonight so I have a basic idea of what is going on.  lol

@@vanessav53... did you add an extra hour on to your reception?  I believe the standard is 3 hours.  Is this correct? I can't believe we are almost in the 2 month marker to our weddings!!!!

[gannonham]

I just submitted my form yesterday. It felt so good!  We decided to extend our reception by 2 hours.  We were debating on whether to do this, since it is $15US per person/per hour + taxes + fees (which we feel is extreme since it's an all-inclusive resort), but we decided that we wouldn't be ready for our special night to come to a close by 10 or 11pm, so we just bit the bullet and did it.  I am hoping we will find savings elsewhere.

What are you ladies planning on doing for flowers?  Are you going with the resort?  Or an outside vendor?  I have received a few quotes from outside vendors and the prices are so much less and the quality of the work seems the same or maybe even better.  Hmmmmm

[vanessav53]

@@GingerJ228 I did add an extra hour to the reception so it will be 4 hours 6:30-10:30 then we will head to eclipse. If we decide we are just having WAY too much fun then we will just pay for the 5th hour although I think they said the music has to stop outside by 11pm.

 

@gannonham- I can't believe you submitted your form!! So exciting. I honestly can't wait for you to get back and share your experiences with us to help ease my mind a little bit!!

 

So I am using an amazing florist who I believe is very, very reasonable. Her name is alina and she is from floreria Riviera maya

Her contact info is : [email protected] she responds very quickly. I sent her some pictures of what I was looking for and general price range and she sent me back some options. He corsages and boutineres are also cheaper than the resort. I am paying $65 for a centerpiece AND a lantern rental. If I didn't get the lantern I could have gotten a centerpiece for around $45. I highly recommend reaching out if you haven't already.

 

Their website is www.floreriariviera.com

 

Let me know if you need anything else.

[meganwitt]

@@GingerJ228 I did add an extra hour to the reception so it will be 4 hours 6:30-10:30 then we will head to eclipse. If we decide we are just having WAY too much fun then we will just pay for the 5th hour although I think they said the music has to stop outside by 11pm.

 

@gannonham- I can't believe you submitted your form!! So exciting. I honestly can't wait for you to get back and share your experiences with us to help ease my mind a little bit!!

 

So I am using an amazing florist who I believe is very, very reasonable. Her name is alina and she is from floreria Riviera maya

Her contact info is : [email protected] she responds very quickly. I sent her some pictures of what I was looking for and general price range and she sent me back some options. He corsages and boutineres are also cheaper than the resort. I am paying $65 for a centerpiece AND a lantern rental. If I didn't get the lantern I could have gotten a centerpiece for around $45. I highly recommend reaching out if you haven't already.

 

Their website is www.floreriariviera.com

 

Let me know if you need anything else.

 Hey Ladies,

 

I decided to not extend our reception, I'm playing with the times and can get the reception until 10:15 with having some time between the ceremony and cocktail hour. I thought we couldn't have music past 11pm, is that true? Also if we decide to extend to 11pm is that an option?

 

I sent in my planning form a few weeks ago and heard right back from Juan. I am in school and had some down time. We are using their florists and I just copied and pasted some ideas I wanted. Juan is going to quote me on what I sent them. I did give him a budget so i'm excited to see what they came come up with. I'm pretty easy going so if it is any way similar to what I have planned it will be great.

 

We just past the 3 months mark... I'm having dreams every night about Mexico and some aren't always good. I'm not nervous on the outside, but I guess my mind is busy thinking of everything silly.

 

As for transporting your dresses, any ideas? I've heard of the Wallybag, packing it, or just winging it on the flight hoping the flight attendants like you. I can't decide. My dress is not huge and being short it isn't long, but I want to make it easy as possible.

 

Can't wait to see all the pictures and stories!!

[vanessav53]

@@meganwitt You can extend it as much as you want ( they will charge you for extending-- $15US/per person/hour to keep the bar open) the timing for my day is as follows:

 

Ceremony 4-4:30

Cocktail Hour 5:30-6:30

Reception 6:30-10:30 ( we might just extend until 11pm just because..)

 

I left an hour in between ceremony and cocktail hour so that we can take pictures and not miss the entire cocktail hour.

 

And I can totally understand the nervousness you are feeling. The other night I freaked out and decided I should fly down to the resort this week to see it because I was freaking out that I never saw the resort! I think it's just that time is getting closer and so we are just thinking of things to worry about!!! Try not to let your mind wander. I am thinking about all the exciting things at this point ( or at least trying to!)

 

I just actually got the wally60 in the mail today! It looks really big but so many girls on this forum said they used it. My fiancé is traveling for work next week so I am going to have him use it/bring it on the plane to test it out and see if they let him bring it on as a carry on so I'll report back to everyone. Jet blue DOES NOT have closets on board so I have no choice but to figure out a carry  on bag to bring my dress in. LIke you said I am short and my dress is not puffy/big since it' sa lacey dress for a beach wedding so I am thinking I should be able to get it down there.

[gannonham]

@@GingerJ228 I did add an extra hour to the reception so it will be 4 hours 6:30-10:30 then we will head to eclipse. If we decide we are just having WAY too much fun then we will just pay for the 5th hour although I think they said the music has to stop outside by 11pm.

 

Anel told us that we were allowed to extend our reception until midnight.  I think we will head to Eclipse afterwards ... if we have the energy, that is!  

 

@gannonham- I can't believe you submitted your form!! So exciting. I honestly can't wait for you to get back and share your experiences with us to help ease my mind a little bit!!

 

I will absolutely report back - or even during - on how everything went.  I will also post pics!  This board and all of you have helped me so much, so I only hope I can repay the favour.  

 

So I am using an amazing florist who I believe is very, very reasonable. Her name is alina and she is from floreria Riviera maya

Her contact info is : [email protected] she responds very quickly. I sent her some pictures of what I was looking for and general price range and she sent me back some options. He corsages and boutineres are also cheaper than the resort. I am paying $65 for a centerpiece AND a lantern rental. If I didn't get the lantern I could have gotten a centerpiece for around $45. I highly recommend reaching out if you haven't already.

 

Their website is www.floreriariviera.com

 

Let me know if you need anything else.

 

Thank you so much for this recommendation!!  I am going to reach out to them right now.  How did you hear about them?  Did you hear any reviews?  I have been communicating with FloresJulieta, Cancun Flower Shop and Liz Rubi.  

@@meganwitt You can extend it as much as you want ( they will charge you for extending-- $15US/per person/hour to keep the bar open) the timing for my day is as follows:

 

Ceremony 4-4:30

Cocktail Hour 5:30-6:30

Reception 6:30-10:30 ( we might just extend until 11pm just because..)

 

I left an hour in between ceremony and cocktail hour so that we can take pictures and not miss the entire cocktail hour.

 

What will your guests do for that hour?  Are they going to be a part of the pics?  I am trying to find cost saving ideas, so this might be an option for us as well.  I'm just concerned with there being a lapse in time and keeping people entertained.  However, I am known to worry too much

[vanessav53]

@gannonham- I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of florists. Liz Rubi did not speak English well and took awhile to respond and in the time that I was waiting for her to respond Alina at floreria Riviera emailed me back, gave me some ideas for flowers and gave me a great price within my budget. She's worth talking to!

 

@meganwitt- Our rationale for the hour between cocktail hour and reception was more because of our guests. my fiancé is one of 8 siblings!! So his immediate family (Siblings and nieces/nephews ) are 32 of the 75 people we are having at the wedding. So if those 32 plus my 7 family members ( we have no bridal party) are taking pics for 30-45 mins we all would miss the cocktail hour and we are paying per head SO I figure since it's an all inclusive people can grab a drink at the beach bar and then head up to the cocktail hour. It's not ideal for everyone to do it that way but it works for us since more than 1/2 the people will be taking pictures after the ceremony.

[DinaQtobe]

@meganwitt- Our rationale for the hour between cocktail hour and reception was more because of our guests. my fiancé is one of 8 siblings!! So his immediate family (Siblings and nieces/nephews ) are 32 of the 75 people we are having at the wedding. So if those 32 plus my 7 family members ( we have no bridal party) are taking pics for 30-45 mins we all would miss the cocktail hour and we are paying per head SO I figure since it's an all inclusive people can grab a drink at the beach bar and then head up to the cocktail hour. It's not ideal for everyone to do it that way but it works for us since more than 1/2 the people will be taking pictures after the ceremony.

You are right, many of your guests will be involved in picture taking, and many will watch - they wont even notice how fast that hour goes by!  Also, the lobby bar is very close to both ceremony sites, so if people want shade, some drinks and to sit down there's an area.  OR, there is another bar right beside both the tequilla and beach terrace.  Guests can grab refreshments there.  Though I wouldn't be surprised if the bar was already set up for your reception and guests could get drinks in that hour.

 

We did not extend our reception.  After the reception "ended" the bartenders packed up and we continued to dance (this was well before 11pm) as we had our own speakers.  After that we all went to the disco before it opened.  I asked one of the staff to turn on the music for us and they did.  It was almost like having a private reception in the disco for a bit before it opened.  It was a lot of fun, and it did get busy once the disco opened, but it was a great time even then.

 

I flew with westjet, and they do not have closets on the plane.  When I purchased my dress I also bought a garment bag from the salon.  I carried my dress through security and onto the plane with no problems.  As soon as the flight attendant saw me with my bag, she immediately knew we were getting married.  She took my dress and laid it flat in an overhead bin at the front of the plane then immediately closed the bin doors.  If anyone tried to open the doors, she stopped them.  Turns out there was another bride on our plane and her dress went in the same bin (and I didn't feel so bad about taking up so much storage space).  Most people are very excited for couples that are getting married.  They were all so sweet.  Now Sapphire will steam your dress before the wedding.  Go over this with your WC before the wedding.  It was included in my Divine package.  My dress was perfect.  We also had my husbands suit and shirt steamed, and the groomsmen shirts ironed.  Everything was returned the night before the wedding.  They even made sure my dress was delivered to my parents room as that was where I was getting ready!

 

You ladies have nothing to worry about, your weddings will all be perfect!  If I can help ease your mind at all, let me know.

[vanessav53]

Ladies

Has anyone ordered late night food for the end of the night? I feel like knowing my group I might have to have a little snack provided maybe as the night is wrapping up before we head to Eclipse as I'm assuming eclipse does not have food there?

[GingerJ228]

@@vanessav53.. I just found out that the club in the resport is closed on Sunday nights so I may extend the reception another hour so we can drink and dance and party!!!!   When are you flying to Mexico?  My finacee and I are flying out or Nererk on Monday 6/2 on the early morning flight.