Now Sapphire Weddings Formerly Paradisus Riviera

[lornj29]

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

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

So you can bring your own decorations?? Is that cheaper?? Do you have to buy the decorations? Nothing is included?? Getting married here aug 15. Very nervous I'm going to have to pay so many extra costs. I wanna keep things very simple. I would like a mariachi band at cocktail hour.. Is this extra??

Also, was Juan Carlos everyone's wedding coordinator.. Do they all work together.. I have not emailed with Ramon and Anel. Does it matter? I hope they are all equally good!

We budgeted $10,000 for our wedding.  That included everything from invitations to the cost of the wedding package and everything in-between (rings, attire, wedding party gifts, extra flowers, decor).  I am happy to say that we were under budget!  Though we were able to cut costs on things like decor and photography (my sister did photos outside of the ceremony).  We had 19 people including ourselves but the cost would have been the same for 25 with the Divine package we had selected.  Add approximately $100 per person to your budget for every person over 25.  There has been a lot of talk on this thread from brides with 50+ people and how they were able to keep their costs lower.  With your vision of a simple wedding you can definitely stay on budget!

 

We then had additional money budgeted for the cost of our trip and a second week at a different resort.  Flying from Canada our guests paid anywhere from $1,500 to 1,700 per person for one week.  That included flights, transfers, and the stay at the resort.  Guests booked about 5-6 months prior to our November wedding.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Hello. I am going to have 50 plus guests what is the thread that tells how to cut costs. I know it's about 100 more per person.. Thanks!

I bought the harmon/kardon bluetooth sound system to take! It was expensive, but I'll get to keep it after and it sounds amazing! We are 20 days from leaving! We just heard back that we were comped 1730.00 toward rooms! More than expected because his family was giving the TA grief and I told them to book with whoever they wanted!

So the guitarist can play at the cocktail hour? I thought that was for the ceremony . Can you choose?

This thread is great but it's making think of so many things all at once!! So overall, is it better to go with outside vendors for DJ and/or photography? How about for decorations? Any reccomendations?

[zeman321]

So you can bring your own decorations?? Is that cheaper?? Do you have to buy the decorations? Nothing is included?? Getting married here aug 15. Very nervous I'm going to have to pay so many extra costs. I wanna keep things very simple. I would like a mariachi band at cocktail hour.. Is this extra??

Also, was Juan Carlos everyone's wedding coordinator.. Do they all work together.. I have not emailed with Ramon and Anel. Does it matter? I hope they are all equally good!

 

Hello. I am going to have 50 plus guests what is the thread that tells how to cut costs. I know it's about 100 more per person.. Thanks!

 

So the guitarist can play at the cocktail hour? I thought that was for the ceremony . Can you choose?

This thread is great but it's making think of so many things all at once!! So overall, is it better to go with outside vendors for DJ and/or photography? How about for decorations? Any reccomendations?

You can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want. We chose the Devine package, but Added more flowers (using the resort...I didn't want to mess with meeting someone at the gate) I am taking lanterns and wooden letters for the centerpieces, so I didn't need elaborate flowers, just small vases of flowers. We ordered a flower lazzo. Taking chair sashes (69 cents each off the internet) and table runners ( $12.00 each off of ETSY) We added 2 hours of photography( Using the hotel photographer...hope that works out!) I was going to rent the sound system for the reception but decided 500.00 for 3 hours was crazy. I didn't want to pay for a DJ for our small group of 30! Bought a Harmon/Kardon bluetooth speaker to use.(At least it will be mine when it's all over!)  I think they quit letting you use the guitarist at anything but the ceremony this year. We booked  well over a year ago! To make it short and sweet, I want simple but nice and I didn't order a bunch of extras. Wedding is this coming Saturday! We leave Wednesday morning! I'll let you all know how it goes! I got an estimate from Juan Carlos of what I will owe when we get there and it's a little less than I had figured. I spent way too much on OOT bags and postage (mailed or hand delivered the OOT bags so I didn't have to drag all that stuff to Mexico!) Let me know if you need anything else! I will take lots of pictures and post when I get back if I can figure out how!

[lornj29]

Now brides ... How was the night life at the resort.. Seems like everything closes by 1? What did guests do at night?

[erobin223]

Please take pictures of the terrace and beach area!!! Also where did you take a majority of your photos? Did a lot of on lookers walk by your ceremony or reception? Did you go to the local Costco for things to add to your OOT bags? What did you do with your guests the night before the wedding? I was quoted a rehearsal dinner for $30 per person. Did you get your comped $$ before or after the wedding? How was the food at the reception?

 

Is there wifi at the hotel? How did the bluetooth speaker work out? Any suggestions?

[zeman321]

Please take pictures of the terrace and beach area!!! Also where did you take a majority of your photos? Did a lot of on lookers walk by your ceremony or reception? Did you go to the local Costco for things to add to your OOT bags? What did you do with your guests the night before the wedding? I was quoted a rehearsal dinner for $30 per person. Did you get your comped $$ before or after the wedding? How was the food at the reception?

 

Is there wifi at the hotel? How did the bluetooth speaker work out? Any suggestions?

We booked Apple Vacation through a TA and were comped about 30 days out. They just refunded back to the card we paid with. It was a nice chunk and a nice surprise!

[DinaQtobe]

So you can bring your own decorations?? Is that cheaper?? Do you have to buy the decorations? Nothing is included?? Getting married here aug 15. Very nervous I'm going to have to pay so many extra costs. I wanna keep things very simple. I would like a mariachi band at cocktail hour.. Is this extra??

Also, was Juan Carlos everyone's wedding coordinator.. Do they all work together.. I have not emailed with Ramon and Anel. Does it matter? I hope they are all equally good!

 

Hello. I am going to have 50 plus guests what is the thread that tells how to cut costs. I know it's about 100 more per person.. Thanks!

]

 

A mariachi will be extra.  When you confirm your date you will be sent a few PDF documents with extra fees associated with different extras.  I brought our own decor and that worked perfectly for us (and saved a lot too).  Honestly, the terrace is so beautiful it doesn't need a lot.

 

There is some discussion on how to cut costs on this thread.  If you search this forum you'll find lots I am sure.  Some of my tips:

We saved money in quite a few areas. 

1. We purchased our invitations at hobby lobby and then put them together ourselves.  It took one evening and was not hard at all.  I waited until they had a great sale and got 50 for $30.  I bought my stamps in bulk which saved a bit of money too.  I did not do traditional RSVP cards, but instead had people RSVP online (only about half even RSVP'd anyway!)

2. My dress - I bought my dress and veil off the rack at a sample sale.  I got my shoes at TJ Maxx.

3. We got my husband's suit at JosABank.  We waited until they were having a sale on the suit he wanted.  We got it for half price!  We got his sandals at an outlet mall, again, saving money.

4.  We didn't use a DJ or rent speakers from the resort ($150/hr!).  Instead we invested in a set of speakers for 120$.  These we can now use at our home too!

5. I didn't do OOT bags.  Instead I bought travel mugs from Sam's club in the summer and gave those to our guests.  Six mugs were $20.  My sister personalized them for me, which also saved me money.

6. We used the photographer included in our package.  We also had my sister supplement the photographers pictures by capturing pictures of getting ready and the dinner.  Though I did buy her a nice gift, it was nowhere near the cost of extending our photography coverage.  I know this is not an option for everyone, but for us it saved a lot of money.

7. Decor: the resort wanted to charge anywhere from $80-$300 per centerpiece, then extra for linens, chair sashes, etc.  I used the white linens provided in our package.  To add some color, my mom made us a beautiful table runner.  I had 3 bridesmaids and used all of our bouquets as our centerpieces.  I brought down plastic cups/vases to put them in.    I bought some seashells from Michaels, and some battery operated tealights from the dollar store.  I had the wedding coordinator place the shells and tealights into wine glasses to add to the bouquets as centerpieces.  All of this cost us nothing, but saved us tons.  The resort is beautiful on its own, it didn't need a lot of decor.  Also, when I think back to the weddings I have been to, I don't remember the centerpieces.  Instead I remember the ceremony, the food, the dress, and how much fun I had!

Now brides ... How was the night life at the resort.. Seems like everything closes by 1? What did guests do at night?

 

Night life was pretty good - the disco was a lot of fun.  We went there after our reception was over and had a great time!   You can always go to cocobongo or other bars in playa or cancun (which is a bit closer).

 

Please take pictures of the terrace and beach area!!! Also where did you take a majority of your photos? Did a lot of on lookers walk by your ceremony or reception? Did you go to the local Costco for things to add to your OOT bags? What did you do with your guests the night before the wedding? I was quoted a rehearsal dinner for $30 per person. Did you get your comped $$ before or after the wedding? How was the food at the reception?

 

Is there wifi at the hotel? How did the bluetooth speaker work out? Any suggestions?

 

Our photos were taken right on the beach off of the tequila terrace.  You can view them in my gallery if you go to my profile.  At the tequila terrace there were few onlookers.  I felt it was very private.

Food at the reception was amazing.  I wrote a review which you can also find off of my profile. 

 

There is wifi at the hotel throughout the resort.  It wasn't super strong.  We were preferred guests and it was included in our stay.  We also had a bluetooth speaker and it worked out very well.  I didn't want to pay the extra money to rent speakers.  We played music off of my husbands phone all night .

[jeffandrobyn]

To those who have a package with 25 guests and went/are going over, what did you do about extra cake? Is it really worth it to have them make a bigger cake for the extra $4/per person (or whatever it is)? We're trying to save some money and my thought is that especially since the package comes with a separate dessert, a bigger wedding cake isn't necessary. 

[erobin223]

Did any of you brides sit at a smaller table with your groom during the reception?? How was the officiant? Did anyone have any problems bringing there décor and OOT bags on the plane? 

[Canadiangirlie]

Hi ladies....did anyone have the photobooth. Was it worth it? Do they supply the props? I really don't want to carry anything more than I already am lol.

[jeffandrobyn]

Are most of you using the resort florist or did you hire an outside vendor? I was going to hire outside, but Juan Carlos just got back to me with a quote that is $95 more than what the other florists are charging, which I didn't think was too bad considering that I don't have to worry about anything then. 

 

I am REALLY hoping he misunderstood, but he also said there is a $300 vendor fee - I had asked for confirmation that meeting a florist at the gate would mean no fee since nobody is coming in. Did anyone else hear about this fee regardless of whether a florist steps foot on property?