Now Sapphire Weddings Formerly Paradisus Riviera

[cayls55]

@@WronLow Congrats on your wedding! I'm getting married on Jan 20th so I know how stressful it is getting all the little details done! I'm still debating on table size. As far as timeline it depends if you are planning to do a first look and such? We are having the ceremony at 4pm, then pictures from 4:30 - 6 (while guests can go to the lobby bar or relax, My fiance doesn't want to do a first look so all of our pictures need to be after the ceremony.) 6-7 is cocktail hour and 7-10 is the reception. From what I researched, big weddings groups it is better to have a DJ. If you have a large group it is more difficult to hear the music/announcements. You should also check out the NOW resorts brides group on Facebook as they are a little more active on there current and past brides! 

[WronLow]

@@cayls55 Congratulations to you and your fiance also.  Thank you for your feedback on timelines and DJs.  My fiance is in the same boat and does not want first look photos, so maybe I will see if I can bump up the timeline to a 4 or 4:30 ceremony, to allow for a long photo shoot.   Our cocktail hour is at the beach bar, I need to find out if they have lights out there to accommodate the bartenders pouring drinks after sunset (6:39pm). But again thank you, you gave me some good things to ponder.  

 

Also, thanks for the tip on the FB group.  I have just joined it.   BEST WISHES on a beautiful special day. 

[vancouverpetunia]

@@lndzlou03 Here is a link to the video we received as part of our divine package. https://vimeo.com/163099374

 

 

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@@WronLow We were married in April and Juan Carlos was our WC. He is awesome We were at the tequila terrace but I thought the preferred pool was gorgeous. At night, it will be amazing. I've tried to answer your questions below.

 

Just finished my 48 hour marathon on reading this thread. Thanks to all past, present, and future brides for all your contributions. Getting married on Feb 3, 2017 at Sapphire with Juan Carlo as WC. With 60 people attending we are in a crunch with identifying what is important to us vs. how much we want to spend (and yikes, the costs add up quickly). Sad we could not get the Tequila Terrance and will be having our reception at the Preferred Pool. However, some of the reviews of the Preferred Pool are encouraging.

 

Pending Decisions:

1) Timeline - trying to find a balance to not having the guests wait too long between the ceremony and cocktail hour so we can do pictures (Putting our trust in the Resort Photographer that they will get some decent shots.)

- Question: does any past Bride have any recommended photo shoot locations?

 

- We had our ceremony at 4, cocktail hour at 5:30. We did photos in between and probably got back around 6. Our guests were enjoying drinks and appies by then. No one complained about the break, so I think it was okay.

 

Some good places for photos:

- beautiful and secluded tropical jungle areas around the preferred pool

- immediately to the North of the resort (practically attached to the tequila terrace) is a cool fence. We wanted to do photos there but there were some crazy dogs inside the fence and we didn't feel safe being there's a result. But if there are no dogs, it makes for a great backdrop.

- if you walk down the beach to the south, there is a pier with a palapa on the end at the next resort. However they don't like you being there. We managed to get a few photos before they chased us away. It's a bit of a walk so if you don't have a lot of time, you may want to skip it, esp since they might stop you from taking photos anyhow

- between the end of the now sapphire beach and the pier mentioned above, there are some pilings of an old pier in the water

 

2) Food: Sit-down platted meal vs. Buffet? (we have over 50 ppl so buffet is an option)

- we did sit down as we had less than 50. Food was great and service was outstanding.

 

3) Music: Bring our own (Pro: saves cost Con: someone has to man it) vs DJ (Pro: convenience Con: Costs)

- we brought a Bluetooth speaker (big one) that also had a microphone. We used our iPhone for music. Some friends helped us with the playlists (which we set up using the wedding DJ app) and our MC (my BIL) made sure to keep the evening flowing, using the mike.

 

4) Table Size: I'm thinking round vs rectangle (we have 60 ppl attending)

- we did rectangular for head table and round for the rest. We had about 40 ppl. I think rounds might be easier to place around the pool, but I'm not sure.

 

5) Table decor: we are going bear bones and not bring lots of decoration, but a big white table with white napkins just might be too dull. Do I need a center piece?

- do you have any BMs and will they have bouquets? Ask JC to put the bouquets in vases on the tables and maybe add some more? I have also heard that they will split up the bouquets to spread them out. We did a bunch of little blue vases with only one flower in each to keep the flower costs down but add some color to the tables.

 

I'm sure i'll be posting more as the time gets closer. I am starting to get a bit stressed about this.

 

 

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Edited November 17, 2016 by vancouverpetunia

[WronLow]

thank you @vancouverpetunia what a great video and beautiful ceremony.   Can I ask you wrote the ceremony dialog or was it the officiants?

Edited November 18, 2016 by WronLow

[lndzlou03]

@@vancouverpetunia thank you so much for the posting this! I now have a better idea what to expect! You are a beautiful bride and such a wonderful ceremony.

[vancouverpetunia]

@@WronLow @@lndzlou03 Thank you, ladies @@WronLow we only supplied our personal vows. The rest was standard, I assume. I think I did mention to the WC that we didn't want anything religious but I don't know if he passed that along.

 

 

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[MikeCantarellFilms]

Hello Ladies,

 

Definitely Now Sapphire is a great place for destination weddings, we were lucky to be part of Chris & Julie's wedding, we captured a lot of magic moments that will be unforgettable. Please take a look at this highlight and enjoy it the way we did.

 

 

 

 

[AmandaU]

@@cayls55 I brought my own Lights. We had 7 strings....and barley covered the pergola. They charged me $100 "set up fee" for my own lights. To me it was fine, and was more than sufficient lighting.

Hi Brides !! I just got married on Nov 16, 2016 and am in the midst of writing my review. But have noticed lots of questions that I will be writing about but here's a few things:

 

We brought our own speaker down with an ipod for our dance & cocktail music. It was worth the cost for us, we got it at Costco for about $200 and was loud enough.

(we had 47 guest plus us)

 

We also brought our own string lights for the pergola, they charged us $100 to set them up. The Tequila terrace has basic lighting which is more than enough lighting.

 

We had 2 long rectangle tables and a sweet heart table.

 

I cant for the life of me get the photos to load in here.....

Edited December 8, 2016 by AmandaU

[cayls55]

@@AmandaU that's good to know about the lighting! Did you do a lot of decor?

[AmandaU]

@@cayls55 I didn't do a lot of décor. We had 2 long rectangle tables with table runners, charger plates with lanterns and candles on them, and paper flowers scattered on the tables - which I brought all from home, aswell as colored napkins & chair sashes. We had a few sayings and an instagram sign put on our guest signing table too.  It filled one luggage, and we didn't get charged on the way down and then we got one of our friends to take it home with them as him and his GF only brought one, so it was no cost to us And we saved over 1000$ I figure bring my own things.