Now Sapphire Weddings Formerly Paradisus Riviera

[Noxx]

Anyone thinking of doing Canopy decor?

[blay0204]

Hi Ladies, I am wondering if anyone can help me about the cost of a DJ.  I've looked on the wedding guide but can't find any information.  Does the resort have a DJ?  Could anyone give me a price? I've also heard that you have to rent a speaker system if you want to bring an IPod and play your own music.  Can anyone verify these for me? I know that I have read about renting the speaker system, I just can't remember if I read it in this thread or not. Any help would be great. Thanks! Dina  

We went with DJ mannia cancun. It's 900 for 4 hours, plus you have to pay the $300 vendor fee. So a total of 1200. They include cold fireworks, some decor and lots of extras... If you look on their website I'm sure they'll have more info. Hope this helps!

[DinaQtobe]

I can't believe that it costs 150/hour for speaker set-up.  Any brides have experience bringing their own speakers? 
 

[AmyG]

Originally Posted by DinaQtobe 

 

Hi Ladies,

 

I am wondering if anyone can help me about the cost of a DJ.  I've looked on the wedding guide but can't find any information.  Does the resort have a DJ?  Could anyone give me a price?

 

I've also heard that you have to rent a speaker system if you want to bring an IPod and play your own music.  Can anyone verify these for me?

 

I know that I have read about renting the speaker system, I just can't remember if I read it in this thread or not.

 

Any help would be great.

 

Thanks!

 

Dina

 

 

I used the resort DJ, but it came with the Divine Package....I believe it no longer is included in that package so I am not sure how much the resort DJ costs.  I was very happy with him.  I sent down my playlist one week before I got there and they played exactly what I wanted. 

 

I also rented the ipod speakers for the ceremony and cocktail hour.  It did cost $150/hour, BUT they only charged me for one hour so it really was a good deal considering they take care of hooking it all up and making sure the sound is perfect.  I had loaded my ceremony songs and cocktail hour songs on it and they played it exact. 

[melnryluvco]

Originally Posted by blay0204 

 

So are most of you gals doing table decor/ table runners? I guess I hadn't thought that far... (We are getting married April 6th so now its crunch time:)

 

I didn't want to bring that much down there... but I don't want the tables to look bare OR pay an arm and leg for the resort to do it! Those who have purchased table decor/ table runners, where did you get them? Any help would be appreciated!!

I am making a table runner out of burlap. I did a "mock" set up of the table tonight. I'm taking our table decor down there cuz I REFUSE to pay the AI resort a dime more than I have to!!! And I want a Nautical theme which I think wouldn't translate well trying to explain that to the WC staff. Here's a peek...btw burlap is totally cheap and comes in different colors. I'm still getting everything together but I'll be dying all the clear glass to make it look like sea glass. I went to Ikea and they have so many cute ideas and cheap stuff to help you stretch your penny. Try looking there.

 

[nels519]

Hi all! 

 

I just got back from our wedding at the Now Sapphire. I would like to share my reviews for anyone willing to read because I hired all outside vendors:

 

1. Photos in Cancun - Derek Campbell & Lorena Jaimes. The pictures turned out fabulous! I have almost 2000 pictures of the entire day. At the end of the reception, they gave us 3 USB sticks of all our edited photos for us to print on our own. I hired them for the whole day & don't regret it one bit. Let me know if you'd like me to email you a few pictures.

2. MVP Hair & Make-Up. One word - FABULOUS!!! Best money spent on the entire wedding. They were a few minutes early for both appointments, the trial & the day of. Melissa & her team work very quickly and effectively. I am always very skeptical of hair & make up artists, as I am often unpleased with their work. All 9 of my bridesmaids, my mother & mother-in-law were extremely pleased! There wasn't one person who was disappointed or wanted something re-done. And trust me, they would have said something. I can't say enough kind words about Melissa & her team. I love that she is from the states because she knew how to work with our hair type & skin colors, and best of all, I can communicate with her!!! She would have to communicate with the rest of her team because they didn't speak english, but that wasn't a problem at all.

3. DJ Mannia. AMAZING! He played everything we asked for, and didn't, plus much much more. He took the few songs that we had asked to play, learned our style, and played similar songs. I received so many compliments from all ages about his services. Definitely worth the money for the Dance Floor! The dance floor was never empty - and when I say never, I mean never! 

4. Maya Floral. I sent them pictures of what I wanted & everything turned out just like I wanted! He is very professional. He sends a detailed invoice with pictures of what it's going to look like. I never even met with him in person, but when I got to the reception, it was perfect! No complaints at all.

 

I hope this helps. I know a lot of you may be worried about the "outside vendor fee", but I ended up paying only $700 total. It was definitely worth it & still saved money. My only complaint is that it does create a little extra work for you because you're having to contact all the vendors yourself, whereas if you used them through the resort, Anel would do all that for you. 

 

My only complaint about the resort is the lack of communication with Anel. She is very hard to get ahold of, as many of you know. However, when you get to the resort, she is very very sweet & helpful! She is good at her job, just slow to email. For those of you that want a different email address for wedding planning, her assistant's name is Ramon & his email address is <[email protected]> and he is much quicker to respond to emails. 

 

I don't have any regrets from the wedding. Depending on the size of your wedding, I would recommend getting to the resort at least 2-3 days before the wedding. We had 65 people come for ours, so I feel like there was a little more work to be done & I was a little more meticulous. 

 

I will try to check this thread for the next week or two in case any of you have any more questions or want to see pictures. Happy wedding planning to all

 

Ashley

 

 

[AmyG]

Originally Posted by melnryluvco 

 

I am making a table runner out of burlap. I did a "mock" set up of the table tonight. I'm taking our table decor down there cuz I REFUSE to pay the AI resort a dime more than I have to!!! And I want a Nautical theme which I think wouldn't translate well trying to explain that to the WC staff. Here's a peek...btw burlap is totally cheap and comes in different colors. I'm still getting everything together but I'll be dying all the clear glass to make it look like sea glass. I went to Ikea and they have so many cute ideas and cheap stuff to help you stretch your penny. Try looking there.

 

 

Hi melnryluvco,

 

Your set up looks beautiful!!! 

I just wanted to let you know that it will be very difficult to keep the taper candles and possibly the exposed low votive/tea lights from blowing out.  I had candle holders that I put votive candles and tea lights in that were pretty deep and all my candles still blew out rather quickly from the wind...we just gave up on lighting them.  If I were to have a 'do over' I would have brought the battery powered votive/tea lights. 

I would just hate for your vision not to work out how you want it to.  I love the burlap too!!

[melnryluvco]

Originally Posted by AmyG 

 

 

Hi melnryluvco,

 

Your set up looks beautiful!!! 

I just wanted to let you know that it will be very difficult to keep the taper candles and possibly the exposed low votive/tea lights from blowing out.  I had candle holders that I put votive candles and tea lights in that were pretty deep and all my candles still blew out rather quickly from the wind...we just gave up on lighting them.  If I were to have a 'do over' I would have brought the battery powered votive/tea lights. 

I would just hate for your vision not to work out how you want it to.  I love the burlap too!!

Great minds think a like! We have battery tealights. I just didn't want to waste them on my trial set up. But now that I know I will deff start stocking up on them like a mad woman. Do you have pics of your table. I would love to see. Another question for you since you've been there and done that. We were thinking about bringing down our portable Bose sound system. It may be small but it's powerful. Do you think this would work? I really REALLY do NOT want to have to pay the $350 an hour to rent their sound system and I refuse to hire a DJ. We're getting married on the beach terrace. Let me know your thoughts and thanks so much for all the insight!

[craftygal]

We have also hired DJ Mannia. Same fees as listed. I have a friend bringing his bagpipes for the ceremony. I know, not very beachy but it's more about my friend doing the playing. I'm not sure what we're going to do during the cocktail hour. I'm thinking about bringing a portable sound system. 

[DinaQtobe]

Just so I understand, the resort DJ is $350/hour, but to rent speaker system for an iPod is $150/hour.  To get an outside DJ is a vendor fee of $300.  This is insane.