Beloved Hotel/La Amada

dmccamey · July 4, 2012

Thanks for the reassuring insight on planning. My wedding isn't until November, and I feel like I need to send the WC a listing of all the things that I want...So no I'm just going to chill out and wait until we get there. The only thing that worries me is making sure the Minister, the DJ and the Photographer are available on my wedding date. Did you have any problems securing any of those 3 days prior to your wedding? I'm so anxious and excited! Thanks for sharing your experience. If you have any photos of your wedding you'd like to share, I'd love to see them!

MaisieGirl · July 5, 2012

Does anyone know if there are any basics included in terms of decorations, table, chairs etc. Alejandro mentioned in an email that white covered chairs, and tables with white table cloths were provided for the reception. Does anyone know if the chairs are provided for the ceremony?

It is kind of confusing as to where the line is drawn between what Planner1 and what the Beloved Hotel provide. In the decor booklet it lists prices for different types of chairs....so I assumed I had to pay per chair....so maybe this is only for if you decide to "upgrade" to different chair types through Planner1?

There are also gazebos in both the Planner1 and the Excellence booklet. Does anyone know if there is a basic gazebos included...or are they all for a cost?

Also, do they allow you to bring some of your own decorations?

Sorry, for asking so many questions

susieqt · July 6, 2012

The DJ is provided by the Hotel and you can either email him, make a CD, or request songs and he can look up almost anything on the spot. We had a CD ready for our actual ceremony music and first dance etc. He was pretty fluent in English and did a great job. He can also take your Ipod. The Minister that showed up for us did not speak English so Nielli translated and pretty much did the ceremony. If that is not acceptable to you make sure you keep pushing for another minister who does speak. I brought my own photographer so I can not help on that.

So in the downloads sent with flowers the is a picture of a basic table and chairs. That is what is included and is very nice. Chairs are covered in white for dinner and chairs are provided for reception also covered in white. Tall cocktail tables are also included. The extras are the funky lounge looking benches and light up cocktail tables. We went with the basic and it was beautiful. Nobody really notices those things with the view. You can bring your own bows for the chairs or table runners, but I don't recommend shipping them as it is very expensive and there is no guarantee they will arrive. We rented the Villa instead of paying extra for the wedding planner because it is breath taking as is. It was $5000 for the night and worth every penny. I bought my centerpieces in Cancun because I wanted goldfish bowls and I did not care for the ones in the pictures. I picked bouquets from the pictures but asked for the flower colors to be changed and they had no problem with it. So if you see an arrangement you want but don't care for the color, you can change it. Cancun has several flower shops and you may want to make a quick run to Walmart there to pick up extra sunscreen, bug spray, and liqueur for your late night parties. We also bought a few snorkels and floaties because the gift shop is WAY to expensive. The cake is the same deal. We looked at the pictures and picked the style cake we wanted but brought our own swarovski ribbon, crabs, and cake topper and they put it all together for us.

So yes, the chairs are included. And they provide the basic gazebo and sea shells leading down to the gazebo at no charge. I really believe less is more on that beach. Maybe bring little things that pop the color if you want. I brought some table runners for under my fish bowls and was glad I did not order colored napkins. It really is such an amazing place I feel you should do as little as possible and relax.

Also, we took a few excursions to Islands and golf. The Hotel will provide box lunches when needed. We had a lunch catered at the Villa for the wedding party at no extra cost. They will go above and beyond for you and it will be wonderful food that your guest will talk about for a long time. You can also mix and match the menu. We ordered a dinner and switched the salad. We also picked whatever appetizers we wanted off the whole list, 3 hot, 3 cold. They asked if we wanted a signature drink at the cocktail party, so think about that too. And just give them a list of special dietary needs like vegetarians or fish allergies, no problem. They have an such amazing breakfast buffet that anyone can find something to eat there.

We had our rehearsal dinner in Cancun at Puerto Madero so I can not really answer questions about that.

I'm glad to answer any questions I can! I wish I had some help when I was planning to save some stress. I went down a year before the wedding and picked everything. The wedding planners changed every few months so I had to keep re planning. I literally got to the hotel on Wed for the blood test, sat down with Nayelli and had the whole thing planned in an hour. It all turned out perfectly. We are so used to the way they do things here in the states with the planning years ahead and surprise costs that I think this sometimes looks to good to be true, but it's not. Good luck my little brides to be!

One last note- We used Wendy Hicks as our travel agent and life became so much easier. We just put her contact info on our website and BAM! she made it all happen. She helped with our rooms and every ones transfers. [email protected]

MaisieGirl · July 6, 2012

Thank you so much for all your help Susie! It is reassuring to hear. Sounds like more things are included that the resort makes out. Would you happen to have a picture of what the basic gazebo looks like with the seashells? It sounds simply lovely, but I could not see any pictures in the resort info. My email is [email protected]

Cheers

clee0605 · July 6, 2012

Susie, how far is Walmart? I'm thinking if it's close by, i might as well buy all my out of town bag stuff there when i get to Mexico rather than lug it down with me.

Thanks for the info!

susieqt · July 8, 2012

I am working on the wedding photos now. I have a picture of the sea shells but we opted out of the gazebo because we just wanted to beach behind us. Walmart is in Cancun, so about 25 minutes from the hotel. We always rent a car in Cancun so we stop on the way to the hotel. The Walmart is huge and they also have these grocery stores ( Iforget the name) that are also stocked with everything you will need. If you are taking a cab from the airport I'm sure they will stop for you, or you can arrange a ride to town with the hotel. Most priced are about the same as the states, maybe a bit cheaper, but liquer is way cheaper and so is sunscreen.

dmccamey · July 8, 2012

OMG, good info!! I've been stressing about the OOT bags and traveling with these items etc, but if they have a Walmart there, I can definitely get a good package going without worrying about travel expenses in lugging the premade bags with us...BTW, did you do OOT bags? If so what did you put in them? Thanks for sharing such great insight! We will definitely have to rent a car!

susieqt · July 8, 2012

Our wedding started in Las Vegas on Friday, then we flew to Cancun on Monday, went to Akumal then North to La Amada on Wed. I did make sure my guests always had assorted sunscreen, bug spray, magazines, games (dominos are great for beach fun cause they don't blow away), snorlels, shot glasses and tequilla. We went all out on accomodations and excursions for everyone rather than doing some of the traditional wedding things. But I do love the idea of gift bags. Sunscreen is a great gift bag idea, but I found that there were so many different skin types that not everyone uses the same strength. Also, The Beloved is fully stocked for your guests with a mini bar containing sodas, waters, beers, shots, candy bars, and other snacks. I racked my brain to think of things to put in a bag, but couldn't think of a thing anyone would need. There were these really cute towels that fold into bags that would have wedding date and names, but it was over $180 to ship. The hotel will make your guests feel special upon arrival with glasses of proseco and cold towels, and they will han out your itineraries. There are drinks and food everywhere at any hour. There are great blogs on this site about bags and ideas, I just didn't use them. Of course we had gifts for our wedding party that we handed out at the rehersal dinner. Jewelry, flip flops, and some cheap matching sunglasses for pictures sake. I work with weddings and have seen a ton of different little gift ideas handed out at the reception, but I'm not sure any would work well at the beach, but I know there are zillions of websites that have beach gift ideas.

Good Luck!! You will have the time of your life, but it will fly by quick, so remeber to keep things simple for yourselves. This hotel and beach are so amazing you don't need much more to impress, so enjoy your family and friends!!

Sandy Planner · July 9, 2012

Hello Ladies , Ultimate Mexico wedding has these nice personalize welcome bags in case you need it , this has been very helpful for other brides and the prices are so fair.... as Sussie said the Beloved staff will make you feel sooo welcome and you dont need much more to have the time of your life...

Welcome Bags.pdf