May 2013 Brides

[melnryluvco]

Originally Posted by QuintanaV 

 

All of you have such wonderful suggestions We had monogrammed garment bags made for all the guys so they could easily carry-on their suit on board the flight!

You guys are all just the best! You have restored my faith...it could also be the glass of wine I'm sipping on but I'm saying I'm in better spirits because of you all

[melnryluvco]

Originally Posted by MrsHK 

 

Okay, here's the flower info! There are quite a few little flower shops in town, or "florerias" as they are called down here. One is on 30th Av between Constitueyntes and 20th St and its a little shop painted green. I'll keep an eye out for other ones and will let you guys know the cross streets if I see one. Another place I've consistently seen flowers available is Walmart. I took a picture of what the roses cost and as of last week it was 47 pesos for 6 roses ($4) and 85 pesos for 12 roses ($7).

 

At both places, the florerias and Walmart, I've only seen roses, carnations, lilies, orchids, china mums and maybe a few others that I'm forgetting. The selections are not as big as you'd see at home but between Walmart and maybe one floreria you would be able to find enough for your bouquets and tables, depending on which flowers you want. The roses come in various colours too although I'm not sure exactly which colours aside from the usual red and pink. The quality here can vary, meaning that the displays could have have a combination of flowers in good condition and some not so much, but there will be enough in good condition for you to choose from.

 

Another thing to consider is if you'll have a fridge to keep your bouquets in. It is very hot and humid down here and your bouquets might wilt if you leave them out for a day or two even if they're in water. I'd recommend keeping them in a fridge in a bucket of water if you can. 

 

We're getting married in Tulum which is a small town south of Playa Del Carmen by about an hour, for those who don't know. I have yet to find a flower shop down there, so I'm using Vanessa Jaimes for my flowers. http://www.vanessajaimes.com/ 

 

I want peonies and ranunculus for my bouquets which she said they'd have to import from Holland for a very high price. No thanks! She suggested that I buy silk peonies and ranunculus and she will mix them with roses, freesias and lisianthus for my bouquet and centrepieces. She's had brides do that in the past and she said they looked good. I'm going to order the silk flowers from afloral.com and save-on-crafts.com to Canada and bring them down here before the wedding. That's another option if you are particular about the types of flowers, although its probably more expensive than just grabbing them in town. I wish I knew where she gets the freesias and lisianthus from, I would just buy them myself! I'll keep looking over the next few weeks though before I give her a deposit.

 

I had to let you know that I am sharing this post and your other post about flower prices with the girls in the Now Sapphire thread. So if you get more adoring fans you know who to blame

[MrsHK]

Ladies, I have a quick question about your sound equipment and music for the evening. What are you doing for speakers and microphone for the ceremony, dinner and reception? How much is your resort charging you for rental? Are you using a DJ or using your iPod?

 

Our hotel is quite small (non all-inclusive) and they don't have speakers for us to rent. We're hiring a DJ company to bring the equipment, set it up on the beach and then move it to the reception, operate it through the evening and then take it down once the party ends. We prefer to play our own playlists so we're not using the DJ to do anything but set the equipment up and make sure it's running. Our WC will be in charge of making sure the right playlist is playing.

 

Our WC quoted $800 for the speaker rental plus a suggested $120 tip for the guy running the equipment. Our ceremony is at 5:00 so I figure he'll come around 3:30pm and will leave around 1:00am. Does that sound about right for price? I have nothing to compare it to...

[MrsHK]

Originally Posted by melnryluvco 

 

 

I had to let you know that I am sharing this post and your other post about flower prices with the girls in the Now Sapphire thread. So if you get more adoring fans you know who to blame

Please do share with everyone who needs it! I think I had two posts, the one you quoted above and another with the prices and email from place at 30th & 16th across from Walmart. There's also a place at 30th Ave and 20th street which is across the main intersection of Constituyentes just past the Mega on the left. Between Walmart and those two flowers shops I'm sure you everyone will find what they need!

 

There may be some local wedding florists that aren't super stoked on me sharing all this info, but I think it's only fair that everyone has all the info they need to make their decisions. I'm sure there's still plenty of floral business down here despite a handful of DIY flower brides 

 

I would suggest bringing all the florist tape, ribbons and pins you'll need from home for your bouquets so you don't have to look for it here. Another thought I had is if the resort will care if you come in with your own flowers? If they see you coming in with bunches of flowers they might try to charge some kind of vendor fee. I guess either be stealthy about it or let them know ahead of time that you're doing them yourself.

[heather1214]

Originally Posted by MrsHK 

 

Ladies, I have a quick question about your sound equipment and music for the evening. What are you doing for speakers and microphone for the ceremony, dinner and reception? How much is your resort charging you for rental? Are you using a DJ or using your iPod?

 

Our hotel is quite small (non all-inclusive) and they don't have speakers for us to rent. We're hiring a DJ company to bring the equipment, set it up on the beach and then move it to the reception, operate it through the evening and then take it down once the party ends. We prefer to play our own playlists so we're not using the DJ to do anything but set the equipment up and make sure it's running. Our WC will be in charge of making sure the right playlist is playing.

 

Our WC quoted $800 for the speaker rental plus a suggested $120 tip for the guy running the equipment. Our ceremony is at 5:00 so I figure he'll come around 3:30pm and will leave around 1:00am. Does that sound about right for price? I have nothing to compare it to...

 

I think you got a GREAT price!!! Our DJ is $940 for everything, he is playing for our 4 hour reception only.  It's $660 for the DJ services.  He is handling the music so we don't have to worry about the playlist flowing with the mood of the reception.  We only have to provide him a list of songs for specific dances.  I'm also giving him a small Must play and a Do not play list!    He will also MC, get the crowd going throughout the reception etc.  This price also includes uplighting for the venue at $35 a piece *ouch* But I really wanted to have it set the mood.

 

I'd say $800 is a good price, he will be there for a long time. Do you have 6 hours of music for a playlist? wow!

[LKocelko]

Originally Posted by MrsHK 

 

Ladies, I have a quick question about your sound equipment and music for the evening. What are you doing for speakers and microphone for the ceremony, dinner and reception? How much is your resort charging you for rental? Are you using a DJ or using your iPod?

 

Our hotel is quite small (non all-inclusive) and they don't have speakers for us to rent. We're hiring a DJ company to bring the equipment, set it up on the beach and then move it to the reception, operate it through the evening and then take it down once the party ends. We prefer to play our own playlists so we're not using the DJ to do anything but set the equipment up and make sure it's running. Our WC will be in charge of making sure the right playlist is playing.

 

Our WC quoted $800 for the speaker rental plus a suggested $120 tip for the guy running the equipment. Our ceremony is at 5:00 so I figure he'll come around 3:30pm and will leave around 1:00am. Does that sound about right for price? I have nothing to compare it to...

That seems high to me. We're just bringing an iPod due to the small number of guests, but to rent the speakers/mic for our reception was only $250.

[RNtoBe]

Originally Posted by MrsHK 

 

Ladies, I have a quick question about your sound equipment and music for the evening. What are you doing for speakers and microphone for the ceremony, dinner and reception? How much is your resort charging you for rental? Are you using a DJ or using your iPod?

 

Our hotel is quite small (non all-inclusive) and they don't have speakers for us to rent. We're hiring a DJ company to bring the equipment, set it up on the beach and then move it to the reception, operate it through the evening and then take it down once the party ends. We prefer to play our own playlists so we're not using the DJ to do anything but set the equipment up and make sure it's running. Our WC will be in charge of making sure the right playlist is playing.

 

Our WC quoted $800 for the speaker rental plus a suggested $120 tip for the guy running the equipment. Our ceremony is at 5:00 so I figure he'll come around 3:30pm and will leave around 1:00am. Does that sound about right for price? I have nothing to compare it to...

That price sounds comparable. The Riu now charges $710 for a dj and lighting package, keep in mind this is for a few hours only. We only have the reception site from 7-11pm. Once dinner and speeches are done that is not a lot of time. 

[MrsHK]

The tech guy is not actually going to be Djing at all or providing any lighting, he just works for a DJ company. It's just speaker & mic rental with set up & take down, plus "operation" which is just plugging stuff in and making sure it works. We're giving our iPod to the WC so all the tech guy will do is plug it in and make sure the speakers are playing. $800 + $120 for suggested tip seems steep to me but the WC says that's normal... Maybe it's because we have to hire an external company since our hotel doesn't have any to rent. I may see what a few local companies down here charge without mentioning a wedding and see what they say. Thanks for sharing your costs, ladies!

 

And yes Heather, we have TONS of music! We play music in our house from the moment we wake us until we go to bed. Sometimes Mikee will even play music while we sleep! We carry our Jambox (which is an AMAZING little bluetooth speaker by the way) with us everywhere and always have music; at the beach, at the pool, etc... Mikee is in charge of the music for the wedding and I know he'll do an amazing job! We had a going away party for over 100 people when we moved down here to Mexico and he made a 5 hour playlist that he got tons of compliments on! A lot of our friends are in bands or are involved in music in some way so they're not super easy to impress. I'm happy to share our playlist on here once we have it finalized!

[KDoyle]

Originally Posted by MrsHK 

 

The tech guy is not actually going to be Djing at all or providing any lighting, he just works for a DJ company. It's just speaker & mic rental with set up & take down, plus "operation" which is just plugging stuff in and making sure it works. We're giving our iPod to the WC so all the tech guy will do is plug it in and make sure the speakers are playing. $800 + $120 for suggested tip seems steep to me but the WC says that's normal... Maybe it's because we have to hire an external company since our hotel doesn't have any to rent. I may see what a few local companies down here charge without mentioning a wedding and see what they say. Thanks for sharing your costs, ladies!

 

And yes Heather, we have TONS of music! We play music in our house from the moment we wake us until we go to bed. Sometimes Mikee will even play music while we sleep! We carry our Jambox (which is an AMAZING little bluetooth speaker by the way) with us everywhere and always have music; at the beach, at the pool, etc... Mikee is in charge of the music for the wedding and I know he'll do an amazing job! We had a going away party for over 100 people when we moved down here to Mexico and he made a 5 hour playlist that he got tons of compliments on! A lot of our friends are in bands or are involved in music in some way so they're not super easy to impress. I'm happy to share our playlist on here once we have it finalized!

MrsHK, The place we are getting married at in Jamaica is charging $200 hour for just ipod hook up to the equipment  or we can choose the DJ at $300 hour. It seemed ridiculous cost when I inquired as well but seems its the norm....I am now looking into how much it will cost to just hire a DJ outside the resort. 

[heather1214]

Originally Posted by MrsHK 

 

The tech guy is not actually going to be Djing at all or providing any lighting, he just works for a DJ company. It's just speaker & mic rental with set up & take down, plus "operation" which is just plugging stuff in and making sure it works. We're giving our iPod to the WC so all the tech guy will do is plug it in and make sure the speakers are playing. $800 + $120 for suggested tip seems steep to me but the WC says that's normal... Maybe it's because we have to hire an external company since our hotel doesn't have any to rent. I may see what a few local companies down here charge without mentioning a wedding and see what they say. Thanks for sharing your costs, ladies!

 

And yes Heather, we have TONS of music! We play music in our house from the moment we wake us until we go to bed. Sometimes Mikee will even play music while we sleep! We carry our Jambox (which is an AMAZING little bluetooth speaker by the way) with us everywhere and always have music; at the beach, at the pool, etc... Mikee is in charge of the music for the wedding and I know he'll do an amazing job! We had a going away party for over 100 people when we moved down here to Mexico and he made a 5 hour playlist that he got tons of compliments on! A lot of our friends are in bands or are involved in music in some way so they're not super easy to impress. I'm happy to share our playlist on here once we have it finalized!

I mis-understood your first email, I thought that was him controlling it from 5 pm-1 am!   Yeah I would say that is high for him to be "supervising".  I'd take into consideration his time to be there, but still, $800 to set up and take down seems a lot.  Can you try another company?