Please help! :)

[Amanda Hammett]

I would love ANY suggestions, information regarding the wedding packages....which ones you chose and what additional services did you add.  Also, I would LOVE an estimate of how much EVERYTHING cost you.  Thank you so much!!  I am in the process of signing a contract to get married on May 10, 2013. And I haven't a clue where to begin with planning the ceremony.....DJs or iPod docks, photographers, decorations, welcome parties, private receptions, etc.

 

Thanks,

Amanda Hammett

[email protected]

[CriCri]

Originally Posted by Amanda Hammett 

 

I would love ANY suggestions, information regarding the wedding packages....which ones you chose and what additional services did you add.  Also, I would LOVE an estimate of how much EVERYTHING cost you.  Thank you so much!!  I am in the process of signing a contract to get married on May 10, 2013. And I haven't a clue where to begin with planning the ceremony.....DJs or iPod docks, photographers, decorations, welcome parties, private receptions, etc.

 

Thanks,

Amanda Hammett

[email protected]

 

Where will you get married?

I suggest:

- sound system for the ceremony

- flowers decoration for canopy/gazebo

- mariachi trio

- photographer

- private reception

[MJKH]

Ask lots of questions...and do your research!!!  How big of a rush is the resort to get the answers to these questions?  You should have time...but here's what I wish we would have done:

 

If money is no object or a live musician is included in your package, I would have live music for the ceremony.

 

Reception DJ - I wish we had gone external and paid the extra money for a pro DJ. A DJ was "included" with our package, but he was a dude who was part of the entertainment crew at the resort...who showed up in his skimpy little poolside-work shorts...and, quite frankly he sucked. We had to ask him twice to go back to the songs we had on our iPad. To give you an example, he played "More Than Words" by Extreme when we were doing the pinata with the kids at the reception. WTF!?! I was MORTIFIED...

 

On all other points, I totally agree with CriCri...don't skimp on the photography!!!  

 

We LOVED our mariachi...if you're getting married in Mexico I would strongly encourage that : )

 

DEFINITELY a private reception if possible. It felt very odd to be in a restaurant with a bridal party and their guests having dinner in the same space.

 

I think a welcome dinner or rehearsal dinner that would include all of your guests would be awesome. We had a rehearsal dinner for everyone the night before the wedding (even though there was no rehearsal!!!) and, other than the reception dinner, it was the only meal that we all ate together.

[LuckyGal4]

Congrats Amanda-- Everything is gonna depend on where you are getting married at but I can share with you what we paid for things so that it might give you a better idea! Oh we are getting married in Playa at The Royal.

 

DJ- We payed $950 for the DJ and then another $700 for a light up dance floor. I know it sounds crazy but our friends and family love to dance plus we wanted a professional doing the music as we didnt want to have to deal with it.

Photographer- I cant really help to much here as one of mine and my FI's friends is coming to Mexico with us so she will be taking all our pics. She also did our engagement and my bridal pics. We are paying for her and her husband to come to Mexico.

Wedding Package- We got more of a basic package and then added a cocktail hour and a private reception. It turned out that it was cheaper than going with the bigger package and then us having things included that we didnt want or need! I know some people that booked like a Master suite which cost more but it came with a free wedding. Ballpark for wedding was about $4000.00 that was for everything and includes 40 people.

 

Since we have a larger group going, we are gonna do a meet and greet in the lobby at the bar area the day that we arrive (which is 2 days before the wedding). I've heard that it is a good size and I figure with 40 people we can just kinda take over :-) This is when we will be handling out the OOt bags too!

 

Yes, def ask a lot of quesitons and go thru this forum as much as you can!!!! It helped me soooo much. All the brides on here are amazing for sharing all their great ideas and experiences. Good Luck!

[Amanda Hammett]

We're getting married at Azul beach. Did any of you get married there? If so, which Package did you purchase? What else did you add? What was the total cost?

[karyc]

Hi Amanda! We're getting married at Azul Beach on March 2, 2013, and we just finalized the group contract. Sounds like we're in the same boat as you, now trying to figure out photographer, music, venues, etc.  How big is your wedding? have you made any decisions yet?
 

[AllieH]

Hi Amanda,

 

We are getting married at EDR in November, a sister resort to Azul, and they have the same wedding packages. We have most of our "extras" decided. We are expecting around 46 guests as of now. 

 

We went with the free package with a symbolic ceremony. It includes the very basics for the ceremony, a group reservation in a restaurant (we are using it as our welcome dinner), and not many other "frills". We decided to spend more $$ on our room vs. their buy-up packages, because we just felt like the $$ for the buy-up packages wasn't worth the add ons - we weren't planning to use most of them anyway. The free package also comes with a special menu breakfast in bed and a private dinner on the beach for you & your groom (either can be used any time during your stay!). I think there's also a couples' massage lesson, the separate groom's room for him to get redding the day of the wedding, decorating your room on the wedding night, and a few other romantic touches. 

 

We are adding: 

--wooden aisle runner

--hair rehearsal & wedding day style for me (bride)

--wedding day hair style for my mom (also offered to my FMIL, but she declined)

--private dinner/reception - we went with the pick & choose menu

--pro amplifier for our iPod for reception

--smallest cake for cutting ($60)

 

A lot of brides also do the sheers at the gazebo and the flower arrangements for the gazebo. 

 

I will be bringing sheers for the chairs, paper lanterns for aisle, gazebo & reception decorations, table runners for the reception tables, and other reception decorations with us. I'm also doing a real touch bouquet for myself, corsages for the ladies in our family, and bouts for the guys so we didn't need those from the resort/Lomas. 

 

Overall I am focusing on the beautiful setting of the resort, and keeping the decorations personal, yet fairly simple (and transportable!!). And affordable... and assuming the amount of booze available during the reception will ensure it'll be quite the bash! 

 

Hope that helps with some ideas. Good luck with all of your planning! 

 

 

 

[AllieH]

PS - don't stress about all of the options and add ons available. You have plenty of time to make those decisions!! If anything, I'd recommend deciding on whether or not you're having a private reception, and which location you want, and then planning the details later. 

 

And we decided to bring our photographer with us. 

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.