Wedding Review - Sheraton Hacienda - 3 August 2012 - Alex & Paula

[paulastuart]

 

 

This website has been so helpful to me over the year that we have been planning our wedding!! We have planned everything from London and had never been to Cabo before we arrived 5 days before the wedding.. it was a huge gamble, but one that paid off hugely!  But I must say I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of this website, all of the contributors and the wonderful residents of Cabo who have replied to my many trip advisor posts trying to work out how we were going to make this happen with just me planning it!  We were lucky as all of the vendors we had were INCREDIBLE!!!  I cannot speak highly enough about all of them and would recommend 100%.  If anybody has any questions or would like additional information on anything to do with the vendors below, I am more than happy to send you anything you need.  Anyway… here goes!

 

Rehearsal Dinner – Desperados – A+++++++

 

 

We were really struggling to decide on a place to have our Rehearsal Dinner, and so I took to the tripadvisor forum’s to ask for a casual but fun and reasonably priced restaurant in Cabo that would suit our needs.  We had more than 30 responses and over half all said Desperados!! So we went with this option and were not disappointed. 

Tyler was fantastic and sent us an incredible set menu option that ended up being less than $15pp before tip.  This is amazing value, and they had a resident guitarist who was excellent.   Every other restaurant I contacted tried to make me commit to a 3 course meal and we knew that we wanted something more simple, and Desperados was perfect.

The food, location and staff were all fabulous, I seriously cannot fault it in any way.

 

 

 

Florist – Cabo Flowers & Cakes – A+++++++

We were referred to Cabo Flowers & Cakes by Beth Dalton, who I found on pinterest randomly and who I will also give a review on later.  Although Beth was not our wedding planner (as we were too far into the process by the time we were in contact and we were trying to be strict with our budget), I could not have done it without her.  More on Beth later!!... 

Cabo Flowers and Cakes worked with me over email as I live in London with my (now!) husband Alex.  I changed my mind a lot on what sort of look I wanted and they were always fantastic at getting back to me quickly and always with helpful suggestions and always happy to change anything that needed changed.  I sent pictures on exactly what I wanted when I finally settled on what that was, and the flowers on the day were exactly as I had hoped.  We had a huge amount of comments and compliments on the flowers on the day. 

Francine and Donna supplied us with canning jars for our centrepieces and also as drinking jars for our cocktails.  They also supplied fairy lights for the trees and supplied our canopy flowers.  Everything was as perfect as I had hoped and I think that they were exceptional value for money.  I would recommend them 100%.

 

Contact Details - [email protected]

 

Hair & Manicures/Pedicures – Senza Spa – A+++++++++

I dealt with Leslie who is the manager I think of Senza Spa over the email many times before arriving in London.  I had only found limited reviews of Senza Spa on the internet and the Best Destination Wedding Website, but I felt confident they would be a good choice, and their price was unbeatable. 

The hair trial went well, I had decided to wear my hair up, and although the lady that did my hair could not speak English, Leslie asked me to explain what I wanted and I had photos of exactly what I wanted from all angles and she was able to explain clearly to my hair stylist what I wanted.  I didn’t really believe the language barrier was an issue as Leslie was a great interpreter.  However, after seeing my hair up, I decided that it looked too formal for a beach wedding so I changed my mind to wearing my hair out.  I didn’t change my mind until later that night, therefore no chance to get a hair trial for my hair out! 

I think this is my only regret of our whole day, is that I chose to wear my hair out on an exceptionally hot day without having had my hair trial done with my hair out.  If I had trialed the hair out look I would have realized after having it done, that what it looked like while I was in the salon, wouldn’t be what it looked like 6 hours later in the very hot Mexican sun!!! I don’t think this was the salon’s fault though.  I was sure about what I wanted and Leslie did say she thought it might be a bit of an issue.  So although I wasn’t happy with my hair, I don’t think it was their fault. 

We also got manicures and pedicures at the salon (myself, my mother and the 3 bridesmaids) and they did a fabulous job and again, the price was very reasonable, I think it was $52 for both the manicure and the pedicure. 

I also forgot to mention that I had my hair cut and coloured on the day of my hair trial and I was really happy with both the cut and colour. 

 

Prices for Senza Salon were:

• Bridal Hair $750 pesos or $62.50usd
• Formal Hair Style $650 pesos or $54.17usd
• Blow Dry $285 pesos or $23.75usd

 

Contact Details – Leslie – [email protected]

 

Co-ordination of Legal Ceremony – Kenia Quiroz of Beso Weddings – A++++++++++

Again, faultless.  Kenia organized the following for us:

• Justice of the Peace
• Blood Tests
• Paperwork & Marriage License

I was liaising with Kenia for a few months before our wedding and she organized everything in relation to the legal side of our wedding. 

It was incredibly easy from our point of view, we just sent the information we needed to send (copies of passports, information of our witnesses etc) and she got everything done!  Kenia also organised 2 lovely people to come from the hospital to do our bloodtests.  This was really easy and we just met them in the lobby of the Sheraton and 5 minutes later, it was done! 

Unfortunately my fiancé forgot to get the right $$ out for Kenia and we didn’t have the money on the day she was due to come out to receive it, but it was not a problem and she was incredibly understanding.  She was incredible and again, would recommend her in a heartbeat. 

Contact Details – [email protected]

 

Makeup – Blanc Salon – A++++

I booked Blanc Salon as a bit of a last minute thing as I was intending to do my own makeup, however I got nervous and decided I would rather have someone do it for myself and the bridesmaids on the day, less stress and the reviews were fantastic for Neysa Berman who owns Blanc Salon.

However when I was into the first few emails with Neysa, she mentioned that she would not be doing the makeup, that she was away that weekend and that two girls from her salon would be doing it.  If I’m honest, the girls did a good job, so I was happy, however when I was quoted the price I believed that it would be Neysa herself who would be doing that makeup as that is who I had my heart set on. So it was disappointing that she wasn’t available. 

I was also a little anxious at her reply time for emails.  She took sometimes up to a week to reply to emails and I found this a bit stressful, especially as it was so close to the wedding.  However, much of this fault is my own as I shouldn’t have been doing it last minute!! However, replying to my emails a bit quicker would have been much appreciated.

The makeup trial went well, although I am very fussy about the way I have my makeup done, to the point where I have never liked the way anybody has done it before, so I was nervous about what she would be like.  However, I was really honest and I checked the makeup every few minutes to make sure it was on track to how I wanted it, and whenever there was something I didn’t like, she corrected it and I was happy. 

On the day, the two girls who came (including the girl who did my makeup trial) were excellent.  Really well presented, and they did a great job of my bridesmaids, my mother and myself.  I was really pleased with the result.

Also, thought I would point out that the reason I only engaged Neysa to do our makeup and not hair as well, as I thought the prices for hair were really expensive, and Senza were so much cheaper. 

Prices for Blanc Salon to come to the Sheraton were:

• Make Up Trial with Lashes - $85usd
• Bridal Make Up with Lashes - $105usd
• 3 Bridesmaids Makeup - $195usd
• 2 Mothers Makeup - $130usd
• Travel x 2 - $70usd
• IVA & Gratuity - $152.10

TOTAL - $737.10 for 6 ladies all up plus my makeup trial.  Pretty good value I thought.

Contact Details – [email protected]

 

 

Photographer – Fiona Andersen Photography – A++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Fiona is from New Zealand (where I am from) and when I attended a wedding 2 years ago in which she was the photographer and I was a bridesmaid, I knew as soon as I spent the day with her,  that no doubt in my mind should I get married, no matter where in the world, this amazing woman would be my photographer.  It only cemented the deal when I saw her photos, this woman is an incredible talent and I literally would have flown her from anywhere for her to be our photographer for our wedding. 

Fiona has the most incredibly warm, bubbly and sweet personality, just having her around made the day more special for us.  We had so many comments on what an incredible photographer she was, she was so easy to work with, she really captured special moments and her photography will blow your mind. 

Fiona was amazing throughout the whole organizing process, we were on the same wavelength and she helped us out hugely with what could have been a really expensive process bringing her over from New Zealand.  She was by far the best money we spent on our wedding.

I am aware it is probably a lot of American based brides who use this website, but Fiona travels and ladies, she is WORTH it!  She was a huge highlight for us on the day, and her lasting memories will be treasured.  And I actually priced her to what some of the top Cabo photographers were charging and she came out cheaper, including what we paid for her flights and accommodation.   She is a total winner and I cannot rate her highly enough.

http://www.fionaandersenphotography.com

Contact Details - [email protected]

 

Sound – Cesar Sanchez – A++++++++++

Cesar was brilliant.  We needed sound for both on the beach during our ceremony (speakers and microphones) and then again for the reception (speakers and microphones).  We were quoted an extortionate price via the vendor who the Sheraton use, so I contacted Beth Dalton again and she gave me Cesar’s details.  He was almost half the price and proved to be an excellent choice.

Cesar was there throughout the whole day making sure the sound was good, and although I don’t really remember him being there (I was in a bit of a dream!) the fact that everything went without a hitch means he did his job well.  The price for Cesar to provide the sound at the two locations and for his presence for the entire time was $400 inclusive of all taxes and his assistance.  I think he also does DJ services as well, but we used our ipod so didn’t need his services for this.

Contact Details – [email protected]

 

 

Mariachi Band – Mariachi Internacional de Los Cabos– A++++++++

The Mariachi Band were awesome!!  This was the one aspect of the wedding that my fiancé organised and he did a great job - They wore beautiful white outfits and played for 2 hours.  There were 8 members of the band and the total cost was $800usd all up.  For an 8 piece band, I think this is great value and they were excellent in my opinion and our guests loved them!!  Unfortunately we were away getting photos taken when the band played so we missed a lot of their performance but the feedback we received was great.

Contact Details – Jose Luis Gonzalez – [email protected]

 

 

Venue – The Sheraton Hacienda Golf Resort & Spa – A+++++++++++

 

The Sheraton was our dream venue.  Planning this from such a distance, we went through a huge number of options for our wedding and the Sheraton was by far the best deal for us.  Firstly, we didn’t have to commit to all inclusive for all of our guests, which gave them the freedom to stay where they chose and also kept the costs down.  We also could pick and choose what we wanted to include in our wedding package, rather than picking a package we couldn’t alter.  We also negotiated a fantastic deal for our food and beverage.  I think the only reason we got such a good deal for this was because of the time of year, but we were grateful for it all the same. 

 

We dealt with Fabiola Diaz who is the Events and Wedding co-ordinator at the Sheraton.  I cannot speak highly enough about Fabiola, she was brilliant from the outset, answering a million emails from me with loads of questions and always responding in a timely manner.  She made the process easy for us.  When we arrived at the Sheraton, we were blown away by how beautiful the resort was.  Everything was perfect.  The grounds are so beautifully maintained, and the staff are all incredibly polite and friendly.   We had a cake testing a few days before the wedding.  We were sent a list of cake types, fillings and icings and had to pick 3 combinations to try before we chose our wedding cake.  When we turned up to the cake tasting (with 6 other people in tow!!) we really only expected a forkful to taste each.  However, we were treated like VIP’s and there was a large sample cake of each for us to try, we were all stuffed by the end, but it was a great experience and my mum in particular loved it. The chef also came out to discuss the cakes and the presentation of them and we decided to have 2 different types of cake, with two layers and the chef made it happen.  She was brilliant. 

The setup at the wedding was gorgeous.  The linen/chairs/bar/buffet/Japanese lanterns all looked superb and I couldn’t have been happier.  It looked magical, just how I had hoped.

We had many comments from our guests at the wedding, that the food was incredible.  We had a huge buffet selection and meat on a grill, along with a large selection of Mexican sweets.  Every single dish I tried was delicious and our guests loved it.  The drinks were fantastic and nobody ever had an empty glass.  We even had our own personal bug sprayer!! He sprayed everyone who needed it and this was much appreciated, as the bugs seem to love me!

There was only one slight negative, in that we had an afterparty in the Sports Bar and we were told we could have our ipod playing there for 2 hours, but the sound system was broken and the music only played every now and then, so that was a real disappointment in that everybody was really getting into the swing of things and we had just started dancing, only to be moved from where our reception was, to the Sports Bar where there was no music.  It was unfortunate and a bit annoying, but overall, that was the only thing that went wrong on the day.

I only have two negative comments to make about the Sheraton in general, and this has nothing to do with our wedding, but just as a guest of the Sheraton.  Firstly, one of our guests who stayed at the Sheraton had $400usd stolen from his wallet in his room the day after the wedding.  This was incredibly disappointing, and I felt that the Sheraton didn’t really do enough to fully investigate this. 

The other negative comment would be in relation to the prices in general at the Sheraton.  I felt like the food and beverages were really expensive.  Especially once you add the tip to the bill.  I suppose this is what you get when you stay at a resort that isn’t close to town, and I cannot fault the food, however, it did feel like you were held at ransom a bit!!  Also, paying for the internet was a bit of a sore point, especially for us trying to arrange so much in the days leading up to the wedding, paying $16usd a day for internet felt a bit insulting considering how much we paid in total to stay there!

However, I don’t want these negative comments to reflect badly on how the Sheraton was for our wedding as they were perfect.  We stayed at the ME Melia in town after the Sheraton and we missed the Sheraton so much!!! Now we are at Bahia and miss the Sheraton even more!! You could not pick a more amazing place to get married and it exceeded our expectations. 

 

Contact Details – Fabiola Diaz – [email protected]