Now Larimar 2014 Brides

[duchovny0901]

@@DR2015 Thanks so much!!!! And yes we rented the bridal suite, which is a large room in the back of the spa. We had it for 5 hours and they locked all of our items in the room during the wedding (we came and got the rest of our stuff the day after the wedding). Great space for me and my ladies to hang and get ready. The suite has a full bathroom, a small backroom and a 3 way mirror and pedestal. It ended more outlets I felt, since we had so many flat irons and curlers between us! Hahaha. They also gave us large plates of fruit, champagne and orange juice with the suite.

 

For the bridesmaids bouquet I did request that theirs look like mine but with our wedding colors. My WC stated that she could mix up the ivory and purple roses.

@@joacevedo15 Thanks so much! Yeah checking out if your date is available is number 1, lol. And once you find that out then I'd be happy to answer any questions! Not sure about weddings on Sundays but you should check with a WC.

[Drnelly910]

@@duchovny0901 I have a question about music for your ceremony. During the ceremony did you have your own music? If so, was there someone to stop the music for your bridesmaids and groomsmen and then start the music for your processional? Also, did you not use the violinist at all for your ceremony or only for the cocktail hour? Because when I asked they basically said they can't change it but I'm wondering if I push more if they will allow it.

[alwalters625]

@@DR2015 Thanks so much!!!! And yes we rented the bridal suite, which is a large room in the back of the spa. We had it for 5 hours and they locked all of our items in the room during the wedding (we came and got the rest of our stuff the day after the wedding). Great space for me and my ladies to hang and get ready. The suite has a full bathroom, a small backroom and a 3 way mirror and pedestal. It ended more outlets I felt, since we had so many flat irons and curlers between us! Hahaha. They also gave us large plates of fruit, champagne and orange juice with the suite.

For the bridesmaids bouquet I did request that theirs look like mine but with our wedding colors. My WC stated that she could mix up the ivory and purple roses.@@joacevedo15 Thanks so much! Yeah checking out if your date is available is number 1, lol. And once you find that out then I'd be happy to answer any questions! Not sure about weddings on Sundays but you should check with a WC.

For the bridal suite did they care if your friends did their own hair/makeup? I am getting mine done at the salon, but my mom, etc. will probably do their own!

[duchovny0901]

@@Drnelly910 Yes I did bring my own music for the precessional. I wanted to exchange his services to take place during the cocktail hr but my WC said they couldn't this. So in my package I chose to have a violinist only play while the guests were being seated and after we were pronounced husband and wife. I had a song picked out for the bridal party to walk down to, and I had a different song for me to wall down to. I put both songs on a USB drive and gave to my WC, who had someone cue the music (I couldn't see who it was but it could have been the violinist!). For the cocktail hr I ended up booking the Carribean Trio.

@@alwalters625 Hey! They don't care if you do your own makeup. The bridal suite is totally yours and private. My bridesmaid did my makeup and everyone else did their own. No issues whatsoever!

Edited September 22, 2014 by duchovny0901

[deelirious]

@@duchovny0901 congratulations on your wedding! I'm just looking through your photos now and they're beautiful. Looks like everyone had an amazing time. Thanks so much for sharing! I have 82 adults and 6 kids coming and was having trouble visualizing how everything would look but your posts and pictures have been so helpful! What a coincidence how your group was the exact same size as mine (88 people)!

 

I have a few questions for you:

 

1. How big was your wedding cake? (how many additional people did you add @ $7/per person?) Was there more than enough for your group? I have 88 guests, but am planning to upgrade the cake to about 50-60 people.

 

2. How many hours was your reception? How fast/slow was the plated dinner service for your group? Did you have ample time to do wedding games, speeches, first dance, cake, etc even with your large group size and the 5 different courses?

 

3. How much did DJ Mannia and the white dance floor cost? Does it cost money to bring him into the resort? I had been planning to just use the resort's DJ package, but might consider DJ Mannia if you'd recommend him.

 

I'm all ears to any other tips you might have for my large group! Thank you in advance

[duchovny0901]

@@deelirious Thanks so much! And what a coincidence in the number of people!! When will your wedding be? I'm glad the pics helped!

 

1) Wedding cake was square and still 3 layers (as in the pic) and was more than enough for our group. Since cake in the package only fed up to 25ppl we had to add an additional 54; the children do not count for the extra. When everyone had been served the cake I did notice like half the bottom later still untouched, so the servers make sure that everyone's going to get a slice!

 

2) Our reception was 4 hrs instead of the included 3. After finding out that our group was sooooo big and negotiating a plated dinner, our WC actually recommended that we extend the reception from 3 to 4 hrs to make sure we'd have enough time for the courses and activities! The serving time was good; no one was waiting forever for meals or drinks, and we had our own bar set up with 2 bartenders for our group the whole time of the reception. We did have 4 speeches, the father/daughter and son/mother dances as well. We didn't do the garter toss and bouquet toss because we didn't want too. But there was still plenty of time for dancing. Even afterwards, a lot of our group went to the nightclub to continue partying!

 

3) DJ Mannia was awesome; they kept our group on the floor all night! Like seriously even in between courses one couple got up on the dance floor for a quick dance to a Spanish song (without being prompted)! I think it was just a song that they reeeaallllyy liked. LOL. PM me your email and I can send you the email that the company sent me with the prices for service fees, different floor rental options, lighting etc. The resort did charge us a percentage for bringing them in as well as a percentage for renting their dance floor instead of using the resort's DJ and services. I'd still do it all over again! The music and MC'ing was awesome. And the resort DJ usually DJ's at the nightclub as well, so I think you'd have to finish your reception by 930pm if you used him.

 

Another tip; if you want to eat with a large portion of your group during dinner on certain nights, you can do so without making a reservation as long as the restaurant has space, and as long as you do it either really early (6pm) or really late (9pm)! We had a group of 50 ppl meet at the Italian restaurant Capers (my fav!) the night before the wedding and they made 3 long tables to accommodate us! Absolutely phenomenal! And no costs! Our group tipped the servers really well too.

 

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Edited September 24, 2014 by duchovny0901

[Cwright]

Hey Guys!

 

I have a quick question! I emailed my wedding coordinator to ask if the 25 chairs with white covers that are included in are package are also included in the reception.  She responded "Yes, 25 chairs included for the ceremony, the extra chairs are $25.00 each one.  For the reception, you don't need to pay for extra chairs.  They are included." Is it seriously 25 dollars extra per chair just to have your guests watch your ceremony?!?  I did not see anything about this in the package or excel sheet.  I am hoping she misunderstood my question! Thanks so much!

Edited September 26, 2014 by Cwright

[Jahanee Conner]

@@Cwright

It's actually 3.00 extra per chair over 25. 

[MrandMrsBonitto2016]

@@Jahanee Conner it's almost time:) How excited are you?

[Jahanee Conner]

@@MrandMrsBonitto2016

 

I'm really excited!! Just trying to put together all the things that I'm bringing down with me now. I think that's the hardest part of it all. So I said this weekend I was going to start packing, just so I wont leave anything behind!!