May 2014 Brides & Past Bride advice

[Edygiselle]

Hello Ladies!

 

I am starting this thread for May 2014 brides! First and foremost congrats to you all!!!

 

I just signed my contract with Le Reve, put down my deposits, and picked my colors. I am finally getting excited... This smiley says it all lol ---> 

 

I want to make sure I am at the right stage in this planning process. I just sent out my STD's and completed my wedding website. However I  now feel like I am now at a stand still. Help!!!

 

What stages of the planning process are you?

 

Any advice from past brides?

[laurammx]

Hey Edygiselle and congrats on the great venue!

 

Our wedding date is April 28th so will definitely be lurking in the back of your thread along the way.  I haven't done pretty much anything yet, our venue/hotel has written us in on their calendar but I'm having the worst time getting answers to my questions about paying the deposit.. I find that a bit weird as you'd think they want our money 

 

Anyhow, good luck with the planning! Hope to join you as soon as we've signed on the dotted line.

 

How big is your wedding? Would love to hear more about your plans! We also looked into Le Reve but unfortunately it wasn't a possibility for us.

[Edygiselle]

Originally Posted by laurammx 

 

Hey Edygiselle and congrats on the great venue!

 

Our wedding date is April 28th so will definitely be lurking in the back of your thread along the way.  I haven't done pretty much anything yet, our venue/hotel has written us in on their calendar but I'm having the worst time getting answers to my questions about paying the deposit.. I find that a bit weird as you'd think they want our money 

 

Anyhow, good luck with the planning! Hope to join you as soon as we've signed on the dotted line.

 

How big is your wedding? Would love to hear more about your plans! We also looked into Le Reve but unfortunately it wasn't a possibility for us.

 

Hey Larammx and thanks for the response! Initially I was having the exact same issue with possible resorts while on the hunt for a venue. I didn't understand that aspect either. Then, I found Le Reve, great response time, perfect size for my 50 guests for our wedding getaway and absolutely gorgeous!

 

Good luck to you as well and you are welcome here anytime. My plans are still not set in stone. I am still trying working on the little things.

 

What resorts have you looked into?

[laurammx]

We're actually from Scandinavia so we're flying in with 15 people max, and wanted a small place with character and privacy instead of a big resort. I checked out Le Reve and Esencia, Villa Amor in Sayulita and a big bunch of places in Tulum. My favorite was a place called Ahau Tulum because of the great hippie vibe (we're doing the whole casual barefoot thing), but they would have required us to buy out the entire hotel for min 3 nights and we're not quite enough people to afford that. 

 

I narrowed it down to El Pez, Encantada (which we would have been able to rent for ourselves, that would have been great) and Ana y Jose in Tulum, which we're now trying to book.  AC ended up being a deal breaker.

[Edygiselle]

Originally Posted by laurammx 

 

We're actually from Scandinavia so we're flying in with 15 people max, and wanted a small place with character and privacy instead of a big resort. I checked out Le Reve and Esencia, Villa Amor in Sayulita and a big bunch of places in Tulum. My favorite was a place called Ahau Tulum because of the great hippie vibe (we're doing the whole casual barefoot thing), but they would have required us to buy out the entire hotel for min 3 nights and we're not quite enough people to afford that. 

 

I narrowed it down to El Pez, Encantada (which we would have been able to rent for ourselves, that would have been great) and Ana y Jose in Tulum, which we're now trying to book.  AC ended up being a deal breaker.

Oh that is so nice, I have never met anyone from Scandinavia before!!  

 

Those are all beautiful resorts...I love Ana y Jose!!! hopefully communication gets better as time goes on...Let me know how everything turns out.

[KateMonkeyy]

Hi, I just booked my May 17, 2014 wedding at Azul Sensatori. I'm so excited! I'm going to be designing save the dates next. I'll be checking in here.

[Futurefiler87]

I am planning a May 2014 wedding as well! Just got engaged two weeks ago and haven't made any decisions yet. What about your venue made it "the one"? Did u use a travel agency or anything to book?

[laurammx]

Congrats KateMonkeyy and Futurefiler87! 

 

When is the right time to find/book a photographer? For me photography is one of the most important things, but my fiancé actually said he wouldn't mind if we didn't have one at all.  I've already requested quotes as the best ones are getting snapped up as we speak, right?

 

I feel like such a bridezilla whenever I discuss the whole photographer thing with my FI. He says he wants to give me the wedding of my dreams but I can see he really doesn't want to spend the money on photography that I do.. if it were anything else I'd be happy to compromise but I'm just not finding any "budget" photogs with the style I'm looking for.  Oh well, here's hoping he just doesn't have the heart to say no in the end. (Oh, the guilt!)

 

About the venue and why it's "the one": I have a million gorgeous wedding visions that I could have happily gone with, so when picking our destination and the venue I kept going back to my extremely laid back fiancé in my head and thinking about where he'd be the most comfortable and enjoy himself. Once we'd picked Tulum, I just made a list of all even remotely possible options and started crossing them off my list. Ana y José ended up meeting the most of our requirements (even though they're getting increasingly bad reviews on TripAdvisor now..). If my fiancé was as much of a wedding freak as I am, we would have gotten totally and absolutely overwhelmed with choice. 

[Edygiselle]

Originally Posted by KateMonkeyy 

 

Hi, I just booked my May 17, 2014 wedding at Azul Sensatori. I'm so excited! I'm going to be designing save the dates next. I'll be checking in here.

Welcome and congrats to you KateMonkeyy!!! Hooray to all the May Brides! I would love to see your save the dates!

 

I posted my save the dates on this forum please take a look and let me know what you think:

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/80997/any-other-2014-brides-here-getting-an-early-start/470

[Edygiselle]

Originally Posted by Futurefiler87 

 

I am planning a May 2014 wedding as well! Just got engaged two weeks ago and haven't made any decisions yet. What about your venue made it "the one"? Did u use a travel agency or anything to book?

 

Hey Futurefiler87 to be completely honest... I was trying to find a place first using an agency - that didn't work. Then I tried to pick a place based on how exotic it was - that too didn't work.

 

I finally looked to this forum and spent weeks reading reviews and contacting my favorite resots. I finally narrowed down my top 3. After seeing photos and reaching out to past brides I slowly was drawn to Le Reve. To top it off, the response time of my questions and answers via email was literealy a few hours. Some resorts took days and weeks. I could not have that  I know my nerves and how particular I am!

 

Le Reve stood completely stood out. The wedding coordinators there completely calmed my nerves and got me very comfortable. I can finally say I have taken a break

 

I didn't use anything No agent, no travel company. Just a  huge leap of faith and past bride referrals.