Bride-To-Be Spring 2016 (Hopefully)

[ashlynm88]

Hi all,

 

I'm newly engaged (well about a month old - April 30th). My guy proposed to me on the beach at Now Larimar in Punta Cana the day after close friends of ours married. It was amazing and I was totally surprised, no idea it was happening at all!

Anyways, we are doing destination wedding, all inclusive somewhere in Mexico. Haven't narrowed down what resort exactly yet, but looking for May 2016, family-friendly, not in the heart of the hotel zone in Cancun (we want a more resort feel rather than a bunch of high rises right next to each other), great beach for pictures of course and our ceremony location (possibly reception location), has to have night time entertainment/disco for dancing, we would prefer no reservations for the a la carte restaurants (we were spoiled at Now), and no wrist bands if possible = Dreams resorts seems to be the only one I know of that has the last 2 features. Are there any others? I'm sure there are a ton of other things I'm forgetting about our wants, and I also find myself thinking a lot about my guests and their wants/needs before my own vision, so I think this is why I'm having a super difficult time choosing a resort that hopefully has the date I am shooting for. Has anyone else had this issue? Also, reading both positiv and negative reviews for resorts, as well as previous brides' experiences are making it very difficult for me to choose a resort, as well. I'm worried I am going to pick a bad one or have an awful experience. I have been in contact with a TA from apple vacations and Beach Bums vacations, both of which have only responded to my inquiries a few times and I feel like time is a ticking and I need to get these save the dates out like yesterday for guests to start budgeting for their vacation next year.

Any thoughts/suggestions/concerns greatly appreciated.

 

[vancouverpetunia]

I think the general consensus is that picking the resort is one of the toughest parts of planning a DW. There are lots of good suggestions here on how to do your research and then narrow it down. I looked at and compared both wedding packages and the actual resort amenities/costs for guests. I also worked with a TA to get prices for resorts. And read lots of trip advisor reviews. Good luck!

 

 

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[Danielle1]

@@ashlynm88 Choosing the resort was the most difficult and frustrating part for me! I wanted everything to be perfect for our guests and family friendly. I think I read every trip advisor review for ever resort in Mexico. One thing I had to remember is that even the perfect resort will have a few bad reviews - someone there will have a bad experience. If you look up your favorite restaurant, you'll probably see a few bad reviews.

 

Have you looked at Moon Palace? I'm getting married at Beach Palace, but we stayed at Moon Palace in December and it definitely has a resort feel. It is huge with tons of amenities for families and adults (golf course, dolphin swim, putt putt golf, a kids zone fun room, a teen room, etc.).  It also has a disco for nightlife.  The food there was great! You do have to wear a wristband at Moon Palace, but I think that is the case for most all inclusives. I've been told the wedding party can cut the wristband off for the wedding and you can get a new one (but maybe check on that before you book...).  

[yycbride2016]

@@ashlynm88

Dreams, Secrets, Now, Breathless (It's a whole chain that has what you are looking for in terms of no reservations and no wrist bands). So far the resorts of theirs I've stayed at are amazing and I will pretty much always want to stay at them. They are higher end and just generally beautiful. The Secrets chain is adults only which is pretty nice. We had really tried to get something in the AM Resort chain (this chain) but it was just too expensive for our guests to fly out. If you are doing a small wedding I would highly recommend it. If you are trying to cut costs or have a tight butdet I wouldn't go with the AM Resorts unless you get a killer deal.

 

We are getting married at the Grand Serenis in the Mayan Riviera. Looks beautiful and looks like its not crowded by other resorts close by. They have a private beach and palapa for weddings you can book which is what sold the resort for us. We wanted to keep things private from other guests so no one was staring at us or watching our wedding while in their swim suits drinking tequilla haha.  Check out @@calgarybride2015's review and planning thread. It seems amazing.

 

I would also recommend Cabo. Its got more of a traditional Mexico feel to it. We tried to get married there but nothing came back in our price range Good luck!

[dreamweddings]

Hi all,

 

I'm newly engaged (well about a month old - April 30th). My guy proposed to me on the beach at Now Larimar in Punta Cana the day after close friends of ours married. It was amazing and I was totally surprised, no idea it was happening at all!

Anyways, we are doing destination wedding, all inclusive somewhere in Mexico. Haven't narrowed down what resort exactly yet, but looking for May 2016, family-friendly, not in the heart of the hotel zone in Cancun (we want a more resort feel rather than a bunch of high rises right next to each other), great beach for pictures of course and our ceremony location (possibly reception location), has to have night time entertainment/disco for dancing, we would prefer no reservations for the a la carte restaurants (we were spoiled at Now), and no wrist bands if possible = Dreams resorts seems to be the only one I know of that has the last 2 features. Are there any others? I'm sure there are a ton of other things I'm forgetting about our wants, and I also find myself thinking a lot about my guests and their wants/needs before my own vision, so I think this is why I'm having a super difficult time choosing a resort that hopefully has the date I am shooting for. Has anyone else had this issue? Also, reading both positiv and negative reviews for resorts, as well as previous brides' experiences are making it very difficult for me to choose a resort, as well. I'm worried I am going to pick a bad one or have an awful experience. I have been in contact with a TA from apple vacations and Beach Bums vacations, both of which have only responded to my inquiries a few times and I feel like time is a ticking and I need to get these save the dates out like yesterday for guests to start budgeting for their vacation next year.

Any thoughts/suggestions/concerns greatly appreciated.

Hey Ashlynm88,

 

Congrats on your engagement and welcome to the forum.   Did you know the owners of this page are travel agent?  I would get in touch with them.  also its a good thing you have a list of things you want from the hotel.  

 

May is still a good month to get married here!

 

Happy Planning!

[Moments That Matter]

Congrats on your recent engagement ashlynm88 and welcome to our forum community!!! you'll find lots of great info, advice, ideas and support here to help with your planning decisions, as you can already see

 

Here are a few images of magical wedding "moments that matter" Linc captured at some recent NOW weddings in our gorgeous Mayan Riviera.....enjoy

 

....from the NOW Jade Wedding Album:

 

 

 

....or these from the NOW Sapphire Wedding Album:

 

 

 

Wishing you happy research, and all the best with your plans - cheers!!! team MTM

[ashlynm88]

@@ashlynm88

Dreams, Secrets, Now, Breathless (It's a whole chain that has what you are looking for in terms of no reservations and no wrist bands). So far the resorts of theirs I've stayed at are amazing and I will pretty much always want to stay at them. They are higher end and just generally beautiful. The Secrets chain is adults only which is pretty nice. We had really tried to get something in the AM Resort chain (this chain) but it was just too expensive for our guests to fly out. If you are doing a small wedding I would highly recommend it. If you are trying to cut costs or have a tight butdet I wouldn't go with the AM Resorts unless you get a killer deal.

 

We are getting married at the Grand Serenis in the Mayan Riviera. Looks beautiful and looks like its not crowded by other resorts close by. They have a private beach and palapa for weddings you can book which is what sold the resort for us. We wanted to keep things private from other guests so no one was staring at us or watching our wedding while in their swim suits drinking tequilla haha.  Check out @@calgarybride2015's review and planning thread. It seems amazing.

 

I would also recommend Cabo. Its got more of a traditional Mexico feel to it. We tried to get married there but nothing came back in our price range Good luck!

We just got back from a wedding at Now Larimar in Punta Cana (which is also where I got engaged and would probably look into those more if we didn't want to try and get a different feel from a resort (not the same restaurants)...but the Dreams resorts seemed easy and maybe that is just because those are the ones that had been recommended to me at first. We are probably looking at around 60-80 guests (maybe, that's just a guess right now).

For some reason I thought Moon Palace may be more out of the price range I was shooting for for my guests, but TA Wendy suggested that one as a possibility as well, so I may have to look further into that one. I'm just concerned with it's size.

I'm really wanting a great beach (not too rocky, or at least has a walkable/swimable area) and I keep reading mix reviews on the "types" of beaches in the different resort locations.

I spent all night last night reading all of @@calgarybride2015 posts/boards. She did an amazing job! And I really liked how she was able to do the "free" package and add on the upgrades and have the private dinner in the palapa. I did read that there are no "free" safes in the rooms, which I find very odd. Any info on that? I am definitely going to spend some more time researching Grand Sirenis this evening. I did see it was kind of far from the airport as well like Dreams Tulum, but I also think I should try and concentrate more on what I am looking for in location and the wedding all while making sure I keep their travel in budget too no matter the trip to and from the airport. That is just one of the things that I have had in the back of my mind the last few days in researching.

Thanks for you input! It is greatly appreciated!

[ReginaKay]

Hi all,

 

I'm brand new to this forum and have looked at (what feels like) hundreds of resorts in Mexico and Dominican Republic. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a budget friendly resort that has great food and a more modern feel. Hoping to have an April 2016 wedding date, thus... I need to get a move on it! 

 

Thank You!!! 

- Regina

[calgarybride2015]

We just got back from a wedding at Now Larimar in Punta Cana (which is also where I got engaged and would probably look into those more if we didn't want to try and get a different feel from a resort (not the same restaurants)...but the Dreams resorts seemed easy and maybe that is just because those are the ones that had been recommended to me at first. We are probably looking at around 60-80 guests (maybe, that's just a guess right now).

For some reason I thought Moon Palace may be more out of the price range I was shooting for for my guests, but TA Wendy suggested that one as a possibility as well, so I may have to look further into that one. I'm just concerned with it's size.

I'm really wanting a great beach (not too rocky, or at least has a walkable/swimable area) and I keep reading mix reviews on the "types" of beaches in the different resort locations.

I spent all night last night reading all of @@calgarybride2015 posts/boards. She did an amazing job! And I really liked how she was able to do the "free" package and add on the upgrades and have the private dinner in the palapa. I did read that there are no "free" safes in the rooms, which I find very odd. Any info on that? I am definitely going to spend some more time researching Grand Sirenis this evening. I did see it was kind of far from the airport as well like Dreams Tulum, but I also think I should try and concentrate more on what I am looking for in location and the wedding all while making sure I keep their travel in budget too no matter the trip to and from the airport. That is just one of the things that I have had in the back of my mind the last few days in researching.

Thanks for you input! It is greatly appreciated!

The safes was odd but I think it depends on your airline. Not all had a cost as I heard from Canada, Air Transat they were included. Otherwise I had minimal complaints. Also from Cancun it was about an hour on the bus. Any questions please feel free to ask!

 

 

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Edited June 5, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[constancewu]

Congrats. There is still a lot of to do on planning.

 

For destination wedding photography, I recommend Sasha Chou Photoraphy. A very talented and friendly photographer. She loves to tavel. I am sure you can discuss good rate with her. or if you are going to New York City. She is the one. Check out her photo. http://sashachouphot...phy.tumblr.com/

 

A more affordable way to spend destination wedding is hiring a local vacation photographer instead. You save a lot on travel expenses, hotel expenses and have a LOCAL photogapher to show you around. Check out PicVoyage. A new vacation photography service company. http://www.picvoyage.com which offers family photos, honeymoon, engagement, elopement and intimate destination photo service. The package is really affordable comapring to a destination wedding photographer. They can also offer local vaaction photo tours experience. I think it is pretty cool idea to save money and also get to tour the city.