New Bride! Now Sapphire 2018 Wedding

[Johnsonspartyof2]

I am so glad that I found a community of brides and grooms that are planning a destination wedding just like me. I just recently got engaged to the man of my dreams and now we are ready to start planning the wedding of our dreams. We originally had plans set for a wedding here locally but as the planning continued our budget raised to close to $35,000 and I began to question if it was worth it. After several events we decided to stick with a destination wedding, and I couldn't be happier! I've spent 6 weeks researching resorts and I have made the decision on Now Sapphire Resort. From the pricing to the reviews I believe I made the best choice. We are looking at approximately 25-30 guests with a budget hopefully of 15,000.  We would love to get married next year but we want to do things right and allow our guests to have enough time to pay for this vacation as well as take care of a few life situations therefore we decided to go for a 2018 wedding which is fine with me  Me being a newbie and not having any experience in this I am feeling a bit overwhelmed planning this wedding. I would love to hear your stories thus far on wedding planning, etc. I also have a few questions so if anyone could assist me that would be great! 

 

1) When planning your wedding did you use a travel planner? Is it best to have a travel planner for your guests? 

2) Do you plan on visiting your resort prior to your wedding day?

3) I've done some research and found that a lot of brides brought some decorations to help with costs can anyone provide some advice on doing this?

4) What date did you book you wedding day for? We originally planned for August 18, 2018 (Our anniversary) but I have been scared off by the chances of rain and it being hurricane season. 

5) What is your budget, how easy has it been to stick with it?

 

 

So excited to meet you all, and I look forward to planning with you!   

Edited August 5, 2016 by Johnsonspartyof2

[JasminMattPhoto]

@@Johnsonspartyof2 welcome to the amazing bestdestinationwedding community and congratulations on your upcoming wedding. 2018 will be here before you know it!

 

Regarding booking your wedding for August. We find that August can be a fickle month. Some years there is more rain than others. Even recently we just missed a tropical storm and have had a couple days of rain where as last year I can't remember getting much. The tropics in the summer time is always a gamble but that shouldn't deter you. Most resorts have wonderful backup plans and will work with you to try and make your perfect wedding happen regardless. Photos in the rain can be fun too!

 

[Moments That Matter]

Welcome to our forum community and Congrats on your engagement and upcoming Mayan Riviera wedding, Johnsonspartyof2!!!

 

Good job on selecting your wedding venue and also for choosing the beautiful Now Sapphire!!! It's really beautiful as you'll see in these magical wedding moments that matter we captured there! Actually the surroundings are so gorgeous, your decor is pretty much already in place ~ win/win!
 

Here's what we're talking about, so you can see for yourself, taken from our Now Sapphire Wedding Story Album:

 

 

 

 

Wishing you happy research, and all the best with the rest of your plans - cheers!!! Moments That Matter Photography team

[Johnsonspartyof2]

@@JasminMattPhoto Thank you, we are currently looking into changing our date to May 18th 2018 just to make it a little more easier. No tropical storms just have to avoid rain. 

 

 

 

 

@@Moments That Matter your photos are absolutely beautiful could I possibly get a price list sent over to me?

[JasminMattPhoto]

@@Johnsonspartyof2 May is probably our favourite month down here. Not too hot, not too cool and the weather is typically wonderful!!!

 

Now Sapphire is a wonderful resort. We've worked there many times and the wedding coordinator Juan Carlos is absolutely amazing. You are going to have a blast there!!

 

We'll share some photos from our most recent wedding there and of course more links from our website

 

http://www.jasminandmatt.com/?s=now+sapphire

 

[Moments That Matter]

Thanks for your compliment, Johnsonspartyof2!!

 

We'd be happy to send you a price list ~ just send us a private message here on BDW with your email, or directly to our studio at the email link in our signature below, and we'll send that right over - cheers! ...Moments That Matter Photography team

 

Edited August 6, 2016 by Moments That Matter

[vancouverpetunia]

@@Johnsonspartyof2 Congrats on your engagement and great choice in Now Sapphire. I was married there in April and we loved it! I'll do my best to answer your questions below.

 

 

1) When planning your wedding did you use a travel planner? Is it best to have a travel planner for your guests? 

Do you mean a travel agent? I would highly recommend using one. I worked with one right out of the gate to help narrow down resort choices, get pricing for both the wedding & travel, etc. Of course, you have already decided on a resort, but the TA can help to make sure you are getting good prices for your guests and taking advantage of any special offers the resort may have for wedding groups. I'm in Canada, so my TA likely won't be the best option for you, but Wright Travel runs this site and has lots of good reviews here. 

 

2) Do you plan on visiting your resort prior to your wedding day?

We didn't plan to visit our resort, but we ended up booking a last minute cheap trip to the area (different resort) about a year before our wedding, so we took advantage of being there and visited for an afternoon. It was great to be able to do that, but most brides don't have the luxury and I think it works out fine for most. 

 

3) I've done some research and found that a lot of brides brought some decorations to help with costs can anyone provide some advice on doing this?

I didn't bring much at all. I rented some decor locally and had minimal decor through the resort (mostly flowers). Basically I just went low key. My feeling was that the setting is gorgeous and memorable. I don't think my guests noticed or cared that my decor was very simple. But everyone is different on this. 

 

4) What date did you book you wedding day for? We originally planned for August 18, 2018 (Our anniversary) but I have been scared off by the chances of rain and it being hurricane season. 

Our date was April 7, 2016. We considered November, January, February and March as well, but couldn't make them work due to other commitments. I've been to the Mayan Riviera in Nov, Mar, Apr and May in the past. For the most part, the weather has been great. Only a couple of days of rain over 6 trips. 

 

5) What is your budget, how easy has it been to stick with it?

 

We had 39 people, including us and 5 kids, and our wedding day costs were about $6000 USD. That's pretty bare bones. It does not include our airfare/hotel or photographer. We also did not get a DJ (used a rented sound system), and I already mentioned that we had minimal decor. Also, we booked in 2015, so we had 2015 rates. They go up every year, I believe. But I would think $15,000 would be quite manageable.

 

[Johnsonspartyof2]

@@vancouverpetunia Thank you for your response! 

 

OMG yes I meant TA, I don't know what made me say travel planner.   I actually have been communicating with an agent from Wright Travel and she has been amazing.

 

Did you make your own package or did you use one of the packages they offer? I have been communicating with Anel and she gave me the option of building my own due to the fact that some of the services included we will not need but I am finding this to be a bit more pricey so we are now thinking about choosing a package and just not using some of the things.

 

How did it go with renting the sound system? Did you assign one person to announce your first dance, etc.? We are considering doing the same, I already have an Ipod so it will be saving us a bit more money which is a good thing. 

 

As far as makeup and hair-styling did you use an outside artist?

[vancouverpetunia]

Did you make your own package or did you use one of the packages they offer? I have been communicating with Anel and she gave me the option of building my own due to the fact that some of the services included we will not need but I am finding this to be a bit more pricey so we are now thinking about choosing a package and just not using some of the things.

 

We went with the Divine package. Early on, I considered building my own package, but it seemed more expensive. I also considered switching to the Eternity package later on, but we ended up sticking with Divine. There were lots of things included that we didn't NEED but we made sure to use every single thing!   Some things were just nice luxuries, such as the couples massage and private dinner. But some we really didn't need at all. For example, we brought our own photographer. So we used the included photo package to do a friends/family shoot on the beach. Let everyone know the time and place and about 10 couples/families came out. I know at least 3 of them have printed & framed the photos, so I think it was appreciated. We also didn't need a musician, as one of our friends is a professional saxophonist and played during our ceremony. But we were able to use the guitarist pre-ceremony. 

 

How did it go with renting the sound system? Did you assign one person to announce your first dance, etc.? We are considering doing the same, I already have an Ipod so it will be saving us a bit more money which is a good thing. 

 

The sound system worked out great. We used the Wedding DJ app on our iPhone to set up various playlists and then we had a couple of friends who took care of forwarding through the playlists, stopping the music for speeches, etc. Our MC (my BIL) announced anything that needed announcing. 

 

As far as makeup and hair-styling did you use an outside artist?

 

I used the spa on-site and was super happy with the results. My BMs also had their make-up done there and one had her hair done. One of the make-up applications was not the greatest (but not horrific), but we were very happy with the rest. I included some photos in my review (link below). 

[Johnsonspartyof2]

 

Did you make your own package or did you use one of the packages they offer? I have been communicating with Anel and she gave me the option of building my own due to the fact that some of the services included we will not need but I am finding this to be a bit more pricey so we are now thinking about choosing a package and just not using some of the things.

 

We went with the Divine package. Early on, I considered building my own package, but it seemed more expensive. I also considered switching to the Eternity package later on, but we ended up sticking with Divine. There were lots of things included that we didn't NEED but we made sure to use every single thing!   Some things were just nice luxuries, such as the couples massage and private dinner. But some we really didn't need at all. For example, we brought our own photographer. So we used the included photo package to do a friends/family shoot on the beach. Let everyone know the time and place and about 10 couples/families came out. I know at least 3 of them have printed & framed the photos, so I think it was appreciated. We also didn't need a musician, as one of our friends is a professional saxophonist and played during our ceremony. But we were able to use the guitarist pre-ceremony. 

 

How did it go with renting the sound system? Did you assign one person to announce your first dance, etc.? We are considering doing the same, I already have an Ipod so it will be saving us a bit more money which is a good thing. 

 

The sound system worked out great. We used the Wedding DJ app on our iPhone to set up various playlists and then we had a couple of friends who took care of forwarding through the playlists, stopping the music for speeches, etc. Our MC (my BIL) announced anything that needed announcing. 

 

As far as makeup and hair-styling did you use an outside artist?

 

I used the spa on-site and was super happy with the results. My BMs also had their make-up done there and one had her hair done. One of the make-up applications was not the greatest (but not horrific), but we were very happy with the rest. I included some photos in my review (link below). 

 

 

@@vancouverpetunia That is such a good idea! That helps me out soooo much, thank you. The photo idea with family and friends is perfect. I will make a special note about the wedding DJ app. If you don't mind could you tell me where you rented your sound system from?  

Edited August 9, 2016 by Johnsonspartyof2