Cabo Surf Brides

[NABUMBAH]

We had this on the old MB so I thought it would be helpful here too. Plus, I have a question for you, Janet. (Actually, a few)

 

- we have negotiated the filet & lobster dinner for our guests, but my dad is being a pain and wants to offer fish & lobster also. Since Armando isn't the best about getting back to us right away and I need to finalize my invite design, do you think that he will trip if we just go ahead with our plan to offer both? I can't imagine that fish is any more $ than beef.

 

- what does the inside of the reception area look like? Are there lanterns hanging? From this photo on their site

 

it appears that there are curtains hanging. Are those just something that a guest added? would you recommend adding lanterns or curtains or anything?

 

- How did they set up the cocktail hour near the pool area? Did they put tables & chairs out? Did they provide linens?

 

- Was the dancing in the restaurant? If I were to hire the Twins to play where would they set up?

 

- When I was talking with Tara's partner Amy she recommended that we get tiki torches to light up the beach at night. Would you rec this?

 

Thanks for your help!

[deleted]

Hi Tasha...all good questions, I will try to answer:

 

Quote:

we have negotiated the filet & lobster dinner for our guests, but my dad is being a pain and wants to offer fish & lobster also. Since Armando isn't the best about getting back to us right away and I need to finalize my invite design, do you think that he will trip if we just go ahead with our plan to offer both? I can't imagine that fish is any more $ than beef.

My guess is that it would be fine? You could always try calling Armando or emailing one last time? He should get more responsive as your date nears...but still, he should be emailing you back now. Usually, he would at least reply to my 2nd email being like "Please respond to the email I sent last week. See below." I would guess that fish can't be more expensive than filet though!

 

Quote:

- what does the inside of the reception area look like? Are there lanterns hanging? From this photo on their site it appears that there are curtains hanging. Are those just something that a guest added? would you recommend adding lanterns or curtains or anything?

There are definitely NOT curtains there, and I'm not sure if I remember lanterns. I'd have to go back through my pics. It's basically a palapa roof with nice carved tree-like poles holding it up. Some of the walls (there aren't many) are painted kinda beachy-mural like (very subtle though).

 

I did absoutely no decorations other than centerpieces, and I never felt like it looked empty or unfinished. Between the low roof, the ocean view, and the tables with dishes and centerpieces, there isn't really a need to add much. I suppose some lanterns or pretty pieces of fabric might look nice, but I personally wouldn't spend a lot of time or money on it. It's hard to know if you will feel the same, though! We also didn't have any stuff (arch, flowers, etc) on the beach for the ceremony, so I just might be one of those minimalist brides who is weird or something? I just never felt like we needed more stuff. The view is gorgeous on its own.

 

One thing is that the hotel really likes to use fiesta/Mexican looking rugs and fabrics to decorate the food/buffet tables. This might not be a problem if you have a plated dinner, if not I would request to have no mexican fiesta rugs! (Don't worry about this before you get there, just ask them to not use them on the day of)

 

Oh here is a pic:

So there might be a few lanterns but not many

 

Quote:

Was the dancing in the restaurant? If I were to hire the Twins to play where would they set up?

Here is where we had our dance floor:

It was kinda of just off to the side of dinner, and not totally under the roof. It was the perfect size for a DJ and about 20-40 ppl dancing (we had 57 there total, but some people would be sitting at all times). If you had the Twins, I guess you would have to see how big their stage is. There is probably room for the stage in the non-roof part and just extend your dance floor out into the roofed part a little? How many people are you expecting total? I would only worry if you had more than 60-70 AND you wanted the band....but really it's roomier than you might think.

 

Quote:

- How did they set up the cocktail hour near the pool area? Did they put tables & chairs out? Did they provide linens?

 

Here is a pic of my cocktail hour. They provided tables, linens and tiki torches all included, no extra cost (I had asked for tables but not torches, those were a bonus I guess!). It looked really good as the sun was setting. They also moved all the pool furniture off to the side. I really didn't spend much time at the cocktail hour but for the 3 minutes I saw it it looked great.

 

Quote:

When I was talking with Tara's partner Amy she recommended that we get tiki torches to light up the beach at night. Would you rec this?

We didn't go onto the beach at all once the ceremony and photos were over, so we wouldn't have needed tiki torches. I would only get them if you plan to be down on the beach for something?

 

Hope this helps and doesn't just cause more confusion!!

[A10CalGal]

Super helful for me Janet. And, Tasha, thanks for posting all of those questions! All things that have been on my mind. You ladies are doing all my thinking for me!!

[NABUMBAH]

Thanks Janet! I appreciate all of your very helpful answers.

 

I am expecting around 75 guests... so I am not sure about having the band but I guess I will figure it out.

 

thanks SO much!

 

Tasha

[ShannonBoat]

Hi - Your wedding looked beautiful and I love your dress!

 

Thank you for all of your tips they are very helpful! I am thinking about having my wedding at Cabo Surf Hotel... Do you think that a wedding with 100-120 people will be too big to have there? Also, I know the hotel can't hold all of those people to stay there. Where would you receommend near by for people to stay?

 

Thank you!!

[deleted]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShannonBoat Hi - Your wedding looked beautiful and I love your dress! Thank you for all of your tips they are very helpful! I am thinking about having my wedding at Cabo Surf Hotel... Do you think that a wedding with 100-120 people will be too big to have there? Also, I know the hotel can't hold all of those people to stay there. Where would you receommend near by for people to stay? Thank you!!

Hi Shannon,

If I remember right from my planning, they may only be able to hold 100 people maximum. We had 57 and it was great...It might be a tight squeeze anywhere upwards of 80-90 people.

However, if you think there's a chance your wedding might get a little smaller, I would totally recommend the place. I absolutely looooooved it.

In the area there are lots of other places to stay:
1. nearby hotels: Palmilla, Westin, Marquis, Sheraton are all within 5-10 min drive toward Cabo. Anything in San Jose is also a 5-10 min drive (sorry I am less familiar with those hotels)
2. Condos/private villas: Do a search on ..VRBO® is Vacation Rentals by Owner® Vacation Homes Rentals by Owner for things in the La Jolla neighborhood (villas) or anything on Costa Azul beach (condos mostly). I'd recommend Las Mananitas in particular. Privately owned property that you rent from the owner is a really affordable option in that area, actually.

We had people stay at a mix of places. It worked fine for us, but the people who stayed at the hotel just didn't have to worry about transportation as much, of course

Hope that helps!

[NABUMBAH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShannonBoat Hi - Your wedding looked beautiful and I love your dress! Thank you for all of your tips they are very helpful! I am thinking about having my wedding at Cabo Surf Hotel... Do you think that a wedding with 100-120 people will be too big to have there? Also, I know the hotel can't hold all of those people to stay there. Where would you receommend near by for people to stay? Thank you!!

Hey Shannon,

I am pretty sure that Armando told us that the hotel can accomodate up to about 90 guests for a reception. We expect our final count to be 70-90 guests.

[ShannonBoat]

Thank you Ladies for your help! I am heading down this weekend so hopefully I will have a place by the time I get back!

 

Thank you again!

 

Shannon

[A10CalGal]

So, this I'm re-igninting this thread to share where I am with approx 6 weeks to go. Well, and also to get TammyM off my ass since I've been too busy with my "job" for her lately LOL!

 

OK, so I invited 45 peeps, and I think we will ultimately have a total of 25. This is all guestimation at this point. None of my FI's side have RSVP'd yet. About half of my family has not RSVP'd yet either. All of my previously flakey friends have replied - YES! I got some suprise "no" responses from people that were 100% gonna come - I have no idea what's up. I'm sure it's something important, and probably private since my best friend from high school didn't even bother to give a phone call about her "no."

 

 

I digress...

 

Anyway, the beauty of having budgeted for 45 is that now I have been saving a sh*t load of money in anticipation of all of them, and I have lots of wiggle room now. I've decided on the filet & lobster dinner and 4 hours of open bar. I initially deposited $4K with Cabo Surf, and it looks like I'll only over spend that by a few hundred dollars, depending on our wine selection.

 

Also, I'm going to spread some joy to all of the ladies that decide to join us in Cabo by hosting a mini-spa day in my suite the day before the wedding. I'm going to have Suzanne Morel's group come & do pedis for everyone. And then they can add additional services if they want. I think that will be fun!

 

Janet - if you are out there, here is what I want to do for our reception setup instead of doing it in the restaurant. What do you think?

 

Things I need to do:

-Call my alterations lady & get things going with her. She said not to come in until one month before we leave for Cabo...now I"m getting nervous cuz it doesn't seem like enough time!

 

-FI still needs to purchase his attire and attire for his oldest son who will be his best man.

 

-We need wedding bands!!! AAAAHHHHHH!

 

-I've started collecting my thoughts and gathering ideas regarding vows and how I want our ceremony to go (we're having a symbolic ceremony). Thank you to all the ladies that shared their ceremony & vow stuff, it's really helping!

 

-I'm going to do a practice run in the next few weeks of making my bouquet's out of gerbera daisies. We plan to purchase bunches from Pamela Floreria and create our own simple arrangements...this is saving A LOT OF MONEY!

-Buy the actual bags for OOT bags, and a few more items to go in them.

 

-My bridal "cocktail party" is on Saturday!

 

Is there anything else I'm forgetting??

[deleted]

Christa, sounds like you are doing really well. I have to admit I never even considered doing my reception on the grass but I love the idea. It should be great. You can still see the pool and the ocean and it's nice and flat and probably the perfect size. Great idea!

 

I was looking over my To Do list and my last little things were...

 

Song list for DJ

Confirm all vendors in writing (I was OCD about this)

Finalize weekend timeline and distribute to all

Get gobs of cash at the bank

 

Ha...and then my final two things were:

 

Get married!

Honeymoon!

 

Hmmm...guess I can cross those off.

 

I made a timeline and a one-page summary of our menu and gave that to Armando. I think it helped ensure that we were on the same page about everything.

 

I can't wait until the end of March when you and Tasha have photos! And Lisa (LISVITAL ?) is getting married in Feb I think.