Part 5
Text by Jaime Valdes-Riench
So it has been 2 weeks and I can’t believe how time has
flown by! The trip was a whirlwind to get there and back, but at least once we
checked in, time stood still. I am so
happy we chose Now Amber in Puerto Vallarta.
It was a gorgeous resort and the staff where wonderful!
I would love to give one last post about our renewal of vows
and what happened at the resort and on the day.
We arrived on the Tuesday and the Wednesday I mixed a little
work and the wedding prep. We had a thorough
tour of the facilities, the resort, and went over all the wedding details with Karen the on site wedding coordinator. Because we planned the wedding the next day
of arriving we had to meet with her the same day as the wedding. Most couples would wait one more day, but
considering it was only us, and a non-legal ceremony, really it was easy enough
to do it the same day. I don’t however
recommend that for larger weddings. It would
be far too rushed.
The wedding planner Karen was wonderful! I also had spoken prior
with the head of the wedding planning Edith prior to leaving. Both where so great to work with. Both from being a bride and being a wedding planner.
For the flowers, I had ordered my bouquet and Jorge’s boutonnière
and they came out perfect! The key was that I sent in images of what I wanted
and labelled it clearly for them. As a
wedding planner I can guide you more on those details.
I don’t want to get lost in this post so that will be for another time.
Our pre-wedding prep on the wedding day was pretty much
perfect from a sports enthusiast’s point of view. After the meeting and a light lunch, we went
up to our large suite and watch the soccer games from the comfort of our terrance plunge
pool on our deck! My husband was on cloud 9!
Really, it was a stress free day so why not?
Then came the primping.. After we both freshening up, and my
husband got ready, I ask him to leave the suite so I could get ready and
surprise him with my dress and hair. Little
did I know that instead of going to the lounge as planned, he stayed on the
same floor to write out his vows. This
meant the wedding planner panicked and lost him! He forgot his flower and
everyone started to worry and look for him.
I on the other hand got ready within in 30mins (new record) and was none
the wiser. Really, where could he
go? After 20 years, it was not like I
was really worried. (it was funny
however to see the planner worry though. Been there, did that, done it).
It all came together in the end. Simple, sweet and full of love. I found the walk to the Gazebo a little awkward
because I had to walk around the pool deck, but the gazebo was lovely. We didn’t ask for decorations, but they still
put in a little bit of drape to make it special. It really was that, special. Every word we spoke where heart felt. It meant the world to me that Jorge wrote his
vows, and I spoke from my heart. We actually
made the wedding planner cry. That is a huge compliment because they take care of how many weddings?
For the dinner, the resort pulled out the stops without any
extra charge. We asked to simply book a
reservation at one of the A la carte restaurants, but they took it one
further. They cleared the top floor of
the seafood restaurant to give us a private sunset dinner. We had a designated waiter, (Oliver) who was
like a private butler for us all night. I
have never heard so many “pops” of opening sparkling wine for one table in my life!
And I am wedding planner!
During the dinner we where not sure if the weather would hold
out. It started to rain a little, but
ended right at the point a big beautiful red moon came out. We could not have
asked for a better night. It was
peaceful and relaxing. It was easy to
loose yourself in the romance.
I would like to say thank you for following me on this
journey. I didn’t want to be too wordy,
but I want to give you a little taste of the amazing experience Jorge and I
had. It was something him and I promised
we would do for each other. Even though
we did not have a photographer (we had a point and shoot camera on a timer – yes
that is sad). We wanted to document the
experience at least with a few pictures.
My apologies they are not what I would had loved them to be, but I treasure
them none the less.
So salud to a happy life! I wish nothing less than happiness
for you all!
- Jaime & Jorge
Today, bright and early on July 18, 2012 I had the priviledge of being a guest again on Breakfast TV on City TV Winnipeg. I was there to chat about destination wedding hotspots, is one right for you and a check list to get you on track. Feel free to enjoy. There are 2 segments in total.
We arrived on the Tuesday and the Wednesday I mixed a little
work and the wedding prep. We had a thorough
tour of the facilities, the resort, and went over all the wedding details with Karen the on site wedding coordinator. Because we planned the wedding the next day
of arriving we had to meet with her the same day as the wedding. Most couples would wait one more day, but
considering it was only us, and a non-legal ceremony, really it was easy enough
to do it the same day. I don’t however
recommend that for larger weddings. It would
be far too rushed.
