Cabo -- Day 3

It's the Wedding Day!

Thursday morning, Troy and I got up to eat an early breakfast before we had our spa appointments.  In our wedding package from the resort, we got a free 1 hour massage and then I got a facial afterwards.  A nice, relaxing way to start the day.  We met everyone at the pool after the spa and hung out there, had lunch, and had more pool time before going to the room to get ready.  Surprisingly, I was not the least bit nervous, but then again, it didn't quite seem real yet.  So, at about 3pm, I went back to the room, showered, and waited for Nicole to come to my room.  I helped her with her hair (she was going to wear it straight) and then she started my hair (which I was going to wear curly).  With a few drinks and a few visitors (my mom, Val, and Kelly), everything was good and at 5:50pm, my dad came down and we were on our way to walk towards the gazebo, the wedding site.  Before I post lots of pictures, I have to say that everything was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing.  I was not the sobbing bride that I was afraid I would be (due to nerves -- which I had for maybe 10 minutes max!)...I was actually the "I-can't-stop-smiling-bride" which of course I preferred!  Our photographer, Jerome Dieu, from Mango Productions, took some amazing pictures and can you believe that we got them (along with a video of the wedding) only 4 days later, on Monday?!?! 

   

Our Mexican Trio playing the wedding march

My dad walking me to my future husband

Our Officiant, Marco Arechiga, was awesome...and hilarious!

We couldn't have done it without our parents...

"You may now kiss the bride"

and kiss we did!

Officially Mr. and Mrs. Perez

Champaign toast

After our champaign toast, Troy and I went off with our photographer and got some pictures with our friends and family, and then just by ourselves on the beach, while our guests were able to enjoy some cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.  Unfortunately there is not enough room on this blog to post all 275 pictures, but here are a few of our favorites...

      

After cocktail hour and pictures, it was time for dinner.  But before dinner, we had our first dance as husband and wife, to the song "If I Should Fall Behind" by Bruce Springsteen.  For dinner, our first course was an asparagus and tomato salad.  Next was a tomato basil soup.  Third, we had lime sorbet with tequila touch.  Our main course was lobster and filet mignon, to finish with a coconut cake with malibu touch.  The food was AMAZING!  So amazing in fact that we didn't have any room for wedding cake.  So we at least cut the cake and had them save it for us to eat the next day.

    

After dinner, everyone decided to change (it was a hot and steamy 105 degrees and sunny on our wedding...I can't blame them!) and meet up at Desires Lounge for Rock Band.  I know, can you believe it?  They had a Rock Band competition on our wedding day!  Unfortunately, when we got there, we noticed some sparks while they were setting up the equipment.  Needless to say, there was no Rock Band that night.  So, we called it a night and went back to our room...to a wonderful surprise.  Our room was all decorated with rose petals and candles to celebrate our wedding night!

   

     

What a fabulous day -- from beginning to end!  

Cabo -- Day 2

Today the guys and girls split up for part of the day for some pre-wedding activities.  The guys went on an ATV tour which took them through the hilly desert and the beach.  It was VERY dusty and hot (Troy says it wasn't an activity for the girls -- we wouldn't have lasted -- apparently we are weak...whatever!)

As for the girls, we stayed at the resort in a nice air conditioned suite!  During my wedding planning, I found an awesome salon that would actually come to your resort and perform manicures, pedicures, and facials right in your room!  Suzanne Morel's crew came out for the afternoon, decorated my suite like a real spa/salon and pampered us.  Along with room service for lunch and drinks, we were all set!

    

After the guys got back, we spent a little bit of time in the pool and then got ready to go to Portofino, a formal Italian restaurant, which kind of served as our "rehearsal dinner".

After Portofino, we hung around the lobby for a bit, took pictures, and then head off to Desires Lounge -- it was karaoke night -- and considering many of us are not karaoke people, it was quite interesting.  They had a contest and Troy got 19/20 on Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and Ian got 19/20 on Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline".  Unfortunately the 5 of us girls didn't rank very high, but we still had a blast (Unfortunately I didn't take any of the karaoke pictures, so those will be added at another time!)

  

Trouble Maker #1 and Trouble Maker #2

 

Kelly and I had to keep these guys from getting too crazy at times!

Me and my "I-love-me-some-wine" sister

All the girls!

Next up:  Day 3 -- Wedding Day!

Off to Cabo -- Day 1

Well, after nearly a week back at home, I guess it's about time to update with our pictures.  We're so grateful of everyone who was able to make the trip with us -- we had an absolutely wonderful time and it meant a lot to us that you were able to be there with us.

Day 1 -- Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Oh the joys of traveling!  Of course I was excited to get there...but I was not excited to have to wait practically half a day in order to actually get there -- especially carrying a big dress awkwardly over my head so it wouldn't drag or fall off the hanger.  That was fun!  

Once we got to our resort (with very little problems), we met up with Mark, Nicole, and Morgan who had been there since Saturday and we got our first free drink!  Troy and I made welcome bags for everyone with a few fun vacation things in it, that we wanted to give them before we hit the pool!  Oh so nice to have a swim up bar to just float over to whenever you wanted a drink...

(Part of the view from our room)

(Hanging out at the swim-up pool bar!)

After some time in the pool, we ate dinner at "El Patio", the fabulous buffet.  We went to our room and had a few nice surprises -- the maids at the resort provide turn-down service with information for the next day, a flower, and some chocolates.  We also got petit fours each night as part of our wedding package.  How nice!

Coming up:  Day 2

Courthouse Wedding

I know I am a bit delayed in posting anything lately, but now that we've been home for a few days, I can finally take the time to upload everything.  Yes, I will get to the Cabo wedding, but I want to first start off with the Courthouse wedding.  In case you didn't know, there are many laws to legally get married in Mexico, including being there for 4 days prior to the wedding, getting blood tests, and also X-rays.  After the wedding, it can take up to 4 months to get the wedding certificate back, which then must be translated before we could legally be considered "married" in the United States.  We obviously didn't want to bother with all that, so we decided to get married here beforehand (with a "symbolic" wedding in Cabo), so the Monday before we left, we took care of that!  Since my Grandma Liske was in town to watch Kodi while my parents in Cabo, and since Shaun was not working this week, they joined us along with our parents at the Rochester Hills Courthouse.

Our wedding "appointment" was for 11am, but after a 30 minute wait, we walked in the courtroom and within 2 minutes we were husband and wife -- yeah seriously, it took less than 2 minutes.  Here's the video (it is pretty quiet, so you might need to turn up the volume on your computer all the way, to hear it)...

An important note about credit/debit cards

For those of you planning to use your credit/debit card for anything in Mexico -- please read...

Shortly after I used my debit card to reserve the spa and ATV tour, I received a phone call from my bank.  They were calling because of the charges since they were made out of the country, and there were asking if I would approve of them.  Obviously I said yes, but since most of you won't have phone access in Mexico, you won't want to have to worry about your card being declined because you are out of the country (the bank was worried about fraudulent charges).  So, when I went to the bank today, I asked what could be done so that they wouldn't have to call me every time I used it to approve the charges and they said that they would just put a note on my account that I would be in the Cabo area from 7/14-7/21, which would mean they wouldn't have to call me every time.  Also, I got an international phone number from them that I could call at any time (without charge), in case something happens where my card is rejected.  If you plan on using your debit card or credit card, I would suggest you call your bank and credit card company so they can put a note on your account and you won't have to worry about anything being declined when you are there!  

See you soon!  

Other little details..

I had another question about dress code..(I know...no one wants to be shut down at a restaurant when it is all-inclusive, right?).  For the formal dress code, it says "dress shoes" for women.  The question was whether or not we could wear sandals, and the wedding coordinator said that we can't wear flip-flops, but dressy sandals were okay.

One question I'm not sure if anyone else had, but the resort does use the same plug outlets as we do...no need for an adapter...

Also, regarding computer usage.  The resort does have wireless internet, but you have to purchase an access card to use it on your own laptop, or you can use a computer in the business center they have.  I am not sure if anyone planned on taking a laptop, or if you will need to check your email, but thats the scoop.

Zipline and some other info...

I know Troy and some of the guys will be going fishing in Mexico on Friday.  I'm not sure yet myself how I'm going to want to spend that day...whether laying by the pool (I probably won't have much time until that day to do that) or if I want to go out and about..  I have been eyeing the zipline that they have in downtown Cabo, but I'm not sure enough about it to reserve it now.  So, I am not sure if anyone else would be interested or not, but its something to think about.  We can reserve it at the resort if any of us decide to do it, but as an FYI, it costs about $85 and they require you to wear longer shorts (capris are good for girls) and close-toed shoes.  Again, I'm still up in the air, but since the girls might not be planning on bringing close-toed shoes, you might want to, if this seems to interest you.  

Another FYI is that Troy talked to the man he booked the charter with yesterday, and when Troy was asking him about playing in dollars or pesos, the man said that there is no problem paying for excursions in dollars (and cash is better than credit because of the surcharge from your credit card company, of course), but if you have to get a cab/bus to go somewhere, it will be MUCH better to use pesos so you get a better exchange rate (and those drivers might try to rip you off if you use dollars).  So, I don't know who plans on leaving the resort by bus/cab (most excursions you take that you set up at the hotel have roundtrip transportation included, so you don't need your own way to Cabo--but if you want to go just to walk around and see whats there, you need your own transportation), but you have a few choices.  You could exchange money at the airport or at the resort.  The exchange rate might not be the best at the resort (a little lower than the airport), but if you only plan to change some over for cab rides (about $25 one way to Cabo), it won't be a big deal, unless you want to exchange a lot of money over.  Hope this makes sense...let me know if you have any questions about this...