Hi Everyone,
I'm just at the starting blocks.. just at the point of deciding if we go away or stay at home.. Yet to announce our engagement too!! - We should be announcing it in the next 2 weeks hopefully!!! I can't wait to tell my girlfriends... our parents know already.. bursting to tell the girls though!!

So - how are you finding it with regards to your guests.. how are people reacting to going abroad for your wedding... I must say looking over everyone's plans and sneaking a peak at some wedding planners.. this is really something that I would really love to do..

My H2B is more of a homebird though.. so he will need some enticing.. just wondering if you have some wedding planners.. or specific venues to recommend...

Congrats to all.. and enjoy the planning..
xxx

meadow wrote:Hi Everyone,
I'm just at the starting blocks.. just at the point of deciding if we go away or stay at home.. Yet to announce our engagement too!! - We should be announcing it in the next 2 weeks hopefully!!! I can't wait to tell my girlfriends... our parents know already.. bursting to tell the girls though!!

So - how are you finding it with regards to your guests.. how are people reacting to going abroad for your wedding... I must say looking over everyone's plans and sneaking a peak at some wedding planners.. this is really something that I would really love to do..

My H2B is more of a homebird though.. so he will need some enticing.. just wondering if you have some wedding planners.. or specific venues to recommend...

Congrats to all.. and enjoy the planning..
xxx

First off congrats on your engagement! God fair play to you for keeping it on the DL til now, no chance i would have managed that!! Ive had such a great time since getting engaged that i think ill miss it! lol

For us going abroad was nearly agreed before we even got engaged, Id always wanted to do it an my H2B wasnt pushed either way, so it was easy enough! Everyone was grand about it, excited by it even, aside from his family, his folks in particular. That bit hasnt been easy but as my OH is set on it, we havent had to change anything! the way i look at it is my mam and dad are thrilled so that will do it for me!

We have gone with a planner, although this forum has been great, Ive more peace of mind knowing i have someone on the ground for me. We spoke to a couple of them and we decided to go with Jenny from Spanish Wedding Planners (she has looked after 2 couples we know so was the obvious choice i suppose!) We never would have found our venue with out her as its only new to the wedding market and not on any of the sites except hers.

What ever you decide be it at home or abroad im sure you will have a blast!

:-)

McLisa wrote:I'm in nerja at mo too, today was gorgeous but it's so quiet compared to summer months. It's so exciting getting the big things booked, Maro church is lovely, we went to feria there last sept.

We have our menu tasting on thurs, can't wait to see la vinuela again, hopefully the sun stays out and the rain and wind stay away!

How was the rest of your trip and your tasting??

notabridezilla wrote:

McLisa wrote:I'm in nerja at mo too, today was gorgeous but it's so quiet compared to summer months. It's so exciting getting the big things booked, Maro church is lovely, we went to feria there last sept.

We have our menu tasting on thurs, can't wait to see la vinuela again, hopefully the sun stays out and the rain and wind stay away!

How was the rest of your trip and your tasting??

It went brilliantly!! I was so pleased with the food and service of the hotel. We had the inlaws with us - first time to Nerja and first time to the venue, they were super impressed and just fell in love with Nerja. It was a big relief for us but just reinforced that we are doing the right thing and chose the right place.

Only 4 months to go now and its starting to hit home

Well ladies I had the wedding date for the church confirmed today :D :D .now all I have to do to really get the ball rolling is book a venue but that won't be till around September,hope we can get the venue we want.I have one in mind but need to see it first.

Mrsross2b wrote:Well ladies I had the wedding date for the church confirmed today :D :D .now all I have to do to really get the ball rolling is book a venue but that won't be till around September,hope we can get the venue we want.I have one in mind but need to see it first.

Congratulations! I cant believe its been a year since we had our date confirmed We did same as you and went over in sept, had the big things lined up - venue viewing, photographer meetings, band meetings, as they were most important things for us, got most of it sorted and booked within the first few days of our holiday and spent rest relaxing and enjoying nerja

That's put my mind at ease mclisa to know that you went in September too,it's just not possible to go beforehand and it will be our only visit beforehand too.we will only be going over for 4 days,do you think that this is enough time to get things sorted?don't minð too much if I don't get to relax too much,once I come home with alot of things sorted out it will put my mind at ease big time,then all il have to do then I pay for it all....;) trying to do it on a bit of a budget. Do you have a budget?

MrsRoss2b we definitely have a budget! It's so hard to stick to I'm finding if I save on one thing its cancelled out by unexpected costs on something else! I'm trying to do alot myself like invites mass books etc suppose every little helps can't remember now what our over all budget is that's H2B's area all I know is what I have to save every month and what our budget is for each individual thing

You can definitely do it in a few days, best thing would be to contact all suppliers you want to meet and set up meetings as soon as possible sept is busy wedding month so you'll want to get in there fast. I did all my meetings over two days but i kinda knew what I wanted it was just a matter of meeting the people. Good luck with it all, I thought the big details were hard until I've got into the nitty gritty details! These are the worse lol

Thanx mclisa,wedding planner was in touch today and said that it would be great if I could make a second trip as this is when all the food tasting,hair&makeup trials and a lot of the bookings are done.are you going for a dj or a band? Do you have many guests attending,we will only have between 40-50 if no one cancels,it doesn't really bother me as I just want family and close friends there.

Am I right in saying that it was yourself that made a website for people to go onto for all their info about places to stay etc? If so can I ask which site you went to to make it,I'm trying to do one at the minute and for the life of me I can't seem to get to grips with it,it won't let me add any links or anything,it's driving me a little potty at the minute ,maybe it's just me that's why I've started it so early.when's your wedding date? Sorry for all the questions I'm Nervous/excited and everything else rolled into one

My dad knows a printer so il save on the invites/save the dates/mass booklets ( well get a freebie fingers crossed)...lol....and am going to make my own place cards.but as you say having to travel over sort of cancels out the savings,I'm hoping to do it on a budget of around 12,000 if at all possible but we'll see. We don't have a huge wedding party so that will be a big saving too. I only have my sister and daughter as bridesmaids. And am going to make my own favours.....*phew*...... I'm wrecked thinking of it all.

Hi Nerja Brides!

This is my first post but I have to admit I was following Nerja brides 2012 since last yr! We put our names down for the church 2 1/2yr in advance!

We are getting married in El Salvador church on 28th June 2013 and reception in Marinas de Nerja.
Thank you to everyone who has shared their stories and tips it definitely helps when planning.
We are going back over next Fri and I would love to have most things booked on this trip. Cant decide on music tho..............double cocktail are booked. looking at monkey tennis and ian preston. Any advice?

Thanks

Delighted to hear that all went well Mclisa!!! Ive not broached the subject of the tasting with my inlaws just yet although we do want them to come. They havent been too thrilled about a foreign wedding but hoping that is now a thing of the past as its defo going ahead!
we have all the big things booked, just the likes of flowers and cake to sort out really! and decoration for the venue! As its a new one they havent a wedding there yet, so looking forward to seeing pics of the whole place set up!!! 12.5 months to go to the big day!!!

Now to sort out the diet :-(

Well ladies I have the photographer,videographer and church music " provisionally" booked. I say provisionally as I have yet to pick a venue,that will be in september when we head over to Nerja. It's all getting very real and exciting now. I just hope nobody is looking for any of the people I have booked on the same day as I may have to change the date to coincide with the venue,we are hoping to not have to do that,but the above and the wedding planner will all let me know if this is going to happen.

Hope all the planning is going well for you all,I just need to save like a lunatic now and get my backside in gear with a diet....lol

Hi all Nerja brides,

We are just back from our wedding in Nerja so I thought I would write a quick report and provide some supplier info.
We got married on June 8th at 4pm in Maro Church - I would highly recommend Maro church as Fr. Jose is just so nice. He doesn't speak English but he is lovely and made us feel so comfortable. We had a translator on the day so that everybody understood the Mass but having it in Spanish gave it a lovely authentic feel. Also, the Church and the setting are beautiful.
After the mass we had a drinks reception outside the church - drinks were provided by the Balcon de Maro bar across from the church and they had the drinks set out lovely on long tables. We took some photos there and then the hubby and I left to go get more photos in different locations. Bob Long was our photographer and he is the nicest man - he made us feel very relaxed and it felt like the photos were done in no time. I would highly recommend Bob - he is a gentleman and a pro.
We also had a video of the day which was done by Bob's partner, Chloe. Again, Chloe was so so nice and I can't wait to see the video & the photos.
Once we finished photos we made our way to the Marinas de Nerja Hotel where we had our reception. The guests arrived just before us and we had another 45 minute drinks reception there with canapes too.
We then moved to the beachside restaurant for dinner. Eva, the wedding planner in the hotel, had the restaurant decorated beautifully and it looked amazing.
We had Caesar Salad for starter, cod or medallion of beef for main and a chocolate & cream wedding cake for dessert. Each course was gorgeous - the salad was huge and so tasty, the cod & beef would met in your mouth and the wedding cake was fab - all my guests are still raving about the food.
Once the meal & speeches were finished, the music & dancing started. We had Ian Preston and he was simply brilliant. He got the crowd going straight away and he had the dancflooor full all night. We hired Ian as MC from the start of the cocktail hour right through to the end of the night - we had 65 guests and he was the perfect choice. I would highly recommend him to all Nerja brides!
We stayed outside until 12pm when we had to move inside as per the noise restrictions. Ian had set up in the inside function room too so there was no gap at all between moving from outside to inside. Eva had the inside room decorated lovely too.
The party continued until 4am when the function room closed (and we were all fit for bed anyway!!)
I have left out loads of details as it would take forever to include everything! However I can say that it was an amazing day and I wouldn’t change one thing about it. If you are worried about getting married abroad / having a small group / etc then don’t – you will have a fantastic day and your guests will be very impressed!
Here are my suppliers:
Hair: Walli Ron hair salon. Excellent hairdressers in the centre of Nerja – there were 7 of us in the salon and all of us were delighted with our hair. And it stayed up all day with not a hair out of place! They have a little patio where you can sit while waiting to get your hair done and we brought bottle of cava and nibbles and had those there – it was lovely. Walli and her staff are all lovely too.
Make-up: Beauty by Katie. Katie and her team came to Walli’s salon to do our make-up. They did a great job and we were all really happy with the end result. And the make-up lasted all day. Was great to have hair & make-up done in the same place – would really recommend Katie & Walli Ron.
Florist: Floristeria San Miguel is Pasaje Cantarero. This florist was brilliant and really cheap. I’m no sure if he speaks English (I speak Spanish) but he has a brochure of flowers, etc so you could tell him what you want. I chose gerberas as they are really colourful and they came out fab in the photos.
Photographer: Bob Long. As I mentioned before, Bob was brilliant. Such a nice man and I think the photos are going to be amazing.
Videographer: Chloe – so so nice and really easy to talk to. Can’t wait to see the video. Bob & Chloe are a great team and I would definitely recommend them.
Entertainment: Ian Preston. Fantastic. Wedding wouldn’t have been the same without him. Guests are still raving about him and if you hire Ian you won’t have an empty dance floor all night!
Church music: Naiara – violinist. Naiara played beautifully and the music suited the small Maro church perfectly. Really nice to deal with by email too – she speaks perfect English.
Venue: I can’t fault the Marinas de Nerja hotel – everything was fantastic on the day – the decorations, the food, the service, etc. And the location is beautiful – would definitely recommend it.
Accommodation:While in Nerja we stayed in an apartment in the Perla Marina hotel. The location is beautiful – right on the beach – and the apartments were really spacious. Several guests stayed in the hotel itself and that was lovely too – definitely ask for a sea view if staying there.

Like I say, I have left out of loads of details but if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Happy planning!!!!

awh what a fantastic post Brookeavril!!! Sounded like you had the most amazing day and i'm so glad it all went well for you. You'll definitely have to give us a sneak peek at some photos - i'm having bob and his team too so would love to see them even more I have to agree with you, bob is a lovely man, we met him last summer and spent two hours just sitting chatting to him like he was an old friend. Do you mind me asking what video package you went for? Our budget is a bit tight at min but i would love the package with the 10 min speed through of the day rather than the unedited on...Bob showed us one of the 10 min videos and it was fantastic.

All the best for your married like and i wish you all the happiness in the world!

Hi McLisa,

We had an amaziing day and I wouldn't change a thing. You will have a ball - just relax and enjoy the day. I was a bit stressed in the lead up to the day but there is no need to be - everything falls into place.
I booked the Full Day Video with Edit with Bob & Chloe (approx €1,260 was the price when we booked last year). Our budget was quite tight too but we loved the 10 minute video that Bob showed us so we decided to go for it. We saved money on flowers (used a local florist as opposed to the English ones) and we didn't do any extras such as favours, etc (no need as the setting / venues in Nerja are fab anyway).
Bob is really flexible and you can even tell him after the wedding day if you want the 10 minute version - that way you could see how your budget is and not put yourself under too much financial pressure before the day.

Good luck with the planning and let me know if you have any more questions!x