Welcome to Puerto Vallarta (Day 2 Recap)

Day 2 Recap

Our 2nd day in Puerto Vallarta (2 days before the wedding) included our first time visiting our wedding venue, meeting our wedding coordinator and the arrival of our guests in Puerto Vallarta

It started early in the morning. We had a 6:30am wake up call. I beat it.

We had a lot of things to do on our 2nd day and started with a hearty breakfast from room service. Chris and I shared fresh fruits, muffins, , whole wheat toast, ham and eggs.

After breakfast, we got a cab to take us to the marina around 8am. My wedding coordinator told me to meet her at the marina, in front of Walmart and Sam’s Club 🙂 After numerous emails with Kelley, I was so excited to finally meet her.

I kept forgetting that I had a “bride” hat on and was so surprised why everyone knew we were getting married.

We got there with plenty of time to put our sunscreen on and explore a bit. We also took our medicine for sea sickness just in case.

We are ready to go. We are sweaty from the humidity and sticky from the sunscreen. Welcome to Puerto Vallarta.

This is our first time we will be seeing the wedding venue and I have no doubt it will be beautiful, so a site visit was really not necessary. But it was included in our wedding package so we took advantage for the opportunity to relax at the beach, enjoying our time together, on the same spot where we will be getting married.

The catamaran arrived and we boarded. We found a spot on the top deck, so we can get fresh air and see everything.

I grabbed a pear from the breakfast offered on the boat.

The catamaran stayed close to shore and we enjoyed looking at all the beach front properties along Puerto Vallarta’s coast.  Kelley and I discussed wedding details during the boat ride but she had everything handled already, I had nothing to worry about.

We spotted our hotel, Dreams.

The catamaran slowed down as we approached Los Arcos.

 

Halfway thru our one hour ride, the staff put on a dancing show for us. They know have to have fun on the job.

As we approached Las Caletas, the staff welcomed us by standing on the beach waving at us. I got goosebumps, it was beautiful. How I felt at that moment, is exactly how I wanted our guests to feel when they first arrive on our wedding day.

We booked Las Caletas for our wedding 9 months prior and have seen so many pictures that I felt like I’ve been to the place.

It was even more beautiful up close. The blue and clear water, the ocean breeze and the peaceful feeling that comes over you when you first arrive.

Enjoying our time on the beach and lounging around before our wedding coordinator gives us a run down of the wedding day.

 

After we met with Kelley, we headed back to our hotel at 1pm. The catamaran wasn’t scheduled to go back until 4pm, so with us leaving earlier, they put us on a water taxi.

The water taxi took us to the nearest marina, a fisherman’s marina called Boca De Tomatlan (not the same marina we departed from). From there, we took a taxi back to the hotel for lunch.

The water taxi ride was an adventure, it was fast and it reminded me of scenes from Baywatch 🙂 No pictures were taken during the ride because my hands were busy holding on to dear life. Chris owns a boat so he was used to that type of a choppy ride.

Shortly after arriving back at the hotel, we ate lunch and spent some time at the pool.

Fresh salsa was always available and I was always in the mood for it.

Also on my plate, sauteed vegetables and fish. The white fish was moist, flaky and tasty.

The fresh papayas were perfectly ripe and sweet. I liked putting granola and shredded coconut toppings.

Pina coladas to help cool us off from the heat. It was hot.

After lunch, we lounged around the pool with friends until it was time for the first of two flights to come in and our guests started to arrive.

We welcomed them with cool and refreshing drinks.

First ones to arrive were our friends Tom and Caroline. I jokingly said “Welcome Honeymooners” to them and apparently the staff heard and welcomed them with champagne.

Then our families came on the next shuttle.

Along with our friends.

The most excited of them all, my niece and our flower girl, Jazzy. It was her first ever plane ride.

With a huge group coming in at the same time, there was a little wait with the check-in process. Most of our guests were patient.

Some were not and demanded they go to the pool right away 🙂

The group check-in process went well and I was happy everyone made it to Puerto Vallarta safe and sound.

Dinner time came around and our restaurant choice was the Mexican restaurant at the hotel called El Patio. Our guests rested after they arrived and enjoyed dinner at the various restaurants throughout the hotel.

Chris and I with our friends. So happy that they traveled with us to Mexico to celebrate our wedding. It really helped that our guests all arrived days before the wedding, it gave enough time for everyone to get to know each other and get comfortable at the wedding.

Thank you also to our friends who took a lot of pictures and shared them with us.

The highlight from our meal were the small tacos served to us as appetizers. They tasted great, similar to the tacos the guys raved about the night before from Fiesta Night.

After dinner, we  walked on the beach and relaxed by the bonfire. There was a live band playing that night singing 80’s cover songs. So fun!

I would never have thought I would be this relax a few days before my wedding. Not one bit of stress hit me. I was just enjoying our vacation and really trying to be present each moment and tried to show our appreciation to our friends and family. I kept saying thank you to everyone, but I didn’t feel I could say it enough.

We were also surprised by a firework show. It was for a wedding happening nearby so we got a free show.

At this point, we were just in awe of everything. I really just wanted to take it all in.

Other fun activities that night were movies by the beach and finding small crabs at the beach.  There were plenty of activities offered by the hotel and because they have a private beach, we would run into our friends and family everywhere we go. It felt like our own playground.

The next day, day 3 in Puerto Vallarta (1 day before the wedding) was a day of relaxation. All we did was eat, swim, play, rest and repeat.