Ann & Brett’s Wedding

OK, so I lied about the information packet: we’re having too much fun sitting on the beach, scuba diving, and eating great Mexican food. Honestly there’s not much more you need to know, and everyone is getting here without any problems. The few tidbits:

* Bring a beach towel if possible. The condos have towels (obviously), but if you want a real beach towel, bring it.  Sunscreen and bug spray are a good idea too.
* Regardless of how you get here (plane, ferry), just take a taxi to the Reef Residencias Condos. All the cab drivers know where this place is. If not, just show them the Spanish directions in your condo reservation packet, or grab another taxi.
* Drop your luggage off in the condo and come find us in 5100. It’s the end unit on the ground floor, in the building closest to the water. If nobody is here, come around to the back… we might be on the beach. If any of the back sliding doors are open or unlocked, come on in and help yourself to cold beer from the fridge! We also have some goodies to get you started.
* For the Friday night rehearsal dinner, plan on gathering near our condo to catch the taxis to Pancho’s Backyard around 6:40pm, OR just meet us at the restaurant at 7pm. Again, any taxi driver should be able to get you there.

* For the wedding ceremony at Mr. Sancho’s beach club, plan on meeting at our condo for taxis at 4:50pm. The beach club is a mile south of Reef Residencias, so it won’t take long. The ceremony will start at 5:15pm.

BTW, the phone number at our condo is 519.488.0367 (US). We can’t check the voice mail, so don’t bother leaving a message You can also call or SMS my cell phone 602.326.7374 if something comes up.

Ann scanned some pages from our Cozumel book describing the restaurants on the island, with some notes on the ones we’ve been to.  Cozumel has some great restaurants.  Ann tends to ask every local we meet for his or her favorites, so we usually avoid the tourist traps.

Grab the PDF (9MB) from here.

Just last week Ann and I got our wedding costumes… I mean, outfits… finalized and ready for our Saturday departure to Cozumel. You’re probably wondering what that means in terms of your attire, but wonder no more.

Ann is wearing a dress. Wedding tradition prevents me from knowing more, but I’ve been told it’s a very simple white dress. For the ladies, she recommends casual sun dresses. If you need more specifics, drop Ann a note or give her a call (480.236.8823).

I am wearing khaki pants with a white linen shirt, and sandals. Much like this guy, although much more handsome. Guys, wear whatever is comfortable. For Patrick, I will clarify this by saying your outfit should include at least a shirt and (more importantly) some sort of pants. Suits and/or ties are overkill, but we won’t kick you out.

The wedding ceremony will be in the sand, with the reception on grass and concrete. Wear whatever shoes/sandals are comfortable or feel free to go barefoot.

For the rehearsal dinner at Pancho’s Backyard, I’ll be wearing khaki shorts and a short-sleeve island shirt. Super casual!

If you’ve got an iPod loaded with all your favorite dance songs, feel free to bring it along. We’ll have a DJ for the reception, but just in case he can’t handle your special request, you can just hand him your ipod and he’ll jack you in. Only requirement is that the words have to be in Spanish. Ok, not really.

If you have any song requests, post them here or drop us a note, and we’ll make sure we have it!

We will be posting a PDF to this entry in the next 2-3 days… you’ll want to print and bring this document along with you. It will include maps, phone numbers, addresses, the wedding schedule, and other handy information for your trip.

BTW, if you haven’t already sent us your flight itinerary and what condo you have reserved, please post your info to this blog or drop us an email. This will help us coordinate pick-up times and make sure your condo is ready to go!

Arriving

If you are flying into Cozumel, just grab your luggage and clear customs, and head out to the street in front of the terminal. If someone from the group can pick you up, this is where we will meet you. You will probably have 3 or 4 people solicit you for timeshare presentations in the 50ft between customs and the street, just ignore them (unless you really want a timeshare ).

If no one is there to pick you up, you can either take a Collectivo van ($15-20, many stops) or walk 100 yards to the main street in front of the terminal and flag down a taxi ($10-15, direct).

If you are arriving on the ferry, just grab a taxi in front of the pier where you arrive. You’ll be heading south (right, as you walk off the boat and pier).

Have the taxi take you to the “Residencias Reef Condos”. Most taxi drivers speak enough English to get by. You should ask for the rate before departing so there are no issues later. Expect to pay $10-13 to get between downtown and the condos. Just relax and go with the flow!

Car Rental

If you want to explore the island, you’ll need a car. We will have a few rental cars available for the group, so unless you want to disappear for an entire day by yourself, you can probably just tag along with others.

If you do decide to get a rental car, it’s pretty easy. Just reserve the car online (or stop by any of the 30+ rental car offices when you get on the island). There will be some mandatory liability insurance, and optionally you can get the full coverage. Expect about $40/day with the minimal coverage, or $65 with the full coverage.

If you’re heading to mainland Mexico, you should reserve a rental car to be picked up in Playa de Carmen. There is a car ferry, but it is $45 and not worth the hassle.

Rehearsal Dinner, Ceremony, and Reception Transportation

We will probably use taxi vans to shuttle everyone around… we’ll take care of organizing the pick-ups, just show up! The departure times will be on the schedule (coming soon).

If you’re a scuba diver and didn’t get an email from me earlier this week, drop me a note… so far everyone is up for at least 2 days of diving (Thursday AM and Monday AM), and we’ll have some smaller groups going before and after the weekend.

Over the next few days everyone should be getting invitations to our rehearsal dinner at Pancho’s Backyard. Not sure why we’re still calling it a rehearsal dinner — it will be extremely informal, and we won’t be rehearsing anything, just eating and drinking.

And just to clarify, we don’t actually know someone named Pancho, and we’re not having dinner in his backyard. It’s a nice restaurant a couple of blocks north of the main pier in town. We sampled their menu a few weeks ago, and then went back for dinner the next evening. You can’t go wrong with their Tamarindo and Hibiscus margaritas.

We’re assuming all of our guests will be attending, but please leave a comment below (or send us an email) to confirm your attendence.

Well, we booked our flights… orginally we planned on flying down to Cozumel on Sunday May 06. Then we remembered Cinco de Mayo is the day before, and with some prodding from Tiffany and Grahame, we’re now going down on the 5th. Might as well start the week off right!

Our flight info:

Sat May 05
AA 1638 departs PHX 5:30am arrives DFW 9:40am (seats 11D,F) 2h10m
AA 719 departs DFW 10:20am arrives CZM 12:55pm (seats 20C,D) 2h35m

Tues May 15
AA 364 departs CZM 1:55pm arrives DFW 4:45pm (seats 9C,D) 2h50m
AA 1807 departs DFW 6:10pm arrives PHX 6:40pm (seats 22B,D) 2h30m

In case you haven’t heard, starting tomorrow a passport is required to travel between the US and Mexico (and Canada, our 2nd wedding destination choice ). In case you don’t have one, you can go to any post office to get your photo taken and submit your application. You’ll need to have a certified copy of your birth certificate OR an old passport.

Processing time is 6-8 weeks, so you might not want to put this off until the last minute. More details on the USPS site or the US Department of State site.