Riu Cancun Brides???

Hi all,

 

I know I've been saying I was gonig to do a review for a while now, but better late than never! Here is the link below to take you to my review incase you haven't seen it.:

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31325

 

Even if you are not getting married at Las Americas but one of the other two Cancun Riu's, I have info regarding the WC. There may be multiple WC there, but I know they work for all 3 hotels in Cancun. So, incase you get my WC, you may want to read my review.

 

Good luck with all your planning!

First off, thank you so much for the review. It is very helpful. I did have a couple of questions for you. Do you get any kind of agenda ahead of time for the day of the wedding? Did you do any kind of wedding program for your guests if you did have an agenda?

Also, how long did you have the photographer stay for? Was it difficult to get a day pass for them?

Did you do OOT bags? I was hoping I could put them in all my guest's rooms before they arrived but I don't know how difficult that will be.

Sorry for the million questions. Overall, it sounds great. I guess maybe I should skip the cake upgrade though, huh?

I did have an agenda set up (optional) for the guests for the first two days we arrived. I made "welcome brochures" with an itinerary of the first 2 days and a time line of the wedding day. Plus some extras like facts about the water, currency, etc. Let me know if you want the template. I also have a template for the "info brochure" that contains info on RPLA (just basic info from its website). Back to the agenda, a lot of guests went on excursions, so they weren't there for a lot the other activities we had planned. Half of our guests were missing at the welcome dinner because they had not arrived yet from Xcaret. But, everyone always met up at night. The hotel is not as large as others in Cancun, so you will usually run in to your guests.

 

I had the photographer stay for 4 hours. At first I thought that wouldn't be enough, but it worked out perfect. He was there taking pics of us getting ready up to the end of dinner. I didn't really want the photographer to be at the club because I knew the lighting would be terrible. Our friend's took so many pics of us in the club anyway, it worked out perfect. The one thing we did do at our cocktail hours in order to have pics is our first dance. Plus the mariachi was playing, so it worked out just fine.

 

You pay for the day passes when you meet the WC. We ended up paying for the entire mariachi (6 people), photographers (2), and videographer at $75 each pass. We were hoping they would cut us some slack considering many of the vendors were going to be there for a short amount of time, but they didn't budge. They were very strict about this policy.

 

I did give out OOT bags. Half of the guests arrived with us to Cancun, so we simply gave them their bags at our dinner. The rest came in the following day, so I had their flight schedules already and estimated their time of arrival to greet them in the lobby and hand them the bags. I was right on time for all of them so I didn't have to waste any time waiting around. For the guests that I knew we weren't going to be able to greet, I tipped the receptionist that checks you in and she handed the bags to the guests. She wrote down their names on the bags and she posted a comment on their itinerary to ensure whom ever checked them in would know their was a package for them. Everyone got their bags, so we were very happy they were able to accomodate us with that.

 

As far as the cake, that's totally up to you! To be honest, if I can do it over I would save the $130 we spent on the upgrade and simply would have had the dessert that they usually give out at the steak house. Plus, they light the dessert on fire there, so it would have been kind of cool for the guests to see that. But, if you really just want the cake for pics, just stay with the one that's included in the package.

 

Hope this all helps!

Mrs. Martin - I have a question about decorations (provided as part of the package). We're thinking of having the ceremony on the beach - We would really like the 4-post arch with flowers/tulle. Looks gorgeous in pics - would you happen to know what decorations exactly are provided as part of the package?

What a great review!!

 

How was the WC as far as keeping in line with your planned colors/theme? I know you went through the resort for your flowers (which were very pretty!) but did you end up bringng alot of your own decorations (like for centerpieces and such) or did you go through the resort for those too?

The flowers in the package depend on where you plan on having your ceremony. So, since I had mine on the gazebo, besides the bouquet and bout (which I didn't use, I brought my own), two flowers arrangements on the pillars were included in my package. Now, since you are getting married at the beach, only one flower arrangment for the table is included. But, if you are on having the 4-pst arch, I'm not sure if you were still planning on having a table. I really didn't see the table flower arrangment options either since they weren't included in my package. I did ask the WC ahead of time what flowers were in season during the time of my wedding so I can get an idea of the availability they would have.

As far as the colors go, for the ceremony I was trying to have pink and orange as my accent colors and for the dinner, I was keeping everything beach and earth tones (browns, tans) because I incorporated a lot beach items like shells and starfish. For the ceremony, all the shades of pink and orange varied so much between my flowers, the petals on the floor and the flowers on the pillars, they didn't look as close to one another as I would hav liked them to be. But, I didn't really end up caring too much when I saw the pics because it didn't look bad at all. Since my friends were the ones who set up the decor in the reception, they set it up how I wanted it, so the WC didn't do anything there. I'm sure the WC overlooked the set up in the ceremony, which I thougtht looked pretty. The only thing she didn't do in the ceremony was place my raffia fans. I hope this answered your first question a little!

I didn't use the hotel's flowers for my bouquet, flower in my hair, hubby's bout or corsages the moms wore; I brought those myself. The only things I used from the hotel were flower petals (which I had to purchase), the flowers on the gazebo pillars (included in package), chair covers plus ribbon (part of package) and I brought my own raffia fans to place on the chairs for the ceremony. For the dinner, I brought my own centerpieces and were very simple and easy to set up. I also brougtht my own table runners and I made my own place cards with sand dollars. So to sum it up, I brought most of my own stull with me.

Here are some pics of the decor. Like I said, I brougth very simple decorations incase we had to set them up ourselves (which we ended up having to do anyway!):

ceremony:




dinner:

Mrs. Martin - thank you!

I didn't even think to ask the WC...ha-ha! I have you ladies

The dinner table decorations look very elegant...like something you'd see in a magazine! Well done.

Was it bothersome to bring decorations/flowers in? Didn't they get rumpled in luggage?

Either way - thanks.

I'll be contacting WC at RPLA as soon as I book my travel arrangements.

QUOTE=Lenchika;591163]

Was it bothersome to bring decorations/flowers in? Didn't they get rumpled in luggage?

Either way - thanks.

I'll be contacting WC at RPLA as soon as I book my travel arrangements.

 

So, bringing the items with me was the most stressful part of the trip! I was a bridezilla for sure the entire time! We took 11 boxes with us, plus his suit and my dress. Lucky for us, we were traveling with 22 other guests, so we had each guest carry a box. Those poor guests, I was watching them like a hawk making sure no one mishandled my boxes (I don't think people were liking me much at that time )! I padded these boxes with lots of bubble wrap. Most of my larger shells were invidually padded with bubble wrap as well as the glass centerpieces. I did bring extras of everything (centerpieces, coral, etc.) incase I needed them, but nothing broke so it worked out just fine. The raffia rans, OOT bags and items were placed in one of my suitcases and those made it just fine. I took my bouquet and the rest of the flowers in my backpack, each one padded. They arrived perfect.

Thank you Mrs Martin! Congratulations! Your wedding looked just perfect, Im so happy for you

 

I am getting married at the RPLA in January! Wow, so close lol, Im shocked everytime I see my ticker lol!

 

I have Pamela as my WC as well and she is annoying me to no end. Asking me questions I've already answered, , and completely ignoring the fact that though I originally reqested a photographer I no longer need one... I'm hoping for the best when I get there and that these details can be worked out there. Its flowers/decor and the restaurant. What do you think? Should I finally lose it on her over the phone (tehehehe) or just wait till our meeting there (FI is wanting me to wait, but I think that's because of what the phone bill will be lol)?

 

Did you use Renova Spa for your hair by chance? I am booked there and have to go in the day before to finalize what I want to do with my hair/make up and am getting a bit worried!

 

Thank you again for your review, you did an awesome job, lots of my fears disappeared after reading it!

 

Ashley

 

PS to Lena... HI!

Ashley,

 

Do you happen to have a price sheet for Renova spa? I am planning to get my hair done there as well as my bridesmaids. Also, and I'm sure you are planning to do this anyway, but would you mind posting your review when you get back? It is really helpful to hear how things go. I have a different WC than you and Mrs. Martin, I have Lizette. I haven't really contacted her for anything yet. But I still have some time before my wedding.

 

Mrs. Martin,

 

I would love to get your template for the welcome and info brochures... I am actually surprised that the day passes were $75. I thought the were $100 each, but that stinks that you couldn't get a deal since you brought so many vendors to the hotel... I think leaving the OOT bags with the receptionist is a good idea. Just curious, how much do you think I should tip them to do that?...That dessert sounds like a good idea.