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Mineauxs Riu Santa Fe Review~!


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Hi ladies,

I have been back for a week from getting married at The Riu Santa Fe.

Bare with me as I kind of seem to ramble, here is my review. I did it super fast so i may have left some things out....im trying thou....ramble on....:)

 

The wedding went great and all 30 people who went with us said it was the best time of their lives!

The resort is HUGE! Alot of walking but we really enjoyed it because if we didnt want to see anyone in our group, we didnt have to! And if we ate too much, we were able to walk it off! I actually lost weight when on vacation…..not the usual case!

Our group during the week would always met up in the main common area, and that was routine.

We stayed in building 7 which is the only ocean view and is quite a walk from the main lobby area. It is good thou because the steak house is at building 7 and the wedding site.

We were married in Canada first, but no one knew. Our wedding day was on April 22 @ 4pm/ We had the free wedding package and think that its all you really need.

We brought our own photographer, and never had a problem with her not being able to shoot. She was also staying at the resort thou.

We met with Erika on Monday, Our wedding was on the Wednesday. I took my sister with me as hubby went on his “stag day”: with the boys. (fishing)

I hauled all the decorations in 1 suit case and gave them to Ericka. We picked out the cake right then. Quite a few to choose from but we went with carrot.

Chose the wedding colors for deco at the ceremony. My colors were turquoise and white so I brought my own sashes. They had silver, gold, and I think another color but cant remember.

They had a few arches to choose from for an extra $500. We just went with the simple arch, and we could have added some flowers for extra, but wanted simple so we said no flowers.

The bouquet that came with the package was roses, and we could have had whatever color. I upgraded the bouquet to calla lilies, and they were white. I told her I wanted turquoise ribbon and they turned out beautiful!

Ericka wrote everything down as we were talking and I showed her how I wanted everything with the deco. And gave her our music cd. I stressed to her the importance of the wedding songs as I heard they messed up others, but she assured me “no problem”!

Showed her the centrepieces, and how I wanted them. (Little fish bowls with sand and candles, and shells.

We rented the disco for a few hours before and paid the $500.……The day before the wedding we decided against it because the night before it stunk of puke…..Really bad. Like really bad!! It is relatively clean but it wasn’t what we wanted so I talked to Ericka and she refunded the disco….No problem

A quick note. If your dinner is in the steak house, be aware that there is no bar there. Therefore, the only bevys are wine, and draft beer. Soda of course. There are the pool bars there but they close at 6 I think.

What we decided to do and because we are a bunch of winos, we decided to go to Walmart and buy a bunch of bottles of wine. The wine at the resort wasn’t that great, so wanted something yummy!

We asked Ericka if this was ok and it was no problem.

Best decision!

 

Day before the wedding:

My sisters organized a girls day which I didn’t know about. We ended up going snorkelling. It was soooo much fun;. It was pretty tame on the way there on the boat. BUT on the way back…all hell broke loose. There were about 12 of us ladies ,The tequila started flowing and we were not the soberest when we went back….All the boys were at the pool just chilling having a relaxing day, and when the ladies showed up, it was a complete gong show! Usually the men are the rowdy ones…..oops! We had the pool police because apparently we were so rowdy….it was the girls not the guys….oh boy…All I remember is doing keg stands, and having to be put to bed at 5 pm… so much for not drinking the nite before.

We had a mini rehearsal at 730 at the ceremony spot. I actually made it to that, but not sure how “there” I was.

Also I didn’t want to sleep with hubby the nite b4, but we were both passed out by 9. So much for that!

 

Wedding day!

 

I woke up at 9 am, kicked hubby out. I was not feeling so hot. Wishing I didn’t drink the day before!!!

I had an appointment with Suzzane Moral at 11:45 so left the resort at 11. My photographer came with me and when I phoned to confirm, I thought I was told it was right behind Home Depot…Not the case. After driving around in a taxi, not being able to speak to the cab driver. We went to a gas station and was asking a police. He didn’t understand us but a guy that was just coming out over heard us and knew where we were to go! Thank GOD!!! He told our taxi driver and it was behind OFFICE DEPOT!!! I was stressing!!! But we got there just a few minutes late. Not sure who my stylist was but she spoke little English but suzannes assistant translated. They were very nice.

I had my laptop with me and showed her what I wanted. And away she went. I loved my hair!!

We got back to the resort at 230. I was getting ready with my sisters in building 3. Everyone was in building 7 and didn’t want to run into hubby or anyone else.

I started feeling a lot better, so just took my time, had my girlfriend help with my makeup.

I had did a boudoir shoot for hubby as a surprise so I sent the book with the photographer to give to him while the boys were all getting ready, to catch his reaction. It was a shock to him!

At 3:55pm I started the treck to the site. I was coming down the ramp and saw all the boys. I hid behind a pillar till they were gone. I should have known not to be on time! The pools were full, and a lot of peeps were clapping and cheering as we went by. Everyone was very respectful which I was thankful for as I saw a wedding a few days before and some asses were screaming “Don’t do it”!

BUT everyone on my day were very nice and commenting how beautiful, congrats, etc etc. Made you feel like a celebrity for a few minutes!

I hadn’t received my bouquet yet and was a little worried. Nor did the music start. Finally I saw Ericka and she had the cd and the bouquet. She pinned on hubby boutonniere before he went down.

They had a good speaker system which was loud, and I was very happy to see they had a microphone so everyone could hear the ceremony.

As I saw hubby finally go down, I came out of hiding and was waiting for my song on top of the step. My ladies went done and was awaiting my turn.

As I was coming down to make my entrance, The biggest loudest wave came up….It sounded like crazy loud thunder, and it was perfect timing…..I swear it was meant to do that!!! It was the coolest thing ever!!!! That was some entrance and everyone said they got goose bumps! It was soo weird!

My dad walked me down. And i wanted to go barefoot but i wore my heels....The sand was really hot! And they didn’t screw up the music which was awesome!

We had written our whole ceremony out and the minister read it word for word. ( I gave that to Ericka when we had met)

The ceremony lasted maybe 10 minutes! We also did a sand ceremony. We then kissed and walked back up the aisle to jack Johnson Better Together. There was champagne on the side and we toasted to everyone and drank and mingled and sipped champagne. That’s when we did the group photo.

We did a few beach shots, then decided to do the formals in the garden area thru out the resort. It really was tooo pretty and wasn’t too sure at first but glad we did!

After the formals just hubby and I did some photos…We went over to the Palace for a few shots.

Our dinner was at 6:30. We went to our room to freshen up, and went down at about 645. Everyone was waiting for us seated and drinking the wine we had purchased. We were right on the terrace and no one was around. It was perfect as the sun was setting. A little windy on our side but the view was gorgeous. Bring a sweater.

We had appetizers which was ceaser salad, chicken wings, mushrooms, a few other things. Then the main course which we decided to pick 2 things and guests could choose. Ericka thought this would be good to speed up the dinner as we had rented the disco. Forgot to change that as we weren’t doing the disco anymore. It was good thou. Steak or chicken, and everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner. We had a “U” shape dinner table and it was perfect. She set it up just how I wanted. We had a little table to the side with our guestbook. Actually a guest board which everyone wrote something and then took a picture. The table was also used for the cake later on.

Our waiters were amazing and we tipped $50. They were awesome.

We did the speeches which was optional and got some teary readings that were very unexpected!

We did some toasts and cut the cake and just visited,

We had always went to the common area ( where the shows are) and pulled up tables and sat around, That’s what everyone does at the resprt. Its between 2 bars so always can get a drink!

That’s what we decided to do.

We hung around, lots of people. It was fun! I saw Em, ( the other bride) and we got a quick photo together.

We were pretty beat so we called it a nhite at around 12pm.

All in all the day went great!

My biggest advice is not to sweat the small stuff, it really goes by waaaaay to fast and I was so sad it was allllllll over in a matter of minutes!! I mean, I have planned this for sooo long then it came and went waaay to fast L

 

Trash the Dress:

 

We went to lovers beach 2 days after the wedding for a trash the dress. We were the only ones there. We went at 9am. It was soooo perfect! Soooooo fun and we got some AMAZING photos!

 

What I would do over again:

 

I had told hubby not to wear glasses during the ceremony. He did, but I didn’t even realize really cuz I was so wrapped up in the moment. It was no biggie but was pissed after…oh well.

I would have slowed down, enjoyed the day, not have worried so much.

I would have not drank like a fish the day before!!

Im glad we bought wine. Im glad we didn’t do the disco…..kinda a waste of $$ I think. I mean it was always open even before 11pm. So could have went in if we wanted..

The common area is soooo huge that you could easily have your group all together there. Its lively and its fun.

Im glad I upgraded my bouquet, they were really beautiful.

I am so glad I chose turquoise. Everyone kept commenting on how gorgeous the colors were.

I am glad it was a huge resort, we had 30 peeps with us, and if we wanted some alone time it was so easy to get as it was hard to find people at times!

We would have brought walkie talkies maybe, just incase we we did want to find someone!

 

If anyone has any question feel free!!!!!!

 

A few pics….cant wait for the photographers pics, for now here are some that our guests took. Sorry if they are so big.....

 

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K, back. Like I said before, everything looks incredible. Great tip about the wine! We are doing the steak house as well so we just might have to do that. Your colours looked beautiful! and your groomsmen are dressed very similarily to what my FI and his GM's are wearing. I'm also hesitant about the disco after hearing so many mixed reviews about it...did you have to pay for it in advance? I noticed you used the term "refund". We're hoping to not pay for it until we see it and decide then. Again, everything was beautiful and it sounds like Erika is pretty good at organizing the details- good to hear!!

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Quote:
Originally Posted by lgarner83 View Post
K, back. Like I said before, everything looks incredible. Great tip about the wine! We are doing the steak house as well so we just might have to do that. Your colours looked beautiful! and your groomsmen are dressed very similarily to what my FI and his GM's are wearing. I'm also hesitant about the disco after hearing so many mixed reviews about it...did you have to pay for it in advance? I noticed you used the term "refund". We're hoping to not pay for it until we see it and decide then. Again, everything was beautiful and it sounds like Erika is pretty good at organizing the details- good to hear!!

We paid for it when we met with ericka on the monday. Paid with credit card after our meeting, and then when we decided to x it, she refunded it back onto our card.
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Hey Mineaux! So glad everything worked out, it looked amazing! Blue is my colour too! You didn't happen to leave your chair sashes did you? wink.gif

I was hoping to rent the disco, I wonder if there is any way to remove the puke smell? Frebreeze may be??

Great tip about wine, will definitely do that! I'm sure I have more questions if that's okay!

 

Carly x

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