MrsMarch4

Quote: Originally Posted by sammysgirl Ok this may be silly, but for you lovely ladies that have already been to the Riu....is the shampoo, conditioner, lotion that is provided at the resort decent? I really don't want to pack this if theirs isn't too bad. Also, is there a hair dyer in the room Thanks! Hi Sammysgirl, They have an all-in-one shampoo/body soap/face soap in the shower. I thought that was it until we were there for almost a week and then housekeeping started to put small bottles of shower gel, shampoo & conditioner in the room. There is also body lotion, but no sunscreen. So....I would bring your own hair products just to be safe:) They do have a hairdryer in the room as well. ~Alexis

Re: the inconsistencies w/ pricing.... I would suggest to budget for the most expensive prices you have seen. I thought that since we were bringing so many people (67 people probably equals at least $67K in revenue for the resort) that they would "work with us" on the pricing. Nope; not even a complimentary $12 boutonniere for my dad! All in all, we paid around $8K for the wedding which is significantly cheaper then if we had a wedding stateside with that amount of guests.

Quote: Originally Posted by KLaBate54 Alexis- It sounds like your guests were all allowed to order right off of the menu at dinner. Ael told me I have to pick ONE main course for everyone, even though we're paying extra to have the full menu. Is this not how it was for you? With some of our guests not eating red meat, some not liking chicken, etc. we thought it would be hard to only serve one main dish, so we decided to have the guests order what they want and paid $25pp. Also since Chilis only serves beer & wine, we paid $9pp to have an open bar. ~Alexis

Hola RPRM brides! Well…..now I am a Mrs! The week was great, but I really don’t ever want to eat at a buffet again. The resort does have restaurants w/ table service, but they require a reservation which was often hard w/ such a large group (67 people) so eating at the buffets was the easiest. I have pictures to share; PM me & I will email you the link. Renova Spa We had an 80 min. couples massage included in our package. I typically don’t like having a male masseuse, but since Michael was also in the room I didn’t mind. The massage was great! Some of our guests even booked massages after we told them how great ours was:) I highly recommend getting a hair trial at the salon prior to your wedding day so that the day of you don’t have to worry about how your hair will turn out. It will help the ladies if you bring a picture of what you have in mind b/c they do not speak English fluently. They did a great job! Welcome Dinner @Don Manolo (buffet) the night before the wedding They blocked off a section of the restaurant for our group to eat together, which was free. The put small flowers on the tables and the wait staff made sure we always had full drinks. The Ceremony: 5pm on the beach AMAZING. No words. Cocktails: 5:45pm-7pm @ Lirraco We paid for appetizers (alcohol was included) and we also had a harpist. Michael & I were taking pictures on the beach during this time so missed a lot of it. I think it was a nice touch and transition from the ceremony to dinner. Reception: 7pm-12am @ Chillies We paid for table service, so guests were able to order off the regular dinner menu. The food was just OK. They served platters w/ seafood (oysters, shrimp, salmon, etc.) and ceasar salad w/ chicken for starters. Most guests ordered surf & turf or fillet (I am a vegetarian so had pasta w/ vegetables) for their entrees. They brought small skillets w/ vegetables & French fries to the tables as well, which I wasn’t a fan of (I really didn’t like the idea of the skillets and would have rather had regular potatoes then French fries). By no means was the food bad, it just was not the best meal. We didn’t come to the resort for the food anyways so I can’t complain too much! The cake was, well……its small. To be honest, it looks like a cake from the grocery store; its nothing special. The DJ was AMAZING! Guests were dancing non-stop the entire night. I didn’t give him a list of songs to play; he just did his thing. He mainly played pop, r&b and hip-hop which I like, so I was happy. I also liked that he didn’t play a lot of slow songs….I was there to party! The reception was supposed to be until 11pm, but we paid the DJ and wait staff to stay an extra hr. It was well worth the $ b/c we didn’t want the party to stop! Afterwards, most guests were so tried & drunk that they went to bed. Michael and I went back to our room only to find that our siblings & some friends decided to have an afterparty in our room! So….we drank more, ordered room service and stayed up til 3am! Photographer: Juan Carlos Magallon Carlos was fabulous! I love the pictures and was happy that we were able to have them 2 days later (most of my friends that have “regular” weddings have to wait 6 months). The picture package we choose was for 170 pictures on a CD, an album w/ 50 pics and some larger photos. Instead of choosing 170 pictures, we asked if we could have all 650+ pictures and not get the album & larger prints. Thankfully he said ok. It would have been hard (and taken a lot of time) to only choose 170 pics b/c they were all so good! Videographer: I completely forget the videographer’s names (a man & a woman), but they were fabulous as well! They are very nice & the video is just so special. I recommend having a video……the wedding ceremony & party went by so fast so it is nice to have the video to watch relive the day! Brunch @ Don Manolo (buffet) This was also free; again they blocked off a section of the restaurant for our group. They had the flowers from our wedding on the tables and the cake as well. I tried to keep this short & sweet. If there is something specific you want to know about, let me know. ~Alexis

Hola Chicas! We are all packed & ready to go. It still does not seem real…..maybe it will once we land!! My fiancé has been sick all day w/ a fever, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that he miraculously recovers in the next 6 hrs. before our flight takes off! I’ll be back next week to tell you all about our wedding & to share picture. Have a good week! ~Alexis

MRS Shellk: beautiful pictures!! You looked amazing, and your hubby is not too hard on the eyes either! Jrb: I am also bringing my rabbi with us to Mexico (we are having a religious ceremony), so you will not have a problem w/ a Saturday ceremony. I would recommend getting your legal wedding at home though, since I believe your rabbi will not be able to legally marry you in Mexio. PM me if you want to know where I got the items needed for a Jewish wedding. Sammysgirl: Renova spa sent me an email a few weeks ago reminding me to book my appointments. Paula Casas was so helpful in scheduling all the hair/make up appts for my wedding party. I booked everything online via email. ~Alexis

Oh Frenchie…are you going to be THAT person in the background of my wedding pics Seriously though, feel free to join us….the ceremony is at 5pm on the beach on the 4th. Or at the very least we should meet for a drink (or 2); I arrive this Sunday. Tomorrow is my last day @ work, our legal day is Wed., then off to Mexico Saturday night!!!! Is there anything in particular any of you would like me to look into, ask Ael, take pictures of? ~Alexis

Katie- I’m sorry to hear about your dress fiasco! With all of the planning we do for our wedding, something is bound to happen. Hopefully this is the worst for you and it only gets better! Can you post a picture of your shoes? FYI: For those of you planning on giving welcome bags to your guests upon check-in, Ael said the front desk staff is able to hand out the bags, we just need to make sure we label the bags and give a guest list to the front desk manager. She also noted “Bare in mind that a charge does not apply for this service but a token of appreciation will be more then welcomed.” ~ Alexis

KimmyG: I am having a religious ceremony, so do not need to worry about anything legal….well at least in terms of the ceremony in Mexico Ael sent me the separate menu they offer if you have a private reception ($1900) w/ table service ($25 per person- otherwise the private reception is buffet style). I thought I would share with you all in case you were considering this: You can make your own menu choosing one option of each time course: SOUP OR CREAM: Broccoli Cream OR Yucatan style lime soup with chicken ENTREES: Ham with melon OR Smoked Salmon MAIN COURSE: Rib eye a Maitre d´hotel, Fillet mignon, Chicken Breast with papaya and mango sauce OR Surf ad Turf Skewer DESSERT: Crepes with vanilla ice cream OR Peach Melba: ice cream, peach and strawberry sauce I hope everyone has a nice Valentine ’s Day! My fiancé surprised me w/ an early gift; diamond huggie earrings!!! ~Alexis

Hi Ladies, I was reading the thread “Customs in Mexico: an effort to gather the info in one thread!” where they mention bringing receipts with us for items we are putting in our OOT bags as well as putting notes in your suitcases in Spanish saying items were for a wedding, not for resale. I had not thought about that before so thought I would pass the information along. It’s a good thread to check out if you haven’t already. Shelk: I hope you are having a fabulous time at your wedding! I have my legal day Feb. 24th and leave Feb. 27th for Mexico

Hi Ladies, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned in the 180+ pages in this thread yet, but I thought it would be worth mentioning: If you have more then 60 guests you can only have your reception at Chilis. Ael sent me an email today saying that BotaFogo has a maximum capacity of 60 with no dancing area, and so I can only have the reception at Chilis at the 2nd seating or have a private reception dinner for $1900. The private reception is buffet style but for $25 per person they will do table services (I am guess the $25pp is in addition to the $1900). She sent a picture of Chilis (which I would post if I knew how), and it's very pretty. I know no matter where my reception is, its going to be amazing but I wanted to let you know in case any of you who are having a larger wedding had your heart set Bota. -Alexis

Hi Ladies, Do any of you know if we can get a band (not mariachi) for the reception instead of the DJ? Also, do you have any recommendations of where to look for bridal shoes? I leave for Mexico in exactly 1 month from today! -Alexis

Quote: Originally Posted by allegraapple Hi Alexis (and fellow Cali bride), We haven't finalized our site or date yet, but we are hoping to get married sometime in December in the Riviera Maya area. After much discussion and debate over the issue, I think we are also going to just go to the courthouse and get our license before heading to Mexico. Then, do the religious ceremony down there. I'd love to hear what you are doing about yarmukles, ketubah, etc.! Thanks, Allegra Hi Allegra, Here is what I have ordered so far: Ketubah: ketubah.com Yarmukles: Yarmulke | Kippah | Benchers | Kippot | Tallit Kosher food for our rabbi, challah & kosher wine (for ceremony): Kosher Order Form - Chabad Lubavitch Jewish Center of Cancun. This is through the Chabad in Cancun; they require 3 weeks notice prior to delivery. I've emailed the rabbi there a few times and he is very nice & replies to my emails right away. Mazol tov glass (for groom to stomp on at the end of the ceremony): Jewish Gifts, Judaica, Wedding Gifts, Bar & Bat Mitzvah Gifts, Jewish Baby Gifts Feel free to PM me w/ any questions:) What resorts in RM are you considering? -Alexis

Quote: Originally Posted by allegraapple Hi Alexis (and fellow Cali bride), We haven't finalized our site or date yet, but we are hoping to get married sometime in December in the Riviera Maya area. After much discussion and debate over the issue, I think we are also going to just go to the courthouse and get our license before heading to Mexico. Then, do the religious ceremony down there. I'd love to hear what you are doing about yarmukles, ketubah, etc.! Thanks, Allegra Hi Allegra, Here is what I have ordered so far: Ketubah: ketubah.com Yarmukles: www.yarmulkes.com Kosher food for our rabbi, challah & kosher wine (for ceremony): Kosher Order Form - Chabad Lubavitch Jewish Center of Cancun. This is through the Chabad in Cancun; they require 3 weeks notice prior to delivery. I've emailed the rabbi there a few times and he is very nice & replies to my emails right away. Mazol tov glass (for groom to stomp on at the end of the ceremony): Jewish Gifts, Judaica, Wedding Gifts, Bar & Bat Mitzvah Gifts, Jewish Baby Gifts Feel free to PM me w/ any questions:) What resorts in RM are you considering? -Alexis

Hi MSG518, I also had a hard time finding a rabbi in Cancun (I'm getting married at the RIU Palace Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen). I must have emailed every rabbi in Mexico, and they all pretty much said the same thing; that they don't officiate weddings (I think a majority of them are Orthodox). We are flying our rabbi from home in for the wedding, but he is only doing a religious ceremony so we are legally getting married at the courthouse before we leave for Mexico(so romanic:). If you have any more questions on where I got things for the ceremony (i.e. yarmukles, ketubah, etc.) feel free to PM me. Good luck planning! Alexis