lalanyc

Here you go!  For context, our main considerations in selecting a spot were: keeping guests in one spot, lack of intimacy at megaresorts, good food/service, and relative privacy.  With that in mind, below are other alternatives we considered:

FULL SERVICE HOTELS (all boutique)

• Le Reve

• La Amada Hotel
• Le Meridien  (awesome coordinator)
• Omni Puerto Aventuras (only 40 rooms but great quality though lack of beach area)
• Azul Beach
• Hotel Marina El Cid (ok, not small but also not a wedding factory and near Puerto Morelos)
• Al Cielo Hotel (closer to Tulum. We didnt visit personally due to location and rooms were more sparse than we would have preferred).
• Ana y Jose

OFF THE BEATEN PATH OPTIONS

• Akumal Beach (Turtle Bay/Lol Ha Restaurant) http://www.turtlebaycafe.com/www.turtlebaycafe.com/Turtle_Bay_Weddings/Turtle_Bay_Weddings.html

I thought this was a good alternative for a more private beach wedding; we just didnt love the quality of the cabanas closest to the restaurant though I understand there is a bigger hotels in the town.  Also, at first glance the restaurant is very casual but I think it could be spruced up easily.  Plus it faces the ocean.

Here are pics from a frequent BD poster: http://stephaniewilliamsphotography.com/blog/2009/07/24/mariesam-tommy-wedding/

• Playa del Secreto 

This is an event site for private dinners/ weddings. There is no hotel affiliated with it (as far as I know) though I believe the management provides wedding coordination services. Outside coordinators/vendors are also welcome.  You could either rent nearby villas or you could bus everyone in from a designated hotel.  

Here is the site page: http://www.playasecreto.com/weddings.html

Here is a wedding video: http://vimeo.com/21224964

• Playa del Carmen

One idea was to have all guests stay at a boutique hotel on the strip (or nearby) and have the wedding at a restaurant or beach club.  The Blue Parrot Beach Club was one option.  They seem to do a good job: http://www.blueparrot.com/weddings-events/

• Taninah

We didnt visit personally as it was too small but this is a complex in the jungle that can accommodate up to 35 ppl.  If you have a larger party, perhaps they can stay in housing nearby.

http://www.taninah.com/home.php
 

• Private Home/Villa Rental

There are some spectacular mansions (err, "villas") all throughout the the Riviera Maya that would make a great location for a smaller wedding.  I would encourage you to consider them for a very private setting.  Hacienda Kukulcan is in Puerto Aventuras and is adjacent to 2 other equally stunning villas.  Don't be discouraged by the rates - they are all highly negotiable. 

http://www.puertoaventurasmexico.com/rentals/kukulkan.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa-asNU6vZM

• Xcaret

This is a water/nature park but don't be fooled - it is an amazing location for a wedding!  Although the main event sites may already be booked, they were building out other event spots in the park when we visited in 2009 which could still be available.  It is definitely on pricier side but the service looks impeccable.  Only down side is that your guests would need to be bused into the park. http://www.xcaretweddings.com/

We were in touch w/ this coordinator who gets a slight discount: http://www.weddingsincancun.com/xcaret/

It must be terrible to change your plans after having your heart set on Ceiba!  Stay strong - while no alternative will have the same "feel" as Ceiba, that doesn't mean your wedding will be any less fun or beautiful!  Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Originally Posted by tiff21 

Yes Lala, any suggestions you have for new hotels would be SO helpful!

Jillian and Tiff -

UGH I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this!!  I would have never in a million years thought this could happen w/ Ceiba.  I hope you guys get things straightened out.  If you want advice on other hotels (I looked at many during my scouting trips) - I'd be happy to offer suggestions...

THAT'S TERRIBLE NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My husband and I just got a note from management saying they will be changing "administrations" as of March 15, 2012 which includes the hotel's "concept".

SOOO UPSETTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We were just there this past November to celebrate our anniversary and had heard rumors that they had rented out the hotel to a swingers group the entire week before we arrived.  The poor staff looked distraught whenever we referred to that large party.  Now I can understand why.  I know the economy is tough but never imagined they would turn to this!   What a terrible loss.... 

We just returned from Ceiba to celebrate our 1 year anniversary.  It was SO NICE to be back!!  I didn't realize how much I missed our planning trips last year.  The great thing about being married at Ceiba is that we can go back for years to come and continue enjoying its wonderful atmosphere (unlike, say, having been married at a function hall).  Good luck to the future Ceiba brides!

Chrisdior -

Yes, we brought the lights ourselves (actually, with the help of several relatives) - mainly because our vendor didnt carry these types of lights - only bigger lanterns which I didn't want.  Unfortunately, I dont have a sample of the booklet but it was basically a series of square face shots with names, locations and relation below each box.  My husband did all the work on that project

Originally Posted by chrisdior 

@ lalanyc wow beautiful!!!! i love the string lights, did you bring the lights down with you? also in your oot bags you mentioned a guest picture book do you have pictures of what it looked like?

 

Congratulations and great job!!!

 

Wow, Matt - those pictures are STUNNING!!!!!!!!  They gave me chills.  Thank you for posting!  

We went to the store directly - you will have better luck finding English speaking staff that way.  If you dont happen to find anyone that knows English, I would try asking Diana or Paola for help negotiating.  We actually worked with Ceiba's head bartender first to determine how many bottles of the different types of liquors we would need before going to the store.  

The bus rental cost depends on the size and the number of hours you want it for - we paid a little over $400 for a 45-seat bus for 4 hrs (x 2).  Assuming you want the same # of hrs, you'd be looking at around $800-850.  Of course, there are cheaper services but I really appreciated that the company we used was so professional.  Feel free to ask for a quote!  Here is our rep's contact info:

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by 780chick 

Did you order the liquor online or did you go to the store directly? It seems their webpage is all in Spanish.

How much was it for the bus rental for the wedding day? We are looking to charter a bus to/from a catamaran cruise for a our guests (70-80 people)

No problem - good luck and congrats!!
 

Originally Posted by AnaS 

Thanks so much for posting these pictures. I love how it turned out! I hope I will be able to do the same for my wedding I will be getting married at the same church next year in June.

Hi Tiffany,

Re: the corking fee, I think we simply negotiated an extension of 4 hr blocks and then 2 hr blocks... I believe the extensions were slightly less per person than the original corking fee.  Also, for very late night, I think we negotiated a lower number of servers since there would be fewer people.

Yes, the late night taco bar was affordable - I think we paid based on consumption which was good since not all of our guests ate.  We had almost 160 people.

After the dance floor broke, some people moved to the area by the fountain but eventually everyone moved to lower area next to that - which is on the same level as the tables.  There was plenty of room to spare.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by tappleton 

Thanks so much Lala, 

this is awesome and so helpful! My wedding is there in April so I"m starting to plan all the details.  I can't believe your party went till 4am! So, we are also planning on paying the corking fee and bringing our own liquor. The corking fee was for 4 hours if I remember, so how did you work that? Did you pay two corking fees for 8 hours or just pay a little more per extra hour?  A late night taco bar is such a good idea. Was it affordable? How many people were at your wedding?  One last dance floor question, so after the rented dance floor broke, did you use that upper level area a step above the tables with the fountain for the dance floor or was there enough room to have it on the same terrace as the tables? Thanks again so much!

 

-tiffany

Also, in terms of decor - we kept it very simple.  We had a few white flower arrangements for each side of the altar, plus the altar table itself.  We also had a few short baby's breath baskets for each side of the aisle.  I could have probably used more of those (think I only had 6 but could have easily used 12); that said, I believe they had to be moved while the guests came in b/c they were being knocked over (?).  Dont know the full details except that they were moved around at the last minute.  Perhaps they could have been smaller or maybe we would have been better off hanging flowers from every other pew.  

Finally, the Father offered to put out some carpeting along the aisle (he had red plus another color) but we declined. 

Originally Posted by AnaS 

Hi Lala,

 

I love your review. Very helpful while planning a wedding even if I am at a different resort.

 

I wanted to ask you a few questions about the wedding ceremony:

• How did you decorate the place? (do you have pictures to share?)
• What did you do about music during ceremony?
• Any other pictures from the ceremony would be very helpul for me to be able to imagine the wedding day

 

Thanks so much,

Ana

Hi Ana,

I just realized you asked for more pics of the CEREMONY not the reception!!  Oops.  Here are pics taken during the ceremony (Catholic church of Puerto Morelos):

 

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnaS 

Hi Lala,

 

I love your review. Very helpful while planning a wedding even if I am at a different resort.

 

I wanted to ask you a few questions about the wedding ceremony:

• How did you decorate the place? (do you have pictures to share?)
• What did you do about music during ceremony?
• Any other pictures from the ceremony would be very helpul for me to be able to imagine the wedding day

 

Thanks so much,

Ana

Hi MKA - 

Me too - I still can't believe we passed up the opportunity to have a Tequila Donkey!! 

Congratulations on booking w/ Ceiba!!  You and your guests will have an unforgettable experience!!

Ahh, I think I misunderstood your earlier comment.  Yes, we did pay the $13/pp for the linens, etc. (the linens in the pics are from the basic selection offered with that price).  When it came to additional decorations though, aside from the string lights and the pieces handled by the florist, Ceiba did the rest at no additional charge.

Technically, we didn't have an after party since our wedding lasted until almost 4 AM though there were only about 15 very very drunk people left by then!!!  Many older people started heading to bed around 11 PM and a big wave left after the taco bar around 12:30 AM.  

That said, I think your after party options will depend on how strict Ceiba wants to be and the type of crowd you expect.  

• If you are big party people but Ceiba has a strict cutoff, then you can take the party indoors into one of the restaurants.  You could either continue dancing or set up a karaoke bar. 
• If you want low key drinks and/or want to limit spending, you could head to the front bar and just pay the bartender to stay extra hours (I think they are $20/hr).  They could continue to use remaining liquor from the reception.
• If Ceiba is more lax but you dont want to dance, you could offer light food options and a bonfire with an I-pod/speaker set up.  I would recommend tacos de trompo al pastor.  You can arrange it so that Ceiba only charges you for what people eat:

Hope that helps!  

Originally Posted by MKA611 

Thanks Lala!

 

I appreciate your detailed reply!  I'm in love with the Tequila Donkey.

 

We are actually in the middle of booking everything now with Ceiba for our wedding in the spring of 2012!  Very excited. 

 

I am surprised about the fact you didnt have to pay a set up fee unless you brought in your own tables and chairs.  In their banquet menu they say $13/pp, but maybe since you had a lot of people they waived it?

 

Lastly, did you have an after party after the wedding?  Since it will probably end at 11pm and although most guests will be tired i was just wondering if you did anything for the people more our age?

 

Thanks again!  Your posts have extremely helpful!

Originally Posted by tappleton 

 

Hey lala,

These pics are awesome. Where did you have your dance floor?  It's hard to tell in the pictures. And also, did you just buy regular christmas lights and have them string them? how long of strings/what kind did you use? It looks so perfectly done! 

Hi tappleton - the dance floor was set up over the sand right off of the paved terrace.  If you note on my review though, the dance floor was unnecessary since there was plenty of extra space on the terrace for dancing (which was a good thing since the floor BROKE shortly after the guests rushed it!).  If your wedding is on the terrace, I would recommend putting that $$ toward decorations, UNLESS you really want a lighted dance floor.  That way you dont have large empty areas remaining on the terrace.

These are the string lights we used: http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/36766/HLS-346166.html

I actually purchased the lights and some very nice relatives split the boxes among their suitcases. My florist wanted to charge an exorbitant amount to rent and arrange them so I decided to bring them myself!  I donated them afterwards to my parents who happen to have a huge yard.  Ceiba strung them for only $100.  

I think Ceiba used 40 of the boxes (24 feet per box), if that!  I bought way too many.  

Originally Posted by tappleton 

 

One more question. Who did you use for fire dancers? Was it affordable? At what point in your reception did they come out?

A friend of a friend was able to get us 2 fire dancers for $200 for 15 minutes.  We had a taco bar around midnight and the dancers came out right before then, around 11:40 PM.  I think one of the planning companies should be able to match that price for you if you're interested in a shorter show.  Honestly, once ppl are buzzed, they dont have long attention spans and they also dont care of there is 1 or 10 dancers - they're just pumped that there is fire!  So I wouldnt recommend spending much more than that.  People still talk about the fire dancers and ours werent even that great!! haha.  

Hi Ana, happy to share! 

MKA - sorry for the late response; didnt see your post sooner!  See below:

Jillian,

I got married there and in my wedding review, included pics and contact info.  Here is the link: 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/71193/lala-s-ceiba-del-mar-wedding-week

Happy to answer any questions if you have some.  Good luck!
 

Originally Posted by Jillian Wedding 

Hello,

 

Did you end up getting married in Puerto Morelos? I am in the process of planning our wedding and I am looking for a Catholic Church in Puerto Morelos.

 

Any information would be extremely helpful!

 

Thank you,

 

Jillian

Good!!  Don't give up Brenners!  Diana is amazing; if you are both committed, you should be able to arrive at an arrangement that works for everyone! 
 

Originally Posted by Brenners 

Thanks ladies!  You have given me some great ideas.  I am going to work with Diana myself to see what kind of rates I can get (I can't do much worse than the TA's!) and find out where that gets me!  I am DETERMINED to have my wedding at Ceiba.  It was everything I dreamed of and more - not to mention that Diana was a complete angel!

These look amazing Laura. Congrats!!  

Originally Posted by lshaef 

We used Tropical Wedding Experts who coordinated transportation if our guests wanted to use it and they also created a website for our guests to RSVP with their food choices and room choice. The guests did all of this on line on the website that was created for my wedding. That meant the guests had to book their flights on their own. We had all of our guests book as AI for the days of our wedding events but they had the option to change to European plan on other days. In our contract we had if all guests were AI we did not have to pay for alcohol.
I think that was a major no no on the lady who was the WC at Ceiba for about two months. It definitely saved us a ton of money! The price per hour per person for alcohol at Ceiba is ridiculous!!
Do you feel like you need a TA or could you negotiate with Ceiba?
Good luck
Oh and I got the link for my photos. There are a ton but have a peak.
http://tsanderson.smugmug.com/Weddings/Laura/Wedding-Day/
 

wow, I cant believe it has already come and gone!!!  Congratulations!!!  I'm so glad Ceiba didnt disappoint!  Happy to know your guests had a great time as well
 

Originally Posted by tracy.clements 

Hi All !! John and I just got married at Ceiba on Friday and it was amzing.  Ceiba, Planner1, Javier, and DJ Mannia, hair/makeup were all wonderful!  Our Cigar Roller no showed and had a few really small hiccups that I can go into later.   Ceiba went above and beyond to accomodate all of our 125 guests and the most important thing is that everyone had an AMAZING time!!!  will write more details and can answer any and all questions later but wanted to post this before I head to fiji for honeymoon. at airport now.  

 

 

ceiba seems expensive for guests but once you get there you will see the amazing value. 

Congratulations!!!  I'm sure the memories you have are well worth all the planning!!  

Originally Posted by lshaef 

Hi Ladies,
Sorry I haven't posted.  My wedding was April 16th and I can't begin to describe how amazing it was from start to finish.  We arrived on Monday prior to our wedding and left the following Tuesday.  We had family or friends with us every day we were there but that was fine to us.  Eight straight days of pure sunshine.

Ceiba staff exceeded any epectations I had.  To have everyone know your name and your guests was incredible.  They treated us like king and queen! Our friends and family raved about how wonderful everything was and have requested to have a reunion there again.  HAHA

I have not written any reviews yet but I will eventually.

Theresa - thanks for sharing your pictures.  Amazing.  You look so calm!  Your husband's wedding band is so similar to my hubby's.  Loved your flowers! 

I used a photographer that a former Ceiba bride had used.  He flew from Williamsburg VA.  Awesome - took 4 days of picutres (snorkeling, hanging out photos at the pool, bbq, wedding, a photo shoot of me and hubby in the water) BUT right before I left I read a bad reviews stating he takes forever to get pictures back.  We emailed him on April 23rd and have yet to hear back from him.  BUT, his father passed away on April 20th only two days after he returned from my wedding.  I am trying to be calm about not hearing from him but a person who wrote a bad review on Yelp emailed me and told me it took one whole year to get their wedding pictures.  Ok enough rambling about that.

Brenners - so sorry to hear about your father. I am sure he will be watching over you on your big day.

MarisKash - I used Melissa V. Perry for hair and make-up.  She came to Ceiba and did a trial for about 3 hours a few days before my wedding.  SUPER sweet and easy to work with.  I ended up crying during my trial b/c I didn't feel like I looked like myself but wedding day came and I felt like a million bucks!!!!!!  I will try to post some pictures that my friends and family have sent.  She is on this forum so you can shoot her an email.

Those of you who are debating on Ceiba...don't debate...do it!  We went over our budget by a lot (mainly b/c I was clueless on prices) but it was worth every penny and then some!

So happy to hear it went well for you tweets!!!  

Isn't it sad to know it's all over now after so much planning?!!  I had serious Ceiba withdrawals after our honeymoon, haha!! 

Originally Posted by tweets.13 

I PROMISE to write a very detailed review soon.  In the meantime, I thought I'd post a link to a "sneak peek" slide show http://harris.brookeboling.com/ from our photographer - the incredibly talented Brooke Boling.  http://brookeboling.com/  She is based out of Nashville, TN, but will travel and is quite reasonable.  We LOVED her!  Hope you enjoy the pics!  Flowers by Planner1Events - Gabi is AWESOME!  The flowers were EXACTLY as I had requested/thought they would be.  http://www.planner1events.com/  Ceremony performed by Pam from http://www.beautyweddings.com/.  She did a fantastic job, her words were very touching, and she had everyone in tears!  DJ was Ivan from DJ Doremixx.  http://www.xcancun.com/doremixx/home.html  FABULOUS!!!!!!!!  We cannot say enough good things about him.  (There is a fun pic in the slide show of our guests dancing w/some of the many props he provided!)   Wedding cake was done by Ceiba's pastry chef - delicious!!!  And Paola, Diana, and the staff at Ceiba were beyond excellent - our guests are still emailing us and saying what a fantastic time they had and how impressed they were with the entire Ceiba wedding experience.  It was PERFECT!  (I want to do it all over again!)

 

(More detailed review soon... )

I love that mix!!!  We stuck to more orange and blue but I think orange and green look so great too. Here are some sample pics I referenced.  I'm sure you can make it look fantastic.

Originally Posted by DPBBride2012 

I would like to go with a bright Orange and  Light/ Pale green like Pistachio.  I think it would have the tropical feel I'm looking for, I would like to have all my BM wear green and maybe a have orange tiger Lillie's as their flowers to incorporate the orange. Then use both colors to decorate chairs, tables etc. However, I haven't been able to find any pictures that resemble the vision I have in my head, which is making me second guess this choice and now I'm thinking about changing the colors all together.

Best of luck to you - I'm sure it will be amazing!!  Look forward to hearing all about it and congratulations!! 
 

Originally Posted by lshaef 

We leave tomorrow for Mexico and our wedding is on Saturday. It doesn't seem real that it is finally here. I will share all the details when I get back.

Congratulations!!  May you have the most amazing time ever!!!!
 

Originally Posted by tweets.13 

Well ladies, I am off to Mexico tomorrow morning... wedding on Saturday!!!!!  It shall be interesting trying to get all of our luggage and my gown to the airport! 

 

I'll post pics and a review when we return! 

 

Hi Tracy,

I asked the florist to wrap the votives in wax paper.  It's common practice and both Diana and Planner1 should know exactly what you mean.

As for the time cutoff, I believe most events should "officially" end at 11 PM unless they are held inside a restaurant.  From my understanding, smaller weddings are also held to this standard though I expect much depends on how full the hotel is.  Since most of the hotel was comprised of our guests, we did not have a set cutoff time.  Whatever the case, I would definitely suggest you discuss this ahead of time w/ Ceiba!
 

Originally Posted by tracy.clements 

Thanks again Lala!! This is so helpful!  Did your florist wrap the actual candles in wax or the votive? Sorry... i don't quite understand but definitely want to tell my florist (Planner1) this idea.

 

Also, you mentioned you have to turn music off at 11. Is that alwasy the case? Not for weddings, right?

 

Looking forward to getting the kereokee info--that sounds like so much fun!

 

Thanks!