vlvetter7

Dana- I received the luggage tags yesterday! Thanks so much. They are great quality. Not sure what I was expecting...guess just a thinner plastic or something but thanks so much! Glad to hear the mugs are what you were hoping for. Did you get the clear? Can you send a picture? Wow - you leave in 5 weeks! I'm so jealous. What do you have left to do? Â Aalva416- I love the idea of sending a wedding update newsletter! Think I might have to steal that one from you...are you planning to do a postcard format or a one page letter type newsletter? Â Well my bridesmaids all picked out and bought their dresses. Same color and fabric but they each got a different style dress. They are all different figures so it only made sense and they all look and feel great in their choices. One more thing to check off my list! Â Also had a face to face meeting via skype with my photographer - Joshua Albanese. He's great! I'm so excited that I found him on here and can't wait for him to shoot my wedding!!! 6.5 more months...

Dana- I sent the check out today for the luggage tags! Thanks. Did your mugs arrive?

SCarp- I just shot you over my travel agent's contact info. She's great and was able to get us an amazing rate as well as special perks (i.e. the free room upgrade, free room with every 25 booked, "surprise gift", etc). Â I have been quickly checking in but haven't had a ton of time to post. Nic you're right - it has been quiet again! Â Tomorrow night I am going with my bridesmaids to pick out dresses! I should also be receiving my invitation proofs this week. Very exciting week...

PS- thanks for sharing those pictures! Love seeing them...makes me get even more excited!!!

Staicy - I'm around on weekends. This coming weekend and the following weekend I happened to be a little bit crazy but would love to meet up! Weeknights work for me too. Maybe meet for a drink or something? Let me know!

Staicy2000 - I would love to meet up sometime! That would be great. Â SCarp - welcome to the thread. I actually have the 2011 price list, and it says 2011. If you shoot me an email I'll send it your way... Â [email protected]. Â Virginia

Good to know Dana! I'll keep my fingers crossed that they go down again! Enjoy your long weekend!

Staicy - no need to apologize to everyone! We all totally hear your frustrations! I know personally when I chose to have a destination wedding I had NO idea how expensive it really was. I thought I was taking the "cheaper way out" (for lack of a better term)...oh well. It will be amazing! That's all that counts. Â I actually live in BIllerica and work in Bedford. Where are you at? Are you actually in the city? Â Nic- thanks for your concern about big bad Earl but I think we'll all be just fine! It's amazing how freaked out the news can get everyone...when I woke up this morning there is only rain showers predicted this afternoon/evening with light winds - however, by watching the news earlier this week you would have thought that the entire east coast of the US was going to be washed away! Â So I am super excited. We booked a group block with a group rate for our trip and we just got an amendment to our contract lowering our rates! Very exciting for us and all our guests! Â Well - hopefully everyone will have an amazing Labor Day weekend! Mine will be filled wtih apple picking, wedding planning and family fun!

I think one of the problems we have is that there is no contract with the resort for the actual wedding day festivities so there probably isn't anything much you can do to argue - legally anyhow. I'm not saying I wouldn't try but I'm just not sure how far you'll get...totally sucks though!

Thanks Linds. Â Staicy - what makes you think the prices are much higher at the Riu Palace Mexico too? It might be just a miscommunication...? You could always email the corporate group - they are REALLY helpful in giving answers when the individiaul coordiators seem to be taking awhile... Â Ana Hernandez works as a Riu Sales Exec and has been helpful answering some of my questions - [email protected]

Linds - where did you have your "Mrs. Bush" hanger made? Or where did you get it?

Dana – no need to worry. My fiancé found them online from a company called Vieco (?) and decided to order a sample because they were WAY cheaper than the ones I had found…I guess I know why now! J

Dana - first and foremost so sorry to hear about your dress fiasco. I find it really weird though because I was in a wedding this past weekend and we had a VERY similar story. Two of the bridesmaid dresses were WAY smaller than the store model. I'm not sure what your dresses look like but a seamstress up here did an amazing job letting the dresses out and the way she did it was very creative. She ended up having the bridesmaids buy a sash from the dress company in the same color and fabric as the dress. Then she just inserted two strips down the back seam of the dress. Seriously you couldn't even tell!! It was amazing. If you don't understand what I mean I can try to draw it out for you and send it to your email...just let me know. Â Also - I can't wait to hear how your mugs come out. We ordered a sample of a mug/cup and it was awful. Seriously I could go to McDonald's and get a better plastic cup with a lid...so we're back on the hunt! Ideally I am hoping for something like the link below, but they are a little pricy - like $5 each... Â http://www.printglobe.com/Products/ProdDetail~productid~21865~_plist~7_355_21026_21027.asp Â

Adrienne - are you not yet booked at the RPRM or are you thinking of looking for an offsite location in Playa del Carmen off the resort now? Â Â

Linds - I think we'll also do the semi-private reception. My finance was really worried that people would think it was weird if we invited them all the way to Mexico and didn't do a "real wedding reception" but I think I've convinced him that it will be just fine!

So I emailed Riu again with some of my outstanding questions - just to clarify - and I got a response back from Nancy...below is the question I posed followed by her response...sorry for the long post in advance. My Question: 1. The 2011 Caprice package costs $2300 for a symbolic ceremony and includes a semi-private receptino for all our guests at one of the resort restaurants, yet only cake and sparkling wine for 40 guests. What happs if I have mroe than 40 guests? Is there an additional fee above the $2300? What restaurant will the reception be at? Are there choices?  Nancy's response: 1. The cost of the Caprice Package is $2540 usd for a symbolic ceremony and yes this includes cake and sparkling wine for 40 people. In oprder to have cake and sparkling wine for more than 40 you could pay 15 usd per extra person (above the 2450). We have 2 optinos of restaurants for the dinner: Botafogo and Chillis. I am attaching the menus. Just bare in mind that this menus and the prices are subject to change and also you will pick your choices about 2-3 months prior to the wedding date.  My questions: 2. What is the number of guests that must book in order to be guaranteed a private reception with no additional cost per guest? For example, I know if I have a minimum of 45 guests that I am able to pay $20 extra per person to guarantee a private reception from 7pm to 11pm. Is there a magic number that automatically allows for a private reception with no additional charge per person? 3. On the other side, what happens if I only have 30 guests? Am I still able to have a private reception? If so, what would the bost per person be in this case?   Nancy's response: 2 and 3 - If you want a private dinner you have to pay extra (20 USD) on the restaurants and approx (65 USD) on the beach , we don’t offer free private dinners, sorry there's no magical number. The minimum that you have to pay is 45 people. So if you are having a 30 guests wedding you will pay for 45 guest in order to have your dinner as private. My question: 4. The only way to have a DJ is to have a private reception at the resort or to rent out the Yucatan Disco following our semi-private reception, correct? What is the cost to have a DJ for both scenarios? Is that cost on top of the $20 extra per person as mentioned in #1 above? If I book the DJ for the private reception at the resort, must I still pay the extra $20 charge per person?  Nancy's response: 4.- Yes the only way to have a DJ is to have a private reception or to rent out the Yucatan Disco. The cost of DJ is 1200 USD. The 20 usd per person that you will pay for the private reception is for the rent of the restaurant with regular menu any other extra has charge as the DJ.

Linds you're back! Glad to hear your opinion...I was thinking $65 per person sounded a bit steep! Â Dana - can't wait to hear about the mugs. We're definitely getting mugs, again, just have no idea how many to order because we have no idea how many people are coming! Keep me posted.

Good point Dana. Interested to see how it all works out for you! Â Stephanie - to add onto what Dana said about the group rate - we have a 9 night/10 day block that our rate is valid for. Basically how it worked was we did a 3 night block and the rates were valid for the three nights before and the three nights after, however, some of our guests have decided to come down earlier and our TA was able to confirm the same rates for those additional nights as well...so, I guess it just depends on your TA and their "connections" Â

Dana - I'm not sure...I'm trying not to panic myself. I feel like certain people have mentioned the per person price and others (earlier in the thread) have said it was a flat fee? Maybe there's some wiggle room - like if you have a large party you automatically get the private and then pay the DJ fee? I guess I'm not sure, but until I know how many guests we'll have there's not much I can really do. If you want I can have my TA look into it. She's pretty good at getting quick responses. Â Also, I think I sent you the fact sheet I go tfrom the groups department that has all the additional pricing - didn't I??? Maybe take a look at that? Â Stephanie - I was able to do a group rate through my travel agent and got a dramatic price drop from what the Riu groups department originally quoted me. The only drawback was we had to reserve 10 rooms minimum at $200 each (the deposit comes back to you when guests book the rooms)...let me know if you want more details on this and rates I was able to get. You can email me directly at [email protected] if you want.

Stephanie - we sent out our Save the Dates about a year in advance and were originally planning to send out our invites 2-3 months before the wedding (mid to late January). We are getting married April 9, 2011. I thought if I sent the save the dates out with enough information that people would go ahead and book (or at least think about booking) before the actual invites came out - but in conversation wtih a lot of people recently they just don't seem to get it. They are waiting for the actual invites to arrive. So...we are going to move up our invites and send them at the end of October or early November...5-6 months before the wedding. Â Hope this helps!

Staciy2000 - I was actually in contact with Nancy yesterday and she did respond from the email you asked about - [email protected] Â I found out that the resort does offer babysitting for ~$10 usd. I also found out that the RPRM is now offering private beach receptions...have any of you heard of this? I emailed Nancy to ask what happens after dinner if we were to have a semi-private reception - they said we could go to one of the hotel bars or over to one of the Dicsos. I guess we can go to the Disco at Riu Tequila for a non-private reception or go to the Disco at Riu Yucatan and rent it for a private reception. So then I asked what were the options for a private reception/minimum numbers/etc and was informed (Nancy's exact email said): Â Regarding private receptions, ...you have the option to upgrade your semiprivate dinner for a private one: - on the restaurant: 20 usd extra per person (minimum of 45) this could be arranged from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Regular menu of the Restaurant - on the beach: About 65 usd per person (minimum of 40). Depending on the set up you would like and the menu. In both you have option for DJ (extra charge) Â Have any of you heard about the 'on the beach' receptino before??? Â

A couple of questions for anyone who can help…  If we have a private reception what happens after the dinner? Where would we be able to dance, etc? I’m not sure how many people we will be having but even if it is only 25 or so I would still like the reception to actually feel like a wedding reception…are we still able to have a DJ and/or dancing if we have a semi-private reception or is that only available when you book a private reception?  Also, does anyone have any idea if the Riu resorts offer any sort of child care? I have a couple of guests who will be bringing children and they are inquiring.

I got the email. Thanks Dana! When you figure out how many you will have just let me know! Guess I need to figure out this new layout so I can start searching for ideas...if you'd be willing to show me your final version that would be great! Â Did everyone see Samira's pictures on facebook? Her professional pictures were just posed recently. Absolutely amazing.

 Ahhh...now the luggage tags make sense. I couldn't figure out why you would give everyone luggage tags as part of the OOT bags - but if you're sending them out beforehand that makes total sense! I would be interested in buying the 45 that you have left over! Can you send me the info (cost, what they look like, etc) at my email? [email protected]  Can you also tell me what you're planning to put in your pre-travel brochures that you're sending? Â

Can someone tell me what the luggage tags are all about?