bpokatie

Hi Newloves1975! I was married at SMB on May 12, 2012. We also only had around 10 people attend our wedding. We ended up having a reception at El Patio. We took up the back part of the restaurant. There wasn't a charge for it. We all had a great time. We even cut our wedding cake there after dinner. Cecilia was my wedding coordinator and she showed us our options we had for a reception. It was between El Patio, and Portofino. We also went to the club after dinner, and there were only a few other people at the club. So if felt like our own wedding reception. It was a blast! For those of you that are worried about the response about waiting to plan all the details until you get to the resort, don't be worried. I was just like you, and worried constantly about it. We literally didn't plan all the details until the morning before out wedding. Everything turned out perfect! I wouldn't change anything. I brought with me a picture of the flowers I wanted, and they matched them perfectly. I actually think they turned out better than I wanted. I don't come on this blog to much anymore, so if any of you have questions please message me. I would be happy to help!

I was worried about the heat as well.. We are getting married at 4 pm. I ended up buying fans to place on all of the chairs. They turned out super cute. I ordered them in white, and then decorated them with purple rhinestones and ribbons. They also are engraved with our name and wedding date, so this is like a wedding favor. Here's what I got: http://weddingshop.theknot.com/personalized-silk-fan.aspx If you're thinking about getting them, and you have a while until your wedding then keep an eye on them because they go on sale all the time. I got mine for $1.50 each.

Hi everyone! 15 days till my wedding at SMB! Amber, I'm not sure if Cecilia told you how many songs yet, but she told me: 3 beginning songs song for bridal party song for bride walk song during the ceremony song after the ceremony for the walkout 3 songs for the end I don't know why but I'm having a very hard time picking out songs. I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for posting these links. They are very helpful. I guess I will be listening to a lot of music

I asked Cecilia about the Rose petals, and she mentioned 2 bags for the isle.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one having a hard time with this. I've been thinking about this for months, and now I only have 1 month to figure this out! I'm also looking for more upbeat ceremony songs, and maybe something with a latin beat.

Is anyone else having a hard time choosing songs for the ceremony? I've been searching online for awhile, and still don't know what to do. I never thought this would be a hard decision. What are you all playing? Also, I'm using the sound system, Does anyone know what we need to bring to play the music? Like a cd, ipod or something?

Hi! My travel agent said the resort is really strict about the 18 and up rule. Luckily my sister just turned 18, so she made the cut. I don't know if the resort checks your age when you get there, but my travel agent wouldn't even book a room if someone was under 18 years old.

Hi Amberh1884! I know your message wasn't directed to me, but I booked Juan for my May 12th wedding, and I just contacted him directly. He ended up just sending me the same photography packet that is on SMB website, but he did respond to my questions. We are planning on doing the exact same thing as you. We also got the complimentary package, and are adding some stuff to it. We don't want to pay extra to eat at a restaurant either. I emailed Cecilia about our options and she mentioned that they can reserve any restaurant for us as long as we don't have more than 20 people. And she mentioned that we can reserve an area in the World Cafe if it is open the same night as our wedding. (I guess not all of the restaurants are open every night.) We really don't care about a private dinner either, we just want to be able to all sit by each other. I hope that helped! I'm glad to hear that someone else is doing the same as us

We also decided not to use a DJ, and are just renting the sound system. I really want a mariachi band too, but my fiance doesn't Oh well. I guess I can live without it. I haven't really been planning much either. So far I'm just trying to get all my bridal accessories together. My wedding planner is Cecilia. So far she's been great to work with and has been responding to my questions faster now that it is getting closer to May.

Hi! The photographer that the resort uses is Juan Navarro. Here's his website and some pictures he has taken at SMB. We are using him for our May wedding because we just thought it would be the easiest way to do it. We also like his work. We've contacting him directly a couple times and responded quickly to our questions. I hope this helps! http://www.juanphotos.com/blog/category/maroma-beach/

Hi Michelle! I'm getting married May 12! We will be leaving on your wedding day though. I still can't believe we only have 4 more months! It's going by so fast. When are you arriving at Secrets? We are having the exact same hard decision as you. We originally booked the free wedding package, but now we kind of want all of us to eat dinner together. We also do not want a "reception", just a simple dinner with all 16 of us. I actually just emailed Cecilia about our options. Our original plan was to just have the ceremony, toast and eat cake, take pictures, allow people to eat where ever they want, and then just meet up after dinner at one of the bars or the club. I'm not sure if they can reserve an area at one of the restaurants for all of us to eat together. Does anyone know, or has done this?

Hi Girls! I totally agree with you Nicole! We were thinking about having an at home reception because everyone was pushing us to have one. We are not into those type of weddings either, So we decided to invite everyone to SMB. We have about 16 people coming so far. There are others who still say they might go. But prices keep going up as we get closer to May, so I'm not sure if they will go now. Sillygirl702, We signed up for the free wedding package also because we thought it would only be us two. But now that more people are coming, we are thinking about upgrading to the next package. We really didn't think anyone would go to our wedding at SMB but everyone is really excited about it. You would be surprised how many people would go. I guess it's a good excuse to take a vacation and go to a wedding.

Welcome Beachbride2013! Happy Planning! I'm a May bride too.

You're Welcome! We're having immediate family and close friends too. I don't think we are going to do the out of town bags. I keep going back and forth on that one though. I did make up a brochure on vistaprint.com that some people are calling a "prewedding packet" on here, and I'm going to send it to everyone who is going a few weeks before we leave. I got most of the my ideas for that on this website. The majority of the people that are going with us has never been on vacation in a different country, or has even been on a plane. So I just explained what to expect, what to bring and pack, what's included in our travel package, and a thank you note. Are you making one? Oh, and i also bought hand fans to place out on the chairs during the ceremony. But so far that is the only think I really have planned

Hi KristinaLilly! I'm also having a smaller wedding with around 16 people. We thought it would be silly to get a dj also. We've decided to tell people to meet up at the lobby bar, or the night club on the resort. We also decided to just go with the complimentary wedding package and not have a reception or cocktail hour. We haven't really worked out the details yet, but we were thinking about reserving an area at one of the restaurants or let our guest eat where they want and just meet up after dinner.

Hi Alobaidis! I'm getting married at SMB on May 12th. We are only having about 16 people, maybe 20. The wedding isn't costing us too much. We have decided to just use the complementry wedding package. So the only thing we will be paying for is the photographer, my hair, and an extra bouquet for my bridesmaid. We have decided that since we aren't having too many people, we will just allow people to choose which restaurant they want to eat at, and then meet us up after dinner at the lobby bar or club for celebrating. I was also going to see if there was a way to reserve a group of tables in the buffet restaurant for no extra charge. I stayed at Iberostar Grand Rose Hall earlier this year and it is beautiful! The resort, rooms, pool, and beach are all very nice. This resort is connected to Iberostar Beach and Iberostar Rose Hall. The Grand is the best, and is adults only. The other two allow children. We walked down to Iberostar Beach and the beach and water is not as nice as the Grand Rose Hall. But if you wanted to rent any other their water equipment you had to walk down to The Beach Hotel. One thing that sort of bugged us was that you had to make reservations in order to eat at any of the restaurants. We got there a Thursday, and the had to "squeeze" us into spots for the weekend which was at 8:00pm or later. We also didn't like that we had to wear wrist bands the whole time there. I know that you dont have to do either at SMB. We really did enjoy our stay at Iberostar Grand Rose Hall. If you choose to stay there you will not be disappointed. I guess it all depends on the little things like I mentioned above. We chose to have our wedding at SMB because we met a couple while we stayed at Iberostar Grand Rose Hall, and they told us SMB was there most favorite resort they've stayed at. They liked it a lot better than Iberostar. So we are trusting their opinion and the great reviews on trip advisor I know how you feel. It is a very hard decision. We are also on a tight budget, but we really want to go to a beautiful place. I don't see the point of having to pay for a reception or cocktail hour when we are paying for an all-inclusive hotel. To me eating together isn't that big of a deal. I asked some of our guest what they thought and they didn't care either, as long as we are all together for the ceremonry. I hope this was some what helpful. If you have any more questions let me know. I also have pictures from our trip at Iberostar Grand Rose Hall, if you wanted to see them send me a message. Quote: Originally Posted by Alobaidis Hi all, My fiancée and I want to have a destination wedding in Rivera Maya, Mexico or Jamaica. So far we have changed our minds few times before we decided on El Dorado Royale. But with a little intervention from my future mother-in-law, we had to change the place and we fell in love with Secrets Maroma Beach resort and decided to pick that place. We were really excited because SMB looks breathtaking from the pictures and the reviews were awesome until we found out how much everything will really cost. So, we’re nervous that SMB might be too expensive for us. From the looks of it our trip PLUS the wedding “stuff†is going to run us almost $10K. I think $42 / person for dinner for our reception is a little bit too much for an “All Inclusive Resortâ€. We emailed the wedding coordinator to ask if we could just have the same food that is being served at the restaurant to bring cost down (i.e., no special menu) but she hasn’t answered yet. If we need to look to another option, we think Iberostar Grand Rose Hall would be the next best option. It’s also smaller (under 300 rooms) and according to trip advisor, is rated the #1 all inclusive resort in all of Jamaica! The wedding prices are MUCH more reasonable – from what the website shows it’ll only cost us about $400 out of pocket ($18 per guest over 8). I wanted to get your input on how much you think you’re wedding is going to cost. I know that the estimates might be somewhat rough now and what is “expensive†is very subjective from one couple to another. I also want to know if any of you have looked at the cost of the having a wedding in any other resorts and what you didn’t like about them. Is it worth spending the extra $$$ and Have the wedding at SMB? And How can we (or how do you think you’re going to) cut the cost as much as possible. Some information about our wedding details: we are planning to have 20-30 people, the resort has to be Adults only-All inclusive resort (No kids). We also have to have a beautiful beach for everyone to enjoy and actually go in the water (some beaches are too rocky to swim in) and the size of the resort is very important to us too. We don’t want a crowded place (over 450 rooms) because we don’t like the idea of being crammed in a place with a lot of people. We also don’t want a very small place. Thank you for reading my long post but we are in desperate need of any input/advice. I really appreciate any ideas, thoughts, experiences, and comments on our concerns. Planning this wedding has not been easy and we are a little behind schedule. Thanks again. Salam

Congrats! I'm jelous, I still have 6 months I'm sure everything will turn out perfect! Update us on your wedding and the resort when you get back...

Hi Samantha! I will be there for mothers day. Our wedding is May 12th. I didn't even think about mothers day, I'm glad you mentioned it. I know my mom and my MIL want to go see some mayan ruins, so maybe I will pay for their excursion. Also, I was thinking about getting them a wrist flower coursage for the wedding. Let me know if you think of any other ideas.

I'm not sure how it works, but maybe you have to book it through Secrets directly? I hope it works out for you!

Cute website by the way. You are very organized. I made one on the knot, but it's not as good as yours

I got a countdown timer for an engagement gift, and I just noticed it's not set on the wedding date. My fiance must have set it to the date we are arriving in Mexico. LOL.

HI Futureride! I'm also getting married on May 12, 2012. The time is flying by very quick. 209 more days

Thanks for the info! We are using Juan also, and just wanted a disc with all the photos. We dont want to carry a bunch of pics in the airport when we come home. We are just using the complementry package and just wanted a photographer for 2 hours. We are having a very small wedding, so we don't need all those extras. I'm going to email Juan to see how much he would charge us. Congrats on the wedding. It's coming up very soon

Congrats Emsdds! I'm getting married there May 12th! How did your site visit go? Did you do any activities(like snorkeling or site seeing) while you were there?