truchis

Hi tmdavis 13, Congratulations! We are getting married July 5, 2013 at Akiin! I did a lot of research and TripAdvisor and the people there really helped me. This is what we posted on our wedding website: Upon arrival to Cancun you have several transportation options. Our suggestions are: Private transfer- If you are arriving with a group, this is a great option! A private van with usa-transfers.com can take up to 10 people for $100 to Tulum hotel zone. They also work with smaller groups. When you visit usa-transfers.com click on “transfer rates†then “Airport to Tulum†for more information. You can book online! Take a bus- The direct bus ride to Tulum is only available at the following times: 2:00 pm, 7:45 pm, and 8:45 pm. The bus will drop you off at Tulum pueblo (town), and then you must get a taxi to the hotel. The ticket is only about $13! The ticket counter, Boletotal or ADO, is right past customs at the airport. Visit www.ticketbus.com.mx for more information. Rent a car- At rentalcars.com you can compare prices for rental companies operating in the Cancun area. If you decide to rent a car, we strongly suggest you do this in advance. Prices will be much higher at the airport. Let me know if you have any questions!

Hi DaynaBee! We're getting married at Akiin on July 5, 2013! I would looove to share ideas, etc. We are planning on having around 90-100 guests. And, yes, I know how you feel about not seeing a lot of brides on this site that are getting married at the same place you are, in this case Akiin! It makes you feel a bit lonely...silly as it may be... Well, I'm ready to share!!!

Essandpea, Thank you so much for your quick response! We are planning for at least 100 guests, but maybe up to 125. I'm going to start without a planner. I first want to have a set date and venue. Then, if it gets too overwhelming, I will consider hiring an outside planner. We will want to plan a welcome party, and tours for all our guests, so that's when the planner might be necessary, like you said. My family is freaking out about Las Ranitas not having a/c in their suites. We are wanting to have our wedding in July, and we were just down there this July and experienced the hot weather. We didn't stay in Tulum this time; we stayed at an all-inclusive (with A/C) in PDC. I know that many hotels in Tulum do not have a/c, and my fiance and I are okay with that, but I'm worried that many of our guests won't. Soooo...we are also now considering Ana y Jose hotel. We thought about moving the date to October because we really loved Las Ranitas, but we are both teachers and many of our friends are teachers too, so having it in July would be so much easier for us. Hopefully, we figure this out too so that I can move on with the planning!

Hi all! My fiance and I just got back from visiting different sites in Playa del Carmen and Tulum. On our visit we discarded the venues in Playa del Carmen, and absolutely fell in love with Tulum. We only visited Akiin and Las Ranitas in Tulum. Both are beautiful places! Prior to my visit I had been in contact with Karla from Akiin, and she is great! I was almost sure my wedding was going to be in Akiin, until I saw Las Ranitas! Las Ranitas is now our #1 choice and Akiin #2. One thing we know for sure after this trip is that we definitely want our wedding in Tulum and not Playa del Carmen. We hired a wedding planner for our site inspection. She was great and had lots of helpful information. We loved her! Now I must decide whether to hire her full-time to plan our wedding. After reading how great Angelina at Las Ranitas is, and being in communication with Karla, the coordinator from Akiin, and considering our budget, I don't know if I really need to hire an outside wedding planner? Are you other Las Ranitas brides hiring a wedding planner aside from Angelina? Congratulations to all the brides! I hope to make a decision soon on the wedding planner and on the venue. Thank you all for the valuable information! Keep sharing!

Thank you, Essandpea, The place does look beautiful!!! The only thing is, it doesn't have a beach view or access does it? Thanks again for your suggestion!!

Registered!!!!

Hi all, I am having such a hard time deciding/finding a place for my possible May 2013 wedding. I really love the glass catholic chapel at the Gran Caribe Real in Cancun. However, I am searching for a non-resort option for the reception. Does anyone have any suggestions, ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks : )

Hi all, I am having such a hard time deciding/finding a place for my possible May 2013 wedding. I really love the glass catholic chapel at the Gran Caribe Real in Cancun. However, I am searching for a non-resort option for the reception. Does anyone have any suggestions, ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks : )

ChocoTaco, thanks for inviting me to this thread!! Hi ladies, I will hopefully be a May 2013 bride in the Riviera Maya!!! My fiance and I still haven't decided on a venue and I'm getting really nervous that we won't get May if we wait too long! We are planning on going to the Riviera Maya the last week of July 2012 to visit places and do all the planning we can onsite. My FI doesn't want to decide until we do site visits in July!! Do you ladies think it's a big risk? Should I book places now that give 100% refund 6 months before the wedding? I have looked a lot on-line but nothing seems right... This is what we want in a venue: -Chapel since it will be a Catholic ceremony -We had hoped to have an outside venue on the beach or garden or at least a ball room with a view to the ocean (but from what I have read most AI resorts don't allow beach weddings late at night?) -We want the reception to go on until 2am at least -We are planning on having 100-120 guests Because of all this I was looking at non-resort venues: Xcaret and Secret Jewel in Playa del Secreto... Xcaret is waaay over our budget unfortunately, because it looks beautiful. Secret Jewel seems like a good option, but people keep telling me that we will save a lot of $$ if we do it at an AI resort. I don't know what to do!! Any suggestions, ladies? Did anyone do on-site visits before booking? Thanks in advance! And aside from my frustration of not having a place yet, I am so excited to be part of this thread!!

Hi Destination Brides! My fiance and I are planning to get married in Cancun-Riviera Maya on May 2013. We have not decided on a venue or even if we want Cancun, Playa del Carmen, or somewhere in between. We got engaged on January 7, 2012 and since then I have been looking on-line for info and inspiration. I couple of months ago I stumbled across BDW, and I am so happy I did!! I have gotten great ideas, but I really need to dedicate more time to planning my wedding and deciding on a venue! Can anyone recommend an AI resort that might have a ballroom with an ocean view? Thanks!!

JessiTaylor, Thank you so much for your info! I'll check out your thread on the other private venues and I'll PM if I have any questions! Thanks again

Hi, JessiTaylor! My fiance and I are thinking of booking this place. I have been there before with my family, and a friend from Mexico was married there and recommended the place to me. Any info. you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I just got engaged so I haven't done much research. What are the price ranges? By the way, when is your wedding? Happy planning! Thanks!

Hi Rsage53, We are planning our wedding for May 2013, and I had been looking online for venues, but nothing convinced me until I saw your post! The three main things I was looking for was a Catholic chapel, beach, and late night party! This seems perfect! Thanks for sharing! If you don't mind...Can you share some pricing info with me as well? samantha.almanza@gmail.com Thanks again!

Carmresu, We are thinking of having our wedding there, but haven't done much research. The info I found on their website was mostly for small weddings, so when I saw your post I got really excited! We are planning on having about 100 people. Where did you have the reception? Terrace, beach, ballroom? How long was it? From reading previous posts it seems 3hr or 4hr max if you pay extra? Did you have a live band? Any information helps! Thanks a bunch!