RNtoBe

Originally Posted by AlyssaD21 

 

Hello Ladies,

 

I am hoping someone can help me out. The Riu has 3 different wedding packages and looking at them it seems the basic could work if you do not need the extra frills. For example my hair lady is joining and I plan to get my nails done before I leave and I could care less about a RIU tee-shirt or late check out lol. However I see that the basic package does not include guest, the middle includes 20 and the big package includes 40. Based on past brides experience is it better to get the higher packages with guest already included?? Or add later. We are in the begin stage so do not have an exact number but we expect 20-50!!

 

Thanks!!

 

Alyssa

I chose the Royal package as it was cheaper to pay for each additional guest over 20 than pay an extra $1000 and package I would not fully use. I did not want to get my hair done at the Riu salon and I got my nails done before I left so it didn't make sense to pay more money and not use the entire package. It was cheaper for me to pay an additional $28 per person than to chose the package with a higher guest count (Caprice package). 

Originally Posted by amieeb 

 

Hi, I'm also a Nov wedding- what day? We're Nov2/13 @ 4pm... Debating beach or Gazebo. Presently we're booked for Gazebo, but I'm I tested to hear more reviews on the beach. I'm worried guest may want to wear heels, such a simple ridiculous thing! We're also trying to figure out where to hold the reception

 

 

I am getting married in November at Riu Palace in Cabo. Does anybody know if they are flexible at all with their ceremony times? I booked a 2pm ceremony but feel that this may be a bit too early as our reception will be around 630pm. A 3pm ceremony would be perfect for us! Thanks

I was married at the Riu on May 22. Our ceremony was at the San Jose Gazebo which was perfect because it was private! They perform the beach ceremony right in front of the quiet pool which is always full with people peering over the wall half naked in their bathing suits and vendors walking along the beach.

They are not flexible with ceremony times as they book ministers by the hour. My ceremony was booked at 2pm and the reception was at 7. It was a good amount of time for people to go back to the pool and relax if they wanted and for us to take photos and record more shots for the video. 

Originally Posted by sophieamanda 

 

Also RNtoBe, did you get the DJ? Fiance and I were torn on our decision last night when we were putting together our wedding playlist. We have a lot of great songs with a good range for different ages, but then started thinking how it will be difficult to keep the older people on the dance floor and cater to them if we have a nice slow oldie on and then Ruff Ryders anthem comes on lol.

Yes we hired a DJ and paid for lighting as well. We gave him a USB full of our music and he just played that. It was worth the $710 for both! I considered the cost of a dj for an at home wedding would have been at least $800. 

$15 per vase. 

Originally Posted by sophieamanda 

 

Hi Erin,

 

I decided not to book the DJ to save $300ish dollars and just book the sound system instead. You will likely encounter a lot of discrepancies in price information which has been frustrating at times. Hopefully you got some solid answers to these things when you met with the WC - good idea! The info they send suggests that you pay per hour for the sound system but it is actually per night. My fiance and I have hours of music already downloaded for the wedding so we decided not to pay for a DJ to pretty much just play our iPod. A friend has agreed to check on it if anything goes wrong or if a specific song needs to go on for a certain dance. I have read that some people were really glad they got a DJ though - so entirely personal preference. I will let you know when I get back if I regret the decision not to get one.

 

As for Suzanna Morel, that is odd they have not gotten back to you, I have found their communication to be outstanding. Here is the email I have been in contact with them through: weddings [email protected]

 

I agree Alina is amazing, can't wait to work with her!! I am also paying for her to set up a canopy with draping curtains. Don't really like the one the Riu has. I think it will be worth the price!

 

I finally feel like my wedding is coming together, I definitely don't feel like the planning started two months ahead, definitely more like a few weeks! But I finally have all of my questions answered and have been able to make all the big decisions. Only thing I need to do is centerpieces, which I plan to just wing when I get down there by taking a trip to Wal Mart and checking out their vases. I might bring some stuff to put in the vases from Michaels. I should probably figure that our ASAP as I leave on Sat! Fiance leaves tomorrow with the boys for the bachelor party. I will write a review, so look out for it

Alina offers vase rentals, I rented 4 for our head table and used the bouquets as centerpieces. 

Hello, I also went with suzanne and just booked her this week.  She is spendy, but its a special day so why not splurge   Here is the email address I have been communicating through...let me know if it worked [email protected]

..sorry by duplicates, I mean the same pose... just shot at different angles. I'm curious how many usable photos I should end up with..

Originally Posted by heather1214 

 

Hello May Brides!!!  Just curious for those of you who got your pictures back already, how many images did you get?

 

Thanks so much!!

We got 800+ photos back about 4 weeks ago. The majority are wedding day photos and a small amount of TTD. 

I brought my own photographer and she stayed at our resort. To avoid paying the outside vendor fee I put her down as a guest at the wedding.

There isn't a bar anywhere near by, its a really strange location. It's literally a small, long terrace sitting on the beach on the lower level. 

I paid for open bar which was an additional $10 per person. I'll warn you in advance- the resort wine if awful!!! I tried both their red and white and both were horrid! No one in my group of 40 enjoyed it. All of their mixed drinks are extremely sugary too, I mostly stuck to mojito's with no sugar. 

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco7568 

 

Beautiful pics Dayna, you were a gorgeous bride.  The last TTD pic posted is fantastic!

Thank You!! I know what you mean when you said lace wasn't the greatest to trash! I have to warn brides that want to TTD in Cabo as the tide is very dangerous and very rough! We were told that Lover's Beach would be calm for us to take pictures- we were definitely lied to! It was a pretty terrifying experience! To make a long story short- after almost getting dragged into the water by a giant wave- I had to take off my dress in order to get back into the boat or else I wouldn't have made it! 

I had my makeup and hair done at Suzanne Morel for my wedding on May 22. I paid to have all of my bridesmaids hair done and 2 out of 4 had their makeup done as well. Her team was very thorough and made sure we weren't leaving until we were all 100% satisfied. They were also very fast- we were in and out in less than 2 hours! 

Hey ladies, 

I'm excited to share a blog post from my photographer of our wedding photos!I couldn't be happier with them!! Here is the link: http://www.cassiescamera.com/2013/06/09/dayna-ray-just-married-calgary-destination-wedding-photographer/

We also hired Angel Zapien from Cinematic Touch as our videographer. I will post a link once our video is ready. 

The terrace of the steakhouse has a max capacity of 70. It's kind of in a weird location though. It's on the lower level and is just off of the beach. The only issue with this location is there has to be one long table for everyone. 

Originally Posted by un4gitabl 

 

Sorry that was supposed to reply to you, RNtoBe, I'm still learning.  Love your sandals!!!!  Where did you find those?

I got the sandals from Spring- I think its a Canadian company. They have a very similar style at Aldo- the sole of the sandal is a bit thinner.

We opted to not have a cocktail hour and ended up using the time between the ceremony and reception (2-7pm) for photos. It would have been an additional cost of $1000. I did not see the point when guests had the option to go to a restaurant/buffet if they wanted. 

I orginally bought these as my shoes. I finally came to my senses and realized I wouldn't be able to make it all night in 4.5 inch heels and would have towered over my dad as he walked me down the isle. 

 I'm so glad I ended up wearing sandals. 

Originally Posted by iliketea 

 

My wedding is coming up quick! 11/22/13! Anyone have suggestions bout reception? We have about 35 people, and we're looking to do a private reception, but I am not sure what locations are avaliable to us?

There are a few options for a private reception, Pool side (Baja Norte or Baja Sur), the beach, the english garden, the pacific ballroom, the terrace of the steakhouse, the san jose terrace and san jose restaurant. I had my reception at the Baja Sur which is exactly the same as the Baja Norte. 

Originally Posted by May2014Cabo 

 

Hi!  So, we finally picked our resort, now...to plan!  I've never been to Cabo San Lucas but my fiance has.  Would probably need some advice on photographers and someone for hair and makeup.  Would anyone know how the onsite photographer and hair/make up artist are and if there is a website to view their work?  Any recommendations who to ask for outside of the resort?? What about the restaurants at the resort?  I've seen some pictures of what looks like a restaurant with a terrace, any idea what one that is?  We won't have a huge number of people attending.  So many questions!!! Thank you to all in advance!! Happy planning everyone

Congrats on picking a resort, thats half of the battle!! I was just married at the Palace. I used Suzanne Morel for hair and makeup, she is a 5 minute cab right from the resort and we brought our photographer with us. If you have any questions PM me, I know it can be confusing trying to pick a reception location not knowing what everything looks like. Happy planning! 

Originally Posted by CapellaBride 

 

My entry submitted before I was done writing. I wanted to say, rest assured he is by far the best in Cabo and you will be so happy you chose him. We cannot stop watching our video and are so very happy with the results

I love you video!! So glad we went with Angel, his work is amazing!

Originally Posted by sophieamanda 

 

Did any of you fabulous past Riu brides go to the Wal-Mart in Cabo? I am wanting to make my own centerpieces with vases that I would much rather prefer to buy there than to lug down with me. Any experiences or suggestions? Do the Mexican Wal-Marts have similar inventory than the American/Canadian ones do in terms of decor?

I went to the Wal-Mart in Cabo, they have very similar items to Canadian stores. I didn't look for vases specifically but I would recommend just renting them from a florist. I paid $15 per vase and used mine and the BM bouquets for the head table.

Hello ladies, I was just married on May 22 at the Riu Palace in Cabo. We had the Ceremony at the San Jose Gazebo which I loved because it was very private. I personally did not want the ceremony on the beach because they set it up right in front of the pool. I watched a wedding one day with 15 other people in bathing suits. We had a private reception at the Baja Sur by the pool. My wedding coordinator was Jatziri who was amazing! I completely understand how frustrating it is to wait to plan a wedding until 2 months before but the coordinators are awesome and know what they are doing. I flew in my own photographer and she stayed at the resort so I put her as a guest. We used Angel Zapien for our videographer, we did have to pay the $300 vendor fee. My 4 bridesmaids and I had our hair and makeup done at Suzanne Morel which I highly recommend!! Their team is awesome and will not let you leave until you are 100% satisfied. There were 5 of us and we were finished under 2 hours. Their prices were very comparable to the salon at the resort. Feel free to PM me with any questions. 

Originally Posted by PuntaBride 

 

 

 

Such a great gift!! 

 

 

 

I also had my bachelorette party recently.  I decided to give my bridesmaids their wedding gift that weekend because I knew they would all be buying things as we got closer to the date and didn't want them getting these items.  They absolutely loved them and were so grateful.  I'm glad because they have done so much for me!

 

-Beach Bag (Indigo)

-Havaianas (Flip Flops)

-Lotion/Body Spray (Bath and Body Works)

-Lip Balm

-Personalized Luggage Tag (Michael's)

-Tumbler (Dollar Tree + Davet Designs Sticker)

-Nail File (Michael's)

-Sleep Mask (Michael's)

-Money/Room Key Holder (Ebay)

-Robe ... the colours are a bit off in the photo (Etsy)

Originally Posted by sophieamanda 

 

Kari, Thank you so much! I love absolutely everything about your wedding. All of the big and small details, perfect! You just helped me finalize my decision to have my wedding at the Riu. It has taken me FOREVER to decide between Riu Dreams and Barcelo. There is SO much to consider especially the cost for guests in order to make everyone happy. One question: did the hotel provided the chair covers and the pink sheet over the huppah, or did you bring those?

 

Thanks so so much

The resort provides white linens which include chair covers. I'm sure about the sheet over the huppah. 

Originally Posted by ldean1028 

 

 

Does anyone know or willing to tell me about how much Chris + Lynn photography charge. Or about the type of budge I would need to book them?

Have you considered bringing a photographer with you to Cabo? We are flying our photographer in for 5 days to photograph our wedding. I knew I wanted her for our wedding once I saw her photos and she is quite a bit cheaper than hiring a local photographer in Cabo.  Some photographers offer a discounted destination wedding rate as well.